[6] Contracts for both ships were let on 26 April 1913 with keel laying for Great Northern on 22 September 1913 and launch on 7 July 1914 with service due to start in March 1915.

[5] Both ships were designed for 856 passengers and 2,185 tons of freight with a 23-knot speed making possible the run between the ports in 25–26 hours, equal to the time for an overland route, under favorable conditions and thus allowing direct service to San Francisco from the east using the two northern rail lines.

[5] The double-bottomed hull was divided into eleven watertight compartments with ten extending to the bottom of the second deck above full load waterline.

[10] During summer Great Northern, advertised with her sister as "Palaces of the Pacific," was engaged in the Astoria to San Francisco service.

[11] In winter Great Northern changed to a luxury service to Hawaii on a route of San Francisco–San Pedro–Hilo–Honolulu with passage out taking four days with the stop in Hilo long enough for a volcano visit by tourists.

[14] Embarking nearly 1,400 passengers at Puget Sound, including 500 "enemy aliens," women and children as well as men, Great Northern sailed for the U.S. East Coast on 21 January 1918, reaching New York City on 9 February via the Panama Canal and Charleston, South Carolina.

From then until August 1919, she made a total of 18 transatlantic voyages, first carrying troops to the fighting zones and then bringing home the victorious "doughboys".

[2][1] Great Northern also took a Congressional party on a long Pacific inspection, touching at Hong Kong, Honolulu, Cavite, and then returning to San Francisco, California in the summer of 1920.

[1][17] On 25 July 1942 she was taken over by the War Shipping Administration and transferred to the Army under bareboat charter as the troop transport USAT George S.

[18] The ship went into the reserve fleet at Lee Hall, Virginia 5 March 1946 and was sold to Boston Metals Company on 25 February 1948.