Cruiser and Transport Force

The Cruiser and Transport Force, also known as the Cruiser and Transport Service, was a major unit of the United States Navy’s Atlantic Fleet during World War I. Its primary responsibility was transporting American troops and materiel of the American Expeditionary Forces to France, often across dangerous waters patrolled by German U-boats. The force was a vital part of Allied logistics and naval strategy during the war.

Composition

By 1 July 1918, the Cruiser and Transport Force consisted of multiple squadrons of cruisers, transports, and foreign vessels operating under U.S. command.

Cruiser Force

Commander: Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves

Squadron One

Commander: Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves

Division One

• Seattle (flagship)

• North Carolina

• Montana

• Huntington

Division Two

• South Dakota

• Pueblo

• Frederick

• San Diego

Division Three

• Columbia

• Minneapolis

• DeKalb

• Von Steuben

Special Duty

• Niagara

• Dubuque

Squadron Two

Commander: Rear Admiral Marbury Johnston

Division Four
Commander: Rear Admiral Hilary P. Jones

• Sialia (flagship)

• Charleston

• St. Louis

• Rochester

• Olympia

Division Five

• Isis (flagship)

• Denver

• Galveston

• Cleveland

• Des Moines

Division Six

• Albany

• New Orleans

• Tacoma

• Chattanooga

French Navy Warships

French cruisers of the Naval Division of the Atlantic, under Rear Admiral Marie Gaston Grout, also operated with the Cruiser Force.

• Gloire (flagship)

• Marseillaise

• Du Petit-Thouars (sunk by SM U-62, 7 August 1918)

Transport Force

New York Division

Commander: Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves

Ships included:
Agamemnon, America, Calamares, Finland, George Washington, Great Northern, Hancock, Harrisburg, Henderson, Kroonland, Lenape, Leviathan, Louisville, Henry R. Mallory, Manchuria, Matsonia, Maui, Mongolia, Mount Vernon, Northern Pacific, Orizaba, Plattsburg, President Grant, Princess Matoika, Rijndam, Siboney, Sierra, Saint Paul, Wilhelmina

Newport News Division

Commander: Rear Admiral Hilary P. Jones

Ships included:
Aeolus, Antigone, Huron, Madawaska, Martha Washington, Mercury, Pastores, Pocahontas, Powhatan, Susquehanna, Tenadores, Zeelandia

Foreign Vessels

Foreign vessels also supported the Transport Force, primarily under British, French, Italian, and Brazilian flags:

• SS America (Italian)

• SS Caserta (Italian)

• HMT Czar (British)

• HMT Czaritza (British)

• SS Dante Alighieri (Italian)

• SS Duca degli Abruzzi (Italian)

• SS Duca d’Aosta (Italian)

• SS France (French)

• HMT Kursk (British)

• SS Lutetia (French)

• SS Patria (French)

• SS Re d’Italia (Italian)

• SS Sobral (Brazilian)

Notes

1. Gleaves, p. 240. (Page 240 shows the date as “July 1, 1916”, but it is wrong. See p. 102 for a description of the appendices with the correct date of July 1, 1918, listed.)

2. “Marie Gaston GROUT (1863–1947)”. École Navale (in French). Retrieved 29 January 2016.

3. Though belonging to the Russian American Line, the ship was under British charter. Also in this category was HMT Dwinsk, which had been sunk on 18 June 1918.

References

• Gleaves, Albert (1921). A History of the Transport Service: Adventures and Experiences of United States Transports and Cruisers in the World War. New York: George H. Doran Company. OCLC 976757.

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