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W. R.
Grace and Co. was
founded in Peru
in the mid-19th century by the Irish-born Grace brothers, William
Russel and
Michael to engage in the guano trade.
They prospered, especially in
the exporting of guano from the Chincha
Islands
to the United States,
where this fertilizer as in considerable demand using sailing ships.
In 1865, leaving Michael in charge of their interests in Callao,
William established the firm of W.R. Grace & Co., in New York. By
1880 he had become a leading citizen
and was twice elected Mayor of New York, despite opposition from
Tammany. In
the 1880's the company entered the steamship business with a line of
freighters
running from New York to the South
American
west coast via the Strait of Magellan
flying
the British flag. What later became the Grace Line originated in 1882
as a line
of sailing vessels between Peru
and New York.
Grace's
original
British-flag ships had black hulls, white painted masts and booms, and
a green
stack with a black top. After the First World War successors were
painted grey,
with masts and booms of the usual mast colour. Hulls became black again
in 1928
and masts and booms reverted to white in 1932. (about 1959-60 Grace
passenger
ships again turned to grey hulls).
The early British-flag freighters all had names beginning with C, such
as
CACIQUE, CAPAC, CHINCHA; Names which were later repeated in ships under
the
American flag. Later
Grace started a service from the Pacific coast of the United States to the west coast of
South America,
and in 1913 took delivery of the 4,826 gross ton, 400-foot Santa Cruz from William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia for
this run. She was their
first American flag ship and was especially designed to carry a large
deckload
of lumber, as well as 48 passengers. three boilers provided steam for a
2400
horsepower triple expansion engine, which gave her a speed of 11-12
knots. She
introduced the green funnel with white band and black top which
continued to be
the Grace stack colours.
Grace established regular steamship service in 1893 with a subsidiary
called
the New York & Pacific Steamship Co., operating under the British
flag
because ships built outside the United
States
were banned from US
registry until 1905. US-flag service began in 1912 with the Atlantic
and Pacific Steamship Company. The activities of both companies and the
parent
firm were consolidated into the Grace Steamship Company beginning in
1916. The
firm originally specialized in traffic to the west coast of South
America; then
expanded into the Caribbean.
COLUSA, of 5873 gross tons
and 424 feet, was also built in 1913, by Hamilton of Port Glasgow,
Scotland,
for the same service as the SANTA
CRUZ.
She was Grace's last ship for British-flag operations. Three boilers
and a
quadruple expansion engine of 3500 horsepower gave her a service speed
of 12
knots. She too, was built to carry large loads of lumber on deck. She
had four
masts at first, but was later given a fifth with a 100 ton boom, and
handled
fully assembled steam locomotives for the South American ports. Her 36
passenger capacity was later increased to 50.
In 1914 COLUSA was transferred to the U.S. flag and was renamed
Santa
Cecelia (a misspelling of CECILIA). Some of the British-flag ships were
lost by
enemy action, and only two were left at the end of the First World War.
Grace
also operated a cargo service from Seattle
to Chile
with way calls along the coast. To restore Transpacific service, Grace
bought in 1915 three ships under
construction in Holland; Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela, laid down for
the
Royal Netherlands West India Mail, these had been intended to run down
to the
west coast of South America via the Panama Canal, but had been sold on
the
stocks to the Norwegian owner Chr. Hannevig, who proposed to use them
between
New York and the South American east coast, a run discontinued by
Lamport and
Holt and Booth Line because of the war. Hannevig, however accepted
Grace's
offer to buy the ships before they were completed. Colombia
kept her name until she
was lost. This unlucky ship first ran aground on Cano Island
off Costa Rica
in 1923, remaining there
two months. Practically her whole bottom had to be removed in drydock
at
Balboa. In the fall of 1931 she went to her grave on the south end of Margarita Island off lower California. Venezuela struck a mine on the way out
from Holland and was repaired in England.
