USS Santa Olivia

USS Santa Olivia (SP-3125), location unknown, 1919
History
Name	USS Santa Olivia (SP-3125)
Owner	W. R. Grace & Co. (1918–25) American-Hawaiian Line (1925–46) Star Line of Panama (1946–55)
Operator	U.S. Navy (1918–19) W. R. Grace & Co. (1919–22) Pacific Mail SSC (1922–25) American-Hawaiian Line (1925–46) Star Line of Panama (1946–55)
Builder	William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia
Yard number	444
Launched	12 January 1918
Completed	May 1918
Acquired	May 1918
Commissioned	(USN): 1 Jul 1918 – 21 Jul 1919
Maiden voyage	16 Feb 1918
In service	16 Feb 1918 – 1950s
Renamed	Santa Olivia (1919) Kansan (1925) Jackstar (1946)
Fate	Scrapped, La Spezia, Italy, 30 December 1954
General characteristics
Type	Freighter
Tonnage	6,422 GRT, 3,877 NRT
Length	420 ft 6 ins
Beam	53 ft 7 ins
Draft	28 ft 4 ins
Depth of hold	34 ft 2 ins
Decks	3
Installed power	1 × 3,000 IHP , 4-cyl. quadruple expansion
Propulsion	Single screw
Speed	12 knots
Complement	USN service: 98 Merchant service: 41 (1950)
Armament	1 × 6 inch; 1 × 6-pdr
General characteristics
Type	Troop transport
Displacement	13,340 long tons
Troops	32 officers, 1,825 enlisted
Complement	21 officers, 168 enlisted
Notes	Other characteristics similar or identical to freighter

USS Santa Olivia (SP-3125) was a cargo ship and later troop transport that served with the United States Navy during and after World War I. The ship later went into merchant service as a freighter, and during World War II took part in a number of transatlantic convoys.

Built in 1918, Santa Olivia was acquired by the Navy on completion, and during the war made two voyages to France as a cargo ship. After the war, she was converted into a troop transport, and repatriated almost 7,500 U.S. troops in four round trips in 1919. A teenage Humphrey Bogart served aboard Santa Olivia in this period.

Decommissioned from the Navy, Santa Olivia entered merchant service for

Santa Olivia—a steel

Santa Olivia was 404.5 feet (123.3 m) in length, with a beam of 53 feet 7 inches (16.33 m), hold depth of 34 feet 2 inches (10.41 m) and draft of 28 feet 4 inches (8.64 m). She had a gross register tonnage of 6,422 and net register tonnage of 3,877. She had three decks, six waterproof bulkheads, two masts and a single smokestack, and was fitted with water ballast tanks.[4]

Santa Olivia was powered by a 3,000

On 1 July 1918, Santa Olivia was acquired by the Navy and commissioned at Philadelphia as USS Santa Olivia (SP-3125).[1]

Santa Olivia was assigned to the

With the war over, the foreign contingent of the American Cruiser and Transport Force withdrew, obliging the U.S. Navy to undertake a rapid expansion of its fleet of troop transports in order to quickly repatriate U.S. forces from France. A total of 56 ships were selected for conversion to troopships,^[6] including Santa Olivia. Santa Olivia was detached from NOTS on 20 December 1918^[1] and recommissioned as a troop transport the same day.^[7] Between 26 December 1918 and 14 February 1919, Santa Olivia was converted to a troop transport by the W. & A. Fletcher Company of Hoboken, New Jersey, at a cost of $150,778.^[7] After conversion, the ship had a troop capacity of 32 officers and 1,825 enlisted men,^[7] and a crew complement of 21 officers and 168 enlisted men.^[5]

Reassigned to the

Santa Olivia's commander during her naval service, George H. Miles, would later run afoul of the law. In 1922, while captain of SS President Van Buren, Miles was charged with murder for beating a deranged pantryman, who died the following day. Convicted of "inhumane treatment",[16] Miles was sentenced to 18 months' jail over the incident and lost his masters' licence.^[16][17][18] In February 1923, while out on bail pending an appeal of his conviction, Miles was arrested for alleged bootlegging.^[16] In 1930, Miles was again arrested by police, for attempted burglary.^[18]

Merchant service

1920s–1930s

After her naval decommission, Santa Olivia entered merchant service on or before September 1919

Santa Olivia was to remain in intercoastal service with Pacific Mail for some 2 1/2 years. During this time, her cargoes outbound from New York were miscellaneous; on a November 1922 passage to San Francisco, for example, the ship carried cement, rope, ink, lime juice, dates, canned corn and drugs.[24] Return cargoes included copper and lumber.^[27][28] Due to falling demand, Pacific Mail reduced its intercoastal schedule in October 1924 from one sailing every ten days to one every two weeks.^[29]

On 11 June 1925, W. R. Grace & Co. sold the six freighters of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, including Santa Olivia, to the

By late 1925, Kansan was shipping auto parts and general goods from the East to the West Coasts.[33]^[34][35] Return cargoes included dried fruit and canned goods.^[36][37][38] On 25 June 1926, Kansan grounded on a mudbank at Oakland, but was hauled off with no apparent damage by a tug.^[39]

By 1930, the ship was engaged in the transport of cotton and wool from New York to European ports such as

During World War II, Kansan remained under the ownership of American-Hawaiian.^[2] After America's entry into the war in December 1941, Kansan joined the convoy system, making several transatlantic trips from the U.S. to Great Britain during the Battle of the Atlantic.^[42]

Kansan's movements in the early part of the war are uncertain, but the ship is known to have voyaged from

On 13 November 1943, Kansan departed New York with a cargo of explosives and general goods bound for Liverpool, England, with convoy HX266, arriving Liverpool on the 27th. Returning to New York with convoy ON215 on 28 December, Kansan departed New York for Liverpool a second time on 22 January 1944 with convoy HX276, this time with a cargo of general goods and aircraft, arriving 7 February. After returning to New York with convoy ON226 between 29 February and 15 March, Kansan travelled to Boston, Massachusetts and Halifax, Nova Scotia, to pick up general cargoes bound for England before returning to New York 11 April. Kansan departed for her third and final wartime transatlantic crossing from New York to Liverpool with convoy HX287 on 14 April, arriving on the 26th.^[42]

After returning to New York with ON236 from 12 to 27 May, Kansan relocated over the next few weeks from New York to

In 1946, Kansan was sold to the Star Line of Panama and renamed SS Jackstar.[43]

On 12 July 1948, Jackstar arrived off

Jackstar was scrapped at La Spezia, Italy, In December 1954.^[2]

References