imperator

"SS Imperator was an ocean liner built for the Hamburg America Line (Hamburg Amerikanische Paketfahrt Aktien Gesellschaft, or HAPAG), launched in 1912." "During World War I, the ship remained in port in Hamburg. After the war, she was briefly commissioned into the United States Navy as USS Imperator (ID-4080) and employed as a transport, returning American troops from Europe." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Imperator

This may be the arrival of the Imperator in New York Harbor on May 23, 1919. Among a group of 8 steamers that arrived that day bringing 34,000 troops back from Europe. query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F03EFD8163AE0...

The New-York tribune., June 01, 1919, Image 47 printed a photo of the Imperator with the caption: "The second largest ship in the world, the former German liner Imperator, which lay in the mud off Hamburg, for nearly five years, was one of eight transports to land 27,309 returning Yanks here last week - the biggest number to arrive in a single day." chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1919-06-01/ed-...

On June 20, 1919 the President-Elect Epitácio Pessoa of Brazil arrived on the Imperator in Hoboken, after he was transferred from the disabled French cruiser Jeanne d'Arc. Four destroyers acted as escort up the bay to Hoboken. New-York tribune., June 21, 1919, Page 13, col. 1-3 chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1919-06-21/ed-... The date on a nearby photo of the Imperator is 6/20/19: www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/30902527105/ So the photo shows possibly this scene. Pessoa, photographed at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York: www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/30902529945/

The Imperator in 1913: www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/3532862307/

Other Bain/LOC photos of the IMPERATOR in New York harbor: www.flickr.com/search/?w=8623220@N02&q=imperator&...

NYT of August 29, 1913 query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9C04E6DC113CE633A... indicates that the day before (August 28, 1913 as on the negative), there had been a fire in s storeroom and a young officer was killed

Swanq: Thanks. We'll add the date next time we update the record.

I was going to comment that back in the day, apparently fire was smokeless and the firefighters wore suits. But it appears this photographer came early to the fire. I guess its better than being late... Love the old photos!

The eagle was later removed and she chnaged to US and the UK owners and changed her name see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperator_%28ship%29

The eagle's wings were torn off during an Atlantic storm, in early 1914. Rather than restore them, the company removed the entire figurehead.

Picture of figurehead (or possibly of a model) with wings:

and one that is definitely on the ship

The damage was on a trans-Atlantic crossing from Bremen to New York, arriving in New York on March 19, 1914. See next day's NYT: query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F30716FD3A5B13738...

Thanks all, for your information on the figurehead and when it was damaged. We will add some of it to the image description when we update.