Primarily a conveyor of freight, Matson also introduced into service a number of passenger liners to capitalize on the burgeoning tourist trade.
In 1926, Matson took over the Oceanic Steamship Company, operating three trans-Pacific liners, including the SS Sonoma.
From the early 20th century through the 1970s, Matson liners sailed from the west coast ports of San Francisco and Los Angeles to Honolulu and points beyond, including a handful of South Pacific ports of call as well as Sydney, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand.
Two of their earlier cargo liners, Maui and Wilhelmina, were the first passenger ships to place their engines aft.
Among the "white ships of Matson" were Malolo (rechristened Matsonia), Lurline, Mariposa, and Monterey.
With the advent and expansion of routine air travel between the mainland and the islands, Matson's passenger service was greatly diminished, and the liners were eventually retired from trans-Pacific service and virtually gone by the end of the 1970s.