"powhatan" was declared a total loss by both owners and underwriters and remained unsalvaged for months until world war i demands for shipping and skyrocketing ship values resulted in the hulk being raised and taken into norfolk, virginia until a rehabilitation plan was established. "powatan", described as "rusted, wasted hulk of a ship" that "shipping men" described as "the most hopeless" after two years on mud flats, was "yanked" off the mud and towed to new york by morse tugs escorted as far as barnegat, new jersey by osprey with two eggs in a nest in the masthead lamp. at the morse dry dock and repair company brooklyn yard damaged and corroded plates and frames were removed along with all machinery and there "was scarcely a whole shell" by the time the rebuild that converted the ship into the world's first electric drive passenger ship, ss "cuba", began.