Naha, Okinawa 1963

Japan Bear of Pacific Far East Lines, by many also called Golden Bear Line or just Bear Line. Port of registry, San Francisco.

A C4 type ship, Mariner Class, laid down / built in 1955 as Grand Canyon Mariner. Later names were Japan Bear, America Bear and John Penn. Broken up in 1980.

Impressive ships, I think. They always looked very well maintained and were also very fast, perhaps 20 knots or more.

Regards.

Thanks for posting the info on this ship!

As noted Astra, the Mariner Class were fine and impressive ships well ahead of their time. I made two trips on the Washington Bear and our normal cruising speed was 20 knots but we regularly made around 22 knots as she'd call at both Bangkok and Stockton each trip which were fresh water with the result of a very clean hull. At the time most ships cruising speed was about 15 knots so we'd speed by all the traffic. Great memories of a wonderful time. Thanks for posting this CharityM.
I recall that the assist tug in Naha was an ex ATA tug which was rather large and clumsy. We'd also experience a lot of surge in the harbor which could part the spring lines.

I cannot imagine lines parting on a ship of that size ... hope no one got hurt. We have fresh water on the river where we sail, but it's so shallow that it heats up in the summer (made worse with fertilizer runoff from crops) ... we haul it every week in August to clean the bottom. Made easier with antifouling paint, but still quite a job. A clean bottom makes a huge difference in speed.

Hi Charity M
I was third mate on the President Jackson, a round the world Mariner Class ship that had a cruising speed of 20 knots. We used to routinely go into the shipyard once a year for a "shave and a haircut" when they'd drydock the ship and clean the hull. The company decided to delay the shipyard visit and make one more 4 month voyage around the world and visit the yard upon completion. As the voyage progressed, our speed diminished considerably down to about 16 knots and fuel consumption went through the roof. The captain had divers down to inspect the hull to see if there was any visible problem and nothing could be seen. We went into the shipyard in Hoboken New Jersey and then sailed down the coast with a clean hull and a speed of 20+ knots. Lesson learned!