Specifications: Displacement 8,225 t.; Length 455' 2"; Beam 55' 2"; Draft 26' 5"; Speed 14.5 kts.; Complement 221; Armament two 1-pounders and two machine guns.
Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS), Koningen der Nederlanden departed San Francisco 5 May 1918, arriving Balboa, C.Z., on the 11th. Here she was converted to a troop transport before steaming on to Norfolk in mid-July to prepare for a cruise to the war-ravaged European continent.
On 6 August Koningen der Nederlanden was detached from NOTS and assigned to the cruiser-transport force embarking over 2,200 Army troops for duty in Europe. For the next 3 months the transport made two more round trip cruises from Norfolk to French ports, arriving Brest, France, on her third cruise 9 November. The Armistice which ended World War I was signed 2 days later, and Koningen der Nederlanden was assigned the task of returning war veterans to the United States.
From November 1918 until August 1919 the transport made 5 cruises from French to American ports, carrying with her over 10,000 soldiers of the American-European forces to their home shores. Koningen der Nederlanden arrived New York from her final crossing on 19 August and decommissioned 7 November 1919 for return to her owner.
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