The SS Admiral descended from the SS Albatross, a ferry for heavy vehicles owned by the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad. With no bridge over the Mississippi River at Vicksburg, Mississippi, the railroads accessed a pair of transfer ships to shuttle railcars across.
The SS Admiral and the SS Albatross were both ferries for heavy vehicles owned by the Yazoo and Mississippi Valley Railroad, used to transport railcars across the Mississippi River at Vicksburg, Mississippi.