| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name |
|
| Owner |
|
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry | United States |
| Builder | Western Pipe and Steel Company |
| Yard number | 84 |
| Laid down | August 8, 1942 |
| Launched | December 7, 1942 |
| Christened | December 7, 1942, by Mrs. Frank F. Kane |
| Completed | 29 May 1943 |
| Maiden voyage | August 13, 1943 |
| In service | May 29, 1943 |
| Out of service | August 4, 1971 |
| Fate | Scrapped in August 1971,Kaohsiung,Taiwan |
| Notes |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 7,870 tons |
| Length | 492 ft (150 m) |
| Beam | 69.7 ft (21.2 m) |
| Draft | 29.4 ft (9.0 m) |
| Decks | 2 decks and one shelter deck |
| Propulsion | TwinGeneral Electric boilers, single screw shaft |
Aloha State built byWestern Pipe and Steel Company, San Francisco, asSea Snipe for theUnited States Maritime Commission as a standardType C3-S-A2 transport ship. The ship was one of the first of the standard vessels modified into a troop transport.[3]Sea Snipe was completed 29 May 1943 and delivered to theWar Shipping Administration (WSA) upon completion.American President Lines operated the ship throughout the war under a WSA agreement.[1] The ship, after brief charter to the BritishMinistry of War Transport in 1946 and lay up in 1947 served as a civilian transport ship for 24 years, first asEdward Luckenbach forLuckenbach Steamship Company thenAloha State forStates Marine Lines. The ship was scrapped in August 1971.
Sea Snipe was capable of transporting 2,194 troops and 225,500 cubic feet (6,390 m3) of cargo. Its maiden voyage commenced on August 13, 1943 en route toTownsville, Queensland, where it would haul both US and Australian troops to various locations inNew Guinea,Indonesia, and the South Pacific until return to San Francisco in November. The ship immediately made a round trip toBrisbane returning 5 January 1944.Sea Snipe then made four round trip voyages from San Francisco in 1944.
The ship made two more Pacific voyages in 1945. The first departed San Francisco 6 February for Finschhafen, Hollandia,Leyte,Lingayen,Subic Bay andManila with return to Los Angeles. On 22 May the ship departed San Diego for Pearl Harbor,Eniwetok andGuam returning to San Francisco in July. Later in JulySea Snipe departed for the Atlantic andMarseille for redeployment of troops to the Pacific.
Instead, with the Pacific war ended, the ship was redirected toHampton Roads from which another round trip to Marseille was made returning on 27 September. From Baltimore the ship went toLe Havre, returned to Boston, thenNaples back to Boston. Another voyage was made to Naples with return to Hampton Roads then back to Le Havre. The ship then went to New York in December with more voyages scheduled. Serious boiler problems required major maintenance and cancellation of the scheduled 1946 voyages.[3] On 29 May 1946 the ship was allocated to the Ministry of War Transport under a bareboat charter.[1]
In 1947, theUnited States Maritime Commission, who owned the ship, soldSea Snipe to Luckenbach Steamship, after major repairs on the boiler were made. Luckenbach was purchasing many ex-World War II transports, to make up for ships that were lost in the war. Luckenbach, as a result of major corporate reorganization, sold the ship to States Marine Lines in 1960. They renamed the shipAloha State, and it served as an international cargo ship until 1971. It was scrapped sometime between August 21 and 31, 1971, inKaohsiung,Taiwan.[1][2][3]