Sec. 2. That the Secretary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to appoint, subject to the approval of the President, a board of survey, whose duty it shall be to ascertain the actual value of the vessel, its equipment, appurtenances and all property contained therein, at the time of its taking, and to make a written report of their findings to the Secretary of the Navy, who shall preserve such report with the records of his department. These findings shall be considered as competent evidence in all proceedings on any claim for compensation. _And whereas_, the following vessels were, at the time of coming into the jurisdiction of the United States, owned in whole or in part by a corporation, citizen or subject of the Empire of Germany, a nation with which the United States is now at war, or were flying the flag of or under the register of the Empire of Germany, or of a political subdivision or municipality thereof: _Vaterland_ _Amerika_ _Kaiser Wilhelm II_ _President Grant_ _Pennsylvania_ _Rhaetia_ _Wittekind_ _Armenia_ _Adamsturm_ _Willehad_ _Serapis_ _Allemannia_ _Nassovia_ _Maia_ _Neptun_ _O. J. D. Ahlers_ _Prinz Waldemar_ _Loongmoon_ _Governeur Jaeschke_ _Darvel_ _Princess Alice_ _Wiegand_ _Bochum_ _Carl Diedrichsen_ _Coblenz_ _Esslingen_ _Lyeemoon_ _Pongtong_ _Sachsen_ _Suevia_ _Steinbeck_ _Elsass_ _Indra_ _Arnoldus Vinnen_ _Ottawa_ _Grunewald_ _Sachsenwald_ _Staatssekretar Solf_ _Aroa_ (Lighter) _George Washington_ _Kronprizessin Cecile_ _President Lincoln_ _Cincinnati_ _Bulgaria_ _Prinzess Irene_ _Hamburg_ _Neckar_ _Bohemia_ _Grosser Kurfurst_ _Barbarossa_ _Friedrich der Grosse_ _Rhein_ _Konig Wilhelm II_ _Köln_ _Prinz Oskar_ _Ockenfels_ _Arcadia_ _Pisa_ _Prinz Joachim_ _Harburg_ _Portonia_ _Clara Mennig_ _Pommern_ _Setos_ _Holsatia_ _Staatssekretar Kraetke_ _Borneo_ _Marudu_ _Tsintau_ _Andalusia_ _Camilla Rickmers_ _Clara Jebsen_ _Elmshorm_ _Johanne_ _Mark_ _Rajah_ _Sambia_ _Tubingen_ _Dalbek_ _Magdeburg_ _Matador_ _Kurt_ _Andromeda_ _Prinz Sigismund_ _Savoia_ _Arni_ (Lighter) _Argus_ (Lighter) IT IS, THEREFORE, ordered that through the United States Shipping Board there be taken over to the United States the possession and title of the aforementioned vessels. The United States Shipping Board is further hereby authorized to repair, equip and man the said vessels; to operate, lease or charter the same in any service of the United States, or in any commerce, foreign or coastwise; and to do and perform any and all things that may be necessary to accomplish the purposes of the Joint Resolution above set forth.