USS Majaba (AG-43/IX-102) was the Design 1049 cargo ship Meriden built in 1919 by the Albina Engine & Machine Works, Portland, Oregon. All the ships were requisitioned by the United States Shipping Board (USSB) for World War I service. The ship was bought by the E. K. Wood Lumber Co., of San Francisco, California in 1923 and renamed El Capitan. The ship was chartered by the U.S. Navy through the War Shipping Administration (WSA) in April 1942 and commissioned as Majaba.
Majaba was assigned to operations in the South Pacific Ocean and at Guadalcanal she was struck by a torpedo and beached. After salvage, towing, removal of engines and repair at Tulagi the ship served as a barracks, storage ship and repair ship until the end of the war. In October 1945 WSA requisitioned the title from the owner. Majaba continued service at Tulagi until she was towed to the Philippines in 1945. The ship was redelivered to WSA on 14 March 1946, placed in the reserve fleet at Subic Bay and declared a loss. On 14 July 1946 the hull sank at the pier and declared not salvageable.
Construction
Meriden was built in 1919 by Albina Engine & Machine Works, Portland, Oregon. The designation Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) Design 1049 "Albinia Type" ship was applied to an existing Albina design after the United States Shipping Board (USSB) requisitioned the ships. The hull was Albina's yard hull number 16, USSB/EFC hull number 2249. Meriden, with U.S. Official Number 218284, signal LRPB, home port of San Francisco with registered crew size of 32.
The type was , , , in registry length, beam and draft. The ship was oil fired with triple expansion steam engines.
Commercial operation
The vessel was delivered to USSB operations 22 July 1919 and operated as a USSB vessel until 1920. General Steamship Corporation purchased the ship, originally costing $821,751.56, for $717,800 in a combination of cash and mortgage taking delivery on 28 May 1920. In 1923 the ship was acquired by E. K. Wood Lumber Co., of San Francisco, California and renamed El Capitan. As El Capitan the ship is shown with signal KILP.
General Steamship Corporation operated Meriden as a general cargo vessel between the Pacific Northwest states and California. As El Capitan the ship was engaged in the West Coast lumber trade on the same route. An example of the cargo was a load destined for San Pedro, California of 2,100,000 feet of lumber.
U.S. Navy operation
El Capitan was delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) on 14 March 1942 at Alameda, California to operate under an Army Transportation Corps agreement. The nature of the charter from E. K. Wood Lumber Co., of San Francisco, California was changed to bareboat on 23 April 1942 at Honolulu, Hawaii. The Navy acquired the vessel under a sub-bareboat charter at the same time. The ship was immediately commissioned as Majaba designated AG-43.
World War II service
Majaba completed conversion to a miscellaneous auxiliary 14 May 1942 and subsequently steamed to the Hawaiian Islands for cargo runs to islands of Polynesia and the South Pacific Ocean.
Departing Honolulu 24 June 1942, she operated during the next several months out of Honolulu and completed supply missions to Palmyra Island, Christmas Island, and Canton Island. In July Majaba was waiting at Palmyra for escort to the Southwest Pacific operations areas joining a convoy stopping at Fanning Island, Suva arriving at Auckland on 18 August 1942. Eventually she reached Efate, New Hebrides, to bolster the vital ocean supply line to American forces engaged in the bitter struggle for control of Guadalcanal.
Majaba departed the New Hebrides 26 October 1942 and steamed to meet two supply convoys bound for the Solomon Islands. However, heavy weather prevented the rendezvous, and she returned to Espiritu Santo 29 October. Later that day she sailed once again for Guadalcanal where she arrived 2 November 1942. Screened by , she crossed Ironbottom Sound and unloaded cargo at Tulagi that same day.