Cleveland was built for the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) as a sister ship for Cincinnati.
[1] Late that August, HAPAG transferred Captain Christian Dempwolf from Moltke to be Master of Cleveland.
[1] On 24 January 1912 she was being moved in Honolulu Harbor when her pilot, Milton P Sanders, died of a heart attack.
[5] As a result, control of Cleveland was lost, and her bow collided with the stern of the cruiser USS Colorado.
Instead, in the First World War HAPAG suspended its passenger services and Cleveland was laid up in Hamburg.
[8] Mobile made nine transatlantic crossings from France to the USA, repatriating a total of 21,073 US troops.
[1] In 1923 United American Lines bought King Alexander and restored her original name Cleveland.
Prohibition in the United States had begun in 1920, so UAL registered her in Panama to enable her to serve liquor aboard.