SS Platano

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History
Panama, Honduras
NameSS Platano (1930–65) SS El Toro (1965–66)[3]
OwnerBalboa Shipping (1930– )[1][2] Empressa Hondurena de Vapores (by 1964)[4]
OperatorUnited Fruit Company[1][2]
Port of registryPanama[1][2] (1930–47)[3] Honduras (1947–66)[3]
BuilderCammell Laird, Birkenhead, England[1]
Launched14 March 1930[3]
CompletedJune 1930[3]
Identification
  • call sign HPCG (from 1934)[1]
  • ICS Hotel.svgICS Papa.svgICS Charlie.svgICS Golf.svg
Fatescrapped 1966[3]
General characteristics
Tonnage
Length416.3 ft (126.9 m) p/p[1] 432 ft (132 m) o/a[3]
Beam56.2 ft (17.1 m)[1]
Draft25.75 ft (7.85 m) fully laden[3]
Depth30.5 ft (9.3 m)[1]
Propulsion
Speed15.5 knots (28.7 km/h)[3][4]
Sensors and
processing systems		echo sounding device[1]
Armament1 × 4"/50 caliber gun (1942)[3]
Notessister ship: SS Musa

SS Platano was a refrigerated banana boat of the United Fruit Company.[1] She was built in 1930, reflagged in 1947, renamed El Toro in 1965 and scrapped in 1966.[3]

Building[]

Platano was built by Cammell Laird of Birkenhead, England, launched on 13 March 1930 and completed that June.[1] United Fruit had a sister ship, SS Musa, built in the same year by Workman, Clark of Belfast, Northern Ireland.[5]

Platano had turbo-electric transmission built by British Thomson-Houston of Rugby, Warwickshire.[1] Her oil-fired boilers supplied steam to a turbo generator that fed current to a propulsion motor on her single propeller shaft.[1]

Career[]

Platano was owned by a United Fruit subsidiary, Balboa Shipping Co, Inc, which registered her under the Panamanian flag of convenience.[1][2] In the Second World War the US War Shipping Administration allocated Platano and Musa to the United States Army Transportation Corps.[3]

On 18 February 1943 the Director of the Naval Transportation Service approved acquiring the two ships as United States Navy auxiliary ships and on 1 March the Auxiliary Vessels Board endorsed the decision.[3] On 16 March the Naval Transportation Service requested that Platano be assigned to the Navy and on 24 March the Auxiliary Vessels Board confirmed this had been done.[3]

Soon the plan was changed, with an older banana boat, SS Ulua being substituted for Musa.[3] On 22 April 1943 the Vice Chief of Naval Operations assigned Platano and Ulua the names and classifications USS Octans (AF-26) and USS Pictor (AF-27).[3] Ulua was duly acquired, renamed and commissioned into the Navy but Platano was not.[3] The Auxiliary Vessels Board decided on 22 May 1944 to cancel Platano's acquisition, and the cancellation was executed on 26 May.[3]

In 1947 United Fruit reflagged Platano from Panama to the Honduran flag of convenience.[3] By 1964 the company had transferred her from Balboa Shipping to another subsidiary, Empressa Hondurena de Vapores.[4] She kept her original name until 1965, when she was renamed El Toro.[3] She was scrapped in 1966.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1934. Retrieved 22 May 2013.
  2. ^ a b c d e Harnack 1938, p. 596
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Roberts, Stephen S (15 September 2001). "Class: Pictor (AF-27)". U.S. Navy Auxiliary Vessels 1884–1945. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  4. ^ a b c Harnack 1964, p. 633.
  5. ^ Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1934. Retrieved 22 May 2013.

Sources[]

  • Harnack, Edwin P (1938) [1903]. All About Ships & Shipping (7th ed.). London: Faber and Faber.
  • Harnack, Edwin P (1964) [1903]. All About Ships & Shipping (11th ed.). London: Faber and Faber.
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