in 1922 the up-and-coming naval architect william francis gibbs was tasked with his largest project
yet for years gibbs dreamed of building an american super liner that would rival the great
ships of europe instead he would be tasked with refurbishing the second largest ship in the world
the german ss fotterland gibbs work on the project would be lauded as a great
success but the esses leviathan would go on to prove an abject failure that nearly
doomed gibbs hopes of ever building a great american super liner of his own
ever since kaiser wilhelm ii grandson of queen victoria attended britain's spithead naval review
and marveled at white star line's rms teutonic in 1889 the german empire endeavored to construct
passenger liners that would outclass those of the united kingdom essentially the kaiser was jealous
of its grandmother's big fancy ships and so he wanted to make his own big fancy ships this one
upsmanship would ignite the rapid advancement in naval building that would produce ever larger and
grander ocean liners and a tense geopolitical climate that would eventually help spark world
war one eight years later the north german loyd line's 14 000 ton four stacker ss kaiser wilhelm
de grosse took the blue ribbon from cunard's rms lucania germany would hold the record for the next
decade with hamburg america line's ss deutschland and later north german lloyd lions ss kaiser
wilhelm ii i'm noticing a naming pattern with these ships the kaiser had the prestige he wanted
but britain eventually clawed back the blue ribbon with the rms lusitania in 1907
her sister mauritania would go on to hold the record for the next 20 years between the speed
of cunard lusitania class and the size and luxury of white star line's olympic class germany was in
danger of losing the tenuous foothold on the north atlantic passenger market they fought so hard to
gain a new set of record-breaking liners were needed the big dick i mean big ship battle was on
in 1886 albert ballen joined the hamburg america line as head of the passenger department he
quickly rose to a leadership position at the company by the turn of the century
ballen was a genius frantically devoted to both the company and the national goal of advancing
germany's merchant naval fleet ballen recognized that in order to compete they would need a trio of
liners that would enable a weekly atlantic express service and the kaiser eagerly agreed the first of
this trio was the ss imperator laid down in 1910 and launched may 23 1912 just over a month after
the sinking of the rms titanic at 52 117 tons she was the largest passenger ship in the world
the second liner in the imperator class was laid down in september 1911
at baum and voss in hamburg designated hole number 212 the new liner was to be
larger than her sister and featured a number of improvements on imperator's original design
hole number 212 was launched on april 3 1913 in a ceremony led by ruprecht crown prince of bavaria
the liner was given the nationalistic name of ss waterloon the german word for fatherland
at fifty three thousand five hundred tons the ss fodderland was the largest ship in
the world her older sister the ss imperator was proving a success with passengers despite flaws
in her design that led to major stability issues earning her the incredible nickname limparotter
but most of these issues were resolved for the essa's fatherland
the liner had an overall length of 950 feet with a beam of just over 100 feet she was powered by 46
coal-powered water tube boilers that drove four steam turbines achieving a maximum speed of 26
knots and a service speed of 23 knots exceeding olympics 21 knots but falling just short of the
speed needed to challenge mauritania's record but the real showstopper was the vaterland's
lavish interiors which were similar to imperators but with some key improvements
while the imperators funnel casings followed the traditional path through the center of the ship
just like those on olympic and mauritania the waterline's casings were split to run up the
sides of the ship this allowed sweeping public rooms that could run uninterrupted
from one of the ship to the other and gave significantly more space to our public rooms
famed designer charles muse was in charge of her interiors as he had been on many previous ballen
liners like her older sister bottelin was given a grand ritz-carlton restaurant on her lounge
deck that replicated the famous hotel restaurant in new york the grand oval-shaped room flowed
seamlessly into her spacious winter garden and then to the grand foyer which contained a grand
staircase and her lifts this space then opened up to our palatial social hall that featured a large
raised stage in the space occupied by the center funnel casing on the empirado another feature was
her grand swimming pool which spanned two decks and was decorated with large marble columns
