Built at William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company in Philadelphia, the vessel was completed in January 1917.

)[3] After the United States entered World War I, the vessel was requisitioned by the US Army in August 1917 and became the USAT Santa Rosa.

On September 13, 1942, Oregonian was in the Barents Sea approximately 198 miles WNW of Bear Island as a civilian vessel in convoy PQ 18.

[8] Although armed, the convoy was immediately overwhelmed with attacks from U-boats, torpedo planes, and bombers, all launched from German-occupied Norway.

The fourteen surviving crew members were rescued by escort ships and eventually repatriated to the US aboard RMS Queen Mary.