USS Aeolus ( ID - 3005 ) USS " Aeolus " ( ID - 3005 ) , sometimes also spelled Æolus , was a United States Navy transport ship during World War I . She was formerly the North German Lloyd liner SS " Grosser Kurfürst , also spelled Großer Kurfürst " , launched in 1899 that sailed regularly between Bremen and New York . At the outset of World War I the ship was interned by the United States and , when that country entered the conflict in 1917 , was seized and converted to a troop transport . Originally commissioned as USS " Grosser Kurfürst " , the ship was renamed " Aeolus " — after the god of wind in Greek mythology — while undergoing repairs and conversion at a U . S . Navy yard . The ship carried almost 25 , 000 men to France during the hostilities , and returned over 27 , 000 healthy and wounded men after the Armistice . After decommissioning by the U . S . Navy , the ship was turned over to the United States Shipping Board and underwent a $ 3 , 000 , 000 refit in Baltimore , Maryland , and was transferred to the Munson Steamship Company for whom she carried passengers and freight to and from South American ports as SS " Aeolus . In 1922 the ship was assigned to the Los Angeles Steamship Co . and renamed SS " City of Los Angeles and sailed to and from Los Angeles and Honolulu . In 1937 , the ship was sold for scrapping in Japan . SS " Grosser Kurfürst " . SS " Grosser Kurfürst " was a steel - hulled , twin - screw , passenger - and - cargo steamship launched on 2 December 1899 at Danzig , Germany ( now Gdańsk , Poland ) , by the shipbuilding firm of F . Schichau for the North German Lloyd . The liner boasted " enormous carrying capacity " and " excellent passenger accommodation " for all classes from first to steerage . She made her maiden voyage to Asiatic and Australian ports before commencing regularly scheduled voyages in spring 1900 between Bremen and New York City ; these lasted until summer 1914 . In winter seasons she did eight more tours to Australia on the German Empire mail route . Her last start to Australia was 7 January 1912 . Over these years she was the biggest ship sailing to Australia . At this time she made some cruises for U . S . tourists . Max Spangenberg was her captain in 1913 when she rescued passengers from the burning SS Volturno in the Atlantic . When World War I broke out in Europe , " Grosser Kurfürst " was forced to seek shelter in American waters . The United States Government interned these ships wherever they had put into port , and upon the entrance of the United States into the hostilities on the side of the Allied and Associated Powers — on 6 April 1917 — took them over for " safe keeping . " U . S . Customs agents boarded " Grosser Kurfürst " in the port of New York , along with 30 other German and Austro - Hungarian vessels , and sent their crews to an internment camp on Ellis Island . However , before these sailors left their ships , they carried out a program of systematic destruction calculated to take the longest possible time to repair . USS " Aeolus " . The United States Navy inspected " Grosser Kurfürst " and designated her " Id . No . 3005 " and earmarked her for service with the Cruiser and Transport Force to carry troops to France . She commissioned as " Grosser Kurfürst " on 4 August 1917 , at the New York Navy Yard , Comdr . Clarence S . Kempff in command . While the ship was undergoing the repairs and alterations necessitated by the German sabotage and in light of her expected role carrying troops across the $ 3 , General Order No . 320 of 1 September 1917 changed her name to " Aeolus " . On 26 November 1917 , the erstwhile luxury steamship , now wearing warpaint , departed the Port of Embarkation at Hoboken , New Jersey , bound for Europe on the first of eight round - trip voyages during World War I , carrying troops to the Old World . She reached St . Nazaire , France , on 10 December and spent Christmas in that French port before she headed home on 28 December , bringing the voyage to a close when mooring at Newport News , Virginia , nine days into 1918 . Shifting thence to Hoboken , " Aeolus " again sailed to France and returned from Brest again to Hoboken Two events highlighted the ship ' s wartime convoy experiences . The first occurred during the beginning of what was to be the ship ' s third voyage to France . " Aeolus " , in convoy , departed Hoboken on 23 April 1918 . Two days out , a steering gear casualty in the transport forced that ship to leave her assigned place in the formation . " Aeolus " , to avoid collision with " Siboney " , altered course radically , and in so doing struck the transport at about 21 : 00 hours , 25 April . Fortunately , no lives were lost ; but both transports were damaged which necessitated their turning back . " Aeolus " reached Hoboken on 28 April . The second event occurred on 1 August 1918 , while the ship was returning to the United States from Brest . At 06 : 05 , lookouts spotted what looked to be the wake of a submarine periscope , some distant . Changing course , " Aeolus " stood to general quarters and within a minute of the sighting , her number one and three guns commenced firing . For the next few minutes , her gunners fired at the diminishing target until it pulled out of range at 06 : 15 . While the signing of the armistice of 11 November 1918 signalled the end of hostilities — an occasion that found the ship en route from St . Nazaire to Newport News — it only meant the beginning of the task of returning American troops from " over there . " During the war , " Aeolus " had transported 24 , 770 men to the European battlefront in her eight voyages . In the postwar months , " Aeolus " conducted a further seven turn - around voyages , bringing back some 22 , 080 healthy veterans , and some 5 , 018 wounded and sick . Commencing her last voyage from Brest on 26 August 1919 , " Aeolus " reached New York City on 5 September and was immediately detached from the Cruiser and Transport Force . Decommissioned at Newport News on 22 September 1919 and turned over to the United States Shipping Board , " Aeolus " was presumably struck simultaneously from the Navy list . Post - war civilian service . Early in 1920 , the Shipping Board let what one contemporary marine engineering journal called " one of the most extensive ship repair contracts ever awarded " in the history of the United States , to the Baltimore Dry Dock and Ship Building Co . , of Baltimore , Maryland , to renovate the ship . Over the next few months , " Aeolus " underwent massive alterations at a cost of nearly $ 3 , 000 , 000 . Remodelled quarters , an extensive refrigeration system to preserve cargoes of frozen meats as well as the food to be consumed during the voyage , and the conversion of the ship from coal to oil fuel , all helped to make " Aeolus " one of the best - equipped liners afloat . Resplendent in her new livery — a battle gray hull with a white superstructure — " Aeolus " departed Baltimore on 20 November 1920 and proceeded to New York City where , shortly thereafter , she was turned over to her operators , the Munson Steamship Company . " Aeolus " sailed under the Munson Line ' s house flag , carrying passengers and freight to and from South American ports until the summer of 1922 . In August of that year , she came under the flag of the Los Angeles Steamship Company and was renamed " City of Los Angeles " . After being thoroughly reconditioned for her new operators , the liner sailed on 11 September 1922 for her maiden voyage under her new name , bound for Honolulu , Hawaii , in a new dazzling white paint scheme . In January 1931 , the handsome liner figured in an experimental shore - to - ship air mail flight . A Ford Trimotor — flying from the Grand Central Air Terminal at Glendale , California — followed " City of Los Angeles " out to sea and , off the California coast , dropped a bag containing 12 , 527 envelopes onto the passenger liner ' s deck . The March 1931 issue of the " Merchant Marine Bulletin " speculated that this was probably the largest single consignment of airmail ever to pass through the Honolulu Post Office . " City of Los Angeles " plied the Pacific between Los Angeles and Honolulu until she was sold to Japanese interests in February 1937 and cut up for scrap .