Building and Pre-war Service
Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation of Quincy, Massachusetts built the ship as SS Quirigua for United Fruit Company in 1932. She was one of six UFC sister ships driven by turbo-electric transmission. The United States Postal Service subsidised the building of the six ships, which served the USPS as mail boats.
United Fruit placed Quirigua on express liner services between Central America and New York. She normally carried up to 95 passengers to ports in Central America and then would return to the United States with passengers and a cargo of refrigerated bananas and miscellaneous cargo.
Read more about this topic: USS Mizar (AF-12)
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