As a result, the prices for new and existing ships and freight fees skyrocketed, prompting some entrepreneurs to enter the highly speculative shipbuilding business.

A few months later, in November 1915, while the new vessel was still under construction, she was purchased for $750,000 by shipping magnate Frank Duncan McPherson Strachan of Savannah[1] for use in the cotton trade between the southeastern United States and Europe.

[8] Following successful completion of the trials, the vessel returned to Union Iron Works and her title was conveyed to her new owners, Walker Armstrong & Company.

[14] The freighter was then transferred to the control of a subsidiary of Walker Armstrong, the Southland Steamship Corporation,[15] and proceeded to Jacksonville[16] and then Savannah where she embarked a large cargo of various southern goods, such as rosin, turpentine, pig iron, tobacco, lumber and cotton, and departed for Liverpool.

[24] The freighter was put under control of Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS), renamed USS Eurana and assigned identification number SP-1594.

On her next trip she returned home carrying 1,737 men of 326th Infantry and several "casuals", soldiers temporarily separated from their units, including Percy L. Jones, commander of the American ambulance service with the French Army.

[29] While Eurana was undergoing repairs, the Nafra Company was reorganized and incorporated, together with all its assets, into the newly formed Green Star Steamship Corporation.

[30] After completion of repairs, Eurana was returned to her owners and sailed from Baltimore on 10 December 1919 for New York to load cargo bound for Italy.

[45] By the time Eurana returned to the East Coast, her owners, the Green Star Steamship Corporation, were financially strained, and feeling the effects of a shipping crisis that had begun the prior year.

Many vessels remained idle during this time, but in June 1922, Steele Steamship Company announced their intention to acquire seven of the ships for the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean to Pacific trade.

[48] Eurana remained idle until late July when she was finally put into action and departed New York with almost 8,500 tons of general cargo and steel bound for Seattle.

[51] On her eastward trips she carried lumber, canned fish, fruit and other general cargo from ports of the Pacific Northwest and California.

In June 1924 when navigating up the Columbia River, the steamer's steering gear failed and she ran aground suffering minor damage to her hull.

[53][54] On her return trip, she ran into a severe storm and sprang a leak in her forward compartment but was able to stay afloat and safely make it to Boston.

[55] Upon finishing repairs the ship again sailed to the West Coast where she loaded another cargo for United Kingdom, this time carrying grain in addition to lumber and other merchandise.

[68] While the ship returned to her usual responsibilities, the bridge owners filed a libel case, alleging improper navigation and seeking compensation in the amount of approximately $7,800.

[69] The pilot, Captain Wingate, testified for Eurana's owners, describing the accident and explaining how the bridge design affected the tidal currents.

[77] In the early morning hours of 1 September 1929 the ship was proceeding slowly down the Chesapeake Bay under control of pilot Willard Wade.

Eurana had her bow smashed but did not take on any water and was able to slowly proceed to Newport News for repairs and disembark the crew of Dorothy.

Calmar exclusively transported Bethlehem's products westbound but served as a common carrier carrying lumber and other cargoes on their return voyages eastwards for a variety of shippers.

Alamar departed on her first voyage under new ownership on 22 March 1930 bound for West Coast ports via Philadelphia carrying full cargo of steel and hardware.

When approximately 20 miles south of Newcastle the freighter was suddenly struck on her port side by Cunard Line steamer SS Makalla who had left Philadelphia two hours earlier.

Another crewmember, Walter Sandusky, a carpenter, was thrown from his bunk bed almost a hundred feet and landed in Makalla's hold, but only suffered minor injuries.

[100] A few months later, in March 1933, while Alamar was berthed in San Pedro, Walter Sandusky died of alcohol poisoning after a night of drinking.

[104] Due to shortage of tugs, US Coast Guard cutter Onondaga was dispatched to help to float the freighter, however, the first attempt on 7 November proved to be unsuccessful.

In the evening of 10 March, while on one of her regular trips, Alamar rammed and sunk San Francisco-based fishing trawler Normandie approximately thirteen miles off the entrance into Humboldt Bay.

Alamar loaded her cargo and sailed from New York on 26 July 1941 arriving in Port Sudan on 25 September via Cape Town and Aden.

[115] After embarking her wartime cargo of general supplies, ammunition and fuel in drums, the vessel proceeded to Halifax, a gathering port for all Atlantic convoys.

[116] The ship was detached from the convoy and safely reached Iceland on 15 April and remained there for over a month waiting for ice floes to recede in the Northern Atlantic.

On 5 July 1942, while travelling in stormy weather with poor visibility, an escort and six merchant vessels including Massmar mistakenly entered the Northern Barrage minefield SN72, laid at the entrance to the Denmark Strait.