usl cap badge history

Upon taking command of the SS Leviathan in the Spring of 1923, Captain Herbert Hartley wore the earliest known cap badge of United States Lines.  The badge’s design was novel for the era; whereas most passenger lines opted for a flag flanked by laurels, United States Lines (USL) used an eagle’s bust in profile ringed […]

usl chapman flag

CHAPMAN TAKES OVER LEVIATHAN FOR $4,000,000 The S. S. Leviathan, pride of the United States Shipping Board, has officially changed hands. The new house flag of the United States Lines, Inc. a white field, [five-pointed] red star and blue triangle now flaps from its mainmast. Ceremonies on its hoisting attracted officials of the shipping board […]

ss leviathan maiden voyage july 1923

Crew Photographs, July 1923 Selected photographs from the Library of Congress with SS Leviathan crew members. Date of photographs are noted as from 1923; given the subject matter, this is most probably from SS Leviathan‘s maiden voyage on 7 July 1923. Harris & Ewing are the photographers. “The morning of Independence Day found the S. […]