SS Malolo
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Sailing as Queen Frederica, ca. 1960s
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| History | |
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| Name: | SS Malolo |
| Owner: |
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| Builder: | William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Laid down: | 1925 |
| Launched: | 26 June 1926 |
| Christened: | 26 June 1926 |
| Completed: | May 1927 |
| Maiden voyage: | 16 November 1927 |
| Renamed: |
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| Fate: | |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 17,226 gross register tons (GRT) (1927) |
| Length: | 582 ft (177 m) |
| Beam: | 83 ft (25 m) |
| Draught: | 30 ft 7 in (9.32 m) |
| Speed: |
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| Capacity: | 620 passengers (457 1st class, 163 Cabin class) |
SS Malolo (later known as Matsonia, Atlantic, and Queen Frederica) was an American ocean liner and cruise ship built by William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia in 1926 for the Matson Line. She was the first of a number of ships designed by William Francis Gibbs for the line, which did much to develop tourism in the Hawaiian Islands. In 1927 Matson commissioned its largest ship yet, the Malolo (flying fish) for the first-class luxury service between San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Honolulu. The Malolo and other Matson liners advertised superb public rooms, spacious cabins, swimming pools, a gymnasium, and a staff, including a hairdresser, to provide a high standard of service.
Malolo introduced improved safety standards which influenced all subsequent American passenger liners. On 25 May 1927 while on her sea trials in the western Atlantic, she collided with SS Jacob Christensen, a Norwegian freighter, with an impact equal to that when Titanic struck an iceberg and sank 15 years earlier. Malolo's advanced watertight compartments allowed her to stay afloat and sail into New York Harbor flooded with over 7,000 tons of sea water in her hull.
In 1937, Matson docked Malolo for a major refit. The lifeboats were moved two decks higher and the deck they vacated was enclosed to create additional berths including new "Lanai Suites". Existing cabins were greatly upgraded; the ship changed from a combination of 457 first class and 163 cabin class accommodations to 693 first class only. The transformed ship was rechristened Matsonia.
From early 1942 through April 1946 Matsonia was operated as a troop ship by the Matson Company as agent for the War Shipping Administration.
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