Access
Publication and Use Rights
Processing Note
Preferred Citation
Acquisition Information
Historical or Biographical Note
Collection Scope and Content
Collection Arrangement
Title: USS Uruguay (built 1928; passenger liner) survey report
Date: 1946 January
Identifier/Call Number: HDC1668 (SAFR 23827)
Naval architect:
Joslyn & Ryan (Naval Architects)
Physical Description:
1 item.
Repository:
San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, Historic Documents Department
Building E, Fort Mason
San Francisco, CA 94123
Abstract: The USS Uruguay (built 1928; passenger liner) survey report (SAFR 23827, HDC 1668) consists of copy number 6 of the comprehensive
January 1946 survey and report of the condition of the USS URUGUAY.
Physical Location: San Francisco Maritime NHP, Historic Documents Department
Language(s):
In English.
Access
This collection is open for use unless otherwise noted.
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case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.
Processing Note
The descriptions in this collection guide were compiled using the best available sources of information. Such sources include
the creator's annotations or descriptions, collection accession files, primary and secondary source material and subject matter
experts. While every effort was made to provide accurate information, in the event that you find any errors in this guide
please contact the reference staff in order for us to evaulate and make corrections to this guide.
Please cite the title and collection number in any correspondence with our staff.
Preferred Citation
[Item description], [Location within collection organization identified by Collection Number/Series Number/File Unit Number/Item
Number], HDC1668 (SAFR 23827), USS Uruguay (built 1928; passenger liner) survey report, San Francisco Maritime National Historical
Park
Acquisition Information
SAFR-02202
Field collection
Historical or Biographical Note
The URUGUAY, a passenger liner originally named the CALIFORNIA, was built in 1928 and was transferred to the US Army during
World War II. Operated by the Matson-McCormack lines until 1954 she was finally sold for scrap in 1964.
The CALIFORNIA was built at Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., in Virginia in 1928 and was used for passenger service
from New York to San Francisco via the Panama Canal. She was 601 feet long, with a displacement of 32,000 tons with an electric
turbine and twin screws. She was operated by the Panama Pacific Line and traveled from New York to Havana, Cuba and then through
the Panama Canal to San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
In March of 1936, crew members of the CALIFORNIA, led by the maritime labor leader Joe Curran and in protest over harsh working
conditions and low pay, refused to sail when the Captain ordered them to let go of the mooring lines while in port at the
San Pedro pier in Los Angeles. The ensuing sit down strike lasted three days and ultimately resulted in a nationwide maritime
work stoppage that led to the demise of the International Seaman's Union and the creation of the National Maritime Union (now
part of the Seafarers International Union of North America).
Due to the effects of the Depression and the critical labor situation, the Panama Pacific Line sold the ship to the U.S. Maritime
Commission in 1937, which renamed her the URUGUAY and made her the flagship of the Good Neighbor Fleet, sailing from New York
to Buenos Aires, Argentina and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1938, the Moore-McCormack Lines took over operation of the URUGUAY,
sailing her to and from Brazil until 1942 when she became a United States Army Transport Ship (USAT). From 1942 until 1946,
the URUGUAY ferried army troops to North Africa, Australia and Japan. In 1943 she was involved in a massive collision with
the oil replenishment ship USS SALAMONIE off the coast of Bermuda. The Captain of the URUGUAY ordered the crew to abandon
ship, however Lieutenant Paul "Bear" Bryant disobeyed the order and singlehandedly saved the URUGUAY from sinking by emptying
the forward fuel tanks thereby shifting her ballast. Lieutenant Bryant was awarded the Navy medal for his actions and after
the war went on to
have a highly successful career as the football coach at the University of Alabama.
In January of 1946, while in port at Seattle, Washington, the URUGUAY was given a thorough inspection by the Naval Architectural
company of Joslyn & Ryan, and based on this inspection report, the URUGUAY spent the entire year of 1947 in drydock at the
Todd Shipyards, in Brooklyn, New York. From 1948 until 1954, the URUGUAY was again operated by the Moore-McCormack Lines,
making passage from New York to South America and back. In 1954, she was sold to the U.S. government who put her in mothballs
in the National Reserve Fleet on the James River in Virginia. In 1964, the U.S. Commerce Department sold her to the North
American Smelting Company of Wilmington, Delaware for scrap.
Collection Scope and Content
The USS Uruguay (built 1928; passenger liner) survey report (SAFR 23827, HDC 1668) consists of copy number 6 of the comprehensive
January 1946 survey and report of the condition of the USS URUGUAY.
The inspection was conducted in January 1946 while the ship was moored in Seattle, Washington by the San Francisco, California
based naval architect & marine engineering company of Joslyn & Ryan, and is a sweeping review of the ship's condition to include
certification paperwork, the hull, machinery spaces, engine rooms, and electrical equipment. Each functional section of the
ship is divided into chapters which detail the complete visual and operational inspections of each space and provide recommendations
on the steps necessary to return each problem identified to a full shipshape status. The survey report includes foldout pages
with floor plan layouts of the engineering spaces and is a complete copy of the report with the following exceptions: Copy
of the vessel's certificate, 3 pages of photographs, 3 pages of drawings of fire zones, and the flooding curve drawings. These
exceptions are noted in the front matter of the report as being removed from this office copy #6.
The report is open for use without restriction.
Collection Arrangement
Single item
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Passenger ships
Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc.
Official reports
Administrative records
Naval architects
Inspection