Amphion I (Screw Steamer)
In Greek mythology, a son of Zeus and Antiope, joined his twin brother, Zethus, in capturing Thebes. They then fortified the city by the labor-saving and melodious, not to mention novel, method of charming the stones into place with a lyre.
I
The twin-screw, steel-hulled passenger and cargo steamer Koln was built during 1898 and 1899 at Geestemunde, Germany, by the J. C. Teckienborg Aktiengesellschqft for the North German Lloyd steamship line, and operated by the latter firm into 1914. Interned in American waters at the start of World War I, she was seized at Boston upon the entrance of the United States into hostilities on 6 April 1917. Renamed Amphion, she operated as an American Army transport through the end of the war, carrying troops to Europe.
Transferred to the Navy's Cruiser Transport Force in the spring of 1919, Amphion was given the identification number (Id. No.) 1888 and was commissioned on 12 April 1919 at Hoboken, N.J., Lt. Comdr. David R. Fleming, USNR, in command. Between 21 May and 3 September 1919, Amphion journeyed thrice to France, twice to St. Nazaire and once to Brest, bringing home 6,410 American troops. Decommissioned at Brooklyn, N.Y., on 27 September 1919, Amphion was turned over to the United States Shipping Board (USSB) for disposition; and her name was simultaneously stricken from the Naval list. In January 1924, she was sold by the USSB for scrapping.
