SS Santa Paula (later SS Akropolis) was a passenger and cargo ocean liner built for the Grace Line. She was the second of four sister ships (the others being Santa Elena, Santa Lucia and Santa Rosa) ordered in 1930 from the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Kearny, NJ. Her regular service route included inter-coastal service between the east coast and the west coast of the USA via the Caribbean and the Panama Canal. She later sailed on cruises from New York to the Caribbean and South America. She was the second of three vessels to bear the name Santa Paula for Grace Line service. (The first Grace Line Santa Paula was a 1916-built ship that was sold in 1925 and sunk in 1943.)