SS Mariposa was a luxury ocean liner launched in 1931; one of four ships in the Matson Lines "White Fleet" which included , and. It was later renamed the SS Homeric.
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, 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 with two other troopships SS President Coolidge and the SS President Monroe. 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, 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 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before proceeding on to Perth The ship had been due to continue on with the Army fighter group to India but was withdrawn and the personnel and cargo transshipped into the two Australian transports and. Also on board was the 'Brownout Strangler', Private Edward Leonski.
19 March 1942: left San Francisco for Australia in a convoy that included
18 April 1942: left Melbourne, Australia, for the US, carrying Dutch military personnel that had evacuated Java after the loss to the Japanese Imperial Army. Arrived 3 May 1942 in San Francisco.
September 1942: arrived Karachi. The Mariposa'' arrived in New York City in early September with more than 100 American Volunteer Group 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
mid November 1943: left Sydney Harbour bound for San Francisco. Duration 16 days. Among the passengers was the prominent Dutch pilot Ivan Smirnov. No Convoy.
10 December 1943: departed Los Angeles for Hobart, Tasmania, with 4,500 railroad troops. No escort. During the voyage the men were near-mutinous due to bad food.
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. 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 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, suffered major engine damage on a cruise to Japan; Chandris was able to purchase one of the Mariposa engines from the ship breakers.
