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SS Mariposa
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Name
SS Mariposa
Fate
Scrapped in 1974
Launched
1931
Maiden voyage
16 January 1932
Type
Ocean liner
Length
193 m
Operator
Matson Lines
Home Lines
In service
1932, as SS Mariposa
1953, as SS Homeric
Builders
Fore River Shipyard, Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
Ss mariposa later homeric matson line kid thomas my blue heaven
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.
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 with allocation and close association with the U.S. Army, though not officially a U.S. Army Transport (U.S.A.T.), 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.
War voyages
26 December 1941 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 USS Phoenix with two other troopships SS President Coolidge and the SS President Monroe (destined for Suva). This was the first large convoy to Australia after Pearl Harbor with Mariposa transporting Army personnel, ammunition and, combined with Coolidge, fifty P-40 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 (ABDA) area after the Australian bound ships reached Melbourne on 1 February 1942. 35th Pursuit Group commander Clinton D. "Casey" Vincent was aboard. Mariposa made a brief stop 2 February 1942 in Melbourne before proceeding on to Perth 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 Duntroon and Katoomba. Also on board was 'Brownout Strangler' Private Edward Leonski.
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
September 1942 arrived Karachi. The Mariposa arrived in New York City in early September with more than 100 American Volunteer Group (Flying Tigers) pilots and ground personnel aboard. They had been denied transport back to the United States on half-empty transport planes by the U.S Ferry Command.
21 December 1942 left Newport News, Virginia unescorted carrying 5,000 military passengers
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
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
mid November 1943 left Sydney Harbour bound for San Francisco. Duration 16 days. Among the passengers was the prominent Dutch pilot Ivan Smirnov (Romanized to "Smirnoff"). No Convoy.
late 1943 Los Angeles to Hobart, Tasmania with near-mutinous passengers due to bad food
26 December 1943 docked Hobart
early 1944 docked Bombay
9 March 1944 departed Los Angeles
8 April 1944 arrived Bombay
13 April 1944 left Bombay for Boston
23 May 1944 arrived Boston, MA
Spring 1944 New York to North Africa
8 August 1944 left Boston for Liverpool; sailed alone
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
1946 Australia/New Zealand dependent voyages from Australia
20 February 1946 (WSA operation) departed Brisbane, Australia, with 882 dependents
11 April 1946 (WSA operation) departed Brisbane, Australia, with 769 dependents
31 May 1946 (WSA operation) departed Brisbane, Australia, with 802 dependents
11 July 1946 (WSA operation) departed Sydney, Australia, with 230 dependents
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. 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.