NOMMP not USSB

Sadly, it seems whenever a collector of maritime uniform insignia comes across a Federal-style shield with three white stars, automatically the assumption is the insignia comes from the United States Shiping Board (USSB). Not so.

These cap badges are the official insignia of the National Organization of Masters, Mates, and Pilots (NOMMP). This group was (and still is) a bargaining unit for Deck Officers aboard United States-flag vessels.

The assumption is quite easy to make since NOMMP’s cap badge looks very similar to the insignia worn by USSB employees. However, some also forget that USSB was abolished by Executive Order 6166 of 10 June 1933, and all its functions, including those with respect to United States Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corporation, was transferred to United States Shipping Board Bureau, Department of Commerce, effective 2 March 1934 (at this point USSB no longer issued independent annual reports); USSB separation of employees was deferred until 30 September 1933 by Executive Order 6245 of 9 August 1933. The Bureau’s functions were assumed by the United States Maritime Commission (USMC) on 26 October 1936, pursuant to Act of 29 June 1936 (49 Stat. 1985). A chart detailing the Emergency Fleet Corporation’s lines (which USSB managed) from 1919 through the dissolution of federally-managed lines in 1940 (as under USMC); the chart is here.

Although not stated in the description, the design elements are fairly straightforward. The wreath is the same as used on the United States Maritime Service cap insignia; the cable loop is interesting since it is a vestige of a fouled anchor element on the Gemsco-designed USMS cap insignia. The shield itself is a novel design; the three white stars are representative of the three groups of officers represented by the union: Masters, Mates, and Pilots. Note that the central star is shifted slightly upward from the other two – this is the tell-tale indicator of NOMMP stamped-metal cap badges. The badge’s colors are patriotic, and the design is quasi-naval. Surmounting the shield and wreath is an eagle – at the time it was in fashion for licensed officers to have eagles on their cap badges as a symbol of their shipboard authority.

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S. Appel & Company on 14-18 Fulton St. in New York was the official distributor and manufacturer of the insignia. They provided both embroidered, and stamped-metal and enamel versions of the same.

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The raison d’être for the creation of distinctive insignia is due to the fact that during the mid-1940s, NOMMP wished to distinguish itself from the newly-minted and not-always unionized mariners in the United States Merchant fleet. Since shipboard uniforms were not codified by law, NOMMP tinkered with the dress of the day. Unlike the confusing array of regulations for United States Maritime Service (USMS) officers with appointed rank based upon ship tonnage, NOMMP used lace stripes to designate position aboard a vessel. Buttons were adorned with plain anchors – which in practice was not the between war anchor button – rather the anchor and two stars design used at the time by the United States Merchant Marine Academy Cadet Corps.

1944 regulations in full:

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Sometimes NOMMP members made do with cap badges they had on hand and painted them. The above is an example of a late-war Gemsco naval officer cap badge painted to indicate the wearer as a NOMMP member. This same cap insignia was often defaced to create cap badges for the re-organized Army Transport Service under the Army Transportation Corps – Water Division. In some literature (Tonelli and Booker), it is called a WSA (War Shipping Administration) cap badge; this may be an incorrect attribution – a discussion of known WSA badges may be found here (ship pilot) and here (Field Service) – but given the spotty nature of period documentation, the jury is still out.

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References

Joseph J. Tonelli. Visor hats of the United States Armed Forces: 1930-1950. Atglen, Pennsylvania:  Schiffer Publications, 2003. N.B.: For his identified images of WSA badges.

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Collection items

https://dittybag.ianewatts.org/collection/items/browse?tags=NOMMP