SS Monterey SS " Monterey " was a luxury ocean liner launched on 10 October 1931 ; one of four ships in the Matson Lines " White Fleet " which included , and . " Monterey " , the third of four Matson ships designed by William Francis Gibbs was identical to " Mariposa " and very similar to her sister ship " Lurline " . During World War II she was used as a troopship operated as one of the large , fast transports capable of sailing independently by agents of the War Shipping Administration serving Army troop transport requirements . The ship was involved in an attack on a convoy near Cape Bougaroun . Career with Matson Lines . " Monterey " was built to promote travel to Hawaii and for Pacific Ocean liner service including regular stops in ports along the West Coast of the United States , Samoa , Fiji , New Zealand and Australia . On 12 May 1932 she took 83 passengers from New York City to the West Coast on a positioning cruise . Her maiden voyage officially began 3 June 1932 in San Francisco , California after which she made stops in Los Angeles , Honolulu , Auckland , Pago Pago , Suva , Sydney and Melbourne . She scored a public relations triumph when she carried much - appreciated supplies to the " Bear of Oakland " on Byrd ' s second expedition to the South Pole . War service . In World War II " Monterey " served as a fast troop carrier , often operating alone so she would not be slowed by formation navigation in a convoy . The United States Marine Corps chartered her in 1941 before the US declaration of war to carry 150 Chinese , Korean and Japanese missionaries and stranded US citizens back to San Francisco . Once home , she was quickly refitted to hold 3 , 500 soldiers . On 16 December 1941 she steamed to Hawaii with 3 , 349 fresh troops , returning with 800 casualties of the attack on Pearl Harbor . On 22 August 1942 , the ship was briefly acquired by the United States Navy for use as a troopship and assigned the name and designation USS " Alameda " ( AP - 68 ) , the second U . S . Navy ship to bear that name . However , she was returned to the War Shipping Administration on 25 September 1942 and thus never served under that name . Post - war name changes . On 26 September 1946 the " Monterey " arrived at Bethlehem - Alameda Shipyard in Alameda , California for refitting and return to passenger service with Matson . Money ran out on the project after 30 % of the work had been completed . For five years she sat idle in Alameda , then was purchased by the US Government in August 1952 . She was towed to the mothball fleet in nearby Suisun Bay . " Monterey " to " Matsonia " . Meanwhile , Matson was enjoying fair post - war success with " Lurline " and was looking to expand their passenger operation once more . Matson had a C4 " Mariner " class vessel undergoing conversion to a cruise ship for the Oceania and Australasia region ; this ship was originally named " Free State Mariner " but Matson had renamed her " Monterey " . Matson bought the old mothballed SS " Monterey " back from the US Government on 3 February 1956 and had to come up with a new name for her : she was rechristened SS " Matsonia " , replacing their earlier " Matsonia " which had been sold to Home Lines in 1954 and subsequently renamed . The new " Matsonia " ( ex - " Monterey " ) first sailed from New York to San Francisco on 22 May 1957 to team up with her sister " Lurline " on the San Francisco – Los Angeles – Honolulu run . " Matsonia " to " Lurline " . Within five years , profits from passenger service had fallen to the point where Matson decided to anchor " Matsonia " indefinitely in San Francisco Bay . Sister ship " Lurline " continued to operate but suffered a major turbine problem in February 1963 ; one that would require costly repairs . Instead of repairing " Lurline " , Matson sold the well - loved ship to Chandris Lines to be rechristened " Ellinis " . Stung by poor public opinion regarding the maneuver , Matson rechristened the former " Matsonia " ( ex - " Monterey " ) as the new " Lurline " on 6 December 1963 and returned her to service . " Lurline " to " Britanis " . By 1970 , passenger receipts were down so low that Matson chose to cease passenger liner service altogether . On 25 June 1970 , " Lurline " arrived in San Francisco to be sold to Chandris Lines . Five days later she steamed under new ownership out of the Golden Gate toward Piraeus with the new name " Britanis " . Service with Chandris Lines . At Piraeus , " Britanis " was greatly modified to hold 1 , 655 passengers , mainly by subdividing existing cabins and converting cargo holds to new cabin areas . She re - entered service on 21 February 1971 , leaving Southampton bound for Sydney and back ; a regular round - trip she would make for three years . In 1974 she saw service as a cruise ship in the Caribbean during winter and Europe during the summer . In May 1982 " Britanis " cruised between New York and Bermuda with a smaller capacity of 1 , 200 passengers . In winter 1983 – 1984 , " Britanis " sailed from Miami to the Caribbean , then sailed from New York in the summer . A major overhaul in 1986 included parts from her sister " Ellinis " ( ex - " Lurline " ) , some of which went to " Ellinis " from " Homeric " ( ex - " Mariposa " ) when " Homeric " was scrapped in 1974 . At this point , parts from three sister ships were now bound together in " Britanis " . The refit gave " Britanis " eight years of Caribbean cruising until 19 November 1994 . US Government charter . " Britanis " was chartered by the US Government in 1994 as a floating barracks for military personnel at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba . She suffered minor damage from an electrical fire , was repaired at US Government expense , then laid up at Tampa , Florida in late 1996 . Final years . Chandris opted to sell " Britanis " as part of a plan to cease cruise line operations . The ship was maintained in anchorage until 24 January 1998 when she was sold to AG Belofin Investments of Liechtenstein and renamed " Belofin - 1 " . Her new owners intended to recoup their investment by selling the ship to scrappers , but a downturn in steel prices held them up for more than a year . On 3 July 2000 " Belofin - 1 " was towed by the Ukrainian tug " Iribis " out of Tampa Bay with the CN Marine ferry " Bluenose " lashed to her port side . The group was bound for ship breakers in India . " Belofin - 1 " began taking on water and listing during the voyage but nobody was on board to right the list . The tugboat crew cut her free and " Belofin - 1 " capsized and sank due to progressive flooding some fifty miles off Cape Town , South Africa on 21 October 2000 .