SS Vaterland (1913)
1913 Imperator-class ocean liner
SS Vaterland was an ocean liner launched on 3 April 1913 that began service in 1914 for Germany's Hamburg America Line. The ship, second of three running mates and then the largest passenger ship in the world, made her first voyage to New York arriving on 21 May 1914 to celebrations featuring German and American officials at the line's Hoboken facilities.
The ship was designed to carry 4,050 passengers with most in third or fourth class. Those among the 700 first class and 600 second class passengers traveled in considerable luxury. The main public rooms took advantage of an unusual arrangement of the routing from boiler to stack along the sides rather than center to feature long and unbroken access from a replica of the New York Ritz-Carlton Restaurant main dining room forward to the lounge and ballroom aft. Vaterland served on the route for less than a year before being laid up at the line's piers in the neutral United States due to the start of World War I and risk of seizure by the Allies at sea.
With U.S. entry into WWI in 1917, Vaterland and the German line's Hoboken facility were seized by the US government. The ship was placed under the control of the United States Shipping Board. It was given July 1917 to the US Navy for completion of repairs and conversion to a troop ship. In July 1917 the ship was commissioned as USS Vaterland and on 6 September 1917 renamed USS Leviathan (ID-1326) and assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force.
“SS Vaterland (1913)” enters the record as 1913 Imperator-class ocean liner. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Vaterland, Imperator-class and ocean can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“SS Vaterland (1913)” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Vaterland, Imperator-class and ocean provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q466732. The Library of Congress control number is n82242233. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1913, 1914, 1917 and 1326.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “SS Vaterland (1913)”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow SS Vaterland (1913) primary sources, SS Vaterland (1913) archive and Vaterland research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “SS Vaterland (1913)”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “SS Vaterland (1913)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.