SS President Coolidge continued from Manila via Singapore, the Suez Canal, the Mediterranean Sea, New York City, the Panama Canal and thence back to San Francisco. "President Hoover" and "President Coolidge" were aimed at holiday makers seeking sun in the Pacific and Far East. Passenger luxuries included spacious staterooms and lounges, private telephones, two saltwater swimming pools, a barbers' shop, beauty salon, gymnasium and soda fountain. "President Coolidge" broke several speed records on her crossings between Japan and San Francisco. In December 1937 "President Hoover" ran aground on the Taiwanese coast and was declared a total loss. Dollar Steamship Lines was increasingly in
SS President Coolidge and the War Shipping Administration assigned her to the US Navy. After her conversion, "President Coolidge" resumed service in the South West Pacific theatre. In the spring of 1942, escorted by the cruiser , she took Manuel Quezon, President of the Philippines from Melbourne to San Francisco. In her first few months of service "President Coolidge"s ports of call included Melbourne, Wellington, Auckland, Bora Bora, and Suva. On October 6, she left homeport of San Francisco for New Caledonia and the New Hebrides. Embarked were the 172nd Infantry Combat Team, 43rd Division, and a harbor defense unit intended to protect