# SS Aloha State

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SS Aloha State History Name Sea Snipe (1942–47)[1] Edward Luckenbach (1947–60) Aloha State (1960–71) Owner United States Maritime Commission Luckenbach Steamship Co. (1948-59) States Marine Lines (1959-71) Operator War Shipping Administration by American President Lines, Ltd. (1943-46) British Ministry of War Transport (1946) Luckenbach Steamship Co. (1948-59) States Marine Lines (1959-71) 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 Official number: 243297 Call letters: KOIQ[2] 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 Twin General Electric boilers, single screw shaft

***Aloha State*** built by [Western Pipe and Steel Company](/source/Western_Pipe_and_Steel_Company), San Francisco, as ***Sea Snipe*** for the [United States Maritime Commission](/source/United_States_Maritime_Commission) as a standard [Type C3-S-A2](/source/Type_C3-class_ship) 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 the [War Shipping Administration](/source/War_Shipping_Administration) (WSA) upon completion. [American President Lines](/source/American_President_Lines) operated the ship throughout the war under a WSA agreement.[1] The ship, after brief charter to the British [Ministry of War Transport](/source/Ministry_of_War_Transport) in 1946 and lay up in 1947 served as a civilian transport ship for 24 years, first as ***Edward Luckenbach*** for [Luckenbach Steamship Company](/source/Luckenbach_Steamship_Company) then *Aloha State* for [States Marine Lines](/source/States_Marine_Lines). The ship was scrapped in August 1971.

## World War II

*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 to [Townsville, Queensland](/source/Townsville%2C_Queensland), where it would haul both US and Australian troops to various locations in [New Guinea](/source/New_Guinea), [Indonesia](/source/Indonesia), and the South Pacific until return to San Francisco in November. The ship immediately made a round trip to [Brisbane](/source/Brisbane) returning 5 January 1944. *Sea Snipe* then made four round trip voyages from San Francisco in 1944.

- Departure on 20 January for [Milne Bay](/source/Milne_Bay), Brisbane, [Oro Bay](/source/Oro_Bay), [Buna](/source/Buna%2C_Papua_New_Guinea) and [Langemak](/source/Langemak_Bay).

- Departure on 9 April for Milne Bay, Oro Bay, [Lae](/source/Lae), Langemak, [Finschhafen](/source/Finschhafen), [Cape Gloucester (Papua New Guinea)](/source/Cape_Gloucester_(Papua_New_Guinea)) and Brisbane.

- Departure on 8 July to Milne Bay, Oro Bay, Finschhafen, [Manus Island](/source/Manus_Island), [Hollandia](/source/Jayapura) and Brisbane.

- Departure on 18 October to [Guadalcanal](/source/Guadalcanal), Milne Bay, Oro Bay, Hollandia, Brisbane and [Bougainville](/source/Bougainville_Island) with end of year return to San Francisco on 31 December.

The ship made two more Pacific voyages in 1945. The first departed San Francisco 6 February for Finschhafen, Hollandia, [Leyte](/source/Leyte), [Lingayen](/source/Lingayen), [Subic Bay](/source/Subic_Bay) and [Manila](/source/Manila) with return to Los Angeles. On 22 May the ship departed San Diego for Pearl Harbor, [Eniwetok](/source/Eniwetok) and [Guam](/source/Guam) returning to San Francisco in July. Later in July *Sea Snipe* departed for the Atlantic and [Marseille](/source/Marseille) for redeployment of troops to the Pacific.

Instead, with the Pacific war ended, the ship was redirected to [Hampton Roads](/source/Hampton_Roads) from which another round trip to Marseille was made returning on 27 September. From Baltimore the ship went to [Le Havre](/source/Le_Havre), returned to Boston, then [Naples](/source/Naples) 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]

## Civilian Service

In 1947, the [United States Maritime Commission](/source/United_States_Maritime_Commission), who owned the ship, sold *Sea 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 ship *Aloha State*, and it served as an international cargo ship until 1971. It was scrapped sometime between August 21 and 31, 1971, in [Kaohsiung](/source/Kaohsiung), [Taiwan](/source/Taiwan).[1][2][3]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-MARAD_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-MARAD_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-MARAD_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-MARAD_1-3) Maritime Administration. ["Sea Snipe"](https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/4486). *Ship History Database Vessel Status Card*. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 22 June 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-StatesL_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-StatesL_2-1) ["S.S. Aloha State"](http://www.statesmarinelines.com/ships/aloha_state.htm). *States Marine Lines*. Retrieved 22 June 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Charles_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Charles_3-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Charles_3-2) Charles, Roland W. (1947). [*Troopships of World War II*](https://web.archive.org/web/20150402123952/http://www.history.army.mil/documents/WWII/wwii_Troopships.pdf) (PDF). Washington: The Army Transportation Association. [LCCN](/source/LCCN_(identifier)) [47004779](https://lccn.loc.gov/47004779). Archived from [the original](http://www.history.army.mil/documents/WWII/wwii_Troopships.pdf) (PDF) on April 2, 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2019.

## External links

- ["Luckenbach Steamship Co., New York, 1850–1974"](http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/luckenbach.shtml). *The Ships List*. Retrieved 22 June 2019.

- George, Bob (August 4, 2006). ["On board the S. S. Sea Snipe"](https://books.google.com/books?id=gOfDnUhGAGgC&pg=PA13). *Aviation Engineers Avenge Pearl Harbor*. Lulu Books. p. 13. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9781411688483](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781411688483). Retrieved 22 June 2019.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [SS Aloha State](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Aloha_State) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Aloha_State?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.