SS Vaterland was seized by the United States in 1917 and later renamed USS Leviathan.
Vaterland was a large German passenger liner built for the Hamburg America Line. She entered service in 1914, but the outbreak of World War I soon interrupted her career. While she was in New York, the United States entered the war and took control of the ship in 1917.
The vessel was converted into a troop transport and commissioned as USS Leviathan. She carried American service personnel across the Atlantic during the war and later returned to civilian service under the same name after reconstruction.
Vaterland belonged to a group of enormous German liners built to compete with British shipping companies. Her sister ships included Imperator and Bismarck, the latter later becoming the British liner RMS Majestic. The name Leviathan was used for the ship during her American operation and postwar passenger career.