S.S. George Washington U.S.L. The original has typewritten dates of 18-28 Mai 1927. SS George Washington was an ocean liner built in within two years (1907-1908) by AG Vulcan of Stettin, Germany (present-day Szczecin, Poland), for North German Lloyd (German: Norddeutscher Lloyd or NDL).[5] Intended for Bremen - New York passenger service, the ship was named after George Washington, the first President of the United States as a way to make the ship more appealing to immigrants, who then made up the majority of transatlantic passengers and believed formalities on arrival would be easier on a ship with an American name. . At the outbreak of World War I, George Washington was interned by the then-neutral United States, until that country entered into the conflict in April 1917. George Washington was seized by the United States and taken over for use as a troop transport by the U.S. Navy. Commissioned as USS George Washington (ID-3018), she sailed with her first load of American troops in December 1917.George Washington was decommissioned in 1920 and handed over the United States Shipping Board (USSB), who reconditioned her for passenger service. SS George Washington sailed in transatlantic passenger service for both the United States Mail Steamship Company (one voyage) and United States Lines for ten years. She was retrofitted with oil-fired boilers and saw service during WWII, and was scrapped in 1951.