SS Saale was an ocean liner for North German Lloyd in the late 19th century, which was severely damaged in the 1900 Hoboken Docks Fire.

In October 1917, during World War I, the Luckenbach came under attack by German submarine U-62, which damaged the ship and set her cargo of cotton on fire.

On the afternoon of 30 June 1900, Saale, along with her line mates Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse, Main, and Bremen, were moored alongside piers 1, 2 and 3 in Hoboken, New Jersey.

Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse quickly managed to get up some steam and get away, but there was no such luck for the other ships which moved away ablaze.

Many others who were in cabins were trapped, and prevented from exiting the ship because the portholes were not big enough for a person to get through, so many were suffocated or incinerated.

The American destroyer USS Nicholson arrived on the scene and drove off the attacking U-boat, helped to extinguish the fire, and make repairs to the boat.

[4] In 1919, the name of her owners changed to Luckenbach Steamship Co Inc.[1] The ship was sold to Archibald M. Ostrom of New York in 1922 and was renamed Princess.