Ralph Passed Away on September 15th 2001
Capt. Ralph Earle Holthausen, “Whitey” 84, Vancouver Island ,Canada September 15, 2001 Sailed on Grace Line, Prudential and Delta Steamship Lines for over 40 years. Born in Pittsburgh PA , graduated Rockville Center,NY HS. Fort Schyler MM Academy l937. He leaves his , two sons John of Boca Raton, FL, Robert of Syosset, NY, a daughter Lynn of Fort Lauderdale, FL and 18 third and fourth generation grand and step grandchildren from his two marriages. His first wife, Ruth died in l979 while he was in command of the Santa Magdalena at sea, somewhere near Tierra del Fuego (an Island Group of 28,390 sq. miles owned jointly by Argentina and Chile at the extreme end of South America). . According to the Magdalena’s Ship’s Surgeon, Dr Rob Harris, (Ret. Capt. MC USN) “His grace and courage and great professionalism ,while continuing the voyage under such difficult (personal ) circumstances will always be remembered” His second wife Grace passed away January 2000, Ralph was at her side.
In a letter from David Clifford to me his son John, he writes, “ Your dad was my chief officer for many a voyage in the Santa M-class ships when I was a green third mate from Maine Maritime in l966. It was in no small part , his friendship and guidance that gave me the inspiration to follow the sea for 30 years, In fact it was an accident slipping from a ladder while painting his home that prevented him from returning to the ship, which along with his recommendation that I became master of the Santa Adela. Your dad touched my life and I shall never forget him.”
Recently, Ralph dedicated the last issue of his Grace Log with a poem by saying “I would like to dedicate these pages to my old shipmates who have Crossed the Final Bar . If any poetry enthusiasts among our readers know the origin --it is possibly John Masefield-- we’ll give the proper credit. At the moment it remains author unknown. Surely it is the sentiment of “Whitey” himself?
Thanks to Captain R. G. McFadden the poem has been identified as to be by "Elizabeth Clark Hardy"
Some time at eve when the tide is low
I shall slip my moorings and sail away.
With no response to the friendly hail
Of kindred craft in the busy bay.
In the silent hush of the of the twilight pale,
When the night stoops down to embrace the day
And the voices call in the waters flow
Sometimes at eve when the tide is low
I shall slip my moorings and sail away.
Through the purpling shadows that darkly trial
O’er the ebbing tide of the unknown sea,
I shall fare me away with a dip of sail
And a ripple of water to tell the tale
Of a lonely voyager, sailing away
To the mystic isle where at anchor lay
The craft of those who have sailed before
O’er the unknown sea to the unseen shore.
A few who have watched me sail away
Will miss my craft from the busy bay
Some friendly barks that were anchored near,
Some loving souls that my heart held dear
In silent sorrow will drop a tear,
But I shall have peacefully furled my sail
In mooring sheltered, from storm or gale,
And greeted friends who sailed before
O’er the unknown sea to the unseen shore.
Yes it's "Whitey"- that's what they used to call me on shipboard.
This is really a nostalgia page. Anyone who may have sailed
on the "Santas" either with Grace Line, Prudential Grace Line, or Delta Line
might be interested. I would like to hear from you if you sailed
on the "SANTAS", especially any of my old shipmates. I first
sailed with the Grace Line as a Cadet on the old diesel Passenger Ship
"Santa Inez". She was 5000 tons, 385 feet overall and carried
125 passengers in two classes (first & steerage). This was in the
year 1937 after I had Graduated from the New York State Merchant Marine
academy. Actually I was qualified to sail as third mate, however shipping
was slow and men with master's licenses were sailing as third mate.
Grace Line was a great steamship line, everything was done first class,
service was impeccable and the ships were maintained well. It was a great
company to work for.
