SS Santa Rosa (1932)

Design and construction

Designed by Gibbs & Cox, Santa Rosa bore some resemblance to their later ships, the SS America and SS United States. such as his signature winged funnel. The public rooms were all on the promenade deck. The dining room was located on this deck between the two funnels and had an atrium stretching up two and a half decks. Unique for its day was a retractable roof which allowed the passenger to dine under the tropical sky. The Grace Line also employed female waitresses instead of male stewards. All first class cabins were outside twin beds and private baths.^{[dead link]}

Prewar Grace Line service

The Santa Rosa sailed on her maiden voyage on 26 November 1932. Her East-West coast route of New York-Seattle was 20 days and included a one-day call in Los Angeles and two days in San Francisco. The ship's service speed of 20 knots and her superior accommodation made her very popular compared to that offered by Pacific Coast shipping. In 1936 however the intercoastal service ended and Santa Rosa and her sisters transferred to service to the Caribbean.

World War II service

Santa Rosa was requisitioned by the US War Shipping Administration on 3 January 1942 with Grace Line operating the ship as agents and allocated to Army for troop service. Even in wartime gray, the ship retained her elegant oceanliner lines:

"..Further down and across the dock, the Grace Line passenger ship SS Santa Rosa, also lay waiting. She was painted wartime gray but she still flaunted her nubile twin funnels, sweeping bow and long, beautiful lines; She exuded an aura of speed, luxury, and moonlight tropical nights. The SS Santa Rosa was sexier than Rita Hayworth in a travel poster..."

Santa Rosa made 21 voyages from the east coast of the US from 1942-1945: one to Europe, one to Australia, one to India, and three to Africa.

Her wartime voyages included:

January 1942 - New York to Melbourne and Nouméa via the Panama Canal

April 1942 - Suez, Massaua, Adan, Durban

November 1942 - to the Clyde

November 1942 - to Casablanca

January 1943 - to Casablanca

February 1943 - Bermuda and Casablanca

April 1943 - Casablanca, Gibraltar, the Clyde, Algiers, and Phillippeville

August 1943 - Oran in Algeria

October 1943 - Boston to Swansea, the Clyde, Palermo, Newport UK

December 1943 - via Boston to Bristol and Newport

February 1944 - Belfast

March 1944 - from Boston to Avonmouth and Cardiff

May 1944 - via Norfolk to Naples and Gibraltar

July 1944 - via Norfolk to Oran, Naples, and Cape Henry

October 1944 - Marseilles, Oran, and Gibraltar

December 1944 - from Boston to Swansea and retuen to Boston

January 1945 - Le Havre and Southampton

February 1945 - to La Harve and Plymouth

March 1945 - to The Solent, Le Havre, Southampton

June 1945 - Southampton

July 1945 - Le Havre and Cherbourg with return to Hampton Roads, to Plymouth and Le Havre

August 1945 - Le Havre and Cherbourg with return to Hampton Roads, to Plymouth and Le Havre

September 1945 - Marseilles

October 1945 - from New York via Port Said to Karachi

December 1945 - from New York via Port Said to Karachi with return to New York in January 1946

The vessel was returned to Grace Line on 3 February 1947.

Postwar Grace Line service

After her war service she underwent repair and refit at the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company prior to redelivery to her owners. Santa Rosa returned to Grace Line and resumed the Caribbean service on 7 February 1947. In 1958, after 26 years of service, Santa Rosa was replaced by a larger liner of the same name. In June 1958 Santa Rosa was renamed Santa Paula. The older ship was laid up at Hoboken, NJ until 1961 when she was sold to Greek owners.

Typaldos Lines service

Santa Rosa was renamed Athinai and began a new career as a cruise ship for Typaldos Lines. A refit increased her accommodation and converted her to carry three classes of passengers. She entered service for her new owners for voyages in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and Adriatic. Athinai in her Typaldos Line livery appears briefly in a scene of the port of Piraeus, Greece, in the 1963 film The Bullfighter Advances. In 1968 the Typaldos Lines owners were arrested and the company disbanded after the Greek government investigation of the SS Heraklion incident found them guilty of manslaughter and negligence. The company's ships were taken over and sold except for two, including SS Athinai, who attracted no buyers and were subsequently laid up at Phaleron Bay.

1966–89

Santa Rosa/Athinai never returned to active service. In 1978 she was towed out of layup for use as a film set for Raise the Titanic. After a decade of neglect, and with fittings that did not appear to be out of place on a 1912 built ship, Athinai needed very little conversion work for filming the Titanic’s interiors. Her bows were painted to resemble Titanic and she was sprayed with concrete to simulate 68 years on the ocean floor. After the filming she was returned to Phaleron Bay. She remained for another ten years until 1989, when she was towed for scrapping at Aliağa, Turkey in a purge of derelict shipping.