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Summary
Summary
Published in commemoration of the centennial of America's entry into World War I, the story of the USS Leviathan, the legendary liner turned warship that ferried U.S. soldiers to Europe--a unique war history that offers a fresh, compelling look at this epic time.
When war broke out in Europe in August 1914, the new German luxury ocean liner SS Vaterland was interned in New York Harbor, where it remained docked for nearly three years--until the United States officially entered the fight to turn the tide of the war. Seized by authorities for the U.S. Navy once war was declared in April 2017, the liner was renamed the USS Leviathan by President Woodrow Wilson, and converted into an armed troop carrier that transported thousands of American Expeditionary Forces to the battlefields of France.
For German U-Boats hunting Allied ships in the treacherous waters of the Atlantic, no target was as prized as the Leviathan, carrying more than 10,000 Doughboys per crossing. But the Germans were not the only deadly force threatening the ship and its passengers. In 1918, a devastating influenza pandemic--the Spanish flu--spread throughout the globe, predominantly striking healthy young adults, including soldiers.
Peter Hernon tells the ship's story across multiple voyages and through the experiences of a diverse cast of participants, including the ship's captain, Henry Bryan; General John Pershing, commander of the American Expeditionary Force; Congressman Royal Johnson, who voted against the war but enlisted once the resolution passed; Freddie Stowers, a young black South Carolinian whose heroism was ignored because of his race; Irvin Cobb, a star war reporter for the Saturday Evening Post; and Elizabeth Weaver, an army nurse who saw the war's horrors firsthand; as well as a host of famous supporting characters, including a young Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Thoroughly researched, dramatic, and fast-paced, The Great Rescue is a unique look at the Great War and the diverse lives it touched.
Reviews (2)
Kirkus Review
An intriguing work of World War I research resurrects the little-known history of a massive German luxury liner that was confiscated and retooled for the American war effort.In this lively look at the history of the Leviathan, once known as the SS Vaterland, the flagship of the Hamburg-American Line, Chicago Tribune editor Hernon (8.4, 1999, etc.), who was also an investigative reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, unearths a fresh aspect of America's war effort. The ship, cruising into New York Harbor from Hamburg in late July 1914, was the largest vessel afloat at 950 feet67 feet longer than the Titanic, which had perished disastrously at sea two years earlier. Due to that earlier disaster, the Vaterland was equipped with enough lifeboats for the 5,000-plus passengers and crew, both first-class and steerage. Yet the German crew of this behemoth was quickly halted in its efforts to prepare the vessel for a quick turnaround: war was declared in Europe in the beginning days of August, and along with other German ocean liners, the Vaterland would spend the next three years tied up in a Hoboken, New Jersey, pier. Using alternating points of view of some of the characters involvede.g., Saturday Evening Post reporter Irvin Cobb and U.S. Navy officers and changing skippersHernon chronicles the tension of these early days when the U.S. was just declaring war on Germany and German ships lying in American harbors were being deliberately sabotaged before falling into American hands. Eventually, the Vaterland was refitted as the Leviathan and was packed with 10,000 American Expeditionary Force troops under the direction of Gen. John Pershing. The ship ferried them to the battlefields of France and back, through nightmarish submarine attacks, from December 1917 through the Armistice. Hernon also chronicles the contributions of decorated African-American troops. A wise, elegant study to add to the World War I archives. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
The centennial of the Great War, being celebrated between 2014 and 2018, has occasioned many new looks at this pivotal conflict. Journalist Hernon (Under the Influence) highlights troop movement from the United States to Europe via the impounded German luxury liner SS Vaterland, renamed by President Woodrow Wilson's second wife, Edith, the USS Leviathan. Over the course of 14 trips, the liner ferried more than 100,000 American soldiers to France. German U-boats had special instructions to sink the vessel but were unable to complete the mission. The ship continued on despite an on-board devastating flu pandemic, hurricanes at sea, and even U-boat attacks. However, it was the Leviathan's 22-25 knot speed that helped America win World War I. Gen. John Pershing sailed the final crossing as he traveled to France to celebrate the great victory. The liner also helped bring exuberant and sometimes broken soldiers home before it was scrapped in 1938. VERDICT This fresh examination of the Great War will be appreciated by general readers and World War I buffs alike.-Harry Willems, Great Bend P.L., KS © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Chapter 1 Trapped in New York | p. 1 |
| "All the Best Pictures of the Ruins" | p. 10 |
| Chapter 2 "You Will Never Run Her" | p. 21 |
| Voting No to War | p. 26 |
| Chapter 3 Monster of the Deep | p. 33 |
| The General and the Mademoiselle | p. 38 |
| Chapter 4 Dead in the Water | p. 51 |
| "I Am Not Joking" | p. 59 |
| Chapter 5 Missed Rendezvous | p. 63 |
| "An Admiring and Jealous White Audience" | p. 73 |
| Chapter 6 A New Skipper | p. 79 |
| "The Tuscania's Been Hit" | p. 82 |
| Chapter 7 Steaming for "Rendezvous A" | p. 89 |
| Two Dead Nurses | p. 95 |
| Chapter 8 The Orphans of Brest | p. 101 |
| A Promise of Help-and Micheline's Kisses | p. 105 |
| Chapter 9 POWs and Icebergs | p. 113 |
| Lessons in Trench Warfare | p. 117 |
| Chapter 10 Lost in the Fog | p. 125 |
| Hand Grenades and Brownings | p. 131 |
| Chapter 11 "Blitzkatarrh," or "Flanders Fever" | p. 137 |
| An Even Better Target | p. 141 |
| Chapter 12 U-Boat Attack | p. 147 |
| "Don't Lose Hope-I Beg You" | p. 153 |
| Chapter 13 Submarines and the Sky Pilot | p. 161 |
| "Another Way of Spelling the Word 'American'" | p. 166 |
| Chapter 14 40 Hommes/8 Chevaux | p. 175 |
| The King of Gasses | p. 182 |
| Chapter 15 Two Men Overboard | p. 187 |
| Visiting the Front with FDR | p. 192 |
| Chapter 16 A Near-Death Experience | p. 197 |
| Moving Up to the Front | p. 201 |
| Chapter 17 "Everyone Attack" | p. 215 |
| Fear of a "Flu Trip" | p. 220 |
| Chapter 18 A Bad Wound | p. 223 |
| The Eve of the Flu Voyage | p. 230 |
| Chapter 19 "Kamerad! Kamerad!" | p. 233 |
| Pandemic at Sea | p. 240 |
| Chapter 20 "Funny Little Smile" | p. 247 |
| Burials at Sea | p. 252 |
| Chapter 21 The U-Boats Go Home | p. 257 |
| The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month | p. 260 |
| Chapter 22 Partying in Liverpool | p. 273 |
| A Sailor Named Bogart | p. 279 |
| Chapter 23 Journey of the Survivors | p. 283 |
| A Famous Shoreline | p. 288 |
| Chapter 24 "Amid a Silence That Hurt" | p. 293 |
| Chapter 25 Farewell to Arms | p. 297 |
| "I Have Made Plans for Us" | p. 299 |
| Epilogue | p. 305 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 311 |
| Notes | p. 315 |
| Select Bibliography | p. 335 |
| Index | p. 337 |