When I first started
I was on the Santa Inez on the run from New York to
the West Coast of South America. We had quite an itinerary. We went from
New York, thru the Windward Passage (between Cuba and Haiti), thru the Panama
Canal then Buenaventura Colombia; Guayaquil, Ecuador and many ports in
Peru (Talara, Paita, Salaverry, Callao, Pisco, Molllendo and often ports in
between). After Peru came Chile:- Arica, Antofagasta, Chanaral. The cadet's
quarters was located under the winch house on the after deck just forward
of number 4 hatch. My room mate was the other cadet, Charlie Kerr who
became my lifelong friend. Captain Kerr now lives in Santiago Chile.
From the Santa Inez I was promoted to Junior Officer (which
was an assistant watch officer) on the Santa Lucia The "Lucia"
was a larger, much more luxurious vessel.
She had all outside staterooms, and the largest tiled swimming pool of any
ship afloat at that time. She was a Gibbs & Cox design. The dining room had
high ceilings, off the promenade deck and had a roll back dome so the
passengers could dine "under the stars". She was one of four "sisters",
the Santa Elena, Santa Rosa and Santa Paula. We now went as far
as Valparaiso where we turned around. One of my jobs as Junior Officer was
to look after the dome. When a rain squall came up we had to hurriedly
close the dome. The dome was controlled with an electric motor, but
sometimes it jumped the track and the wheels had to be crow-barred back on
track. Meanwhile the rain was coming down on the dining room. Fortunately
this did not happen very often as a careful watch was kept for rain squalls.
The dome was located between the two stacks and could not be opened if
the wind was from aft. It was a beautiful dining room and the open dome was
quite an innovation since this was before air conditioning.
The Falcon was a
"laker" type vessel which Grace Line acquired when they took over the old
Red D Line. We ran to ports on the North Coast of Colombia and Venezuela.
Since the Falcon was a small laker we were able to get over the bar
in Maracaibo where we called at various oil camps on the Lake. In these days
there was a steady stream of little "feeder" tankers running between Lake
Maracaibo and Aruba and there was always a long string of vessels arriving
and sailing at high water.
I got my second mate's license in July 1940. It was back to the "two
stackers" and I was assigned as third mate on the Santa Clara.
It was here that I first sailed with Ben Hokanson.
Ben was the second mate, he lived in Glen Head, Long Island,
not far from where I lived in Syosset. Ben and I became good friends. We
used to get together with our families during our vacation time.
Captain Hokanson now lives in Everett, Washington.
The war was on in Europe, but it didn't effect us yet.
In September 1941 I was promoted to second mate on one of the chartered
freighters the Siletz which we delivered to San Francisco, and I
returned home by train. Things changed, Grace Line began operating ships
for the War Shipping Administration. I was appointed second mate on the
Seminole December 17th 1941. she was a
world war I diesel vessel which had been laid up since the early thirties.
I boarded her in the shipyard in Baltimore where she was being fitted out.
We had nothing but trouble with the diesel engine and were frequently
broken down. It was a frightening experience to be broken down with sparks
coming out of the stack and drifting like a sitting duck, with a full load
of copper waiting for some submarine to come by and shoot a torpedo at us.
I left the Seminole and sat for my Chief Mate's license which I
received in June 1942. In August I was transferred to the Courageous.
She was diesel electric and had four diesels which ran the generators. She too was a world war I
vessel which
had been laid up and was not in much better condition than the Seminole.
We very shortly had one engine broken down and one used for spare
parts. She had a bridge control for the electric motor which proved to be
very handy in controlling the speed in convoy. I had boarded the
Courageous in Baltimore, but we returned to New Orleans. Many ships
were being sunk on the Atlantic Seaboard at this time. Most ships were
re-routed to Gulf ports. Cargoes were shipped overland from Gulf ports to
all parts of the U.S.
