USS Amphion (ID-1888)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Amphion.

USS Amphion
History
United States
Launched:	1899 (as Köln)
Commissioned:	12 April 1919 (as USS Amphion)
Decommissioned:	27 September 1919
Renamed:	1917
Fate:	Sold for scrap, 1924
General characteristics
Displacement:	18,000 tons
Length:	447 ft (136 m)
Beam:	54 ft 3 in (16.54 m)
Draught:	30 ft (9.1 m)
Speed:	12 kts.
Complement:	85

The first USS Amphion was a former German passenger liner SS Köln for Norddeutscher Lloyd that later served as a troop transport for the United States Expeditionary Force during World War I.

Amphion began its life as a passenger liner in Geestemunde, Germany in 1899. When World War I broke out in 1914, Köln was interned by the United States government. Later, in 1917 when the United States entered the war, Köln was seized and used as a troop transport, dubbed the Amphion, by the US Army to move its expeditionary force to France.

During this time, Amphion was damaged in a battle with a German U-boat, resulting in the deaths of two crewmen, six more wounded and a lengthy stay in port. In 1919, when the war was over, the Amphion was given to and commissioned by the United States Navy as USS Amphion (ID Number 1888) in April 1919. Between 21 May and 3 September 1919, Amphion journeyed thrice to France–twice to St. Nazaire and once to Brest–bringing home 6,410 American troops.

Decommissioned at Brooklyn, New York, on 27 September 1919, Amphion was turned over to the United States Shipping Board (USSB) for disposition; and her name was simultaneously stricken from the Naval list. In January 1924, she was sold by the USSB for scrapping.

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• history.navy.mil: USS Amphion photos
• Photo gallery of Amphion at NavSource Naval History