PROFILBARU.COM

	Matsonia in commercial service
History
Name	SS Matsonia
Owner	Matson Navigation Company
Builder	Newport News Ship Building Company; Newport News, Virginia;
Launched	1913
Fate	acquired by U.S. Navy, 22 January 1918
	Arriving in New York Harbor at the end of a voyage from Europe, 1919 with troops
History
United States
Name	USS Matsonia (ID-1589)
Acquired	22 January 1918
Commissioned	1 March 1918
Decommissioned	12 September 1919
Fate	returned to her former owner, 17 September 1919
History
Name	1919–1937: SS Matsonia; 1937–1940: SS Etolin;
Owner	1919–1937: Matson Navigation Company; 1937–1940: Alaska Packers Association;
Fate	chartered to the United States Army, August 1940
History
United States
Name	USAT Matsonia
Acquired	August 1940
In service	August 1940
Out of service	28 April 1946
Fate	transferred to James River Reserve Fleet, 28 April 1946; scrapped, 1957
General characteristics (as USS Matsonia, 1918–1919)
Displacement	16,800 tons (normal)
Length	501 ft 4 in (152.81 m)
Beam	58 ft 1 in (17.70 m)
Draft	29 ft (8.8 m) (mean)
Speed	17 knots (31 km/h)
Armament	4 × 6-inch (150 mm) guns; 2 × 1-pounder guns; 2 × machine guns;

USS Matsonia (ID-1589) was a troopship used by the United States Navy during World War I. Before and after her Navy service she was ocean liner SS Matsonia for the Matson Navigation Company. The liner was sold in 1937 to the Alaska Packers Association and renamed SS Etolin. Shortly before World War II, the ship was chartered by the United States Army as USAT Etolin. Transferred to the War Shipping Administration in 1946, Etolin was placed in the James River Reserve Fleet and ultimately scrapped in 1957.

History

Matsonia, built by the Newport News Ship Building Company of Newport News, Virginia, in 1913, served the Matson Navigation Company until taken over by the U.S. Shipping Board and turned over to the Navy at New York by way of the Panama Canal,^[1] 22 January 1918, for use as a troop transport. She was commissioned 1 March 1918, Captain John M. Luby in command.^[2]

Beginning 14 March, when she sailed for France with troops and Army cargo, Matsonia completed six round trips to Europe prior to the Armistice. The preparation to turn the Matsonia into a troop carrier involved ripping out mahogany staircases "as if they were worth nothing" and using every bit of space by rigging up 3,000 soldier bunks wherever they could be rigged. During her second France-bound trip during World War I the convoy was attacked by a German U-boat that was sunk about 800 meters from the Matsonia.^[1] During that time she transferred 13,329 passengers to Europe, and carried back only 10. After the Armistice she continued her transatlantic crossings to return over 23,000 troops in 8 voyages, ending such crossings at New York on 20 August 1919. She was decommissioned on 12 September 1919 and returned to her former owner on 17 September.^[2]

On 26 March 1937 S.S. Matsonia sailed from San Francisco to Honolulu with Captain F.A. Johnson, USNR, Commanding. In 1937, Matsonia was sold to Alaskan interests and renamed Etolin. The U.S. Army chartered her for troopship service in August 1940 and kept her through World War II, retaining her second name.^[3] On 5 December 1941 Etolin with 1,400 troops embarked departed San Francisco in company with the then chartered Army transport Tasker H. Bliss bound for the Philippines.^[4] The ships were turned back to San Francisco after the attack on Pearl Harbor and disembarked the troops 8–9 December.^[5] She made prewar voyages to the Philippines on voyages that included Alaska and Hawaii and, in early 1942, steamed down to South America before returning to the Hawaiian transport route. Later in that year, Etolin went to Baltimore, Maryland, where she was extensively overhauled. After arriving back at San Francisco, California, in July 1943, she operated from the U.S. to Australia and Hawaii. After repairs that lasted from the last part of 1944 through first seven months of 1945, USAT Etolin twice crossed the Pacific to Japan and Okinawa. During early 1946, she served between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Panama, before being turned over to the War Shipping Administration in late April 1946 for layup in the James River (Virginia) Reserve Fleet. Etolin was scrapped at Baltimore, Maryland, in 1957.^[3]

Notes

^ ^a ^b "Quartermaster Lester H. Smith's personal log of Matsonia and his second of three trips crossing the Atlantic April 30th, 1918". Christmas Whistler. c. 1918.
^ ^a ^b Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Matsonia.
^ ^a ^b Naval History & Heritage Command 2002.
^ Matloff & Snell 1953–59, p. 72.
^ Matloff & Snell 1953–59, fn p. 73.

References

Matloff, Maurice; Snell, Edwin M. (1953–59). The War Department: Strategic Planning For Coalition Warfare 1941–1942. United States Army in World War II. Washington, DC: Center of Military History, United States Army. LCCN 53061477.
Naval History & Heritage Command. "Matsonia". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History & Heritage Command. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
Naval History & Heritage Command (2002). "Matsonia (Passenger Steamship, 1913)". Online Image Library: Civilian Ships. Navy Department, Naval History & Heritage Command. Retrieved 27 May 2014.

External links

USS Matsonia (ID # 1589), 1918–1919 – On Board and Close Up Views (Naval History & Heritage Command: Online Library of Selected Images)
USS Matsonia (ID # 1589), 1918–1919 (Naval History & Heritage Command: Online Library of Selected Images)
Photo gallery of Matsonia at NavSource Naval History