- SS Mariposa
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For other ships of the same name, see Mariposa (disambiguation).
Career Name: SS Mariposa Operator: Matson Lines
Home LinesBuilder: Fore River Shipyard, Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation Launched: 1931 Maiden voyage: 16 January 1932 In service: 1932, as SS Mariposa
1942, as USAT Mariposa
1953, as SS HomericFate: Scrapped, 1974 General characteristics Type: Ocean liner Tonnage: 18,017 gross register tons (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) 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.
Contents
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 served the United States 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.
War voyages
- 12 January 1942 left San Francisco for Australia, with two other troopships (USS President Coolidge and USS President Monroe), accompanied by two destroyers and the light cruiser USS Phoenix. 35th Pursuit Group commander Clinton D. "Casey" Vincent was aboard.[1][2]
- 2 February 1942 arrived for a brief stop in Melbourne then on to Perth[3]
- 19 March 1942 left San Francisco for Australia in a convoy that included RMS Queen Elizabeth
- 28 May 1942 left Charleston, South Carolina stopping in Freetown for a week and Cape Town for a short stay before heading for Karachi[4]
- 24 July 1942 arrived Karachi
- 21 December 1942 left Newport News, Virginia unescorted carrying 5,000 military passengers[5]
- 3 January 1943: Overnight refueling at Rio de Janeiro
- 26 January 1943: Aden for overnight refueling
- 27 January 1943 disembarked outside Massawa
- 27 February 1943 disembarked Bombay
- 10 April 1943 arrived New York[6]
- 15 April 1943 left Brooklyn Navy Yard for Casablanca carrying military medical units and troops including some Tuskegee Airmen
- 24 April 1943 arrived Casablanca, French Morocco
- late 1943 Los Angeles to Hobart, Tasmania with near-mutinous passengers due to bad food[7]
- 26 December 1943 docked Hobart
- early 1944 docked Bombay
- 9 March 1944 departed Los Angeles
- 8 April 1944 arrived Bombay[8]
- 13 April 1944 left Bombay for Boston[9]
- 23 May 1944 arrived Boston, MA
- Spring 1944 New York to North Africa[10]
- 8 August 1944 left Boston for Liverpool; sailed alone[11]
- 14 August 1944 arrived Liverpool
- 30 August 1944 left Boston for Liverpool; sailed alone
- 7 September 1944 arrived Liverpool
- 1 December 1944 left Boston for Marseilles; sailed alone
- 10 December 1944 arrived Marseilles
- 8 January 1945 left Boston for Marseilles
- 18 January 1945 arrived Marseilles
- 7 May 1945 en route to the US on VE Day
- 17 October 1945 left Le Havre for Boston bringing troops home
- 24 October 1945 arrived Boston
Career with Home Lines
In 1947 the ship was mothballed for six years at Bethlehem-Alameda Shipyard 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 in 1974.[12] During the ship breaking process, her sister ship Ellinis (ex-Lurline) suffered major engine damage on a cruise to Japan; Chandris Lines was able to purchase one of the Mariposa engines from the ship breakers.
See also
- Matson Lines
- Home Lines
References
- ^ 1942 Troop Ship Crossings
- ^ McClure, Glenn E. Fire and Fall Back: the World War Two "CBI" story of "Casey" Vincent, p. 18. Universal City, Texas. Barnes Press. 1975.
- ^ Richard Baker. History of the 80th Depot Repair Squadron, 80th Air Depot Group
- ^ Eleazer, Wayne. Duncan's Hot Rod. Air Classics, May 2001
- ^ Massawa and Gura in WWII
- ^ http://search.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=View&r=an&dbid=7488&iid=NYT715_6696-0187&st=r&ssrc=&pid=3018001312&a=0
- ^ World War II through the eyes of the Cape Fear. Interview of James Louis Watters Transcript Number 226
- ^ CBI Order Of Battle 1365th MP Company (Avn) – 305 ASG; 1369th MP Company (Avn)
- ^ 1944 Troop Ship Crossings
- ^ Vernon Joseph Baker We never had a chance. And yet we did it
- ^ 1944 July–December Troop Ship Crossings
- ^ Detail on the SS Homeric
External links
Categories:- Ocean liners
- Cruise ships
- 1931 ships
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