Elmer G. Osterhoudt
J. A. Moffett
and
S.S. Rose City

 
J. A. Moffett
 
J. A. Moffett
 Oil tanker J. A. Moffett. Click for larger photo.
The ship was a "steel screw steamer" built in San Francisco by Union Iron Works Co. in 1914 and owned by Standard Oil Co. of California. Its cargo capacity was 119,410 barrels of oil. It was the largest craft of its kind on the West Coast. (The "steel screw" was the propeller.)

 
J. A. Moffett
Photo of the J. A. Moffett around 1945 from the Naval History and Heritage Command website. Click for larger photo.
By this time the steam engine had been replaced with a Diesel engine.
A link to the photo source is here.
 
J. A. Moffett antenna
The radio antenna at the top! Elmer said the antenna was four separate wires but we only see two. This photo was taken 20 years after Elmer served aboard the ship. Radio technology had advanced dramatically by that time and a four wire antenna may have been obsolete.
 

 
J A Moffett 1914
Postcard from 1914.
 

 
J. A. Moffett
Here is a comparison of the 1945 photograph and the 1914 postcard (flipped). What is interesting is that in the upper photograph, taken during WWII, there seem to be anti-aircraft guns on the bow and stern of the ship. This would be perfectly plausible, as an attack by the Japanese on an American Oil tanker was a real possibility.
 
J. A. Moffett
J. A. Moffett
What's this on the stern of the ship? Is this an anti-aircraft gun?
 
Mark 22 anti-aircraft gun
Yes, it's an anti-aircraft gun. Between December 18 and December 24, 1941, Japanese submarines attacked six oil tankers and freighters off the coast of California, including the Standard Oil tanker SS H. M. Story. On the east coast, the J. A. Moffett Jr, built in 1920 for Standard Oil of New Jersey, was torpedoed and shelled off the Florida Keys by a German U-Boat in 1942.
 

 
J. A. Moffett
Magazine cover shows the launching of the J. A. Moffett on December 5, 1914.
In 1946 J.A. Moffett was renamed E. H. McEachern, which name she carried until scrapped 1951.
 

 
S. S. Rose City

 
SS Rose City
San Francisco-Portland Steamship Company S. S. Rose City. Named after the city of Portland.
 
SS Rose City
Another view.
 
SS Rose City
The Rose City was one of 8 different ships that employed Elmer Osterhoudt as the wireless radio operator.
 
SS Rose City Promenade Deck
Rose City Promenade Deck
 
SS Rose City smoking Deck
Rose City Smoking Room. (The furniture is bolted to the floor but the spittoons can go flying if the weather gets rough!)
 
The Rose City was a passenger ship with "every appointment for comfort, and wireless telegraph and submarine signal equipment for safety." It sailed 100 miles up the scenic Columbia River, which is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest. It also sailed from Portland to San Francisco and San Francisco to Los Angeles.

It was 336 feet long, 43 feet wide and 42 feet tall. It had accommodations for 170 first class and 230 second-class passengers.