Grace Line vessels were all used for the war effort. The Santas: Barbara, Clara, Inez, Rita, & Lucia were all taken over by the Navy. The Rosa, Paula and Elena were used as troopships. The Lucia and the Elena were both sunk off North Africa by torpedo bombers. The Clara hit a mine during the Normandy invasion. We also lost some of the freighters to German torpedoes. The Santa Rita, a C2 type vessel was torpedoed and the Master, Captain Stevenson was taken aboard the German submarine and put in a prison camp in Germany. It was thought that he might have information on ship movements, but they got nothing from Captain "Stevie". During the war Grace Line operated 66 ships for the government, which of course was a big operation and Grace did so very efficiently with it's good organization.
Instructors were needed to train Merchant Marine Cadets at Kings Point I submitted an application and was accepted as an instructor in Ship Construction & Naval Architecture. I was put on active duty with the "Maritime Service" as a Lieutenant Jr. grade. In December, per my request I was transferred to the Maritime Service Upgrade School in Baltimore and promoted to Lieutenant. Here I prepared mates for upgrading their licenses. I received my own master's license in May 1946 and requested release from active duty to return to sea. I returned to the Grace Line and was assigned as Chief Mate on the City of Montgomery which Grace Line was operating to the Caribbean.
The Government had six uncompleted C2 type hulls and these were offered
to Grace Line. 
Grace Line accepted the offer and had them converted to 52 passenger
vessels. These "combos" became very popular and were a huge success and
Grace Line had three more built. The first six were fitted out to carry
bananas from Ecuador to New York. The last three were to be on the
Caribbean run and were not equipped to carry bananas. I sailed on seven of
the nine 52's as Chief Mate and Master. Graces postwar fleet consisted of
the nine combos, the Santa Rosa & Santa Paula, (which had been
returned to Grace Line and refitted again to the liners that they once were)
and nine C2 freighters. The Santa Rosa & Santa Paula served
the Caribbean calling at Curacao, La Guaira, Aruba, Kingston, Port au
Prince and Port Everglades, sailing from New York every two weeks. The three
Caribbean "combos" called at Santo Domingo, Puerto Cabello, La Guaira,
Maracaibo, Barranquilla, Cartagena, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York.
The other six "combos" along with the C2 Freighters sailed from New York to
the West Coast of South America as far as Valparaiso.
In 1956 Grace decided to replace the Santa Rosa & Santa Paula
with two new vessels.
The new vessels a Gibbs & Cox design were to be called Santa Rosa &
Santa Paula. They were 15,000 gross tons and 584 feet overall with an
84 foot beam. The first vessel the Santa Rosa was delivered in 1958.
and the second Santa Paula soon followed. At this time cargo costs
were escalating and cargo offerings to Venezuelan ports were declining and
Grace decided that with the Santa Rosa & Santa Paula and two
freighters being converted to all container vessels would meet the
requirements in the Caribbean. The Santa Eliana & Santa Leonor
two C2 type vessels were converted to all container vessels. These were
the first American container vessels in foreign trade.
The converted Santa Eliana sailed for Venezuela January 1960
with 176 containers containing powdered milk and other general cargoes.
The longshoremen refused to unload the containers even though some sort of
a previous agreement had been made by the agency. After 18 days an
agreement was reached and the Santa Eliana was unloaded with the
provision that no more vessels of this type would be used. The sailing of
the Santa Leonor was canceled and both vessels were laid up.
In 1959 The Saint Lawrence Seaway opened and Grace obtained approval for an operational subsidy for the Great Lakes route. The route would serve ports on the Great Lakes to Cuba, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Barbados and ports on the north coast of Venezuela and Colombia. The decision to operate to the Great Lakes proved to be a financial disaster for Grace and the run was given up after one season. I spent this first season as Chief Mate on the Santa Alicia, a C2 type vessel which was completely unsuited for the route and the locks in the Welland Canal.
