SS California ( 1928 ) SS " California " was the World ' s first major ocean liner built with turbo - electric transmission . When she was also the largest merchant ship yet built in the USA , although she was a modest size compared with the biggest European liners of her era . In 1938 " California " was renamed SS " Uruguay " . From 1942 to 1946 she was operated through agents by the War Shipping Administration as the troopship " Uruguay " . She was returned to civilian service as SS " Uruguay " in 1948 , laid up in 1954 and scrapped in 1964 . Building . " California " was the first of three sister ships built by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Newport News , Virginia for the American Line Steamship Corporation , which at the time was part of J . P . Morgan ' s International Mercantile Marine Co . " California " was launched on 1 October 1927 and delivered to American Line on 13 January 1928 . Mrs . Roland Palmedo , wife of the businessman Roland Palmedo , sponsored the launch . " California " s sister SS " Virginia " was and the third of the trio , " Pennsylvania " , was . All three sisters entered the fleet of American Lines ' Panama Pacific Lines subsidiary . " California " was a steamship , with oil - fired furnaces heating her boilers to power two steam turbo generator s that ran at a constant 2 , 800 RPM . These supplied current to her - high electric propulsion motors , which had a combined rating of 2 , 833 NHP or 17 , 000 shp . The turbo - generators and propulsion motors were built by General Electric , which was the World pioneer of turbo - electric propulsion , having supplied the turbo - generators and electric motors for , the World ' s first turbo - electric ship , a decade earlier . " California " was equipped with submarine signalling apparatus and wireless direction finding equipment , and from about 1934 she was equipped with a gyrocompass . " California " s first class accommodation was air conditioned and some first class cabins had " en suite " bathrooms . With Panama Pacific Lines , " California " s two funnels would have been red with a blue top , with a white band dividing the blue from the red . SS " California " . Panama Pacific Line , part of the American Line Steamship Corp , operated " California " and her sisters between New York and San Francisco " via " the Panama Canal until 1938 . " California " , " Virginia " and " Pennsylvania " were subsidised to carry mail on this route for the United States Postal Service . In March 1936 an unofficial strike aboard " California " in port at San Pedro , Los Angeles , held without the sanction of the International Seamen ' s Union , led to the foundation of the National Maritime Union . The dispute was about wage rates and overtime payments . The strike lasted only three days but Panama Pacific never fully recovered from it . In June 1937 the United States Congress withdrew all maritime mail subsidies , which by then included a total of $ 450 , 000 " per " year for Panama Pacific ' s three liners . At the beginning of March 1938 the Panama Canal tolls were revised , increasing Panama Pacific ' s costs by $ 37 , 000 " per " year . As a result of these cost increases and continuing labor difficulties Panama Pacific discontinued its New York – California service and took all three liners out of service . " California " was the last to leave service , joining " Pennsylvania " and " Virginia " in New York at the beginning of May 1938 . In 1938 American Line sold the trio to the United States Maritime Commission , which laid them up . SS " Uruguay " . In 1938 Newport News Shipbuilding drydocked and extensively refurbished " California " as hull 377 . New propellers were fitted . All three sisters were fireproofed to comply with Federal safety regulations , which had been revised as a result of the fire in 1934 that destroyed the liner . " California " s state rooms were improved , her air conditioning was extended to her tourist class accommodation , a new swimming pool was installed , and her after deck was rebuilt with the addition of a veranda café . " California " had been built with two funnels but during the refit this was reduced to one . The refit increased " California " s tonnage by about 2 , 000 tons . On 4 October 1938 Moore - McCormack Lines contracted to operate " California " , " Virginia " , " Pennsylvania " and 10 cargo ships between the USA and South America