First War Service

At the outbreak of World War I, Aquitania was requisitioned by the British Government.

In Liverpool, she was converted into an armed merchant cruiser.  The Royal Navy commissioned her on 7 August 1914, with her first assignment being to patrol the Western Approaches.  She returned to Liverpool on 16 August.  On her next trip, she collided with the Leyland liner Canadian in thick fog.  Aquitania returned to Liverpool, where the Admiralty concluded that Aquitania was too large to be a suitable armed merchant cruiser.  Repairs on the ship were completed by the end of 1914, and on 18 June 1915 Aquitania was requisitioned again, this time as a troopship for the Gallipoli Campaign.  She left Liverpool on 15 June with a full complement of over 5,000 troops on board.  Aquitania made three voyages as a troopship before she was converted into a hospital ship, which she served in December 1915 and January 1916.

Aquitania was to return to Cunard service then, as she was decommissioned from government service on 10 April 1916.  She was being refurbished by Harland and Wolff when the British Government requisitioned her again for hospital ship duty in November 1916.  She served in that capacity through the end of 1916 and was laid up in Southampton in 1917.  The United States’ entry into the war in April 1917 meant that Aquitania had more work to do.

In December 1917, Aquitania returned to troopship duty.  Covered in dazzle paint, she transported thousands of American and Canadian troops.  One trip she carried over 8,000 on board.  She was frequently made calls at Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.  She continued to serve in this capacity until the end of the war in November 1918.