S.S. Yorktown was launched 10 February 1894 by Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works, Chester, Pennsylvania for the Old Dominion Steamship Company for the company's overnight New York City/Norfolk, Virginia service. The United States Navy purchased Yorktown on 21 April 1898 to be commissioned as the second USS Resolute, an auxiliary cruiser and transport that saw naval service during the Spanish–American War 1898–1899. The United States Department of War acquired the ship on 22 January 1900 for service as the United States Army Transport (USAT) Rawlings. The ship was sold to the Merchants and Miners Transportation Company of Baltimore, Maryland on 27 July 1901 and renamed Powhatan. Powhatan was wrecked in 1916 and in 1919 rebuilt as the world's first turbo-electric propelled p