as part of President Franklin D . Roosevelt ' s Good Neighbor policy . Moore - McCormack renamed the three passenger liners " Argentina " , " Brazil " and " Uruguay " , and assigned them to the fleet of its American Republics Lines subsidiary . On 17 January " Uruguay " became the first of the three sisters to depart from New York on Moore - McCormack ' s service to and from Buenos Aires " via " the Caribbean , Brazil and Montevideo . With Moore - McCormack Lines " California " s funnel would have been buff with a black top . A broad green band divided the buff from the black . On each side of the funnel the green band bore a red capital M within a white disk . Troop ship . When the USA entered the Second World War , " Uruguay " was returned to the Maritime Commission and the War Shipping Administration ( WSA ) had her converted into a troop ship . The work was carried out from 2 January 1942 to 1 March 1942 , and included the installation of a hospital . The ship , a large and fast vessel capable of independent voyages without escort , was operated by WSA agents in support of Army troop transport requirements . On 3 March 1942 " Uruguay " sailed from Brooklyn , New York carrying US troops . She sailed " via " the Panama Canal and Bora Bora , reaching Auckland , New Zealand on 9 April . She then sailed Melbourne , Australia and back to New Zealand . She left Wellington Harbour on 28 April carrying Royal New Zealand Air Force cadets , and arrived in San Francisco , California on 14 May . On 26 May " Uruguay " sailed from San Francisco carrying US troops , reaching Auckland on 12 June . On 6 August 1942 " Uruguay " left Brooklyn carrying the USAAF 301st Bombardment Group . She sailed " via " Halifax , Nova Scotia and Gourock , Scotland to Swansea , Wales , arriving on 25 August . In October and November 1942 " Uruguay " carried troops " via " Gibraltar to Oran , French Algeria in Operation Torch , the invasion of Vichy French North Africa . On 12 December 1942 she sailed from New York again with troops to Casablanca , French Morocco . On 8 February 1943 " Uruguay " sailed from New York with 5 , 000 troops bound for the UK . On 12 August in the North Atlantic the oil tanker suffered a steering fault and accidentally rammed " Uruguay " amidships . The tanker ' s bow made a hole in " Uruguay " s hull and penetrated her hospital , killing 13 soldiers and injuring 50 . One injured soldier , Sergeant Cecil Davis , landed on the tanker ' s deck , where he was not discovered until " Salamonie " had changed course to Bermuda for repairs . " Uruguay " s crew contained the damage by building a temporary bulkhead and three days later she reached harbor , also in Bermuda . President Franklin D . Roosevelt decorated " Uruguay " s Master , Captain Albert Spaulding , with the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal for saving many lives , his ship and her cargo . " Uruguay " was out of service for three months for repairs . On 15 May 1943 she left New York , heading " via " the Panama Canal to Brisbane , Australia . On 3 August she sailed from Los Angeles for Fremantle , Australia and Bombay , India . She crossed the Equator on 9 August , the International Date Line on 17 August and reached Bombay on 10 September . On 18 November " Uruguay " left Los Angeles . She called at Hobart , Tasmania on 6 December and reached Bombay on 26 December . " Uruguay " spent most of 1944 and the first half of 1945 crossing and re - crossing the North Atlantic . On 5 February she left New York for Liverpool , England . On 7 April she left Boston for Liverpool and the Firth of Clyde . On 12 May she left New York for the Clyde and Liverpool . On 3 July she left Boston for Liverpool . On 11 August she left New York for the Clyde . On 20 September she left New York for the River Mersey . On 30 October she left New York for an unrecorded destination in the United Kingdom . In November and December 1944 " Uruguay " took all the cadets of the West Point Military Academy from New York to Baltimore and back for the annual Army – Navy football game on 2 December . Three destroyers escorted " Uruguay " and the convoy kept close to shore because of the threat of German U - boats . The inshore voyage was rough and all the cadets were seasick , but their team beat the Navy 23 – 7 . On 9 December " Uruguay " left New York for Southampton , England . On 10 January 1945 she left Boston for the