USS Powhatan ( ID - 3013 ) USS " Powhatan " ( ID – 3013 ) was a transport ship for the United States Navy during World War I . She was originally the SS " Hamburg " , a built in 1899 by Aktiengesellschaft Vulkan of Stettin , Germany , for the Hamburg America Line . At the outset of World War I the ship was interned by the United States . She was soon chartered by the American Red Cross to take medical personnel and supplies to Europe . Renamed " Red Cross " , she left New York in mid - September , 1914 . When the U . S . entered World War I in April , 1917 , she was seized and converted to a troop transport . Originally commissioned as USS " Hamburg " ( ID - 3013 ) , the ship was renamed " Powhatan " on 5 September 1917 , During World War I , she carried 15 , 274 troops to France and after the war she returned 11 , 803 servicemen to the United States . After decommissioning by the U . S . Navy , the ship was turned over to the United States Shipping Board , and chartered for mercantile service until broken up in 1928 . History . SS Hamburg . The SS Hamburg was originally intended to be named " Bavaria " , being renamed only a month prior to launching . On completion , SS Hamburg served the Hamburg - Far East ( until 1904 when Hapag and NDL no longer combined on the mail route ) , Hamburg - New York and Genoa - New York runs for the Hamburg America Line . The ship was also twice used by Kaiser Wilhelm II as his state yacht for foreign visits , during which time the ship was painted white overall . SS Red Cross . Due to British Royal Navy control of the seas she was caught in New York at the outbreak of World War I . Chartered by the American Red Cross to take medical personnel and supplies to Europe and renamed " Red Cross " , she left New York in mid - September , 1914 and called at Falmouth , England ; Paulliac , France ; and Rotterdam , The Netherlands , before recrossing the Atlantic in October with American refugees on board . She remained at New York for the next two and a half years . USS Hamburg and USS Powhatan . The ship was commissioned as the troop transport USS " Hamburg " by the United States Navy on 16 August 1917 , with Commander Gatewood Lincoln in command . She was renamed " Powhatan " on 5 September 1917 and began the first of 12 consecutive Atlantic crossings on 12 November 1917 . " Powhatan " was twice attacked by a submarine in the Bay of Biscay on 4 April 1918 but survived unscathed due to prompt location and depth charging by escorting destroyer s . From 12 November 1917 to 9 December 1918 , she carried 15 , 274 troops to France and after the war she returned 11 , 803 servicemen to the United States . " Powhatan " was decommissioned on 2 September 1919 and was turned over to the Army Transport Service at New York , and finally to the United States Shipping Board . Postwar . In August , 1920 , the ship was renamed " New Rochelle " and under charter to the Baltic Steamship Corp of America , sailed from New York to Danzig . On 11 February 1921 she sailed under charter to the United States Mail Steamship Company on the same run , and in May she was again renamed " Hudson " On charter to the United States Lines in August 1921 , she sailed from New York to Bremen , before again being renamed " President Fillmore " in 1922 . After round the world service with the Dollar Line of San Francisco , she was sold for breaking up in 1928