The New SS Republic -- March 27, 2024

Los Angeles Times, 30-March-1924

The SS Republic had a varied career under a variety of names. She was built in 1903 as the SS Servia by Harland and Wolff, Ltd. of Belfast. The American shipping line that ordered her failed and she was laid up for four years. In 1907, Hamburg-American (HAPAG) purchased her and renamed her SS President Grant. 

When the First World War broke out, she was interned in the US. After the US entered the war in 1917, the government appropriated her and gave her to the Navy. She became the USS President Grant and made several trips across the Atlantic carrying soldiers to and from Europe. 

In 1919 the Navy transferred her to the Army, which renamed her the USAT Republic.  In 1921, the Army gave her to the United States Shipping Board, which assigned her to the United States Lines. She sailed as a transatlantic liner until 1931, when the Army took her back and she became USAT Republic again. The Navy received her in 1941 and named her USS Republic. 

After serving all over the Pacific, the Navy decommissioned her in 1945 and handed her back to the Army. She became the hospital ship USAHS Republic, but she reverted to USAT Republic during her first voyage. She went into the mothball fleet in 1949 and was scrapped in 1952.