Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online:
Identification Numbered Vessel Photo Archive

Santa Olivia (ID 3125)



Navy call sign:
George - Boy - Love - Rush



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - King - Vice - Jig
Santa Barbara Class Freighter:

  • Built in 1918 by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, PA
  • Acquired by the Navy on completion
  • Commissioned USS Santa Olivia (ID 3125), 1 July 1918 at Philadelphia
  • Future movie star Humphrey Bogart served in Santa Olivia as a Coxswain, February 1919 - 18 June 1919
  • Decommissioned 21 July 1919 at Brooklyn, NY and returned to her owner
  • Sold in 1925 to the American Hawaiian Steamship Co. and renamed Kansan
  • Sold in 1946 to the Star Line of Panama and renamed Jackstar
  • Scrapped in 1955.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 13,340 t.
  • Length 420' 6"
  • Beam 53' 9"
  • Draft 28' 4"
  • Depth of hold 36' 8"
  • Speed 12 kts.
  • Complement 98
  • Armament: One 6"/50 mount and one 6-pounder
  • Propulsion: Three single-ended boilers. one 3,000ihp vertical quadruple-expansion steam engine, one shaft.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    Santa Olivia 68k
    Namesake:

    Santa Oliva (or Olivia) of Palermo, Virgin and Martyr

    		 Tommy Trampp
    Photo added 29 September 2020
    Santa Olivia 83k Photographed upon completion, circa July 1918. Location is probably the Cramp Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is painted with a disruptive camouflage pattern
    U.S. Navy photo NH 100996    		 Naval Historical Center
    Santa Olivia 118k At anchor in 1918, while serving as a cargo ship with the Naval Overseas Transportation Service. She is wearing 'dazzle' camouflage
    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2007
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 105161    		 Robert Hurst
    Santa Olivia 97k Photographed in 1919.
    Courtesy of the Caraway Company, Rutterford, N.J., 1936.
    U.S. Navy photo NH 96242    		 Naval Historical Center
    Santa Olivia 103k In a French port, 1919. The barge L'Aiglon is in the foreground.
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2005.
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 102992    		 Robert Hurst
    Santa Olivia 127k Santa Olivia, left center, and USS Philippines (ID 1677), at right, at the Army Dock, St. Nazaire, France, 1919
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2006
    U.S. Navy photo NH 104161    		 Naval Historical Center
    Santa Olivia 80k At a mooring buoy, circa late 1918 or in 1919. Note the portholes in her hull sides, indicating that she has been converted to a troop transport. However, her badly worn paint appears to show traces of a 1918-era pattern camouflage scheme
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2007
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 104639    		 Robert Hurst
    Santa Olivia 116k In the canal at St. Nazaire, France, while serving as a troop transport in 1919
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2007
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 104640
    Santa Olivia Boxing match on board, while the ship was en route from France to the United States, carrying homeward bound troops in 1919
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2007
    Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 104653
    Santa Olivia 82k In port, circa late 1918 or 1919. Portholes in her side indicate that she has been converted to a troop transport, but traces of her 1918-vintage 'dazzle' camouflage are visible on her badly weathered hull
    Donation of Charles R. Haberlein Jr., 2007
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 105109
    Santa Olivia 87k "Bobtailing" (dishonorably discharging) a crew member in May 1919
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2007
    Naval Historical Center photo NH 104654
    Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships History: Santa Olivia (ID-3125), a single-screw, steel freighter, was built during 1918 by William Cramp and Sons, Philadelphia, Pa., for the Atlantic and Pacific Steam Ship Co. of New York, was taken over by the Navy upon completion; and commissioned on 1 July 1918 at Philadelphia, Lt. Comdr. George H. Miles, USNRF, in command.

    Santa Olivia was assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS) upon commissioning. Departing from Philadelphia on 15 July 1918 for New York, Santa Olivia made two round-trip voyages to Europe before the war's end on 11 November 1918. Sailing from New York each time, she carried a total of 10,773 tons of general cargo to Marseilles on the French Mediterranean coast.

    Detached from NOTS on 20 December 1918 at New York, Santa Olivia was assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force, Atlantic Fleet. She took part in the return of United States troops from the war zone making four round-trip voyages between 27 December 1918 and 9 June 1919. Santa Olivia was decommissioned on 21 July 1919 at the Grace Line Pier, Brooklyn, N.Y., and simultaneously returned to her owner. She remained under United States mercantile registry under the names Santa Olivia, Kansan, and Jackstar until scrapped during 1955.

    Back to the Main Photo Index Back to the Identification Numbered Vessel (ID) Photo Index
    Comments, Suggestions, E-mail Webmaster
    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by David Wright
    All pages copyright NavSource Naval History