under the command of Captain Zachariah H. Madison with Commander Allen B. Reed, executive officer. Subsequently, Commander Reed relieved Captain Madison of command on 22 August 1918. Both commanding officers were awarded the Navy Cross in 1920 for the hazardous duty of commanding the troop ship through waters that were mined and patrolled by German U-boats. On 29 May 1918, Susquehanna, escorted by three American and one French destroyer, got underway from Brest, France, with troopships , and for the return voyage to the U.S. At sundown on 30 May 1918, having passed through the so-called "danger zone" of submarine activity, the destroyers left the convoy to proceed alone. At about 09:00 on 31 May 1918, , with Commander Percy Foote, in command, was struck by three torpedoes from the German submarine , and sank about 20 minutes later. Of the 715 people aboard, 26 men were lost with the ship, and a Lieutenant Edward Isaacs was taken aboard U-90 as prisoner. Survivors were rescued from lifeboats late that night by destroyers and . They were taken to France, arriving at Brest on 2 June. at 33,000 tons, was the largest U.S. Naval vessel to be lost in World War I. Susquehanna was attached to the Cruiser and Transport Force and made eight round trips to Europe before the Armistice, transporting 18,348 troops. After the Armistice, she made seven more voyages to France and returned 15,537 passengers to the United States. In addition to the initial voyage from New York, Susquehannas voyages were from Newport News, Virginia, to Brest, France, and to Saint-Nazaire, France. Susquehanna was placed out of commission on 27 August 1919 and turned over to the USSB. The ship was chartered to the United States Mail Steamship Company (U.S. Mail Line) and began passenger service from New York to Bremen in August 1920. When the U.S. Mail Line ran into financial difficulties, SS Susquehanna, along with the other six former German vessels the company had chartered, was seized in April 1921 by the USSB, and later placed with the newly formed United States Lines. Beginning in April 1922, Susquehanna sailed on a New York – Plymouth – Cherbourg – Bremen route. Laid up in September 1922 after completing five roundtrips for United States Lines, the ship was sold in November 1928 to Japanese interests for scrapping. Notes References External links Ships built in Hamburg Ships of Norddeutscher