The steel barque Ponape was built as the Regina Elena by Bacini at Genoa in 1903, measured 297 feet in length with a 42 1/2 foot beam, and was registered at 2,342 tons gross. Sold by her Italian owners to Laeisz of Hamburg in 1907, he ran her in the Chile nitrate trade having first renamed her Ponape to match all the other vessels in his "P" fleet. Seized as a prize of war in 1914, she was taken into the Bell Line under the name Bellhouse until sold to Norwegian owners in 1922. Resold to Lundqvist of Mariehamm in 1925 who rechristened her Ponape, she was ultimately acquired by the Finnish shipowner Gustaf Erikson in 1929 and he sailed her until 1936 when she was so damaged by heavy weather off Cape Horn that, even though she made Falmouth safely, she was deemed no longer fit for sea and sold to Latvian shipbreakers.