At this time Grace Line decided to replace the aging "Combos" with four
new 20 knot passenger vessels to carry approximately 100 passengers. These
vessels were to serve the west coast of South America. They were 20,000
displacement tons 546 feet long with a 79 foot beam. The names were chosen
to honor the four countries, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador & Peru They were
designed with all new advanced cargo carrying devices. Each was fitted
out to carry 360,000 cubic feet of bananas (90,000 stems approx. 4000 tons)
in three holds, on the southbound voyage these areas were used for carrying
autos or palletized cargoes which were loaded by a special pallet handling
system. There were 5 cargo elevators in 3 holds. The other two holds were
container holds. There were four gantry cranes on deck which when married
in pairs could handle 40 foot containers. Container capacity was 175 twenty
foot containers. The four "M" ships, as they were called carried 125 first
class passengers. Public rooms were spacious and tastefully decorated AND
there was a large outside tiled swimming pool. These ships were very
popular as there was just the right amount of luxury and informality.
Repeat passengers were frequent. The record for the most round trip
passages was held by Mrs. Alma Harmer who made eleven round trip voyages.
About this time Grace decided to replace the aging freighters and six new
freighters were built, The first of these was the Santa Lucia and
these ships became known as the "L" ships. They were modern vessels with
refrigerated compartments for Chilean fruit and Ecuadorian bananas. They
were equipped for 12 passengers in luxurious staterooms and had seven
hatches with 10 ton booms and two 30 ton booms and a 80 ton jumbo boom.
Things were normal until 1969 when the parent company W.R. Grace
decided to go out of the steamship business and concentrate on chemical and
other company ventures. 
Grace Line was
sold to Prudential Line, a small line owned by Skouras of 20th Century Fox.
At first the line was called Prudential Grace Lines and later the
Grace was dropped and it became just Prudential Line. The
ships were operated as before with most of the same personnel
aboard but in 1970 Prudential decided to suspend the Caribbean service and
the Santa Rosa & Santa Paula were laid up, never to sail under the
American Flag again. The "M" ships were sailed as freighters until 1972
when three were transferred to the west coast. They were once again
returned to passenger ship status. They sailed from San Francisco, north
to Tacoma and Vancouver thence through the Panama Canal calling at ports on
the east coast of South America then through the Strait of Magellan to call
at ports on the west coast of South America and thence return to Los Angeles
and San Francisco. This was a 59 day voyage. The Santa Magdalena
remained on the east coast until 1974 when she too was transferred to the
west coast to sail with the other three. Prior to the move of the "M"
ships to the west cost I sailed as Chief Mate and relieving master on
the Santa Maria where I had been since 1965. After we had delivered
her to San Francisco I decided to remain on the east coast and was
re-assigned to the Santa Magdalena as chief mate and relieving
master.
In June 1978 I made my last voyage under Prudential as the line was
again sold to Delta Line, a New Orleans based company which was
well known.
We looked forward to the change as Delta was a well known company with a
good reputation and we felt that operations might become once again as
they were under Grace Line. Unfortunately this was not the case as
Holiday Inns who owned Delta Line at this time, sold the line to
Crowley Maritime Corporation, a tug and barge operator. In 1983 there was
a sharp drop in cargo bookings to South America and operations began to
wind down. The six "L" class freighters were laid up and finally sold.
The four "M" ships continued to run until 1984 when all operation of
the former Grace Line Santas ceased.
In 1980 I was made permanent master of the Santa Adela one of the former Prudential Jet class freighters. I had decided to retire at the end of 1982 and just before retirement was re-assigned to my old favorite, the Santa Magdalena.
Today with the exception of two, all of the old Santas have been
scrapped. The Santa Mercedes was converted and is now the Patriot
State, the Massachusetts Maritime Academy training vessel. The Santa
Rosa was completely refitted with a new bow section and additional decks
and sailed as the Regent Rainbow under a foreign flag. She too is
laid up at the present time.
So ends the saga of forty years at sea aboard thirty three ships. It is sad that they are all gone and just a memory of a once proud steamship company and happy days.
You may use the following link to send Emails to John Holthausen, Ralph's Son:
To see an enlarged view of the Santa Magdalena Class click here: SANTA MAGDALENA
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