The SS Panama was a notable passenger and troop transport vessel constructed by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in Quincy, Massachusetts. Laid down on October 25, 1937, as hull number 1467, she was launched on September 24, 1938, and completed by April 22, 1939. Designed to carry 202 single-class passengers with a crew of 124, she served initially under the Panama Railroad Company and was part of a sister ship arrangement that included USS Ancon (AP-66) and SS Cristobal. Her construction featured a robust design typical of the late 1930s passenger liners, optimized for both comfort and operational efficiency. As a vessel for the Panama Railroad Company, she operated primarily on the route between New York and Panama, serving as a vital link in maritime transportation in the region. With the outbreak of World War II, the United States government requisitioned her in 1941. She was first operated as the unconverted USAT Panama before undergoing conversion at Atlantic Basin Iron Works in New York, where she was renamed USAT James Parker in honor of Medal of Honor recipient Major General James Parker. During her wartime service, the ship was primarily employed as a troop transport, with her armament manned by Navy personnel, although she was never formally commissioned into the Navy as AP-46. The ship played a role in transporting military personnel, notably carrying the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment from New York on December 28, 1943. After the war, she was returned to her original owner, the Panama Railroad Company, in 1946, and resumed passenger service on her pre-war route. Over the years, she underwent several reflagging and renaming, becoming SS President Hoover in 1957 under American President Lines, then SS Regina under Greek ownership in 1964, and later SS Regina Prima, still under Panamanian registry. Her operational life concluded in Greece, where she was laid up in 1979, and she was subsequently scrapped in Turkey in 1985. The SS Panama, in her various incarnations, exemplifies the versatile use of maritime vessels during wartime and peacetime, serving both commercial and military purposes across multiple decades.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.