SS Mariposa

For other ships of the same name, see Mariposa (disambiguation).
History
Name: SS Mariposa
Operator:
Builder: Fore River Shipyard, Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
Launched: 1931
Maiden voyage: 16 January 1932
In service:
  • 1932, as SS Mariposa
  • 1953, as SS Homeric
Fate: Scrapped in 1974
General characteristics
Type: Ocean liner
Tonnage: 18,017 GRT
Length: 632 ft (193 m)
Beam: 79 ft (24 m)
Propulsion: 2 × Bethlehem geared steam turbines, 28,450 shp (21,215.16 kW)
Speed: 22.84 knots (42.30 km/h; 26.28 mph)
Capacity: 704 passengers (475 first class, 229 cabin class)
Troops: 4,165[1]
Crew: 359

SS Mariposa was a luxury ocean liner launched in 1931; one of four ships in the Matson Lines "White Fleet" which included SS Monterey, SS Malolo and SS Lurline. It was later renamed the SS Homeric.

Career with Matson Lines

SS Mariposa was designed for service in the Pacific Ocean including regular stops in ports along the West Coast of the United States, Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. Her maiden voyage began 16 January 1932 in New York City where she sailed to Havana, transited the Panama Canal and berthed in the Port of Los Angeles before continuing on to tour ten more countries in the south and west Pacific.

War service

In World War II she operated under the War Shipping Administration[2] with allocation and close association with the U.S. Army, though not officially a U.S. Army Transport (U.S.A.T.),[3] serving as a fast troop carrier, bringing supplies and support forces to distant shores as well as rescuing persons stranded in foreign countries by the outbreak of war. Mariposa, with Navy designated troop capacity of 4,165 and speed of 20.5 knots, was one of the very large, fast transports, the largest nicknamed "Monsters," usually sailing without escort.[1]

War voyages

1946 Australia/New Zealand dependent voyages from Australia[21]

Career with Home Lines

In 1947 the ship was mothballed for six years at Union Iron Works in Alameda, California. Her engines were overhauled by Todd San Francisco Division. Home Lines bought her and renamed her SS Homeric, sailing her to Trieste for reconstruction to allow 1243 passengers: 147 First Class and 1,096 tourist class. Gross register tonnage increased to 18,563. Total length increased to 641 feet (195.5 meters). Home Lines operated her beginning 24 January 1955 for liner service between ports in the north Atlantic. In 1964 she replaced the SS Italia to steam on the regular run between New York and Nassau, Bahamas, though she in turn was shortly replaced by SS Oceanic. SS Homeric was reassigned to intra-Caribbean cruises. In 1973, a major fire destroyed much of her galley and restaurant and she was scrapped in Taiwan next to Holland America Line SS Nieuw Amsterdam in 1974.[22] During the ship breaking process, her sister ship, the Chandris Lines' Ellinis (ex-Lurline), suffered major engine damage on a cruise to Japan; Chandris was able to purchase one of the Mariposa engines from the ship breakers.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The SS President Coolidge was allocated to Navy by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) but never commissioned and thus was SS President Coolidge until sunk at Espiritu Santo 26 October 1942. The President Monroe was acquired and bareboat chartered by WSA, but not transferred to the Navy until 18 July 1943 and not commissioned until 20 August 1943 whereupon she became USS President Monroe (AP-104).

See also

References

Bibliography

Further reading

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