The United States Army’s experience in troop transport during the Spanish-American War was dismal at best. The United States Navy could not help to move men and material since its function was limited to being seaborne gun platforms, and many of the contractors the Army relied upon turned tail at the last moment. To control […]
Tag: star
united states maritime service
Not many people know what to make of today’s United States Maritime Service (USMS). At the United States Merchant Marine Academy, midshipmen call it the “United States Mystery Service” since many had not heard of it prior to enrollment at Kings Point. There’s a bit more to it than that: it is, in its own […]
seaman’s identification wallets & fink books
More often than not, when the dust settled merchant seamen tended not to speak about The War, leaving their children and grandchildren to wonder about their service to the country. Oftentimes, tucked away in an old trunk or in a box they left behind clues, such as a U.S. Department of Commerce “Seaman’s Identification Wallet.” […]
polar exploration
The British and American enterprise to explore the Antarctic has always been a source of fascination for me. As a young child, I was always interested to hear about sailors who came back from Operation Deep Freeze, and as a teen, I daydreamed over books about Scott, Amundson, and Shackelton and their daring adventures at […]
seaman albums, scrapbooks & mementos
Scrapbooks and snapshots capture ephemeral moments and act as sentinels for memory. In the period between the wars, scrapbooking was a great American pastime with families collecting bits and pieces of their lives to memorialize; this cultural phenomenon was not lost on members of the military or seafaring professions. During the Second World War, ever […]
awards & decorations
Throughout the history of the American Merchant Marine, awards and decorations were not unknown to seamen, but their blanket award specific to the Merchant Marine in particular as begun by the Federal government during the Second World War was novel. When considering Federal awards and decorations for the American Merchant Marine, their classification often falls […]
crossing the line
One of my favorite things to think about is the ritual process where individuals pass from one state to another. We have our sweet sixteens, confirmations, baptisms, graduation ceremonies, inductions into secret societies, and so forth. We have markers – some permanent, others not – when we change from one status to another. Some societies […]
fort schuyler
Fort Schuyler is the home of the State University of New York Maritime College, commonly known as SUNY Maritime. The school has had many names through the years, among them New York State Nautical School, New York State Merchant Marine Academy, and New York State Maritime Academy; I find it convenient to call it Fort […]
us army corps of engineers
dredge personnel The U.S. Army once had a fleet of ships that rivaled that of the U.S. Navy. With the merge of the U.S. Army-managed Army Transport Service and its successor organizations with that of the U.S. Navy, Navy Transport Service into the U.S. Military Sea Transportation Service in the late-1940s, one of the few U.S. […]
united states lines
Ships and Mariners usl fleet 1921-60 marad & usl fleet ships list usl personnel images usl ss washington passenger list extract 1937 usl ss leviathan banquet booklet extract usl ss leviathan maiden voyage images & crew list 1923 usl ss leviathan chapman flag raising 1929 usl ss louis hennepin at bari, italy report 1944 usl […]