 After the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917 , El Sol was <unk> by the United States Shipping Board ( <unk> ) on behalf of the United States Army , who designated her as an animal transport ship . Although there is no information about the specific conversion of El Sol , for other ships this typically meant that any second- or third @-@ class passenger accommodations had to be ripped out and replaced with ramps and <unk> for the horses and mules carried . 
