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26-675: William Matson (1849–1917) founded Matson Navigation Company. He was born in Lysekil in Västra Götaland County , Sweden , and orphaned during childhood. He arrived in San Francisco after a trip around Cape Horn in 1867. Working aboard the Dickel family yacht, he struck up a friendship with tycoon Claus Spreckels , who financed many of Matson's new ships. In 1882, he sailed his three-masted schooner Emma Claudina into

52-717: A Director of the National Ice Co., Honolulu Plantation Co., Paauhau Sugar Plantation Co., and Hakalau Plantation Co.. One of the high honors conferred upon Matson was his appointment as Consul of Sweden , giving him jurisdiction over the Pacific Coast of the United States. While he was Swedish consul, he was instrumental in advocating for a Swedish Pavilion at the Panama Pacific International Exposition of 1915. Matson

78-513: A brief period after World War II , Matson operated an airline using Douglas DC-4 aircraft between the Pacific Coast and Hawaii. The airline ultimately ceased operations because of political pressure from Pan American World Airways , which resulted in inability to obtain federal government scheduled operating authority. On December 1, 2011, Matson's then-parent company Alexander & Baldwin announced that its board of directors approved

104-574: A cabin boy, at the age of fourteen. Working his way up in the maritime world, he arrived in San Francisco, California after a trip around Cape Horn in 1867. At the end of two years he was captain of a vessel, engaged chiefly in carrying coal to the Spreckels Sugar Company refinery. He was naturalized on Sept. 2, 1871, according to California Voting Registers, 1866-1898. Working aboard the Spreckels family yacht, Matson struck up

130-617: A friendship with tycoon Claus Spreckels , who would finance many of Matson's new ships. In 1882, Matson bought his first ship called Emma Claudina , named for Spreckels' daughter. Matson had learned there was money to be made carrying sugar from the Hawaiian Islands . In 1882, the Emma Claudina ran to the Hawaiian Islands. The enterprise began in the carrying of merchandise, especially of plantation stores, to

156-510: A plan to split A&B and Matson into two separate companies. As part of the plan, Matson would leave Oakland, California , to become a Honolulu -based company. The two companies are now traded separately. In 2015, Matson, Inc., acquired Horizon Lines , formerly its main competitor in the United States domestic market, for $ 469 million. Joining two Aloha-class freighter sister ships delivered to Matson in 2018 and 2019; in November 2022,

182-708: A tourist attraction. The 146-passenger ship S.S. Wilhelmina followed in 1910. More steamships continued to join the fleet. When Matson died in 1917 at the age of sixty-seven, the Matson fleet comprised fourteen of the largest, fastest and most modern ships in the Pacific passenger-freight service. In addition to serving as President of the Matson Navigation Co., Matson was President of Honolulu Consolidated Oil Co., Commercial Petroleum Co., Atlas Wonder Mining Co., and Wonder Waler Co.. Additionally, he served as

208-616: The Hilo Bay of the Hawaiian Islands . The enterprise began in the carrying of merchandise, especially of plantation stores, to the islands and returning with cargoes of sugar, later expanding interests at each end of the line. In 1924, Matson completed the Matson Building , designed by Bliss and Faville , at 215 Market Street in San Francisco, and noted as "one of a series of Chicago School skyscrapers built during

234-600: The Oceanic Steamship Company (Spreckels Line), operating three trans-Pacific liners, including the SS Sonoma . From the early 20th century through the 1970s, Matson liners sailed from the west coast ports of San Francisco and Los Angeles to Honolulu and points beyond, including a handful of South Pacific ports of call as well as Sydney , Australia and Auckland , New Zealand . Two of their earlier cargo liners , Maui and Wilhelmina , were

260-670: The Pacific Commercial Advertiser. She died a few months later. Tradition in popular lore suggests that Captain Matson then met Lillie Low in 1888, when she was traveling on the Lurline to Hilo to teach in a missionary school. They married in May a year later in Hawaii. However, as the Pacific Commercial Advertiser of March 1, 1887 recounted, other passengers and Lillie Low signed a letter to Captain Matson regarding

286-604: The 1910s and 1920s which give San Francisco its downtown character." It featured an observation tower and cupola at the northern corner of the building that enabled company executives to see its ships coming through the Golden Gate . The company later sold the building to Pacific Gas and Electric Company , whose general office was next door at 245 Market. PG&E has incorporated the former Matson Building into its general office complex, keeping Matson-specific details such as elevator doors with detailed maps of Hawaii on them. For

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312-1102: The Matson-Roth families may be seen on the San Mateo County Historical Association Online Collections Database. In 1987, Matson was inducted into the National Maritime Hall of Fame at the American Merchant Marine Museum in New York City. (Note: Owing to burned out verifying documents in the Lysekil, Sweden area from the 1860s-1870s, Matson's birth record and other supporting documents of his early life have never been found, as of December, 2016. Likewise, documents in San Francisco that would help document his remarkable American Dream story (including his arrival and naturalization papers) were also destroyed in

338-561: The US Army, though not officially a US Army Transport, serving as a fast troop carrier, bringing supplies and support forces to distant shores and rescuing persons stranded in foreign countries by the outbreak of war. Mariposa , with a Navy -designated troop capacity of 4,165 and speed of 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h), was one of the very large, fast transports, the largest nicknamed "Monsters", usually sailing without escort. 1946 Australia/New Zealand dependent voyages from Australia In 1947,

