The Imperator was first commissioned in 1913, at Hamburg, Germany, by
the Hamburg-American Steamship Line of Hamburg. She made regular
passenger runs from Hamburg to New York from the time she was
commissioned by her original owners up until the latter part of July,
1914. Her passenger quota was: 700 first class, 600 second class, 1000
third class and 1,800 fourth class. And on account of her up-to-date
safety devices, she was one of the best patronized steamers belonging
to the Hamburg American Line.
The Imperator was built by the Vulcan Steel Works of Hamburg. She has a
length of 919 feet over all, a width of 98 feet 3 in., and a depth of
70 feet. She is electric lighted throughout, and has a very powerful
wireless set--installed after being taken over by the Navy, and
supplanting the old set--together with submarine signalling devices,
watertight bulkheads and doors, which are opened and closed by
hydraulic power. She carries 2,000 tons of permanent ballast.
The maximum speed of the Imperator is 22 knots, about 25 land miles,
and she burns about 850 tons of coal per day. Her steaming radius is
about 5,000 miles, and in port, under ordinary circumstances, she burns
about 60 tons per day. The total capacity of her coal bunkers is 8,550
tons. The maximum draft when she is loaded and ready for sea is 40 feet
and 6 inches, and in a single trip across the Atlantic her draft
diminishes to 36 feet and 4 inches.
Her troop carrying capacity is 1,000 officers, 966 non-commissioned
officers, and 7,939 enlisted men of the Army. Her total Naval
complement is 2200 officers and enlisted men of the regular Navy.
[Illustration: _Captain Casey B. Morgan, Commanding._]