A former name retained.
Koningen Der Nederlanden, a Dutch ship launched by Nederland S.B. Maats, Amsterdam, Holland, in 1911, was seized by custom officials at San Francisco, acting under the Executive Order of 20 March 1918; and commissioned 4 April, Lt. Comdr. N. T. Payne, USNRF, in command.
Assigned to NOTS, Koningen Der Nederlanden departed San Francisco 5 May 1918, arriving Balboa, C.Z., on the llth. 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.
