The USA had never really taken much interest in shipping until after the Great War. The American Collin's Line had been a disaster, and since then no major compeditors for the Atlantic business had emerged. But now, the US had the second largest ship in the world at their disposal. The Leviathan though was stored for a few years after the war while authorities decided what to do with her.
Finally, it was decided to rebuild her as a liner still with the name Leviathan for the newly formed United States Line, or American Line as it was more popularly known
Leviathan never was a money earner though. Because she had no sister ships in the same company, she was considered somewhat of a loner, and because the line was only new, people tended to turn away and go for the more famous and well known companies.
Because the company had no large ships of Leviathan's size or speed, she created serious gaps in schedualed sailing times, and she was what was known as a 'dry ship' because prohebition had outlawed alchohol on the American ships. It is also said that the Leviathan's service rarely matched that of the British ships, although sometimes she sailed with 800 or 900 passengers looked after by a crew of over 1200.
When the depression hit in 1929-1930, the Leviathan was turned into a cruise ship until 1934 where she was laid up at the same dock she was kept at during the Great War. Her last voyage was made in January 1938 to the shipbreakers in Rosyth, Scotland where other famous ships such as White Star's Olympic and Cunard's Mauretania had been cut up. She never was a famous ship, but certainly had an intersting, if at times non-existant career. |
