SS Santa Rosa (1932)
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SS Santa Rosa in Grace Line livery at Curaçao, c. 1930s.
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| History | |
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| Name: | SS Santa Rosa |
| Operator: | Grace Line (1932–41, 1947–58) |
| Port of registry: | New York |
| Route: | New York - Havana - Cristobal - the Panama Canal - Balboa - Puntarenas - La Libertad - San Jose de Guatemala - Mazatlan - Los Angeles - San Francisco - Victoria - Seattle. |
| Ordered: | 1930 |
| Builder: | Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company |
| Maiden voyage: | 26 November 1932 |
| Out of service: | 1958 |
| Fate: | Sold in 1961 |
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| Name: | Santa Rosa |
| Operator: | War Shipping Administration (1942–47) |
| Port of registry: | New York |
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| Name: | SS Athinai |
| Operator: | Aegean Steam Navigation Co (Typaldos Line) |
| Acquired: | 1961 |
| In service: | 1961 |
| Out of service: | 1966 |
| Homeport: | Piraeus, Greece |
| Fate: | Scrapped 1989, Aliaga, Izmir-Turkey |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Passenger/Cargo Liner |
| Tonnage: | 9,135 |
| Length: | 508 ft (155 m) |
| Beam: | 72 ft (22 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 steam turbines, double reduction geared to twin screws |
| Speed: | 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Capacity: | 209 First Class, 50 Tourist Class (as built) |
| Notes: | |
SS Santa Rosa (later SS Athinai) was a passenger and cargo ocean liner built for the Grace Line. She was one of four sister ships (the others being Santa Elena, Santa Lucia and Santa Paula) ordered in 1930 from the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Kearny, NJ. Her regular route included inter-coastal service between the east coast and the west coast of the USA via the Caribbean and the Panama Canal. She was the second of ultimately three vessels to bear the name Santa Rosa for the Grace Line. (The first Santa Rosa was a 1917-built ship that was sold in 1925.)
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]
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.
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:
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