In 1916 Grace decided to institute a passenger service from New York to
ports
on the west coast of South America as far as Valparaiso, Chile, and
contracted
for five ships; SANTA ANA, SANTA LUISA, SANTA TERESA (By Cramp) and
SANTA ELISA
and SANTA LEONORA (by New York Shipbuilding). These 110 passenger ships
were
376 feet long with a gross tonnage of 5800. They had four boilers each
and
quadruple sxpansion engine of 3300 hp. in the Cramp ships and 3400 in
the
others. Their service speed of 13 knots could be exceeded by a knot.
The United States Shipping Board took these five ships over for
transport duty.
By the time the troops had been carried back from France,
Grace had decided that four would be sufficient for the intended
service, and
declined return of the SANTA LEONORA, which went to the Navy and became
the
submarine tender CANOPUS,
ultimately lost in the Philipines early in 1942. In 1926 the secondary
service
from New York as far as Antofagasta, Chile was begun with the SANTA
CRUZ, which
was joined in the following year by SANTA CECI(E)?LIA ( ex COLUSA)
Also in 1916, the company acquired a controlling interest in the
venerable Pacific
Mail Steamship Company, premier west coast and transpacific operator,
which had
already sold its big ships and retained only the lesser vessels of the
Central
American service. In
1921 the Shipping Board allocated five 535 ft. President class ships
for
Transpacific operation by Pacific Mail Line. these were PRESIDENT
CLEVELAND,
(ex GOLDEN STATE),
PRESIDENT LINCOLN (ex HOOSIER
STATE), PRESIDENT PIERCE
(ex HAWKEYE STATE), PRESIDENT TAFT
(ex BUCKEYE STATE)
and PRESIDENT WILSON (ex EMPIRE
STATE).
COLOMBIA, ECUADOR and VENEZUELA were thus
displaced and
in the following year were transferred from the far east run to the
intercostal
run. At the same time Grace placed on the same run the freighters SANTA BARBARA, SANTA CLARA,
SANTA MALTA, SANTA
OLIVIA, SANTA PAULA and SANTA ROSA.
These six , making connection with the President
ships at San Francisco,
provided fast freight service from Atlantic ports to the far east.
In 1923 the Shipping Board
invited bids for the sale of the President
ships
operated by Pacific Mail. The Dollar Line outbid Grace and was awarded
the
vessels. Finding itself without ships suitable for the transpacific
trade,
Pacific Mail sold its registered name and goodwill to Dollar. Grace now
without
a transpacific connecting service, had no further use for the six
intercostal
freighters and sold them off to the American Hawaiian Line.
At this time Grace formed a new entity, the Panama Mail Company, to
operate the
small ships formerly owned and used by the Pacific Mail in the Central
American
trade, these ships not having been involved in the sale to Dollar. COLOMBIA, ECUADOR
and VENEZUELA
also remained under Grace Ownership. <>
In 1928 to meet competition from the Pacific Steam Navigation Company
and the
Chilean Line, Grace took delivery of SANTA BARBARA
and SANTA MARIA,
which were a great improvement over previous ships. As it was then
permissable
to build ships in foreign countries for U.S.
flag operation and retain eligibility for mail contracts, these sisters
were
constructed by the Furness Shipbuilding Company in Haverton-on-Tees, England.
Each had two 8-cylinder, 2 cycle Sulzer diesel engines of 4000 hp.
apiece. They
were the first large motor passenger ships to sail under the U.S.
flag.
The service speed of these 150 passenger vessels was 16 knots, their
overall
length 480 ft. and their gross tonnage 8000. In later years , after the
advent
of the 18 knot SANTA CLARA,
a project for increasing the speed of these ships was considered. It
was
proposed to install a third 4000 hp. diesel engine which would transmit
power
to the two propeller shafts through a generator and two electric
motors. In
view of their somewhat old-style passenger accommodations, however,
these plans
did not materialize. <>
Since only four ships were required for the Valparaiso
service, SANTA ANA and SANTA LUISA were
transferred to the Panama Mail's New York-San Francisco run and were
renamed
respectively GUATEMALA
and EL SALVADOR.
