Seen here at Mass Maritime 1987

She was the former SS Santa Mercedes, built in 1964 at the Bethlehem Steel Sparrows Point Shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland, for the Grace Line as a passenger liner in the South America trade. The ship was 546-ft in length, had a 79-ft beam and a 29-ft draft; her 18,000-hp gave the ship a speed of 20-kts. The ship was renamed Patriot State.

In 1998, structural deterioration was found and it was not cost effective to repair. She was replaced on 30 November 1999 by the SS Cape Bon