SS Iowan was a cargo ship built in 1914 for the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company. During World War I she was taken over by the United States Navy and commissioned as USS Iowan (ID-3002). During World War II, the ship was transferred to the Soviet Union and renamed SS Tashkent (or Ташкент in Cyrillic).

Iowan was built by the Maryland Steel Company as one of eight sister ships for the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company. In October 1914, five months after she was delivered to American-Hawaiian, Iowan rammed and sank the United Fruit Company steamer Metapan near the entrance to New York Harbor. After repairs, Iowan resumed inter-coastal service via the Panama Canal. When the canal was temporarily closed by landslides in late 1915, Iowan sailed via the Straits of Magellan until the canal reopened in mid 1916. During World War I, USS Iowan carried cargo, animals, and a limited number of passengers to France, and returned nearly 10,000 American troops after the Armistice.

After her Navy service ended in 1919, she was returned to her original owners, who, at least once, chartered her to another shipping company. In May 1922, Iowan rammed and sank the Furness-Prince Line steamer Welsh Prince in the Columbia River near Astoria, Oregon, killing seven men in the process. In June 1941, Iowan ran aground on a reef near Point Conception, California, and suffered $500,000 in damages while buffeted by waves on the reef. She was freed from the reef after two weeks, towed to Los Angeles, and repaired.

In 1942, the ship was requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration, which transferred her to the Soviet Union under the terms of Lend-Lease in December 1942. She was assigned to the Far East Shipping Company under her new name of SS Tashkent, but sailed with the Soviet Pacific Fleet throughout the war. She delivered cargo and troops in support of the Soviet invasion of Japanese-held territories in August 1945. After the war, the ship remained a part of the Soviet merchant fleet until 1966. She was transferred to North Korea at that time to become a fish processing facility, and was scrapped in 1969.

In May 1912, the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company placed an order with the Maryland Steel Company of Sparrows Point, Maryland, for two new cargo ships—Iowan and Ohioan. The contract cost of the ships was set at the construction cost plus an 8% profit for Maryland Steel, but with a maximum cost of $640,000 per ship. The construction was financed by Maryland Steel with a credit plan that called for a 5% down payment in cash with nine monthly installments for the balance. Provisions of the deal allowed that some of the nine installments could be converted into longer-term notes or mortgages. The final cost of Iowan, including financing costs, was $71.95 per deadweight ton, which came out to just over $732,000.

Iowan (Maryland Steel yard no. 132) was the first ship built under the contract. She was launched on 24 January 1914, and delivered to American-Hawaiian on 16 May. The ship was 6,529 gross register tons (GRT), and was 407 feet 7 inches (124.23 m) in length (between perpendiculars) and 53 feet 6 inches (16.31 m) abeam. She had a deadweight tonnage of 10,175 LT DWT, and her cargo holds, which had a storage capacity of 490,859 cubic feet (13,899.6 m³), were outfitted with a complete refrigeration plant so that she could carry perishable products from the West Coast—like fresh produce from Southern California farms—to the East Coast. Iowan had a single steam engine powered by oil-fired boilers that drove a single screw propeller at a speed of 14 knots (26 km/h).

When Iowan began sailing for American-Hawaiian, the company shipped cargo from East Coast ports via the Straits of Magellan to West Coast ports and Hawaii, and vice versa. Eastbound shipments were primarily sugar and pineapple from Hawaii, while westbound cargoes were more general in nature. With the opening of the Panama Canal on 15 August 1914, American-Hawaiian ships switched to taking that route.

At 15:20 on 15 October 1914, the outbound Iowan rammed the United Fruit Company passenger and cargo steamer Metapan at the entrance of Ambrose Channel outside New York. Metapan had stopped in the dense fog, but Iowan was traveling at a rapid pace. When Iowan had appeared out of the fog some 200 to 300 yards (180 to 270 m) from Metapan, the United Fruit ship sounded three blasts on the ship's whistle—warning Iowan of the impending collision. Iowan's captain did not alter the ship's course, but did drop her anchor to try to slow the fully laden ship. Nevertheless, Iowan gashed the bow of Metapan and traveled almost halfway through the passenger ship. When Iowan pulled out three minutes later, Metapan began to sink rapidly. Metapan's captain ordered his ship to sail at full speed for shoals some 200 yards (180 m) distant, on which the ship grounded in 18 feet (5.5 m) of water. A variety of craft—including the nearby British Royal Navy cruiser Lancaster—responded to Metapan's SOS. Even though the ship was resting on the bottom and the passengers in no immediate danger, most of the 78 passengers and 90 crewmen evacuated the ship in lifeboats and were picked up by rescue craft. Iowan, which suffered no casualties among her crew, attempted to return to her pier in Brooklyn, but was unable and instead anchored in Ambrose Channel. Iowan's damage was restricted to her bow, which was crushed above the waterline. Two days later, The Wall Street Journal reported that Iowan was anchored off Clifton, Staten Island, and awaiting inspection from surveyors.