Originally built as a luxury combination passenger-cargo ship, named the Del Orleans, for trips from New Orleans to Buenos Aires Argentina. She was requisitioned by the U.S. Government in 1941, stripped her for duty, and commissioned her as the U.S.S. Crescent City. She served during World War II in most of the major campaigns in the western Pacific theater. She was decommissioned in San Francisco on 30 April 1948 and laid up. She was transferred to California Maritime Academy in May 1971 and converted into a school ship. Commissioned as T.S. Golden Bear II in 1971, she sailed on 28 major ocean cruises. In 1995, Golden Bear II was decommissioned and placed in the reserve fleet. In 1999, she was acquired by the City of Oakland for use as an art colony and named "Artship." The project was not able to gain the required financing, however, and she was sold for scrap in 2004. As of late 2006 the ship is docked at the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard.