In 1929 SANTA INEZ and SANTA RITA joined the fleet. Apart from cruiser
stern,
short funnel and diesel propulsion, these ships built by Burmeister
& Wain
of Copenhagen, were much like the SANTA ANA class.
Measuring 5000 tons and 386 ft. overall, they had accommodations for
125
passengers in two classes. Each had two six cylinder, 4 cycle, 3600 HP
main
engines, giving a service speed of 13 knots. SANTA RITA made 15.1 on
her
trials. This pain joined SANTA CECILIA and SANTA
CRUZ
in Grace's secondary service which was now extended to Valparaiso.
When SANTA CLARA
was added in 1930, it was decided to speed up the schedule, thus
rendering
superfluous SANTA ELISA and SANTA TERESA which entered the secondary
service.
replacing SANTA CECILIA and SANTA
CRUZ.
From the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, SANTA
CLARA
was a larger SANTA BARBARA,
20 ft. longer, two knots faster, and about the same tonnage. Her
propulsion was
quite different, however, two turboelectric units with a combined
output of
12,000 hp. The service that had required four ships was reduced to
three. SANTA BARBARA and SANTA MARIA had
to do their utmost to maintain the schedule
that called for about 17 knots.
Upon COLOMBIA'S
loss in 1931, the Grace ships SANTA ELISA and SANTA TERESA were
transferred to
Panama Mail, in order to have four vessels of the same capacity and
speed on
the New York San Francisco run. ECUADOR
and VENEZUELA,
respectively
renamed SANTA OLIVIA and SANTA ISABEL took the place of these two on
the
secondary South American service EL
SALVADOR
was renamed SANTA ANA and GUATEMALA
, SANTA CECILIA. The
previous SANTA CECILIA had been sold to Norway.
<>
Late in 1932 he depression forced the suspension of the secondary
service and SANTA ISABEL, SNTA INEZ,
SANTA OLIVIA & SANTA RITA
were tied up. This service was, however, resumed the following year.
To comply with its mail contracts, Grace had agreed to build four new
ships. These
the SANTA ROSA
class were ordered from Federal Shipbuilding Co. Kearney, New Jersey
and
delivered in 1932-1933. They were designed by William Francis Gibbs,
who had
also drawn plans of Matson's MALOLO and later to draw those of the AMERICA
and the record-breaker UNITED STATES. <>
These ships had some general resemblance to MALOLO, with her great beam
and low
stern. their original gross tonnage of 11,200 was later reduced to
9,100 by the
cutting of tonnage openings in # 6 shelter deck. Subsequently their
tonnage was
again changed, all of which reduced tonnage dues and Panama Canal tolls. Their overall length was 508
ft. and beam 72 ft.
Their power plants were at the time second to none in efficiency. Each
of the
water tube steam generators with a pressure of 430 lbs. produced 6000
hp. and
each ship could make 18-1/2 knots with only three boilers active. The
main
engines were double reduction turbines. The screws turned inward, and
for this
reason were very awkward to manoeuvre. The passenger capacity of the SANTA ROSA class
was 209
in first class and about 50 in steerage. Their public rooms were all on
the
promenade deck, with the dining salon extending two and a half decks in
height
to a roll back dome. The after dining room bulkhead was adorned with a
large
oil painting of a Grace clipper. Each cabin, whether single or double
was
equipped with private bath.
With the
new quartet the
Grace Line established the first passenger service between New York and Seattle.
Calls were made at Havana, Puerto Colombia, Cartagena,
Canal Zone, Punta Arenas, La Libertad, San Jose, Mazatlan,
Los Angeles, San
Francisco
and Victoria.
The first ship the SANTA ROSA
sailed November 26, 1932; the last, SANTA ELENA, April 4, 1933. New
York-
Seattle running time was 20 days, including one day in Los Angeles and two in San Francisco. Average speed 18-1/2
knots. Before the New York sailing,
each ship called at Philadelphia
for cargo only.
In 1934
the port time in New York was
greatly
reduced and the call at Philadelphia
eliminated. The time saved enabled the ships to make a shuttle run
between Seattle and San Francisco. The 20 knot service
and the ship's superior
accommodations to anything the Pacific Coast
shipping had to
offer made this an exceedingly popular run.
