SS Santa Monica
From Our Contribution
 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | SS Santa Monica |
| Owner | US War Shipping Administration |
| Builder | Federal Shipbuilding & Drydock Co, Kearny< New Jersey. |
| Launched | 1939 |
| Completed | 1939 |
| In service | 1939 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Cargo |
| Tonnage | 7,194 tons |
| Length | 459' (139.9m) |
| Beam | 63' (19.2m) |
| Depth | 25'10" (7.89m) |
| Speed | 14 knots |
Remarks
The Santa Monica, a C2 type vessel, operated for two years as a freighter under her former name Red Jacket, before becoming a troop-carrier. On 12 Jan 1943 the ship left the US East Coast for Asian, and Middle East ports before returning to the US on 22 Jul 1943. On 15 Sep 1943 she sailed for the Pacific theatre before returning to the US West Coast on 26 Nov 1943.
On 26 June, the vessel left San Franciso on a six months' cruise which took her, via Honolulu, to the following places in or bordering the Pacfic Ocean: Eniwetok, Saipan, Espiritu, Santo, Manus Island, Hollandia, Madang, Bougainville, Cairns, Milne Bay, Torokina and Guadalcanal. In December 1944 she transported Australian troops from Brisbane to Mougainville. The Santa Monica returned to San Francisco on 5 Jan 1945. In Feb 1945 she sailed for Hawaii, Eniwetok and Saipan and return. In April she departed for Eniwetok, Ulithi and Okinawa. In July she proceeded from San Francisco to Eniwetok, Ulithi and various ports in the Philippines. Following her return to Los Angeles in October she next visited Saipan and Leyte before the end of the year. In February 1946 she sailed for the Philippines again, and in April for Yokohoma. She returned to San Francisco in late May, was renamed SS Bonita, and designated for assignment to the WSA laid-up fleet at Suisun Bay, Calif.
Soldiers carried
Brisbane to Bougainville 1 - 15 Dec 1944
Notes
Details come from Troopships of World War II, by Ronald W. Charles, Army Transportation Association, US Army.