and accents significantly more palatial than the british competition she also boasted two massive
kaiser suites that featured two bedrooms each a sitting room breakfast room a private veranda
ensuite bathrooms and a service pantry though the imperator class was only a few thousand tons
larger than the aquatania and the olympic class and shared a similar rectilinear exterior design
the imperator and especially the waterland gave a greater impression of size with her bulky towering
superstructure the titanic disaster was still a very recent memory and a number of improved safety
measures were installed to accommodate the ship's intended capacity of 4 000 50 passengers and 1
200 crew she was equipped with a powerful spotlight that could be used to spot icebergs
though it's doubtful this would really have made much of a difference more meaningfully
she was equipped with 83 lifeboats more than enough to accommodate everyone on board
fallen also paid particular attention to the ship's third class accommodations immigration
was still a major business at the time emballin knew that if lower class passengers had a pleasant
crossing they would write to their friends and family back in europe and tell them what a joy
it was to cross with the hamburg america line the esses flatulence sailed her maiden voyage
on may 14 1914 only a few weeks before cunard's rms aquitania she was truly the culmination of
the north atlantic building race that defined the early 20th century she was the largest
most palatial liner passengers could sail on a testament to albert ballen's obsessive dedication
but she was only able to complete a tiny handful of voyages before war broke out only a couple
months later with the north atlantic now a war zone the hamburg america line feared it would
be too dangerous to bring their flagship home they chose to keep the liner laid up at their terminal
in hoboken new jersey in the neutral united states this decision would ultimately prove a mistake
oh
the vatarland remained laid up in hoboken for three years as the war raged on
the united states remained neutral at the outset of world war one large portions of
the population didn't think it was wise to enter into what was seen as just another european war
but president woodrow wilson was eager to enter the war on the side of the allied powers
while many british liners were requisitioned to serve the war effort the rms lusitania continued
to offer passenger services on may 7 1915 she was torpedoed by a german u-boat killing
1198 passengers and crew including 128 american citizens sparking outrage in the united states
germany's policy of unrestricted submarine warfare played a major role in turning public sentiment
against germany and the kaiser but the united states remained neutral as the war dragged on
then in january 1917 a secret communication sent by the german foreign office to mexico known as
the zimmerman telegram was intercepted and decoded by british intelligence
the communication proposed a military alliance between germany and mexico if the united states
entered the war and promised to return texas arizona and new mexico in exchange the telegram
ignited a firestorm in the united states and congress voted to declare war on germany
on april 6 1917. the vaturlan along with numerous other german ships laid up in american ports were
immediately seized when the united states shipping board took possession of the vatorland they found
that she was one of the only ships not to have her engines and equipment damaged or destroyed
by her german crew it was said they couldn't bring themselves to destroy their beloved ship
they were sent to an internment camp in hot springs north carolina where many of them died
of typhoid fever in the summer of 1918. though she escaped sabotage the years of inactivity
left her in desperate need of repairs in order to bring her back into operation
she was turned over to the navy in june 1917 for conversions to a troop ship obviously the name
fatherland would not be suitable president woodrow wilson was asked what the new name should be
he responded why that's easy leviathan it's in the bible monster of the deep
the uss leviathan's size and speed would be a key asset to the u.s war effort she made 10
round trips between hoboken and breast france at first carrying 7 000 to 10 000 troops for voyage
but later it was decided that troops could share bunks taking turns that warren bunk system ew
this practice raised her capacity to an astonishing 14 000 troops per voyage
she was also given a custom dazzle paint scheme to help camouflage her from german submarines
by the time the armistice was signed on november 11 1918 she had completed
10 round-trip voyages and transported 120 000 troops to the war in europe after the armistice
she underwent a minor overhaul and was painted gray she would sail nine additional voyages
repatriating u.s soldiers and finished her last voyage on september 8 1918.
