A BRIEF HISTORY
OF THE
U. S. S. IMPERATOR
ONE OF THE TWO LARGEST
SHIPS IN THE U. S. NAVY
The U. S. S. IMPERATOR, one of the two largest ships in the world.
THE U. S. S. IMPERATOR
The Imperator was first commissionedin 1913, at Hamburg, Germany, by the Hamburg-AmericanSteamship Line of Hamburg.She made regular passenger runs from Hamburgto New York from the time she wascommissioned by her original owners up untilthe latter part of July, 1914. Her passengerquota was: 700 first class, 600 secondclass, 1000 third class and 1,800 fourthclass. And on account of her up-to-datesafety devices, she was one of the best patronizedsteamers belonging to the HamburgAmerican Line.
The Imperator was built by the VulcanSteel Works of Hamburg. She has a lengthof 919 feet over all, a width of 98 feet 3 in.,and a depth of 70 feet. She is electric lightedthroughout, and has a very powerfulwireless set—installed after being takenover by the Navy, and supplanting the oldset—together with submarine signalling devices,watertight bulkheads and doors, whichare opened and closed by hydraulic power.She carries 2,000 tons of permanent ballast.
The maximum speed of the Imperatoris 22 knots, about 25 land miles, and sheburns about 850 tons of coal per day. Hersteaming radius is about 5,000 miles, and inport, under ordinary circumstances, sheburns about 60 tons per day. The totalcapacity of her coal bunkers is 8,550 tons.The maximum draft when she is loaded andready for sea is 40 feet and 6 inches, and ina single trip across the Atlantic her draftdiminishes to 36 feet and 4 inches.
Her troop carrying capacity is 1,000officers, 966 non-commissioned officers, and7,939 enlisted men of the Army. Her totalNaval complement is 2200 officers and enlistedmen of the regular Navy.
Captain Casey B. Morgan, Commanding.
CAPTAIN CASEY B. MORGAN, U. S. N.
The Commanding Officer of the Imperatoris Casey B. Morgan, Captain, U. S. N.He graduated from the Naval academy in1888, and his first cruise in a seagoing vesselof the Navy was in the U. S. S. Atlanta.He took part in a number of campaigns andreceived his first commission, that of Ensign,in 1890. While in this rank he served inthe Alert, Dolphin, and the Michigan—nowthe Wolverine; the Raleigh during the Cubanblockade. He sailed for the Asiatic inthe Raleigh in December, 1897, and arrivedat Hong Kong, China, on Feb. 18th, 1898,and it was upon the arrival of the Dolphinthat the destruction of the Maine was learned.He served with Admiral Dewey as aLie