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Identification Numbered Civilian Ships Photo Archive

Princess Matoika (ID 2290)



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - Jig - Mike - Rush

Transport:

  • Built in 1900 as Kiautschou by Vulcan, Stettin, Germany
  • Launched 14 September 1900
  • Completed 14 December 1900
  • Sold in February 1904 to North German Lloyd of Bremen, Germany and renamed Princess Alice
  • Acquired by the Navy 6 April 1917
  • Commissioned USS Princess Matoika (ID 2290), 27 April 1917
  • Decommissioned in September 1919 and transferred to the War Department
  • Sold in 1920 to the U.S. Mail Steamship Co.
  • Sold in August 1922 to the United States Lines of New York
  • Renamed President Arthur in 1922
  • Sold in 1924 to the Palace Line of New York and renamed White Palace
  • Sold again in 1925 to C. L. Dimon of New York
  • Sold in 1926 to the Los Angeles Steamship Co.
  • Renamed City of Honolulu in 1927
  • Sold for scrap 25 May 1930 at Osaka, Japan.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 20,500 t.
  • Length 544' 11"
  • Beam 60' 1"
  • Draft 29' 6"
  • Speed 16 kts.
  • Complement 449
  • Armament: Four 6"/50 mounts, two 1-pounders and two machine guns
  • Propulsion: Three double ended and three single ended boilers, two 4,500ihp, type IV vertical quadruple expansion steam engines (new boilers installed in 1926 increasing ihp to 11,000), two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image
    Size Image Description Source
    SS Kiautschou
    Princess Matoika 375k Photo from "Passenger Liners of the World Since 1893" (1979) by Nicholas T. Cairis Tommy Trampp
    SS Princess Alice
    Princess Matoika 109k Princess Alice (Alice Maud Mary) of the United Kingdom, second eldest daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Consort Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was the namesake of SS Princess Alice. The image was painted by Franz Xavier Winterhalter in 1862. Princess Alice was married to Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and became Princess Alice of Hesse and by Rhine Robert Hurst
    Princess Matoika 82k SS Princess Alice, in North German Lloyd livery, is depicted sailing among icebergs in this postcard published before 1914
    Princess Matoika 77k Undated post card Tommy Trampp
    Princess Matoika 101k S.S. Princess Alice interned at Cebu, Philippine Islands, circa 1914-1916
    U.S. Navy photo NH 88572
    Naval Historical Center
    USS Princess Matoika (ID 2290)
    Princess Matoika 104k Tommy Trampp
    Princess Matoika 64k c. 1917
    Princess Matoika somewhere in the Atlantic
    .
    Princess Matoika 101k 18 December 1918
    Princess Matoika with 3,000 troops aboard returning to America, in the locks at St Nazaire, France
    Photo Q 70654 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums, part of the American First World War Official Exchange Collection
    Robert Hurst
    Artemis 282k 20 December 1918
    St. Nazaire, Loire Inferieure, France
    The Princess Matoika, entering the locks, is passing between the transport Finland [ID 4543] and the freighter, Artemis [ID 2187]
    U.S. Army Signal Corps photo
    Tommy Trampp
    Princess Matoika 128k 20 December 1918
    St. Nazaire, Loire Inferieure, France
    Men of the 43rd Railway Artillery going aboard Princess Matoika headed back to the United States
    National Archives
    Princess Matoika 131k 20 December 1918
    St. Nazaire, Loire Inferieure, France
    Princess Matoika entering locks in St. Nazaire, France
    Princess Matoika 139k Lieutenant Commander Augustine H. Gray (center, with hands behind his back) conversing with a Navy Lieutenant and two U.S. Army officers, while the ship was at St. Nazaire, France, 20 December 1918
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 52875
    Robert Hurst
    Princess Matoika 114k In port with a barge alongside, circa 1918, while painted in pattern camouflage
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2006
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 103923
    Princess Matoika 129k Ship's officers and crew posed on and in front of her bridge, circa 1918.
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2006
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 103924
    Princess Matoika 83k A band of Bluejackets and Doughboys playing the "Marsellaise" on the ship's deck, as American troops, homeward bound from service in France, come aboard in the harbor of St. Nazaire, 20 December 1918
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 41892
    Princess Matoika 82k Boat drill on board USS Princess Matoika in April 1919. The troops pictured were headed back to the USA from France and may have been members of Company A, 100th Supply Train
    Photo courtesy Collection of Orville Vinton Ruler
    Princess Matoika 66k Underway in 1919, while transporting U.S. troops home from Europe.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 43123
    Naval Historical Center
    Princess Matoika 102k In port in 1919. U.S. Navy Freight Lighter No. 53 (formerly Coal Barge No. 210) is alongside. She was assigned to the Norfolk, Virginia, area, which may be the location of this scene
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2005.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 103079
    Princess Matoika 90k Photographed in 1919 by Silvis.
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2005
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 103044
    Robert Hurst
    Princess Matoika 103k In port, 1919.
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2007
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 105422
