SS Brazil ( 1928 ) SS " Brazil was a US turbo - electric ocean liner . She was completed in 1928 as SS " Virginia , and refitted and renamed as SS " Brazil " in 1938 . From 1942 to 1946 she was the she was the War Shipping Administration operated troopship " Brazil " . She was laid up in 1958 and scrapped in 1964 . Building . " Virginia " was the second 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 . She joined ( ) in the fleet of American Lines ' Panama Pacific Lines subsidiary . A third sister , SS " Pennsylvania " , was . " Virginia " was a steamship , with oil - fired furnaces heating her boilers to power two General Electric steam turbo generator s with a combined rating of 2 , 833 NHP supplying current for her electric propulsion motors . " Virginia " was equipped with submarine signalling apparatus and wireless direction finding equipment , and from about 1934 she was equipped with a gyrocompass . As built , " Virginia " had accommodeation for 184 first class and 365 tourist class passengers . 52 of her first class cabins were state rooms . Some of her first class cabins had " en suite " bathrooms . With Panama Pacific Lines , " Virginia " s two funnels would have been red with a blue top , with a white band dividing the blue from the red . SS " Virginia " . Panama Pacific Line , part of the American Line Steamship Corp , operated " Pennsylvania " 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 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 . SS " Brazil " . The US Maritime Commission took over the three sister ships in 1937 and had them extensively refurbished . Each was fireproofed to comply with Federal safety regulations , which had been revised as a result of the fire in 1934 that destroyed the liner . Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation ' s 56th St Shipyard in Brooklyn , New York undertook " Virginia " s refit . She was given new watertight doors electrically controlled from her bridge and was equipped with a fathometer . Her well decks were closed in : the forward one to increase deck space and the after on to create a sheltered tourist class deck , a lido deck , a swimming pool and a first class veranda café . Her 52 staterooms were combined to provide half that number of larger cabins . This revised her passenger capacity to 470 . Her air conditioning was extended to the tourist class dining saloon . A modern laundry was installed to give passengers a 12 - hour service . Her crew accommodation was completely rearranged . " Virginia " was equipped to carry of cargo , of which was refrigerated . She had been built with two funnels but during the refit this was reduced to one . The refit increased " Virginia " s tonnage by about 2 , 000 tons . On 6 September 1938 Emmet McCormack , co - founder of Moore - McCormack Lines , declared " The South American trade , in so far as the United States is concerned , has been touched only at its surface . With this ship [ i . e . " SS " Virginia ] and her two sister liners in service the United States will be making a new bid for its proper place in the South American field . They are larger than any other American ships now serving South America and will be able , in conjunction with our fleet of freight ships , to provide a speed that is now lacking . " On 3 October 1938 " Virginia " , now renamed SS " Brazil " , successfully made her sea trials . The next day Moore - McCormack 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 . With Moore - McCormack Lines " Brazil " 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 . Moore - McCormack put the three sisters into service between New York and Buenos Aires " via " the Caribbean , Brazil and Montevideo . " Brazil " started from New York on her first voyage on the route on 15 November 1938 , returning on 31 December with 141 passengers . Passenger numbers improved . On 18 September 1939 " Brazil " docked in New York from South America with 358 passengers . In April 1940 " Brazil " made a record run from Buenos Aires to New York in 14 days and 12 hours , achieving speeds of up to . On the trip she carried 273 passengers , of which 195 traveled first class . On 28 September 1941 " Brazil " was leaving Buenos Aires when she accidentally struck a Spanish - owned freighter , the turbine steamship . No - one was injured and no damage was caused . Wartime civilian voyage . On the morning of 6 December 1941 " Brazil " sailed from New York for South America carrying 316 passengers and a record amount of mail , between 8 , 000 and 9 , 000 sacks . The passengers included four Japanese diplomats , one of whom was accompanied by his wife . The next morning Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and on 8 December the USA declared war on Japan . As blackout precautions " Brazil " s crew sealed and blacked out her porthole s and painted her interior lights blue and purple . On 10 December " Brazil " arrived to make her scheduled call in Barbados , and British intelligence officers boarded her and removed the five Japanese . From 17 to 25 December the crew camouflaged " Brazil " with grey paint . In Rio de Janeiro they painted out the Stars and Stripes painted on each side of her hull , and then near Montevideo they painted her funnel gray . " Brazil " reached Buenos Aires on 23 December and the crew finished painting her gray all over on Christmas Day . " Brazil " then began a slow return voyage to the USA . She carried only 135 passengers , of whom 56 were Argentinian , Uraguayan and Brazilian aviation cadets on their way to be trained in the USA . This was " Brazil " s last civilian voyage for six and a half years . Troop ship . The War Shipping Administration had the ship , one of the large , fast vessels able to sail independently when required , converted into the " Brazil " for service carrying troops and operated the ship through its agents . On 19 March 1942 she sailed from Charleston , South Carolina carrying 4 , 000 United States Army troops " via " the Cape of Good Hope to Karachi , British India , where they arrived on 12 May . On 16 November 1942 " Brazil " left Oran , French Algeria carrying 44 " Kriegsmarine " prisoners of war : four officers and 40 ratings from . Lockheed Hudson aircraft of No . 