Source Information

Ancestry.com. U.S., Army Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists, 1910-1939 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
Original data:

Lists of Incoming Passengers, 1917-1938. Textual records, 360 Boxes. NAID: 6234465. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985, Record Group 92. The National Archives at College Park, Maryland.

Lists of Outgoing Passengers, 1917-1938. Textual records. 255 Boxes. NAID: 6234477. Records of the Office of the Quartermaster General, 1774-1985, Record Group 92. The National Archives at College Park, Maryland.

About U.S., Army Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists, 1910-1939

About This Collection

The U.S. Army Transport Service (ATS) was established in 1899 as part of the Army Quartermaster Department. It was originally created to manage the transport of troops and cargo on Army ships that travelled between U.S. and overseas ports during the Spanish-American War. During World War I, the Quartermaster Corps managed the Army's deepwater fleet.

The records in this collection consist of passenger lists created between 1910 and 1939. These lists recorded details on all persons arriving at U.S. ports on ATS ships. In addition to troops, passengers could also include nurses and other support personnel, family members, and any other passengers who may have been traveling onboard these ships. It may also include soldiers that lost their lives and were transported for burial. In some instances, troops from other countries traveled on U.S. Army ships as well. Details recorded in these passenger lists typically include the following information.

  • Ship name
  • Arrival date and place
  • Departure date and place
  • Service member's name, rank, service number, age, residence, next of kin with relationship, and the regiment, company, detachment, or other organization that the service member was attached to
  • For non-service members, relation to service member

Note: In 1942, after the U.S. entered World War II as a result of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7th, 1942, the U.S. Army Transport Service was absorbed into the U.S. Army Transportation Corp. For additional details on the history of U.S. Army transportation in general, see the website of the U.S. Army Transportation Corps.