The U.S. Navy acquired her early in 1919 for service as a troop transport, assigned her the naval registry Identification Number (Id.

Soon after commissioning, Virginian shifted to Fletcher's Dry Dock Company at Hoboken for repairs and conversion into a troop transport.

[2] Assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force, Virginian got underway on 11 March 1919, anchored in New York Harbor abreast the Statue of Liberty.

She then moved to Pier 7, Bush Terminal, at Brooklyn, New York, where she took on board cargo -- billet steel, oats, and potatoes—and provisions for her crew.

Repairs and alterations necessary to complete her conversion into a troop ship continued until she backed clear of her berth at 17:13 hours on 21 March 1919, with orders to proceed independently to France.

Her passengers included 74 officers and 4,097 enlisted men, from units that ranged from the 362d Infantry Machine Gun Company to the 127th Convalescent Detachment.

After a 12-day passage, she moored at the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway docks at Newport News, Virginia, on the afternoon of 25 May 1919 and had all of the troops disembarked within an hour.