USS Santa Olivia
Cargo ship and troop transport in the United States Navy / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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.
USS Santa Olivia (SP-3125), location unknown, 1919 | |
History | |
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Name | USS Santa Olivia (SP-3125) |
Owner |
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Operator |
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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 |
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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 |
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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 |
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 W. R. Grace & Co. in late 1919 as the freighter SS Santa Olivia, operating between the United States and South America. In 1922, the vessel was transferred to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company and used in United States intercoastal service. In 1925, Santa Olivia was sold to the American Hawaiian Steamship Company. Renamed SS Kansan, the ship remained in intercoastal service into the 1930s. During World War II, Kansan transported aircraft, explosives and other vital supplies in convoy to the United Kingdom during the Battle of the Atlantic.
After the war, Kansan was sold to a Panamanian company and renamed SS Jackstar. Jackstar survived bombardment by Arab forces while unloading cargoes at Tel Aviv, Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The ship was sold for scrap in 1954.