on october 29th 1918 she was decommissioned and handed over to the u.s shipping board and was laid
up again in hoboken while her new owners debated what to do with their great german sea monster
the united states retained ownership of the leviathan under the treaty of versailles
on december 17 1919 the international mercantile marine or imm signed a contract to oversee her
conversion back to a passenger liner for the united states initial bids for the project were
incredibly high and it was decided best to wait for a more favorable bid to further complicate
the project the original blueprints were not turned over by the germans under the treaty
they demanded one million dollars for the plans which was considered outrageous and a new set
of plans were drawn up for the ship instead the project was eventually transferred from the imm
to gibbs brothers later known as gibbs and cox the company that was led by famed naval architect
william francis gibbs who was eager to grow his new company and commission his own american
super liner the project would be an opportunity to prove his new company and help establish america's
role in the north atlantic passenger trade in late 1921 a new bid for the project from the
newport news shipbuilding and drydock company in virginia was accepted for six million one hundred
thirty five thousand five hundred seventy five dollars the leviathan began her fourteen month
conversions in april 1922. the refit would convert her boilers from cold oil her hole was
strengthened and her wiring and plumbing were all replaced her interior conversions were led by new
york architects walker and gillette though most of her lavish original designs were maintained
her paint was also updated giving her a patriotic red white and blue funnel scheme
upon completion her size increased to 59 956 tons and her speed averaged 27.48 knots in speed trials
the americans calculated tonnage differently from the british and would go on to heavily
advertise the leviathan as the largest and fastest ship in the world this was of course
not true the mauritania still maintained the speed record and leviathan's younger sister
bismarck now the white star line's majestic was slightly larger the leviathan would be operated
by the newly founded united states lines the line was established to operate the many german liners
seized by the united states after the war the leviathan's maiden voyage as an american liner
departed on july 4th 1923 a very patriotic choice of a date her 13 years of service with
the united states were largely uneventful aside from an encounter with a winter storm in 1924
she was battered by 90-foot waves and winds that reached 100 miles per hour forcing her to
roll by up to 20 degrees the harsh winter storm smashed 11 portholes and injured 32 passengers
the leviathan was immediately popular early in her career but her success was short-lived
the passenger trade changed significantly in the 1920s especially after the immigration act of 1924
greatly reduced the number of people allowed to immigrate to the united states the leviathan had
two major factors playing against her the first was the prohibition of alcohol passed in the
united states in 1920. the act mandated that u.s registered ships were considered u.s territory
and were barred from serving alcohol on board making them dry ships this put the leviathan at a
major disadvantage in the saturated transatlantic market because well people like to drink on ships
it also didn't hurt that there were two nearly identical copies of her operated by keonard and
white starline that both served alcohol came with the prestige of their long established
british operators and were generally known to be more fun party ships leviathan was low key known
as the more buttoned up of the three appealing to an older more conservative crowd but all this
was minor compared to the second issue that plagued the leviathan without running mates
that could match her size and speed the leviathan could only offer a monthly transatlantic service
the cunard line and white star line each had their own trio of express liners this
allowed both lines to offer a weekly express service to new york for many when it came time
to book passage the united states lines wouldn't even come to mind and if it did travelers would
have to wait weeks to set sail on top of all that the leviathan was massive and expensive
and the inexperienced united states lines were ill-equipped to operate such a liner
the line accumulated massive amounts of debt throughout the 1920s and the stock market
crash of 1929 made the situation considerably worse at the end of the decade the line was sold
and restructured a number of times by this time the leviathan was seen as a major burden to the
company and they demanded that the us government either retake the ship or provide subsidies for
her operation since 1929 she had lost 75 000 per round trip but the situation for the liner was
only growing worse due to the great depression and a lower number of passengers traveling to europe
in 1933 the government stipulated that the leviathan had to remain in service
and complete another five round trips she underwent 150 000 refurbishment
and in the following 1934 season she lost another 143 000 sailing barely half full on each voyage
finally the lion paid 500 dollars to the us government to allow them to retire the liner
everyone now saw as a giant money pit she was maintained until 1936 and was sold for
scrap in 1937. on january 26 1938 she sailed her final voyage to a scrapyard in scotland
though her scrapping was delayed by world war ii and was finally completed in 1946
the leviathan carried 250 000 passengers under the united states lines
and never made a profit for her owners despite early promise and optimism she was ultimately
seen as a failure and convinced many that super liners should be left to the europeans
william francis gibbs was praised for his work on the project but the failure delayed any hope of a
new american super liner until after world war ii when gibbs would finally get the opportunity to
build his great american liner the ss leviathan is a fascinating missed opportunity and it's hard not
to imagine what would have happened if her career wasn't hampered by the war the ball and trio if
operated as intended would undoubtedly have given a great deal of competition to the british liners
the waterline was a combination of the race to build ever larger and more lavish ships she
was a beautiful marriage of pre-war opulence and innovation her american owners failed to let her
shine but in the end circumstance sealed her fate ultimately the one upsmanship that created her
led to the war that turned her over to a foreign power and destroyed the world she was designed for
nevertheless she was a marvel that well deserves her place in history
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