USS Arcadia ( ID - 1605 ) The second USS " Arcadia " ( ID - 1605 ) was a troop transport that served in the United States Navy from January to September 1919 . Construction , acquisition , and commissioning . " Arcadia " was built as the German commercial steamer SS " Arcadia " in 1896 by Harland and Wolff at Belfast , Ireland . Upon the outbreak of World War I in Europe in early August 1914 , " Arcadia " sought refuge from Allied forces in the United States , where she remained inactive through the period of American neutrality in the war . After the United States entered the war on the side of the Allies on 6 April 1917 , the United States Customs Service seized her as enemy property and turned her over to the United States Shipping Board . Armed with two 3 - inch ( 76 . 2 - mm ) guns manned by a United States Navy Armed Guard detachment , SS " Arcadia " operated under Shipping Board auspices for the remainder of World War I . After the war ended , " Arcadia " s guns were removed at Baltimore , Maryland , on 4 December 1918 , and her naval armed guard detachment was transferred off of the ship . On 20 January 1919 , " Arcadia " was transferred to the U . S . Navy for service with the Cruiser and Transport Force . Assigned the naval registry identification number 1605 , she was commissioned the same day as USS " Arcadia " ( ID - 1605 ) with Lieutenant Commander Peter F . Johnsen , USNRF , in command . U . S . Navy service . " Arcadia " was fitted out for naval service and filled with cargo before departing the United States for France on 2 February 1919 . Reaching French waters on 17 February 1919 , " Arcadia " put into St . Nazaire on 19 February 1919 and discharged her cargo over the days that followed . Taking on ballast and embarking United States Army soldier s returning from World War I service in France , she left St . Nazaire on 1 March 1919 and , after a rough passage , reached Newport News , Virginia , on 17 March 1919 . After disembarking her passengers , " Arcadia " put into the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company at Newport News for voyage repairs and alterations . After their completion , she departed Newport News on 1 April 1919 for another voyage to France . She reached Bordeaux , France , on 20 April 1919 , where she embarked more troops and a return cargo of " aeroplane and gun parts " before getting underway on 26 April 1919 . She arrived at the Bush Terminal at Brooklyn , New York , on 11 May 1919 . She made one more voyage to Bordeaux during late May and early June 1919 , returning troops to Newport News for the second time . Later that summer she made a voyage to St . Nazaire and return trip to Hampton Roads , Virginia , followed by a voyage to Brest , France , and return trip to Hoboken , New Jersey . In all , she brought more than 4 , 700 men home to the United States from Europe on her five westbound U . S . Navy transatlantic voyages . After completing her fifth and final U . S . Navy transatlantic voyage at Hoboken on 11 September 1919 , " Arcadia " headed south on 12 September 1919 , proceeding down the United States East Coast to Hampton Roads , where she moored alongside SS " West Loquassuck " - formerly the U . S . Navy cargo ship - at the U . S . Army base at Bush Bluff , later that day . A brief trip to the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company then followed . She soon returned to Bush Bluff . Disposal and later career . " Arcadia " was decommissioned on 29 September 1919 . She was stricken from the Navy List the same day and returned to the U . S . Shipping Board , once again becoming SS " Arcadia " . In 1923 , the California Steamship Company acquired " Arcadia " . Nothing further is known of her career .