amid the July Crisis in Europe, Pennsylvania left Hamburg for New York. In the first week of August the First World War began, so Pennsylvania remained in the neutral US. Nansemond On 6 April 1917 The US declared war on Germany. The US Shipping Board seized Pennsylvania and renamed her Nansemond. She was given two 6-inch/40-caliber guns and two 3-inch/50-caliber guns as defensive armament. For the remainder of the war the Army Transport Service used Nansemond as a troop ship. The cargoes she carried from the US to Europe included railroad locomotives. Late in November 1918 Nansemond left Saint-Nazaire in France carrying 16 Medical Corps personnel and 148 patients suffering from shell shock. She was caught in a succession of westerly and northwesterly gales, and on 30 November and 1 December she weathered waves up to high. She reached a US port on 7 December, five days late. At Hoboken, New Jersey on 20 January 1919 Nansemond was commissioned into the US Navy with the pennant number ID-1395 and code letters GJBN. Lt Cdr W McLeod, USNRF, was appointed to command her, and she was assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service. For Navy service she was repainted with a black hull and funnel, white superstructure and yellow masts. On 4 February Nansemond left New York carrying Army supplies, and on 16 February she reached St-Nazaire. On 26 February she left St-Nazaire carrying members of the American Expeditionary Forces, and on 11 March she reached Newport News, Virginia. She spent the next five months crossing and re-crossing the North Atlantic, making a round trip every 32 days. On 28 June Nansemond left Brest, France carrying members of the 802nd Pioneer Infantry, which was an African-American unit. Also aboard was Frank Monroe Upton, a US Navy ensign who had been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. On 23 August 1919 Nansemond reached New York from Brest carrying 2,327 troops. On 25 August the Navy decommissioned her and returned her to the US Shipping Board the same day. Fate The USSB sent Nansemond to the National Dry Dock and Repair Company to be converted into a cargo-only ship. A strike or strikes delayed the work, which was not completed until 19 December. The USSB retained Cox & Stevens to prepare plans for new cabin and steerage accommodation, but did not commission the refit to be undertaken. The USSB at first allocated Nansemond