SS El Oriente SS " El Oriente was a cargo ship built in 1910 for the Morgan Line , a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Company . During World War I , she was known as USS " El Oriente " ( ID - 4504 ) in service with the United States Navy . At the end of war , she reverted to her original name of SS " El Oriente " . During World War II she was chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC ) as SS " Henri Dunant ( sometimes also spelled Henry Dunant ) , but reverted to her original name of SS " El Oriente " at the end of the charter . SS " El Oriente " was one of four sister ships that carried cargo and a limited number of passengers for the Morgan Line . She was acquired by the U . S . Navy in July 1918 , and converted to carry horses and mules to France , and after the Armistice , was converted again to carry American troops home from Europe . " El Oriente " returned to the Morgan Line in 1919 and sailed with them until June 1941 , when the entire Morgan Line fleet was purchased by the United States Maritime Commission . " El Oriente " served as a civilian - crewed cargo ship during World War II , sailing primarily between the United States and the United Kingdom . In September 1944 , she was chartered by the ICRC and sailed under the Swiss flag carrying food parcels to American prisoners of war held in German camps . " Henri Dunant " continued to sail under Swiss charter until October 1945 , when she was returned to the United States and reverted to her former name . " El Oriente " was placed in the James River Reserve Fleet in November 1945 , and was sold for scrapping in July 1946 . Early career . SS " El Oriente " was a cargo and passenger steamship launched on 11 May 1910 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co . of Newport News , Virginia ( yard no . 132 ) , and delivered to the Atlantic division of the Morgan Line on 24 October 1910 . She was the third of four sister ships ; the other three being , " El Mundo " , and . " El Oriente " was , was long by abeam , and made . The vessel sailed for the Morgan Line , the brand name of the Southern Pacific Steamship Company ( a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad ) , which employed her to carry cargo and a limited number of passengers between New York ; New Orleans , the eastern terminus of the Southern Pacific line ; and Galveston , Texas . World War I . After the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917 , it ' s unclear what role , if any , " El Oriente " played early on in the war . Her sister ships and were both requisitioned by the United States Shipping Board ( USSB ) on behalf of the United States Army , and both were designated as animal transport ships . If " El Oriente " were used by the Army as an animal transport ship , she would have needed a refit which typically meant that any second - or third - class passenger accommodations had to be ripped out and replaced with ramps and stalls for the horses and mules carried . It is known that " El Oriente " sailed in an American convoy to France on 16 April 1918 with U . S . Navy transports , , , and , British transports " Czar " and " Czaritza " , and U . S . cruiser , and reached France on 28 April . The next recorded activity of " El Oriente " was on 29 July , when she was acquired by the U . S . Navy and commissioned the same day with Lieutenant Commander William Delahanty , USNRF , in command . " El Oriente " was assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service ( ) and carried animals and supplies for the U . S . Army , joining her two sister ships , and in that duty . " El Oriente " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s first Navy voyage to France began when she sailed from Newport News with 500 animals on 11 August . Unlike earlier animal transport crossings for the Army , where there was as much as a 4 % mortality rate , the voyages in August 1918 and after carried a transport veterinarian and a permanent veterinary detachment to care for the animals while on board the ship . As part of this new program , " El Oriente " delivered her full load of horses and mules — suffering no losses — at Bordeaux on 2 September . " El Oriente " made an additional roundtrip with 500 more animals in October , losing only three of her equine cargo during the voyage . " El Oriente " continued sailing for the through April 1919 , sometimes carrying a small numer of troops on return voyages to the United States . At that time " El Oriente " was converted to carry troops , and assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force to help return larger numbers American servicemen from Europe . She sailed on 11 June for Bordeaux and returned with officers and men of the 6th Cavalry Regiment on 4 July . She made additional voyages