SS Minnesotan was a cargo ship built in 1912 for the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company. During World War I she was known as USAT Minnesotan in service for the United States Army and USS Minnesotan (ID-4545) in service for the United States Navy. She ended her career as the SS Maria Luisa R. under Italian ownership. She was built by the Maryland Steel Company as one of eight sister ships for American-Hawaiian, and was employed in inter-coastal service via the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Panama Canal after it opened.
In World War I, USAT Minnesotan carried cargo and animals to France under charter to the U.S. Army from September 1917. When she was transferred to the U.S. Navy in August 1918, USS Minnesotan continued to undertake the same duties; after the Armistice she was converted to a troop transport and returned over 8,000 American troops from France. Returned to American-Hawaiian in 1919, Minnesotan resumed inter-coastal cargo service, and, at least twice, carried racing yachts from the U.S. East Coast to California.
During World War II, Minnesotan was requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration and initially sailed between both New York and Caribbean ports. In the later half of 1943, Minnesotan sailed between Indian Ocean ports. The following year, the cargo ship sailed between New York and ports in the United Kingdom, before eventually returning to the Caribbean. In July 1949, American-Hawaiian sold Minnesotan to Italian owners who renamed her Maria Luisa R.; she was scrapped in 1952 at Bari.
Design and construction
In September 1911, the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company placed an order with the Maryland Steel Company of Sparrows Point, Maryland, for four new cargo ships—Minnesotan, , , and . The contract cost of the ships was set at the construction cost plus an 8% profit for Maryland Steel, with a maximum cost of $640,000 per ship. The construction was financed by Maryland Steel with a credit plan that called for a 5% down payment in cash with nine monthly installments for the balance. Provisions of the deal allowed that some of the nine installments could be converted into longer-term notes or mortgages. The final cost of Minnesotan, including financing costs, was $65.65 per deadweight ton, which totaled just under $668,000.
Minnesotan (Maryland Steel yard no. 124) was the first ship built under the original contract. She was launched on 8 June 1912, and delivered to American-Hawaiian in September. Minnesotan was , and was in length and abeam. She had a deadweight tonnage of , and her cargo holds had a storage capacity of . Minnesotan had a speed of , and was powered by a single quadruple expansion steam engine with oil-fired boilers, that drove a single screw propeller.
Early career
When Minnesotan began sailing for American-Hawaiian, the company shipped cargo from East Coast ports via the Tehuantepec Route to West Coast ports and Hawaii, and vice versa. Shipments on the Tehuantepec Route arrived at Mexican ports—Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, for eastbound cargo, and Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, for westbound cargo—and traversed the Isthmus of Tehuantepec on the Tehuantepec National Railway. Eastbound shipments were primarily sugar and pineapple from Hawaii, while westbound cargoes were more general in nature. Minnesotan sailed in this service on the east side of North America.
After the United States occupation of Veracruz on 21 April 1914 (which found six American-Hawaiian ships in Mexican ports), the Huerta-led Mexican government closed the Tehuantepec National Railway to American shipping. This loss of access, coupled with the fact that the Panama Canal was not yet open, caused American-Hawaii to return in late April to its historic route of sailing around South America via the Straits of Magellan. With the opening of the Panama Canal on 15 August 1914, American-Hawaiian ships switched to taking that route.
In October 1915, landslides closed the Panama Canal and all American-Hawaiian ships, including Minnesotan, returned to the Straits of Magellan route again. Minnesotans exact movements from this time through early 1917 are unclear. She may have been in the half of the American-Hawaiian fleet that was chartered for transatlantic service. She may also have been in the group of American-Hawaiian ships chartered for service to South America, delivering coal, gasoline, and steel in exchange for coffee, nitrates, cocoa, rubber, and manganese ore.