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My mother, who grew up in Hawaii and went through Pearl Harbor as a high school senior, ended up leaving Hawaii on the Lurline to go to college on the Mainland right after high school graduation, where she was for the “duration.” A lot of young people were evacuated from the islands because of the fear of Japanese invasion (if their families could afford it).
My Mom recounts how the Lurline had been repainted in naval camouflage and refitted as a troop ship, and made the trip to San Francisco constantly zig-zagging at irregular intervals in order to try to avoid torpedoes that might be fired at her by Japanese submarines.
She ended up not returning home until 1946.
Later
Hanks for posting this article.
I read FDR’s Declaration of War speech on Dec. 8, 1941 yesterday and noted his line “In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.” When I read that, I was wondering about what shipping was attacked outside Pearl between SF and Honolulu. This timely article answered that question.
We have a minor coincidental connection. This summer, my sisters were visiting and we took them to the Filoli Mansion in Woodside, CA. The mansion was built by Willaim Roth and his wife Lurline Matson Roth.
Her father, William Matson, had first come to appreciate the name “Lurline” in the 1870s while serving as skipper aboard the Claus Spreckels family yacht Lurline out of San Francisco Bay. Matson met his future wife, Lillie Low, on a yacht voyage he captained to Hawaii; the couple named their daughter Lurline Berenice Matson.
Lurline Matson married William P. Roth in 1914; in 1927 Roth became president of Matson Lines, the shipping company started by her father.
In 1932, the last of four smart liners designed by William Francis Gibbs and built for the Matson Lines’ Pacific services was launched: the SS Lurline christened on 12 July 1932 in Quincy, Massachusetts by Lurline Matson Roth.
That was the ship that took the SOS call. The Lurline made it to San Fran on Dec 10 and was quickly converted to a troop ship. It sailed in the very first Pacific convoy from San Fran on Dec 16, 1941. Talk about a fast conversion!