The ship was chartered back to Grace after completion until turned over to the United States Navy to be briefly commissioned as the troop transport USS Santa Ana (ID-2869) from 11 February 1919 to 21 July 1919.

The ship was sold to Merchants & Miners Transportation Company in 1936, underwent a rebuild and served in that line's coastwise service between Boston and Philadelphia as Irwin (1936–1941).

Santa Ana, keel laid 1 February 1917, was built in 1917 at Philadelphia by William Cramp & Sons, as a passenger and cargo liner intended for the Grace Line launched 13 October 1917 and completed with delivery 1 January 1918 for the United States Shipping Board (USSB) after requisition during World War I.

A dining room large enough to serve all passengers at one seating was forward in the main deck house with views on three sides.

After an initial voyage as a troop ship modifications were made at Robins Drydock & Repair Co., New York, in a conversion between April and June 1941.

[7] The shifts in the ship's ownership and function, and perhaps measurement methods, account for the varied figures for basic characteristics that may be found in sources.

[7][9] The USSB chartered Santa Ana to the Grace Company for commercial operation and after fitting out the ship made a maiden voyage on 2 February 1918 with runs between New York and Valparaiso until turned over to the Navy in 1919.

As a unit of the Cruiser and Transport Force, she made four round-trip voyages between 27 February 1919 and 7 July 1919 to bring World War I veterans from France.

[3] Guatemala, now with home port of San Francisco, entered the popular intercoastal trade, along with ships of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company Grace had acquired.

The line promoted a voyage on tropical seas lasting nearly a month with excursions in "Spanish Americas" at the Panama Canal and the countries of Colombia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala and Mexico en route.

[3] On 20 May 1936 the idle and laid up Santa Cecilia was sold to Merchants & Miners Transportation Company of Baltimore, Maryland, operating ships in coastwise trade along the Atlantic Coast.

The ship was assigned to "interisland service" operating between New Orleans and Port of Spain, Santa Lucia, Guantanamo, San Juan, Cristobal, and Key West until September 1943.

[19][20] Before departing the Mediterranean in March of 1945 the ship had transported patients of all nationalities between 59 ports including Algiers, Oran, Naples, Palermo, Livorno (Leghorn), Toulon, and Marseilles covering some 35,000 miles.

Only John L. Clem and USAHS Ernest Hinds, the Army's two smallest hospital ships, operated in Europe after VE Day.

After a final trip to Nassau, Bahamas the ship was turned over to WSA at Hampton Roads as surplus to Army requirements in January 1946.

[3][7] On 5 December 1946 she was laid up in the Maritime Commission's National Defense Reserve Fleet at Brunswick, Georgia, under her previous name of Irwin.