SS ''Mariposa'' was an

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

launched in 1931, one of four ships in the

Matson Lines Matson, Inc., is an American shipping company, shipping and navigation services company headquartered in Honolulu, Hawaii. Founded in 1882, Matson, Inc.'s subsidiary Matson Navigation Company provides ocean shipping services across the Pacific O ...

"White Fleet", which included , , and . She was later renamed SS ''Homeric''.

Building

The

Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division was created in 1905 when the Bethlehem Steel Corporation of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, acquired the San Francisco-based shipyard Union Iron Works. In 1917, it was incorporated as Bethlehem Shipbuil ...

built ''Mariposa'' at

Quincy, Massachusetts Quincy ( ) is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county. Quincy is part of the Greater Boston area as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in ...

, completing her in December 1931. Her registered length was , her beam was , and her depth was . As built, her

tonnage Tonnage is a measure of the capacity of a ship, and is commonly used to assess fees on commercial shipping. The term derives from the taxation paid on '' tuns'' or casks of wine. In modern maritime usage, "tonnage" specifically refers to a cal ...

s were and . She had twin

screws A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the screw head, head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety ...

, each driven by three

steam turbines A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

via single reduction gearing.

Career with Matson Lines

''Mariposa'' was designed for service in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

, including regular stops in ports along the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the Contiguous United States, contig ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Her maiden voyage began 16 January 1932 in New York City, where she sailed to

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

, and berthed in the

Port of Los Angeles The Port of Los Angeles is a seaport managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. It occupies of land and water with of waterfront and adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach. Promoted as "Amer ...

before continuing on to tour 10 more countries in the south and west Pacific.

War service

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she operated under the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

with allocation and close association with the US Army, though not officially a US Army Transport, serving as a fast troop carrier, bringing supplies and support forces to distant shores and rescuing persons stranded in foreign countries by the outbreak of war. ''Mariposa'', with a Navy -designated troop capacity of 4,165 and speed of , was one of the very large, fast transports, the largest nicknamed "Monsters", usually sailing without escort.

War voyages

*26 December 1941: She left Honolulu, Hawaii, loaded with some military personnel and many military dependents accompanied by a destroyer escort, and arrived in San Francisco 1 January 1942. *12 January 1942: ''Mariposa'' left San Francisco in the "Australian — Suva" convoy escorted by two destroyers and the light cruiser with two other troopships SS ''President Coolidge'' and the SS ''President Monroe'' (destined for

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

).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 becam
USS ''President Monroe'' (AP-104)
This was the first large convoy to Australia after Pearl Harbor with ''Mariposa'' transporting Army personnel, ammunition and, combined with ''Coolidge'', fifty

P-40 The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter-bomber that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entr ...

fighters intended for the Philippines and Java. The thirteen officers selected by the War Department to form the core of what was to become MacArthur's headquarters in the Southwest Pacific Area Command being formed in Australia as United States Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA), known as the "Remember Pearl Harbor" Group, were embarked in ''Coolidge'' and ''Mariposa''. Most troops and equipment were intended to be sent on from Australia to the

American-British-Dutch-Australian Command The American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command, or ABDACOM, was the short-lived supreme command for all Allied forces in South East Asia in early 1942, during the Pacific War in World War II. The command consisted of the forces of Austra ...

(ABDA) area after the Australian bound ships reached

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on 1 February 1942. 35th Pursuit Group commander Clinton D. "Casey" Vincent was aboard. ''Mariposa'' made a brief stop 2 February 1942 in

before proceeding on to

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

The ship had been due to continue on with the Army fighter group to India but was withdrawn and the personnel and cargo transshipped into the two Australian transports and . Also on board was the 'Brownout Strangler', Private Edward Leonski. *19 March 1942: She left San Francisco for Australia in a convoy that included . *18 April 1942: She left Melbourne, Australia, for the US, carrying Dutch military personnel who had evacuated Java after the loss to the Japanese Imperial Army; she arrived 3 May 1942 in San Francisco. *28 May 1942: She left

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, stopping in

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

for a week and

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

for a short stay before heading for

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

.Eleazer, Wayne. ''Duncan's Hot Rod''. Air Classics, May 2001 *September 1942: She arrived at Karachi. ''Mariposa'' arrived in New York City in early September with more than 100

American Volunteer Group The American Volunteer Groups were Military volunteer, volunteer air units organized by the United States government to aid the Kuomintang, Nationalist government of China against Empire of Japan, Japan in the Second Sino-Japanese War. The only ...

(

Flying Tigers The First American Volunteer Group (AVG) of the Republic of China Air Force, nicknamed the Flying Tigers, was formed to help oppose the Japanese invasion of China. Operating in 1941–1942, it was composed of pilots from the United States Ar ...

) pilots and ground personnel aboard. They had been denied transport back to the United States on half-empty transport planes by the US Ferry Command. *21 December 1942: left

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an Independent city (United States), independent city in southeastern Virginia, United States. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the List of c ...

unescorted carrying 5,000 military passengers *3 January 1943: Overnight refueling at

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

*26 January 1943:

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

for overnight refueling *27 January 1943: She disembarked outside

Massawa Massawa or Mitsiwa ( ) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea Region, Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahlak Archipelago. It has been a historically important port for ...

