Title:
SS AQUITANIA, stereograph
Caption:
"Colored troops returning from France on S.S. AQUITANIA, New York." In New York Harbor with African-American troops on board, returning from France, circa early 1919. Stereo photo, copyright by Underwood & Underwood and published by the Keystone View Company. Caption on reverse of stereocard: "The Afro-American portion of the population of the United States was well represented in the A.E.F. One complete combat division, the 92nd, commanded by Major General Chas. C. Ballou, occupied a defensive sector in the Vosges Mountains for three weeks in September, 1918, then took part for a few days in the Meuse-Argonne offensive, and finally was advancing down the valley of the Moselle toward Metz when the armistice came into effect on November 11. Of the 93rd Division, also colored, the four infantry regiments only were sent to France. These were; the 369th, formerly the 15th Infantry, New York National Guard; the 370th, formerly the 8th Infantry, Illinois National Guard; the 371st and the 372nd. All four regiments were attached to French divisions and fought gallantly on many fields. Many thousands of colored Americans were gathered also in labor battalions and performed invaluable services at the seaports and in the rear areas. The steamship AQUITANIA as we see her steaming into New York harbor, gives us an excellent example of the weird camouflage painting used on ships during the war to aid them in escaping discovery by German submarines. During the war such a great harbor as that of New York presented an astounding appearance, with all the shipping painted in such glaring and fantastic designs. Not only American ships and those from Allied countries used such disguise but neutral vessels as well, for Scandinavians, Dutch, Japanese, Spanish, all suffered under a common dread of the unrestricted submarine warfare of Germany."
Description:
Courtesy of Louis Smaus, 1985.
Catalog #:
NH 100344-A
Copyright Owner:
Naval History and Heritage Command
Original Creator:
Copyright by Underwood & Underwood. Stereo photo published by the Keystone View Co.
After this Year:
1910
Before this Year:
1919
Original Medium:
BW Photo, Stereograph