in July and August , returning 978 members of the 3rd Infantry Division to Philadelphia on the latter voyage . In all , " El Oriente " returned 2 , 986 healthy and wounded American servicemen from France in three voyages . On 15 September at Philadelphia , " El Orente " was decommissioned , and returned to the Morgan Line soon after . Interwar civilian service . " El Oriente " resumed cargo service with the Morgan Line , and enjoyed a quiet career , typically sailing between New York and Galveston . One event of note occurred in February 1922 when , " El Oriente " came upon the wreck of the schooner " Caldwell H . Colt " , which had run aground on a reef near the Tortugas Light during a gale . When " El Oriente " came upon the hulk , only her captain remained alive , surviving without food or water for several days before his rescue . " El Oriente " continued on to Galveston and landed the man there . World War II . In June 1941 , the United States Maritime Commission ( USMC ) announced that it had requisitioned the entire Morgan Line fleet of ten ships , including " El Oriente " and her remaining sister ships , " El Occidente " and " El Mundo " . The ships were to finish previously scheduled cargo runs and be handed over to the USMC over the following six weeks . The USMC had been charged with assembling a U . S . fleet to " aid the democracies " fighting Germany in World War II , and paid $ 4 . 7 million for the ships and a further $ 2 . 6 million for repairs and refits . " El Oriente " was handed over to the USMC and assigned to United States Lines , Inc . , for operation . The cargo ship was placed under Panamanian registry by U . S . Lines . Little is known of " El Oriente " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s movements over the next eight months , but on 17 February " El Oriente " sailed from Houston , Texas , to Philadelphia and on to Reykjavík . From Reykjavík , she sailed to the Clyde , arriving there at the end of July . Over the next 5 months , " El Oriente " sailed around the British Isles , calling at Kirkwall , Belfast Lough , Barrow - in - Furness , and Liverpool , and back to Clyde in late December . From there , she sailed on one trip to Murmansk where she arrived on 27 January 1943 . Murmansk had limited port facilities and slow unloading of cargo ( often performed by Soviet women and political prisoners ) , which , coupled with inclement weather and long waits for convoy escorts , often required lengthy stays by Allied cargo ships . " El Oriente " was no exception , staying in Murmansk for nearly five weeks . To compound the lengthy wait ( and , often , accompanying boredom ) faced by cargo ships waiting to unload , the nearest German airfield was away — about 7 to 10 minutes flying time — which gave almost no advance warning of air raids . German dive bombers would silently glide in below Soviet anti - aircraft fire , drop their payloads , and fly away . " El Oriente " was caught in one such attack on 27 February , with four of the ship ' s Naval Armed Guard smen killed in the attack . " El Oriente " departed Kola Inlet on 1 March and returned to Liverpool , from which she sailed in a convoy for New York on 6 April , and returned to Belfast Lough in late June . After calling at Barry and Milford Haven , " El Oriente " began two roundtrips to New York at the end of June . In October the ship visited Loch Ewe , Methil , and Immingham before returning to New York again in November . After another transatlantic crossing and circuit amongst British ports , " El Oriente " returned to New York in May 1944 . In June , the cargo vessel sailed to Cuba , calling at Havana and Puerto Tarafa before returning to New York . She next sailed to Guaíra , Brazil ; Maracaibo , Venezuela ; and Júcaro , Cuba , before returning to New York in mid August . " El Oriente " sailed to Philadelphia in mid September in preparation for a charter . Red Cross ship . On 28 September 1944 , " El Oriente " was chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross , reflagged as a Swiss ship , and renamed SS " Henry Dunant " ( sometimes erroneously spelled as " Henri Dunant " ) , after Red Cross movement founder Henry Dunant . She was last of 14 ships chartered by Swiss interests to sail under the Swiss flag during World War II . On 5 October , " Henry Dunant " departed Philadelphia with a cargo of mail and 900 , 000 food parcels intended for Allied prisoners of war interned in German camps . " Henry Dunant " continued sailing for the ICRC through 24 October 1945 . The ship returned to Norfolk , resumed her former name of " El Oriente " , and entered the James River Reserve Fleet on 7 November 1945 . On 3 July 1946 , " El Oriente " was sold for scrapping to the Patapsco Scrap Co . , of Baltimore , Maryland , for $ 12 , 175 .