July 18, 1931
The Matson Navigation Company ocean liner SS Mariposa was launched at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. (That facility served as part of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation’s shipbuilding division.) Mariposa was built for service on a Pacific Ocean route between San Francisco, California, and Sydney, Australia. This ship was the largest passenger vessel constructed up to that time in New England and also the first of three luxury ocean liners built at the Fore River Shipyard as part of Matson’s “White Fleet” — those other vessels being SS Monterey and SS Lurline.
Quite a few dignitaries and thousands of others were on hand to watch Mary Barker Wallace, the wife of Matson’s vice president Wallace M. Alexander, christen the bow of Mariposa with a bottle filled with water from the harbor in Sydney. Mariposa, which measured 632 feet (193 meters) in length, could accommodate as many as 704 passengers. The ship’s first regular trip between San Francisco and Sydney took place that February.
Mariposa proved to be a popular liner, especially among Australians, and also distinguished herself as one of the fastest ships sailing in the Pacific Ocean during that time. Mariposa also was among the first liners to feature air-conditioning on board, a welcome innovation for passengers having to deal with the heat and humidity of the South Pacific.
Mariposa was pressed into U.S. military service during World War II to transport supplies and armed forces and also to rescue individuals stranded in foreign countries. About eight years after the end of that global conflict, Mariposa was sold to the Italian passenger shipping company Home Lines and renamed SS Homeric. This ship remained in use for cruises until a major fire on board in 1973 led to her being scrapped.
Photo Credit: Public Domain
For more information on SS Mariposa, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Mariposa_(1931)
Transportation History 
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