Solent , England and Le Havre , France . On 27 February she left New York for Le Harvre and Southampton . On 8 April she left New York for Southampton . On 19 May 1945 " Uruguay " left New York for Livorno , Italy . From Livorno she sailed " via " Gibraltar and the Panama Canal to Manila , Leyte , Honolulu and then San Francisco . On 22 September she left San Francisco and returned to Manila . On 22 November she left San Pedro for Yokohama . On 17 January 1946 " Uruguay " left San Francisco for Manila and Yokohama . On 15 February 1946 she left Yokohama carrying European diplomats and dignitaries whom Japan had detained during the Second World War , and wounded US soldiers . She sailed " via " the Panama Canal and took her European evacuees to Southampton . On 20 April 1946 " Uruguay " left New York for Le Havre . On 15 May 1946 she left New York for Southampton and Le Havre . In US Army service " Uruguay " carried a total of more than 200 , 000 US troops . Post War . On 25 June 1946 " Uruguay " reverted to the Maritime Commission and Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Kearny , New Jersey was awarded a $ 4 , 437 , 000 contract to convert her back into an ocean liner . On 23 June 1947 she entered Todd Shipyards ' No . 1 Graving Dock . Her hull was sand - blasted to bare metal , 87 of her steel plates and 85 , 000 rivets were replaced before she was repainted . Work was delayed by a shipyard workers ' strike but were completed on 6 September . " Uruguay " was extensively modernised and her interior was completely restyled in a restrained style designed by William F Schorn , who at the same time designed the new interior of her sister ship . On 23 January 1948 " Uruguay " left Todd Shipyards for an 18 - hour sea trial , and the next day the Maritime Commission restored her to Moore - McCormack Lines . Captain Spaulding resumed command and on 30 January " Uruguay " started a nine - day Caribbean cruise to Nassau and Havana . On 10 February 1948 " Uruguay " was given the US Navy Reserve pennant and her library was dedicated in memory of Thomas K Locke , a Moore - McCormack employee who died on active service as an infantry captain in the Second World War . On 12 February " Uruguay " sailed from New York on the Buenos Aires run for the first time since 1941 . On 17 June 1951 Albert Spaulding retired , having spent the last decade of his career in command of " Uruguay " . Captain Howard F Lane succeeded him . On her first voyage under Lane ' s command , " Uruguay " achieved her fastest time from Rio de Janeiro to Trinidad , covering the distance in six days , 14 hours and 42 minutes and averaging . On 8 August 1952 about out of New York " Uruguay " struck a submerged object that damaged and disabled one of her propellers . This caused excessive vibration , so she diverted to Newport News for the propeller to be repaired . Moore - McCormack deemed " Uruguay " to be the least efficient of the three sister ships , so in 1954 the company withdrew her from service . She completed her last South American voyage when she docked in the North River in New York on 29 March 1954 . Tugboat crews were on strike at the time so " Uruguay " docked unaided . She was transferred to the US Federal Government and was laid up as part of the James River Reserve Fleet at Fort Eustis , Virginia . Late in 1963 the United States Department of Commerce offered " Uruguay " for sale . In 1964 she was sold to the North American Smelting Co of Wilmington , Delaware for scrap . Notable passengers . In October 1935 the California politician William A . Sutherland died of a heart attack aboard " California " . In 1939 Carmen Miranda left Brazil aboard " Uruguay " to start her career in the USA . She arrived in New York on 18 May . In 1940 Leopold Stokowski and his All - American Youth Orchestra toured South America , and recorded native Brazilian music aboard " Uruguay " . In February 1943 the American Football coach Bear Bryant was " en route " to North Africa aboard " Uruguay " on the voyage when USS " Salamonie " accidentally rammed her . In November and December 1944 Bernie Abrams , Doc Blanchard , Glenn Davis , Alexander Haig and Brent Scowcroft were among the West Point Cadets who sailed from New York to Baltimore and back aboard " Uruguay " . In 1948 the golfer Henry Cotton sailed on " Uruguay " to South America . In 1950 the novelist Taylor Caldwell sailed on " Uruguay " .