A mysterious old photograph

Last week a photograph originally in Mr. Bob Lind’s “Neighbors” column in the Fargo, North Dakota newspaper, The Forum, appeared in an online group about the Merchant Marine of the Second World War. The question in both places was, does anyone recognize the group? No one offered anything definitive.

Neighbors ran this photo last year. Kimberly Paulson-Schulman, formerly of Fargo and now of Burbank, Calif., found it in a resale shop in Burbank, saw it was framed in Fargo and sent it to Neighbors, hoping someone could identify the people in it and tell of the occasion on which it was taken.

There was some speculation about the time period based on the uniform of the U.S. Army officer in the second row from the front (sixth from the left).

The ship is definitely a merchant/cargo ship (see the king posts and cargo booms in the background), […]

The time frame is probably late WWII or immediately post-war, or perhaps the Korean War, by the looks of the Army officer’s uniform.

Perhaps.

For the student of Merchant Marine insignia, what is striking about the photograph is how it captures a period of flux in terms of United States Maritime Service (USMS) uniform insignia. Unlike the seemingly timeless look of the wartime U.S. Navy gob, the USMS tinkered with its uniforms and insignia to promote uniformity and to cultivate a distinctive visual culture of identification and rank. Fortunately, the pastiche of insignia aids in dating photographs such as this one.

Within the photograph above, a majority of the individuals are merchant seamen with the exception of the Royal Navy Chief Petty Officers flanking the last row, and the U.S. naval officer to the left of the second row and U.S. Army officer on the far right of the same. Each of them gives an example of the array of uniforms and insignia at the time.

Third Row

 

The Royal Navy Chief Petty Officers flanking both sides of the row wear the standard Royal Navy doeskin coat – a medium weight wool fabric which is usually softer and less densely napped than the melton worn by U.S. Navy. Since there does not appear to be any insignia on their lapels, they could possibly be wearing a Class I, Number I dress uniform. The cap badges are distinctly not those of a Royal Navy Officer. For the duration of the Second World War, the design and cut of the RN CPO uniform remained unchanged.

A keen difference between U.S. Navy and Royal Navy caps are both the names used for the caps and the chin straps on them. The U.S. Navy calls them combination caps and the Royal Navy, peaked caps. British chin straps are all democratically black leather, whereas the U.S. Navy uses gold braid in varying widths for officers, warrant officers, and midshipmen. U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officers use black patent leather chin straps. In the United States, the gold braid is reminiscent of the officer cap band of gold bullion worn in the decade between 1852 and 1862; up until 1869 officers wore a leather chin strap when regulations replaced it with a gold cap cord. The cord attained its current flat strap in after the Spanish-American War in 1904.

 

The two American merchant seamen second and third from the right, are both wearing the cap badge used by the USMS training cadre and Merchant Marine licensed officers who joined the USMS of their own volition. Licensed officers usually joined after the completion of upgrade courses at one of the few USMS officer schools or upon petition. The USMS did not advertise itself in trade publications, rather was learned of by “word of mouth.” The former seaman appears to be a licensed officer onboard a cargo vessel by virtue of the fact his cap is without a crown stiffener; mates and ABs often wore their caps without stiffeners as a practical measure on “working boats” – they needed to poke their heads into cramped spaces.  The cap badge design was worn from Summer 1942 and as late as March 1943; by September 1943, these cap badges were abolished by U.S. War Shipping Administration. In their place came the familiar stamped-metal USMS officer cap badge. The seaman on the left has the USMS rank of ensign; however, he may also be wearing company-provided shoulder boards indicating him as a junior mate (probably a third mate).

The Army Transport Service (ATS) officer – fourth from left – is wearing an older embroidered ATS cap badge in use early in Second World War and up until August 1945. For most of the war, the U.S. Army’s fleet was divided into three divisions: ATS, Harbor Boat Service (HBS), and Inter-Island Service; each with minute gradations of insignia. This individual is an Engineer, Mate, or a Pilot in HBS as is evident by his black patent-leather chinstrap.

The merchant seamen fifth and sixth from the left are wearing the aforementioned USMS cap badge. The former is distinctly wearing the shoulder boards of a second mate in industry. The latter is wearing the shoulder boards of a USMS Lieutenant (Junior Grade); his boards appear to have the rope-ringed shield device of the USMS.

Second row

The merchant seaman in the first position in the second row is wearing a USMS cap badge.  His khaki coat lacks shoulder boards. If it is lacking the loops for shoulder boards, it would be of the same cut as a Chief Petty officer or a U.S. Army officer; however, he is not wearing insignia of any kind. Often, junior stewards also wore the same cut of coat.

The U.S. Navy ensign – second from left – is wearing the post-May 1941 stamped-metal U.S. naval officer cap badge. As a design note, prior to 1941, officer cap badges were primarily embroidered. On his collar are ensign bars; U.S. naval officers were authorized to wear pin-on rank devices on khaki starting in May 1941. His shoulder boards indicate the same.