It was not long before other
companies complained that, since Grace
ships were
subsidized for foreign trade they should not compete in the coastwise
business.
By the end of 1934 Seattle ceased to be
a port
of call and the voyage ended in San Francisco. Since three ships
could now maintain the
service, the SANTA LUCIA was reassigned to the South American run. Late
in 1936
Grace acquired the Red D Line and it's Caribbean Service, and early in
1937 SANTA ROSA, SANTA
PAULA and
SANTA ELENA entered that service: New York
to Venezuela, Curacao, Colombia,
Cristobal and Haiti.
In addition to the services already mentioned, Grace operated several
cargo
runs, for which it built eight 12 knot freighters, between 1913 and
1919. These
all of about 10,000 deadweight tons. They were the SANTA
CATALINA, SANTA CECILIA and the six already mentioned as
running
intercoastal in the early 1920's. There was also a 13,000 ton tanker
NORA,
named for the daughter of J.P. Grace. all these freighters had been
sold by
1925 and the tanker was disposed of in 1932. SANTA
CATALINA by 1919 had become the USS BLACK HAWK, a destroyer
tender. <>
Early in 1936 Grace sold SANTA CECILIA (ex SANTA
ANA)
and SANTA TERESA to the Merchants & Miners Transportation Company,
SANTA
ELISA, SANTA ANA
(ex SANTA LUISA) went to the Alaska Steamship Company. SANTA INEZ and
SANTA
RITA were bought by the Navy in 1940 and the SANTA
BARBARA
and SANTA MARIA
also in 1940. SANTA OLIVIA and SANTA ISABEL
were also sold.
The Navy took over the SANTA LUCIA in 1942 ; as the USS LEEDSTOWN, she
was sunk
in the North African invasion. The SANTA ELENA was sunk the following
year off
the Philippville on the Algerian coast. SANTA CLARA
as the SUSAN B. ANTHONY went down in the Normandy
invasion.
Of the
ships built before
1939 only the SANTA ROSA and SANTA PAULA
survived. They continued to be
the flagships of the fleet until 1958 when they were replaced by sister
ships
of the same name.
The Government had six
uncompleted C2 type hulls and these were offered
to
Grace Line. Grace Line accepted the offer and had them converted to 52
passenger vessels. These "combos" became very popular and were a huge
success and Grace Line had three more built. The first six were fitted
out to
carry bananas from Ecuador
to New York.
The last three were to be on the Caribbean
run
and were not equipped to carry bananas. Graces postwar fleet consisted
of the
nine combos, the Santa Rosa and Santa Paula,
(which had been returned to
Grace Line and refitted again to the liners that they once were) and
nine C2
freighters. The Santa Rosa and Santa Paula served the Caribbean calling at
Curacao, La Guaira, Aruba, Kingston,
Port au Prince and Port Everglades, sailing from New York
every two weeks. The three Caribbean "combos" called at Santo Domingo, Puerto Cabello,
La Guaira, Maracaibo, Barranquilla, Cartagena,
Baltimore, Philadelphia
and New York.
The
other six "combos"
along with the C2 Freighters sailed from New York
to the West Coast of South America as far as Valparaiso.
In 1956 Grace decided to replace the Santa Rosa
and Santa Paula
with two new vessels. The new vessels a Gibbs & Cox design were to
be
called Santa Rosa and Santa Paula.
They were 15,000 gross tons and
584 feet overall with an 84 foot beam. The first vessel the Santa Rosa was
delivered in 1958. and the
second Santa Paula
soon followed. At this time cargo costs were escalating and cargo
offerings to
Venezuelan ports were declining and Grace decided that with the Santa Rosa and Santa Paula
and two freighters being converted to all container vessels would meet
the
requirements in the Caribbean. The
Santa
Eliana and Santa Leonor two C2 type vessels were converted to all
container
vessels. These were the first American container vessels in foreign
trade. The
converted Santa Eliana sailed for Venezuela January 1960 with
176 containers
containing powdered milk and other general cargoes. The longshoremen
refused to
unload the containers even though some sort of a previous agreement had
been
made by the agency. After 18 days an agreement was reached and the
Santa Eliana
was unloaded with the provision that no more vessels of this type would
be
used. The sailing of the Santa Leonor was cancelled and both vessels
were laid
up. <>
In 1959 The Saint Lawrence Seaway opened and Grace obtained approval
for an
operational subsidy for the Great Lakes
route.