*27 February 1943: Disembarked at

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

*10 April 1943: Arrived at New York City *15 April 1943: Left

Brooklyn Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York (state), New York, U.S. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a se ...

for Casablanca carrying military medical units and troops including some

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Fighter Group, 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of th ...

*24 April 1943: Arrived at

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

French Morocco The French protectorate in Morocco, also known as French Morocco, was the period of French colonial rule in Morocco that lasted from 1912 to 1956. The protectorate was officially established 30 March 1912, when Sultan Abd al-Hafid signed the ...

* Mid-November 1943: Left Sydney Harbour bound for San Francisco, for a 16-day cruise. Among the passengers was prominent Dutch pilot Ivan Smirnov (Romanized to "Smirnoff"). No convoy was used. *10 December 1943: She departed Los Angeles for

Hobart, Tasmania Hobart ( ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent (Tasmania), River Derwent, it is the southernmo ...

, with 4,500 railroad troops, with no escort. During the voyage, the men were near-mutinous due to bad food. *26 December 1943: Docked at Hobart *early 1944: Docked at Bombay *9 March 1944: Departed Los Angeles *8 April 1944: Arrived Bombay *13 April 1944: Left Bombay for Boston *23 May 1944: Arrived at Boston *Spring 1944: New York to North Africa *8 August 1944: Left Boston for

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

with no escort *14 August 1944: Arrived at Liverpool *30 August 1944: Left Boston for Liverpool, sailed alone *7 September 1944: Arrived Liverpool *1 December 1944: Left Boston for

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, sailed alone *10 December 1944: Arrived Marseille *8 January 1945: Left Boston for Marseille *18 January 1945: Arrived Marseille *7 May 1945: En route to the US on

VE Day Victory in Europe Day is the day celebrating the formal acceptance by the Allies of World War II of Germany's unconditional surrender of its armed forces on Tuesday, 8 May 1945; it marked the official surrender of all German military operations ...

*17 October 1945: Left

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

for Boston bringing troops home *24 October 1945: Arrived at Boston 1946 Australia/New Zealand dependent voyages from Australia *20 February 1946 (WSA operation): Departed Brisbane with 882 dependents *11 April 1946 (WSA operation): Departed Brisbane with 769 dependents *31 May 1946 (WSA operation): Departed Brisbane with 802 dependents *11 July 1946 (WSA operation): Departed Sydney with 230 dependents

Career with Home Lines

In 1947, the ship was mothballed for six years at

Union Iron Works Union Iron Works, located in San Francisco, California, on the southeast waterfront, was a central business within the large industrial zone of Potrero Point, for four decades at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. ...

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is built on an informal archipe ...

. Her engines were overhauled by Todd San Francisco Division.

Home Lines Home Lines was an Italian passenger shipping company that operated both ocean liners and cruise ships. The company was founded in 1946, and it ceased operations in 1988 when merged into Holland America Line. Although based in Genoa, Home Lines was ...

bought her and renamed her SS ''Homeric'', sailing her to

Trieste Trieste ( , ; ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital and largest city of the Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, as well as of the Province of Trieste, ...

for reconstruction to allow 1243 passengers: 147 first class and 1,096 tourist class. Her gross register tonnage increased to 18,563, and total length increased to 641 ft (195.5 m). Home Lines operated her beginning 24 January 1955 for liner service between ports in the north

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

. On 18 August 1956, ''Homeric''s bow struck the side of the Greek Line ship '' Columbia'' in fog in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. At the time,

tugs A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, such ...

were towing ''Homeric'' and ''Columbia'' was moored at a pier. About of ''Columbia''s starboard side were damaged, and some of her lifeboats were crushed. In 1964, she replaced SS ''Italia'' to steam on the regular run between New York and

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of The Bahamas. It is on the island of New Providence, which had a population of 246,329 in 2010, or just over 70% of the entire population of The Bahamas. As of April 2023, the preliminary results of ...

, though she, in turn, was shortly replaced by . SS ''Homeric'' was reassigned to intra-

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

cruises. In 1973, a major fire destroyed much of her galley and restaurant, and she was scrapped in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

next to

Holland America Line Holland America Line N.V. (HAL) is an American cruise line operating as a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Founded in 1873 in Rotterdam, Netherlands as the Netherlands-America Steamship Company (NASM), the company operated regular trans ...

SS ''Nieuw Amsterdam'' in 1974. During the

ship breaking Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sol ...

process, her sister ship, the Chandris Lines' ''Ellinis'' (ex-''Lurline''), suffered major engine damage on a cruise to

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

; Chandris was able to purchase one of the ''Mariposa'' engines from the ship breakers.

Notes

References

External links

Home Lines ocean liner and cruise ship postcards and photographsPhotos of twin funnel ships including ''SS Homeric''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mariposa (1931) 1931 ships Cruise ships of the United States Maritime incidents in 1956 Ocean liners Passenger ships of the United States Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts Steamships of the United States Troop ships of the War Shipping Administration World War II merchant ships of the United States