SS Mariposa (1953)

For other ships of the same name, see Mariposa (disambiguation).

History
Name	Pine Tree Mariner (1953–1956) Mariposa (1956–1982) Jin Jang (1982–1992) Queen of Jin Jang (1992–1995) Heng Li (1995–1996)
Operator	US Marine Corps Matson Lines Pacific Far East Line Republic of China
Builder	Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation Quincy, Massachusetts
Launched	1952
In service	1953
Out of service	1995
Identification	IMO number: 5225370
Fate	Scrapped at Alang, India, 1996
General characteristics
Tonnage	14,812 GRT
Decks	5

The passenger ship Mariposa, originally built as the freighter Pine Tree Mariner, was in operation for over 40 years. It had five passenger decks and various amenities including an outdoor pool on the boat deck and the cinema on the lower decks.

History

As a freighter

In November 1952, the ship was launched at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding shipyard in Quincy as a turbine general cargo freighter Pine Tree Mariner of the type C4-S-1a (Mariner class). In 1953, the US Maritime Commission took over the ship, which was intended for use by the US Marine Corps.

Conversion to a combined freighter/passenger ship

After the US shipping company Matson Navigation Company took over the ship in 1955/56, it sent the Pine Tree Mariner to the Willamette Iron & Steel Corporation shipyard in Portland, Oregon, where it was converted to a combined ship of the MARAD type P2-S1-1g. After delivery, the converted ship was renamed Mariposa and began its combined passenger and freight service between San Francisco, Honolulu, Auckland and Sydney on October 27, 1956, together with the Monterey.

Pacific Far East Line and uncertain years

In 1971, Matson sold the pair of ships Mariposa and Monterey to the shipping company Pacific Far East Line, also based in San Francisco, which used both ships on Pacific cruises until 1978 and laid them up in 1978 when government subsidies to maintain the service ended. In 1979, it was sold to the airline President World Airways from San Francisco, which had the ship towed to Japan in November 1980. After arriving in Japan in January 1981, the ship was laid up there before being returned to the Pacific Far East Line in 1981. In 1983, the shipping company China Ocean Shipping acquired the Mariposa, renamed her Jin Jiang and used her on the Shanghai-Hong Kong route. In 1992 she was renamed Queen of Jun Jiang, followed by another renaming to Heng Li the following year. After thirteen years of service in Asia, the Heng Li finally arrived in India for demolition in the spring of 1996.