364-623: 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 10 more countries in the south and west Pacific. In World War II , she operated under the War Shipping Administration with allocation and close association with

390-490: The company again contracted Philly Shipyard to build three new 3,600  twenty-foot equivalent units  (TEU) Jones Act -compliant container ships at a cost of $ 1 billion. Primarily a conveyor of freight; from 1908 on, Matson introduced into service a number of passenger liners to capitalize on the burgeoning tourist trade. In 1926, following the death of its founder, John D. Spreckels whose father, Claus Spreckels , had been Matson's earliest financier; Matson took over

416-613: The conflagration of the 1906 earthquake, according to a letter he wrote dated June 13, 1906.) SS Mariposa (1931) SS Mariposa was an ocean liner launched in 1931, one of four ships in the Matson Lines "White Fleet", which included SS  Monterey , SS  Malolo , and SS  Lurline . She was later renamed SS Homeric . The Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation built Mariposa at Quincy, Massachusetts , completing her in December 1931. Her registered length

442-753: The end of the 1970s. In 1925, Matson acquired a controlling interest in the historic Moana Hotel on Waikiki on the island of Oahu . They constructed the nearby Royal Hawaiian Hotel in 1927. In 1952, they built the SurfRider Hotel (today a wing of the Moana), followed by the Princess Kaiulani Hotel in 1955. They sold the four properties to Sheraton Hotels in 1959. Matson's current cargo fleet of U.S.-flagged vessels include: William Matson William Matson (born Wilhelm Mattson ) (October 18, 1849 in Lysekil – October 11, 1917)

468-406: The first passenger ships to place their engines aft. Among the "white ships of Matson" were Malolo (rechristened Matsonia ), Lurline , Mariposa , and Monterey . With the advent and expansion of routine air travel between the mainland and the islands, Matson's passenger service was greatly diminished, and the liners were eventually retired from trans-Pacific service and virtually gone by

494-480: The islands and returning with cargoes of sugar. This led to gradually expanding interests at both ends of the line, which kept pace with the commercial development of the country. In 1887, Matson sold the Emma Claudina and acquired the brigantine Lurline , which more than doubled the former vessel's carrying capacity. Soon he had three vessels running. Increased commerce brought a corresponding interest in Hawaii as

520-572: The north Atlantic . On 18 August 1956, Homeric ' s bow struck the side of the Greek Line ship Columbia in fog in Quebec . At the time, tugs were towing Homeric and Columbia was moored at a pier. About 20 ft (6 m) of Columbia ' s starboard side were damaged, and some of her lifeboats were crushed. In 1964, she replaced SS Italia to steam on the regular run between New York and Nassau, Bahamas , though she, in turn,

546-554: The ship was mothballed for six years at Union Iron Works in Alameda, California . Her engines were overhauled by Todd San Francisco Division . Home Lines bought her and renamed her SS Homeric , sailing her to Trieste for reconstruction to allow 1243 passengers: 147 first class and 1,096 tourist class. Her gross register tonnage increased to 18,563, and total length increased to 641 ft (195.5 m). Home Lines operated her beginning 24 January 1955 for liner service between ports in

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572-549: The shipwreck of the brig Selina in February, 1887. One daughter was born in September, 1890 to William Matson and Lillie Low. She was named Lurline Berenice Matson for the legendary Rhine river siren Loreley , in remembrance of the ship in which her parents were reputed in lore to have met. He died on October 11, 1917. An exhibit that includes William Matson's Swedish Consul General's uniform as well as artifacts from

598-524: Was 604.0 ft (184.1 m), her beam was 79.3 ft (24.2 m), and her depth was 30.5 ft (9.3 m). As built, her tonnages were 18,017  GRT and 10,580  NRT . She had twin screws , each driven by three steam turbines via single reduction gearing . Mariposa was designed for service in the Pacific Ocean , including regular stops in ports along the West Coast of

624-491: Was a Swedish-born American shipping executive. He was the founder of Matson Navigation Company . Wilhelm Matson said he was born on October 18, 1849, in an area noted for fishing and sailing, Lysekil in Västra Götaland County , Sweden . He was orphaned during his childhood. He attended public schools in Sweden, then took an intermission of a year to go to sea at the early age of ten. Matson came to New York City in 1863 as

650-792: Was also president of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and was active in the civic life of the city and region. Matson married three times. The first time was in the mid-1870s to Margaret Neil in California. As later listed in the Dec. 7, 1917 San Francisco Chronicle , the couple parented five children: Walter (1877), Ida (1879), Emily (1881), Arthur (1882), and Theodore (1884). Walter Matson later became an executive in his father's extensive business. The Matsons divorced, and Captain Matson married Evadne Knowles in June, 1887, as recorded in

676-514: Was shortly replaced by SS  Oceanic . SS Homeric was reassigned to intra- Caribbean cruises. In 1973, a major fire destroyed much of her galley and restaurant, and she was scrapped in Taiwan next to Holland America Line SS Nieuw Amsterdam in 1974. During the ship breaking process, her sister ship, the Chandris Lines ' Ellinis (ex- Lurline ), suffered major engine damage on

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