    Princess Matoika 74k In port in 1919, probably in the New York City area. Though the original print labels her as a U.S. Army Transport, the ship's paint scheme, and absence of smokestack markings, indicates that the photograph was taken while still in U.S. Navy service.
    Photographed by Head-Mayberry, 488 7th Avenue, New York
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2007
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 105160
    Princess Matoika 94k In port, 1919
    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2008
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 105970
    Princess Matoika 163k Post card Souvenir Folder dated 1919 Tommy Trampp
    Princess Matoika 183k
    Princess Matoika 173k
    Princess Matoika 63k Leaving Charleston, South Carolina for Rotterdam, Holland on 30 June 1919, carrying Germans who had been interned in the United States during World War I. Photographed from USS Powhatan (ID 3013), which had just arrived following a voyage from France
    Photograph from the collection of Robert H. Helm, donated by Mr. & Mrs. Robert Helm, 2008
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 106349
    Robert Hurst
    Princess Matoika 92k Off New York City on 1 August 1919, upon her arrival from Europe with troops of the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Division on board.
    Panoramic photograph by Head-Mayberry, 488 7th Avenue, New York
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2008.
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 105702
    Princess Matoika 171k Post card issued to U.S. servicemen during the World War I era. The original card was mailed at Hempstead, New York, on 7 August 1919, following the sender's arrival in the U.S. after a nine-day passage from Brest, France
    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2008
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 105766-KN
    Princess Matoika 450k Repatriated German prisoners on board the Princess Matoika
    Photo from "A History Of The Transport Service: Adventures And Experiences Of United States Transports And Cruisers In The World War", by Vice Admiral Albert Gleaves, USN, Published by George H. Doran Company, New York
    Princess Matoika 486k Sailors and soldiers on her crowded deck watching a boxing match
    Photo from "A History Of The Transport Service: Adventures And Experiences Of United States Transports And Cruisers In The World War", by Vice Admiral Albert Gleaves, USN, Published by George H. Doran Company, New York
    SS Princess Matoika
    Princess Matoika 147k At Bremerhaven, Germany, 4 July 1921
    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2008
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 105971
    Robert Hurst
    Princess Matoika 72k Six U.S. Navy Petty Officers "sail to speed up work on the R-38.... The R-38 (U.S. Navy ZR-2) is nearing completion in England and is to be flown to her hangar at Lakehurst, N.J." (quoted from the original caption). They are on board the passenger liner Princess Matoika for the trip to England. These men are identified in the original caption as:
    Left to right, front: J. W. Cullinan, M. Lay and I. L. Thomas.
    Left to right, standing: N. Julnis (sic. ?), A. B. Galation and H. Christensen.
    Chief Boatswain's Mate M. Lay and Chief Machinist's Mate W. A. Julius were among those who lost their lives when the R-38 crashed on 24 August 1921
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 41997
    Princess Matoika 124k Crewmen leaving on the Princess Matoika to bring home via the air the [British] R-38 now being built over there for the United States". (quoted from the original caption). They are on board the passenger liner Princess Matoika (formerly USS Princess Matoika) for the trip to England, where the airship was under construction. These men are identified in the original caption as: left to right, kneeling: S.H. Knight, F.M. Gorey and A.C. Carlson. left to right, standing: W.G. Steele, F.L. Stevens, W.A. Russell and R.M. Coons. Chief Machinist's Mates W.J. Steele and R.M. Coons were among those who lost their lives when the R-38 crashed on 24 August 1921
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 41998
    SS President Arthur
    Princess Matoika 87k President Chester A. Arthur, the 21st President of the United States of America, as painted by Daniel Huntington in 1885 was the namesake of SS President Arthur
    Image courtesy of The White House Historical Association
    Robert Hurst
    Princess Matoika 142k Undated post card showing President Arthur
    Princess Matoika 88k Undated postcards Tommy Trampp
    Princess Matoika 94k
    Princess Matoika 387k Photo from book "Passenger Liners of the World Since 1893" (1970) by Nicholas T. Cairis
    SS City of Honolulu
    Princess Matoika 105k 30 May 1930
    Photo caption: Quenching steamship fire. Photo shows the Navy minesweeper Widgeon (AM 22) fighting the fire which partially destroyed the steamship "City of Honolulu" at Honolulu harbor May 28
    Associated press photo XX4275
    Tommy Trampp

    Commanding Officers
    01CAPT Charles Truesdale Owens, USN - USNA Class of 1897
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1918)
    6 April 1917 - April 1918
    02LCDR William Daniel Leahy, USN - USNA Class of 1897
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1918) and three Navy Distinguished Service Medals (1939/1942/1949) - Served as Chief of Staff to President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1942 - 1945)
    Attained the rank of Fleet Admiral
    April 1918 - June 1918
    03CDR Theodore Albert Kittinger, USN - USNA Class of 1901
    Awarded the Navy Cross (1918) - Retired as Commander
    1918 - 1919
    Courtesy Joe Radigan

    View the Princess Matioka (ID 2290)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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