SS "Cantabria" (5649 tons) was built in 1919 as "War Chief" at the shipyards of J. Coughlan &amp; Sons, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She was purchased by A.F. Pérez of Santander in 1919 and renamed "Alfonso Pérez". She was used as a prison ship during the Asturian miners' strike of 1934. In 1937 she was requisitioned by the "Departamento de Navegación" of Santander for the Republican government and renamed "Cantabria". She was registered at the Bay of Biscay port of Santander in northern Spain, where she was used again as a prison ship by Republican authorities.