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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

Executive Order of President Woodrow Wilson

Executive Order.

     Whereas the following Joint Resolution adopted by Congress was approved by the President May 12, 1917:

     “Joint Resolution Authorizing the President to take over for the United States the possession and title of any vessel within its jurisdiction, which at the time of coming therein was owned in whole or in part by any corporation, citizen, or subject of any nation with which the United States may be at war, or was under register of any such nation, and for other purposes.

     Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That the President be, and he is hereby, authorized to take over to the United States the immediate possession and title of any vessel within the jurisdiction thereof, including the Canal Zone and all territories and insular possessions of the United States except the American Virgin Islands, which at the time of coming into such jurisdiction was owned in whole or in part by any corporation, citizen, or subject of any nation with which the United States may be at war when such vessel shall be taken, or was flying the flag of or was under register of any such nation or any political subdivision or municipality thereof; and, through the United States Shipping Board, or any department or agency of the Government, to operate, lease, charter, and equip such vessel in any service of the United States, or in any commerce, foreign or coastwise.

     “Sec. 2. That the Secretary of the Navy1 be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to appoint, subject to the approval of the President, a board of survey, whose duty it shall be to ascertain the actual value of the vessel, its equipment, appurtenances, and all property contained therein, at the time of its taking, and to make a written report of their finds to the Secretary of the Navy, who shall preserve such report with the records of his department.2 These findings shall be considered as competent evidence in all proceedings on any claim for compensation.”

     And whereas the following vessels were, at the time of coming into the jurisdiction of the United States owned in whole or in part by a corporation, citizen or subject of the Empire of Germany, a nation with which the United States is now at war, or were flying the flag of or under the Empire of Germany, or of a political subdivision or municipality thereof:

Vaterland

Neptun

Amerika

O. J. D. Ahlers

Kaiser Wilhelm II

Prinz Waldemar

President Grant

Loongmoon

Pennsylvania

Governeur Jaeschke

Bulgaria

Darvel

Prinzess Irene

Princess Alice

Hamburg

Wiegand

Neckar

Bochum

Bohemia

Carl Diederichsen

Rhaetia

Coblenz

Wittekind

Esslingen

Armenia

Lyeemoon

Adamsturm

Pongtong

Willehad

Sachsen

Serapis

Suevia

Allemannia

Steinbeck

Nassovia

Elsass

Maia

Indra

Arnoldus Vinnen

Setos

Ottawa

Holsatia

Grunewald

Staatssekretar Kraetke

Sachsenwald

Staatssekretar Solf

Borneo

Marudu

Aroa (Lighter)

Tsintau

George Washington

Andalusia

Kronprinzessin Cecile

Camilla Rickmers

President Lincoln

Clara Jebsen

Cincinnati

Elmshorn

Grosser Kurfurst

Johanne

Barbarossa

Mark

Friedrich der Grosse

Rajah

Rhein

Sambia

Konig Wilhelm II

Tubingen

Koln

Dalbek

Prinz Oskar

Magdeburg

Ockenfels

Matador

Arcadia

Kurt

Pisa

Andromeda

Prinz Joachim

Prinz Sigismund

Harburg

Savoia

Portonia

Arni (Lighter)

Clara Mennig

Argus (Lighter)

Pommern

 

     It is therefore ordered that through the United States Shipping Board there be taken over to the United States the possession and title of the aforementioned vessels. The United States Shipping Board is further hereby authorized to repair, equip and man the said vessels; to operate, lease or charter the same in any service of the United States, or in any commerce, foreign or coastwise; and to do and perform any and all things that may be necessary to accomplish the purposes of the Joint Resolution above set forth.

WOODROW WILSON    

THE WHITE HOUSE,

     30 June, 1917.

[No. 2651.]

Source Note: Cy, DNA, RG45, Entry 517B. Upon their seizure, these ships were converted into merchantmen and used for supplies and the transport of troops.

Footnote 1: Josephus Daniels.

Footnote 2: A copy of this report can be found in: United States Shipping Board, First Annual Report of the United States Shipping Board Covering the Period of Its Existence to and Including October 31, 1917 (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1917), 36ff.

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