Grace Line operated combo ships to the Caribbean and the West Coast of South America for most of the 20th Century. After World War II, they provided service on nine modified C-2 freighters. These ships carried 52 passengers and were often called the "fifty twos". Six ships traveled on weekly sailings from New York to the West Coast of South America on 40 day trips to as far south as Valparaiso and San Antonio. They were named the Santa Barbara, Santa Maria, Santa Isabel, Santa Luisa, Santa Cecilia, and Santa Margarita. Three other almost identical sister combo ships--the Santa Clara, Santa Monica and Santa Sofia--sailed to the Caribbean. One interesting feature was a movie screen in the middle of the goalpost mast where recent released movies were shown at night. The projection booth aft of the stack had modern 35mm projectors.
The "M" Ships
Grace Line built four combo ships in the early 1960s that were specifically designed for the South American trade. These four, 120 passenger, ships--The Santa Maria, Santa Magdalena, Santa Mariana, and Santa Mercedes--had the capability of handling containers as well as break bulk cargos. The were often called the "M" ships. A large refrigeration cargo space had an automated pallet loading system. The ships operated from New York to the West Coast of South America traveling only as far as Lima, Peru. Grace Line went out of business in 1970 and these four ships transferred to Prudential Lines (The combo ships described above--the "fifty twos" were had all been scrapped up by 1970). In the late 1970s the four ships were transferred to Delta Line and operated out of San Francisco on voyages through the Panama Canal, down the East Coast of South America, through the Straights of Magellan, and up the West Coast of South America returning to San Francisco and also making visits to Vancouver, BC.
