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The Mariposa was the first of three sister ships built for the Matson Line in the early thirties. She and her sisters Monterey and Lurline would set a new standard of luxury, safety and speed in the Pacific.
On 2 February 1932 Mariposa set sail on her maiden voyage from San Francisco to Sydney via Los Angeles, Papeete, Auckland, Wellington and Sydney. She would come to know these ports well over the next nine years on the Australian route, making up to six round trips annually.
During 1941-46 she joined her Matson sisters serving the US government as a troopship. Matson were about to refit Mariposa but calculated that with rising costs it would be too expensive to complete. She was laid up in Alameda for the next six years until she was finally sold to the Home Lines in 1953 and renamed Homeric.
Her first voyage under her new name set off from Venice on 24 January 1955 and she sailed on to New York. In 1963 she commenced Caribbean cruises in October. A fire at sea in 1973 damaged the ship extensively and she was scrapped the next year. One of her engines was transplanted to her old sister Lurline who, as Ellinis, had suffered engine damage early in 1974.
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