608 Squadron RAF had attacked and damaged the U - boat on 14 November and the crew had scuttled her close to shore near Ténès , about east of Oran . " Brazil " reached the USA on 30 November . On 11 December " Brazil " and one of her sister ships , " Argentina " , sailed from New Jersey carrying elements of the 2nd Armored Division . On 24 December they reached Casablanca in French Morocco . " Brazil " made two further voyages to North Africa and was then transferred to the Pacific . There her service included calls at Hobart , Tasmania ; Honolulu ; Bora Bora ; Sydney and Bombay , before returning to San Francisco in July 1943 . " Brazil " was then returned to transatlantic service , taking troops to the United Kingdom and France . In October 1944 she ' arrived in Boston carrying US Army personnel and prisoners of war from Europe . On 22 October she sailed from Staten Island , New York carrying the 290th Infantry Regiment , reaching Swansea , Wales on 1 November . On 1 January 1945 " Brazil " sailed from New York as the flagship of the 57th Ship Convoy , reaching Le Havre on 15 January . After a transatlantic voyage to Marseille in July 1945 " Brazil " was sent " via " the Panama Canal to Manila , and then made two trans - Pacific voyages to bring troops home to the USA . Early in 1946 " Brazil " returned to transatlantic service . In March she provided " dependent transport " taking war bride s and their children from Europe to the USA . She still had her cramped and spartan troopship accommodation , but on 12 June the Maritime Commission issued invitations to bid to convert " Brazil " back into a civilian ocean liner . On 4 August she completed her last voyage before reconversion , arriving at North River with 531 passengers from Le Havre ; Southampton , England and Cobh , Ireland . Post War . The Atlantic Basin Iron Works of New York carried out " Brazil " s conversion . It was the largest peacetime conversion that yard had yet undertaken , and cost $ 9 million . " Brazil " s fireproofing was completely revised . Fire screen bulkheads , with and fire doors controlled from her bridge , divided her into 12 fire zones . She was fitted with a fire sprinkler system , and her water intakes were fitted with filters that would allow her to draw water from the muddy bottoms of South American harbors . " Brazil " s accommodation was completely rebuilt with cabins for 359 first class and 160 cabin class passengers and designed by William F Schorn , who at the same time designed the new interior of her sister ship SS " Uruguay " . " Brazil " successfully made her sea trials in May 1948 . The Maritime Commission restored her to Moore - McCormack Lines on 7 May : the last of the three sisters to return to civilian service . After her refit " Brazil " s first class library was dedicated in memory of William Binder , Jr ; a former Moore - McCormack employee who was killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor . On 20 May " Brazil " sailed on her first civilian voyage since the war : a 12 day cruise to Bermuda and the Caribbean . On 4 June she left New York on the Buenos Aires run for the first time since 1941 . On 10 December 1954 " Brazil " left New York on a scheduled run to Buenos Aires . One day out of port she developed engine trouble and had to return for repairs . As a result she completed her round trip a week late , reaching New York on 24 January . This was the first time in her career that " Brazil " had been delayed by a technical fault . On 30 November 1957 the United States Federal Maritime Board approved " Brazil " s withdrawal from service , to be replaced by a new and faster already under construction . The old " Brazil " and her sister ship " Argentina " were laid up as members of the James River Reserve Fleet at Fort Eustis , Virginia , where " Uruguay " had already been laid up since 1954 . Late in 1963 the United States Department of Commerce offered " Brazil " for sale . In 1964 she was sold for $ 133 , 333 to Portsmouth Salvage , Inc for scrap . She was scrapped by First Steel and Ship Corporation of New York . Notable passengers . Rear Admiral Robert C . Lee and his family holidayed aboard " Brazil " in 1938 . Hortense Odlum , President of Bonwit Teller , sailed on " Brazil " , arriving in New York on 18 September 1939 . On 14 May 1940 conductor Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony Orchestra sailed aboard " Brazil " , reaching Rio de Janeiro on 12 June . During the voyage they performed a concert aboard that was broadcast live by radio . The conductor Victor de Sabata arrived in New York aboard " Brazil " on 5 September 1949 . On 20 October 1949 Stanton Griffis , son of William Elliot Griffis , sailed on " Brazil " from New York to become US Ambassador to Argentina . James Farley , President of the Coca - Cola Export Corporation and former United States Postmaster General , sailed in " Brazil " in April 1951 . João Fernandes Campos Café Filho , President of Brazil , visited the ship on 11 November 1954 and had lunch aboard .