Immigration of David Raff

Raff Family History
Immigration of David Raff
1913-1921
Immigrant to the United States

David an immigrant, but not an emigrant

Unlike most immigrants, David did not emigrate from his homeland in Germany. When he completed is service in the German Army he had the wanderlust so he joined the merchant marine to travel and see the world. When he departed he told his darling Rosa that he would return to marry her.

David used his trade as baker as his ticket to see the world. He paid 5 marks to obtain an assignment as a cooks helper on his first ship. He sailed on several ships reaching as China and Japan. David had reached Washington's Puget Sound when his voyages were interrupted by the Great War (W.W.I). After the war he again took to the sea, twice visiting the U.S. territory of Hawaii.

S.S. Imperator / R.M.S. Berengaria

David sailed on the Hamburg Amerika Line's Imperator. The Imperator was the largest ship in the world when she was christened by the Kaiser himself on 23 May 1913. If this was David's first ship, he may have experienced some of the stability problems that plagued the Imperator until alterations were made to her following a file in September 1913.

The Imperator was laid up at Hamburg when When World War I broke out. After the war she was turned over to the United States as war reparation and, as U.S.S. Imperator, repatriated American troops during the summer of 1919.

Imperator was transferred to the British Shipping Controller in 1920. Cunard and White Star then jointly purchased Imperator and her yet-unfinished sister Bismarck / Majestic II;

In August 1921, Cunard renamed her Berengaria and soon after had her converted from coal to oil. Berengaria remained on Cunard's Southampton service throughout the 1920's and into the Depression. She was retired from service in 1938 following a series of fires.

David may have also sailed on Imperator's sister ship the S.S. Vaterland. Vaterland was the second of a trio of great ships intended to be Hamburg Amerika Line's answer to the four-stackers of Cunard (Lusitania, Mauretania and Aquitania) and White Star (Olympic , Titanic and Gigantic /Britannic II).

S.S. Vaterland / S.S. Leviathan

Vaterland was in Hoboken, New Jersey, in the middle of her fourth transatlantic roundtrip when World War I began. She remained there almost three years, interned. When the United States entered the war in 1917, Vaterland was seized and converted into a troop carrier. She was renamed Leviathan, reportedly by Woodrow Wilson himself. In March 1919 she carried 14,416 U.S. troops home, the largest number of people ever to sail on one ship.

David's first visit to the United States was probably while sailing on the Imperator or Vaterland since both of these ships made regular runs between Hamburg and New York. David, however, yearned to see move of the world so he left these large prestigious liners behind and signed on to the freighter Saxonia which would take him to the far corners of the world.

The Saxonia took David beyond the Atlantic to the far east including Japan,

but was unable complete its journey due to the outbreak of war.

By September of 1914 David's ship had reached the Puget Sound in Washington Seattle, Washington. The Saxonia was interned at Eagle Harbor by the United States which was at that time still neutral.

In August 1915 David was exercising his land legs again and temporarily residing at the Hotel Tacoma in Tacoma Washington.

By March 1918 David had wandered to the east coast where he was discovered by the authorities. He was detained at the Internment Station in Hot Springs, North Carolina before being transferred to the detention house in New Orleans, Louisiana.

S.S. Saxonia / U.S.S. Savannah AS 8

April 6,1917

Immediately after the declaration of war, the Navy seized the 10,000-ton German freighter Saxonia in Eagle Harbor. On May 8, the ship was brought to Puget Sound Naval Yard for a $150,000 refitting. The May 11 issue of The Bremerton News reported shipyard workers were "enjoying the anticipated fun of quickly finishing the job on the big freighter for the purpose of putting her under 'Old Glory' and putting her into use to help turn the tide of war against the Imperial Government." The Sun newspaper of Bremerton, Wash

Images and information about the Imperator and Vaterland was obtained from "Great Ships" at www.greatships.net.

Laws of War : Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers and Persons in Case of War on Land (Hague V); October 18, 1907
Laws of War : Status of Enemy Merchant Ships at the Outbreak of Hostilities (Hague VI); October 18, 1907
Laws of War : Conversion of Merchant Ships into War Ships (Hague VII); October 18, 1907
Laws of War : Restrictions With Regard to the Exercise of the Right of Capture in Naval War (Hague XI); October 18, 1907
Laws of War : Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers in Naval War (Hague XIII); October 18, 1907
Manual of the Laws of Naval War, Oxford, Adopted by the International Institute of International Law, August 9, 1913.

President Wilson's Declaration of Neutrality
The Status of Armed Merchant Vessels
The Political Development of US Neutrality Policy, 1914-1915