The route would serve ports on the Great Lakes to Cuba, Haiti,
Dominican Republic,
Barbados
and ports on the north coast of Venezuela
and Colombia.
The decision to operate to the Great Lakes
proved to be a financial disaster for Grace and the run was given up
after one
season.
In 1960 Grace Line decided to replace the aging "Combos" with four
new 20 knot passenger vessels to carry approximately 100 passengers.
These
vessels were to serve the west coast of South
America.
They were 20,000 displacement tons 546 feet long with a 79 foot beam.
The names
were chosen to honour the four countries, Panama,
Colombia, Ecuador & Peru. They were designed
with all
new advanced cargo carrying devices. Each was fitted out to carry
360,000 cubic
feet of bananas (90,000 stems approx. 4000 tons) in three holds, on the
southbound voyage these areas were used for carrying autos or
palletized
cargoes which were loaded by a special pallet handling system. There
were 5
cargo elevators in 3 holds. The other two holds were container holds.
There
were four gantry cranes on deck which when married in pairs could
handle 40
foot containers. Container capacity was 175 twenty foot containers. The
four
"M" ships, as they were called carried 125 first class passengers.
Public rooms were spacious and tastefully decorated and there was a
large
outside tiled swimming pool. <>
About this time Grace decided to replace the aging freighters and six
new
freighters were built, The first of these was the Santa Lucia and these
ships
became known as the "L" ships. They were modern vessels with
refrigerated compartments for Chilean fruit and Ecuadorian bananas.
They were
equipped for 12 passengers in luxurious staterooms and had seven
hatches with
10 ton booms and two 30 ton booms and a 80 ton jumbo boom.
Things were normal until 1969 when the parent company W.R. Grace
decided to go
out of the steamship business and concentrate on chemical and other
company
ventures. Grace Line was sold to Prudential Line, a small line owned by
Skouras
of 20th Century Fox. At first the line was called Prudential Grace
Lines and
later the Grace was dropped and it became just Prudential Line. The
ships were
operated as before with most of the same personnel aboard but in 1970
Prudential decided to suspend the Caribbean service and the Santa Rosa and Santa Paula
were laid up, never to sail under the American Flag again. The "M"
ships were sailed as freighters until 1972 when three were transferred
to the
west coast. They were once again returned to passenger ship status.
They sailed
from San Francisco, north to Tacoma
and Vancouver thence through the Panama
Canal
calling at ports on the east coast of South America then through the
Strait of
Magellan to call at ports on the west coast of South America and thence
return
to Los Angeles and San Francisco. This was a 59 day
voyage. The
Santa Magdalena remained on the east coast until 1974 when she too was
transferred to the west coast to sail with the other three.
In 1978 the Prudential Line was
taken over
by Delta Lines, In 1983 there
was a sharp drop in cargo bookings to South America and operations
began to
wind down. The six "L" class freighters were laid up and finally
sold. The four "M" ships continued to run until 1984 when all
operation of the former Grace Line Santas ceased.
At its peak, the Grace Line was a major force in American
merchant
shipping. Shortly after World War II it owned 23 ships totaling 188,000
gross
tons, plus 14 more on bareboat charters.
In 1982
Delta Lines was sold
to Crowley Maritime. Then in 1985 they sold Delta Lines to United
States Lines,
who merged the Delta Lines fleet into their own thus Delta Lines ceased
as an
independent company. However in the end United States Lines went
bankrupt in
1986 due to financial difficulties caused by too rapid expansion. The
service
was gradually phased out between 1986 and 1989 and the company was
formally
liquidated in 1992.
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