First World War
On 28 July 1914, the day the First World War began, Cincinnati left Hamburg for Port of Boston via Boulogne and Southampton. At Boston the United States Customs Service interned her along with the HAPAG liner Amerika, Norddeutscher Lloyd liners SS Kronprinzessin Cecilie (1906), Köln, Wittekind and SS Willehad and DDG Hansa cargo ship Ockenfels.
In March 1916 Cincinnati, Amerika, Köln, Wittekind and Willehad moved from their waterfront piers to an anchorage across the harbor from Boston Navy Yard. Daily "neutrality duty" by United States Coast Guard harbor tug USCGC Winnisimmet (WYT-84) kept the ships under observation. Many members of their crews eventually went ashore, were processed through immigration, and found employment, while a contingent of musicians from the vessels toured New England, frequently playing at department stores and restaurants, and drawing the ire of the local musicians' union.[3]
On 6 April 1917 the United States declared war on Germany. The US authorities seized the German ships and vested them in the United States Shipping Board. On 26 July Cincinnati was transferred to the United States Navy, and two days later she was commissioned as USS Covington, named after Covington, Kentucky.
From 18 October 1917, Covington made six voyages from Hoboken, New Jersey, to Brest, France, taking more than 21,000 troops for service with the American Expeditionary Force. On 1 July 1918 U-86 torpedoed her off Brest. Six of her crew were killed, but her escorts rescued 770. Covington remained afloat, and was towed about 50 mi toward Brest, but sank the afternoon of 2 July 1918.
