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.
To transport heavy freight across the Mississippi River in Vicksburg, Mississippi, where there is no bridge, the railroads used a pair of transfer ships to move railcars between the two sides. The SS Admiral descended from the SS Albatross, which was another ferry for railcars.