Legend of the S.S. Topa Topa

Built a century ago, this steamship was named for the County of Ventura



Courtesy of Waterman Logistics

The christening of a ship was a festive occasion in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with the honor often going to a young woman from a prominent local family.

Such was the fanfare surrounding the launch of the S.S. Topa Topa, a massive merchant steamship commissioned by the U.S. government after World War I. The ship, owned by Waterman Steamship Corp. in Mobile, Ala., was named for the Ventura County mountain range north of Santa Paula, and the moniker was a nod to the county, whose residents had purchased a higher per­centage of Liberty war bond subscriptions to support military op­erations than any other Southern California county. The vessel was originally dubbed “County of Ventura,” but that name was eventu­ally rejected.

A contest was launched in March 1919 to find a proper young lady to sponsor the 8,800-ton steamer. The winner (and her chaper­one) would receive an all-expenses paid trip to the port for her task of christening the boat.

At a 10 cents per vote, residents could put their money behind their favorite candidate, with proceeds going to the Salvation Army.

“There is every indication that the contest for the honor of christening the ship will be hotly contested,” asserted the Oxnard Daily Courier that same month.

Ballots were counted at the courthouse, and the winner, re­vealed on April 8, 1919, was indeed from a family with deep roots in the area. Isabel Camarillo, 22-year-old daughter of prominent landowner and rancher Adolfo Camarillo, garnered 4,736 votes and won in a landslide.

With the support of powerful local leaders and businessmen, Isabel, also known as “Isabella” or “Nunie” to distinguish her from her mother, who had the same name, was a shoo-in.

Achille Levy, president of the Bank of A. Levy, expressed his enthusiasm before her win.

“In Miss Isabel Camarillo, we would have a truly representative candidate of not only California but also all of Southern California, of which she is a native. Besides, the family and its history would make her an ideal candidate in all respects.”

The ship, by then renamed the S.S. Topa Topa, was built by the Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. and ready to set sail in May 1920.

After a delay, the Los Angeles Herald newspaper erroneously sent an article to press May 15 about the Topa Topa launch out of the L.A. Harbor in San Pedro, with Isabel christening the ship.

That launch never took place, and the San Pedro Daily Pilot on May 25 attributed the delay to an unfinished hull. On June 11 the San Pedro Daily News announced that Carmen Camarillo, the youngest Camarillo daughter, would be the one to “break a bottle of champagne on the bow of the vessel” when the ship launched. Isabel and her parents had left May 29 for a three-month trip to Europe, leaving the responsibility to her younger sister.

The christening finally took place June 12. According to the Daily News, a band played “The Star-Spangled Banner” as the Topa Topa “slid gracefully down the ways.”

Over two decades later, the ship met with a calamitous fate 350 miles north of French Guiana when its starboard side was tor­pedoed by a German U-boat on the night of Aug. 28, 1942.

Loaded with thousands of drums of aviation gas, the S.S. Topa Topa was immediately engulfed in flames and sunk in the early hours of Aug. 29. Of the crew, 35 escaped and survived; 25 per­ished.

Despite the ship’s unfortunate end, its likely sponsor, Carmen Camarillo, and her older sister Isabel, went on to live fulfilling lives, always keeping strong ties to the community named after their in­fluential family.

This article was updated July 12, 2022. 

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