Second TS Golden Bear
Originally named the SS Delorleans, the ship was contracted on December 16, 1938, by Maritime Commission as a Type C3 ship hull #49. The keel was laid May 8, 1939, by the Bethlehem Steel Company, Sparrows Point Maryland, where she was launched on February 17, 1940, and delivered to Delta Lines on August 23, 1940.
This was the third of a series of six ships designed by the Mississippi Shipping Company, as a modification of the standard C3 design, to carry both passengers and cargo between New Orleans and Buenos Aires on the so-called "Coffee Run". Twenty six staterooms accommodated 67 passengers on the shelter deck.
The US Government requisitioned the SS Delorleans on June 3, 1941. The Navy assumed control on June 9, 1941, and stripped the ship to prepare her for war duty, and she was commissioned on October 10, 1941, as the USS Crescent City. After involvement in almost all the major campaigns in the Western Pacific during WWII, the USS Crescent City was redesignated as APA-21 in 1943. Before being decommissioned in San Francisco on April 30, 1948, she earned a Navy Unit Commendation and 10 battle stars for her service in WWII.
The ship was transferred to CMA in May 1971, for conversion to a training ship. She was commissioned in June 1971 as the T.S. Golden Bear, then sailed on 28 major ocean cruises, over 24 years. The "Golden Bear II" was decommissioned in 1995 and placed in the reserve fleet.
In 1999, the City of Oakland, California purchased the ship and renamed it "Art Ship" as part of a failed art colony project. She was sold for scrap in 2004, but dismantling was halted because of high PCB levels and because she was considered too historic. Thereafter, she was privately owned and plans were put in place to convert her into a luxury hotel and museum. She had been laid up at Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo, California since 2004 pending these plans.
On November 7, 2011, she was publicly auctioned and sold to Esco Marine, Inc. Recommissioned as the "SS Pacific Star," she departed Mare Island for scrapping at Brownsville, Texas on January 15, 2012.
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