 SS "Mariposa" was designed for service in the Pacific Ocean including regular stops in ports along the West Coast of the United States, Hawaii, Samoa, Fiji, New Zealand and Australia.Her maiden voyage began 16 January 1932 in New York City where she sailed to Havana, transited the Panama Canal and berthed in the Port of Los Angeles before continuing on to tour ten more countries in the south and west Pacific.In World War II she operated under the War Shipping Administration (WSA) with allocation and close association with the U.S. Army, though not officially a U.S. Army Transport (U.S.A.T.