The American North Atlantic liner Leviathian making for Cherbourg

Jealous of the successes of Cunard and the White Star Line, German's attempt to capture the cream of the North Atlantic passenger trade resulted in the creation of three 'super' liners, the second of which was Vaterland (Fatherland). Built in Hamburg, she was launched in April 1913 and completed in May 1914. Originally registered at 54,282 tons gross, her owners claimed her to be the largest vessel in the world and she was undoubtedly an engineering marvel when she entered service. After completing only three round trips, she was interned at Hoboken, New York, when the Great War began and lay rusting at her moorings, having been sabotaged by her own crew, until April 1917 when the United States entered the War. Seized as a prize, Vaterland was repaired, converted into a troop transport and renamed Leviathan after which she became known as "The Levi Nathan" by the soldiers who travelled in her. Between December 1917 and September 1919, she successfully transported countless "doughboys" between the U.S.A. and Europe but upon being released from wartime service, the U.S. authorities were uncertain what to do with her. Eventually handed over to the newly-formed United States Line, she was refurbished at a cost of $8¼ million, given luxurious new passenger accommodation and returned to civilian use in July 1923. Never a commercial success due to the lack of a running mate and the fact that, with prohibition in force on the U.S. mainland, she was an alcohol-free ship, she was eventually laid up due to the Depression after 1933 and scrapped in 1938.