 

The merchant seaman third from the left and the individual forth from the left both wearing Maritime Service insignia at a crossroads. On the left, the seaman is wearing the cap badge of either a USMS training cadre or an individual who enrolled as an officer in the USMS; his shoulder boards are of an older style current from 1939 through 1943. His shoulder boards indicate he is a commander in the USMS; note USMS rank and shipboard position were sometimes not synchronous – for instance: a master of a ship might wear four stripes as part of maritime tradition, but tonnage of the ship would determine his appointed USMS rank – below a cut-off, and they may be appointed as a commander. Interestingly enough, his cap’s visor is without embellishment – something he rates as a commander.

The individual to the right is wearing the cap badge of a District Instructor as established in January 1942. In March 1943, it became the cap device of all USMS officers. If his shoulder boards were fully visible, having a USMS shield encircled by a cable, an anchor in a wreath, or U.S. Maritime Commission shield would determine his organization. His shoulder boards indicate he is a captain or master. Of interest is the central device of his cap badge; it is a U.S. Maritime Commission shield, it originally indicated the wearer is responsible for individuals enrolled in the U.S. Maritime Commission Cadet Corps or is a Cadet Officer within the same. On his visor are “scrambled eggs” or “chicken guts” (as the saying goes) – a decorative device reserved those who hold the rank of commander and above (e.g. commander, captain, commodore or admiral).  He’s probably the “old man.”

The seaman fifth from the left is wearing a USMS cap badge current 1942 through March 1943. His shoulder boards indicate his rank as a captain – USMS or otherwise. Of interest is his cap’s visor – it is unadorned. He may be a Chief Engineer or a surgeon; both could wear captain boards, but not being in a command role, often did not wear “scrambled eggs.” This was a tradition often followed aboard merchant ships of the period; in 1944, USMS regulations explicitly illustrated and captioned commander and above as those who could wear “scrambled eggs.”

Around this time, there was a culture shift in the industry. On the eve of the Second World War (and I would argue the sentiment may be the roots of Zombo culture at Kings point), within the maritime community, there were those who took the rank and role of their station seriously; they would wear the lace, the buttons, and the uniform to keep the appearance of authority. Whereas there were others who saw the trappings of the military and pomp as a hindrance to doing work. In the latter group would be the radicalized seamen who survived the bloody union clashes of the 1930s or simply those who saw value in work itself.  If this were the case, he might be the “old man” and the previous fellow a surgeon who’s just thrilled to be in uniform.

Last in the row is a U.S. Army infantry captain replete with a marksman badge and several ribbons.  A comment in the article which accompanies the photograph states most succinctly:

My dad (may he rest in peace) was a WWII and Korean War Army officer and he wore that uniform back then — green brown (called olive drab) jacket and light khaki trousers that he derisively referred to as ‘pinks.’

First Row

The USMS officer first from the left is wearing the same USMS cap badge as his peers. Of interest is his wearing shoulder boards of the USMS circa March 1943. He may be a newly-minted deck officer straight from a USMS Officer school. His rank is ensign.

The USMS officer third from the right is wearing USMS “Administrative officer” purser shoulder boards; these staff corps shoulder boards first appeared in March 1943, with the design later abolished in 1944.

The Cadet-midshipmen – second and fourth from left – are both wearing cap badges that came out in 1939 and abolished in July 1944; but their shoulder boards are circa January 1942 and are those of a fourth-class cadet-midshipman. The individual on the left is a cadet in the Deck program, and the individual on the right is on the Engine program. Among the merchant seamen, the design of their shoulder boards – down to the securing bodkin – has remained relatively unchanged in design up through the Vietnam War era.

The context of the photograph revolves around the presence of the cadet-midshipmen. I suspect this photograph was probably taken aboard a troop ship prior to them shipping out. The clue to this is cadet-midshipmen invariably shipped-out in pairs: one in the Deck program and the other in the Engine program. If they were visiting a ship, they would probably be section-mates of the same program. The junior U.S. Navy officer may be leading a U.S. Navy Armed Guard unit and the U.S. Army officer may be a passenger aboard the ship. The Royal Navy Chief Petty officers are incongruous and might be passengers. Aboard Army Transport Service ships; uniform standards were fairly lax through the war – until they were not (probably in response to crews in the photograph, the Seattle Port of Embarkation published a suggestion for mariners to follow).

The season is invariably early Spring. Everyone is wearing working khaki coats, and some are wearing white socks – white cotton socks. If it were cold, the socks would be black, and the officers in the back would wear something a bit heavier than an overcoat. If the cadets were doing a regular training regimen, this photograph would have been taken just after the end of their preliminary training – if we go on the shoulder board design hints.

I would wager the photograph was taken in March or April 1943 given the overlap in the insignia worn by all the merchant seamen and evidence of the transitional insignia that lasted at most a year.

---

Curiously enough, the same photo recently reappeared with its back displayed. It looks like my hunches were correct. The photograph was taken in April 1943. My analysis was spot-on, except for the 1st Asst.; I thought him a steward – this was by virtue of his lack of insignia!