For thirty years – from 1934 to 1964 – United States Lines awarded its employees a pair of decorations called the United States Lines Distinguished Service Medal and the United States Lines Distinguished Service Award. Both were primarily awards for heroism in lifesaving; and among American steamship companies, they were the first of such ongoing awards in the industry. This essay will trace the award’s history and will describe each medal. A separate page holds a list of all known individuals who are recipients of either medal.
The United States Lines Distinguished Service Medal and Award raison d’être evoked the Congressional Gold and Silver Lifesaving Medals. The latter two’s legislation came in 1874 as awards solely for the United States Life-Saving Service for heroics involved in a rescue from the sea, making them the first federal civilian medal for heroism. By 1897, any person in Federal service, the military, or not was eligible to receive it. Their establishment made them alongside the Congressional Medal of Honor, the oldest continuously awarded medals in the United States to date.
Saving a life at sea was no easy feat, and could very well have resulted in the loss of one’s own, thus emphasizing the symbolic importance of the Lifesaving Medal. The medal came in two classes, which represented either the personal risk to the rescuer or the rescuer’s role. Often, a single rescuer earned a Gold Medal if they did a rescue alone at great peril to themselves; if several people were involved in a rescue – as in a lifeboat party – often, the officer in charge received a Gold Medal and the oarsmen, a Silver Medal. In cases such as the latter, the group received just accolades as a team. The Gold Lifesaving Medal stood as an equal with the Congressional Medal of Honor – the highest military award in the United States – for almost half a century. Only with the expansion of military awards after the First World War did the Lifesaving Medal lose its prominence within the military. Over time, it slowly slid down past meritorious service and combat medals. However, it remains the highest honor Congress may bestow on civilians; one noted recipient of this medal even received a ticker-tape parade when his ship docked in New York Harbor.
The above example once belonged to Captain Elmer Stull of Merchant Marine Distinguished Medal fame. At the time of award, his Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal (MM DSM) held less prestige than the Lifesaving medal, the latter being a “Medal of Honor.” The more militant of the maritime unions painted the MM DSM as an empty token. They held it was not truly representative of the work everyone did together to make its award possible when the decoration went to a ship’s captain alone; one awardee of the MM DSM admirably attempted to gain recognition for his shipmates, but recognition fell short.
The institution of the Lifesaving Medal inaugurated a precedent for the creation of other, similar federal lifesaving medals. First came the “Railroad Lifesaving Medal” as legislated for in the 1905 “Medals of Honor Act” for heroism in connection with train wrecks. And, in 1931 came the “Air Mail Flyers’ Medal of Honor” for:
[A]ny person who, while serving as a pilot in the air mail service since May 15, 1918, has distinguished, or who, after the approval of this Act, distinguishes himself, by heroism or extraordinary achievement while participating in such service…
Public Law 661, 71st Congress, 1931
Currents at the time saw a proliferation of lifesaving awards. Following the Federal government’s lead, New York State instituted medals for its Volunteer Lifesaving Corps in the early 1900s, with Steamship companies doing the same in the 1920s and 1930s. In this spirit of civic and corporate pride, the United States Lines Board of Directors established the United States Lines Distinguished Service Medal in 1934. The establishment of the medal filled a gap in recognition for lifesaving. Although the Federal government and benevolent societies did give out medals for lifesaving, they were often for stellar performance in an event; whereas the USL’s medals enabled the company to control the messaging and award those it felt deserving. USL’s awards – for the most part – did not overlap with federal recognition; in fact, no USL personnel received a medal from the Federal government. While the Lifesaving medal was exacting in the conditions for its award:
Saving of a life or giving succor does not in itself entitle a person to a medal. The medals can be given in only instances in which exceptional bravery has been displayed, or in which unusual effort or some great personal sacrifice has been made. It should be further noted that the saving of persons from drowning in waters wholly within a State, and not forming a part of me navigable waters of the United States, or in small inland streams, ponds, pools, etc., does not entitle the rescuers to medals.
United States Lines was less strict in its definition for the USL DSM:
[It is] an award for valor in the performance of duty.
Although United States Lines (USL) had no established conditions for the award, it came in two classes: Medal and Award. The award of both the United States Lines Distinguished Service Medal (USL DSM) and the United States Lines Distinguished Service Award (USL DSA), was reasonably consistent. A ship’s commanding officer and the leading officer aboard lifeboats involved in picking up or extracting the survivors of an accident or trouble at sea received the USL DSM. While the USL DSA went to crewmen aboard the lifeboats. An individual act of bravery, such as leaping over the side of a ship to save a drowning passenger, resulted in the award of a USL DSM regardless of whether the recipient was a crew member or was an officer. For meritorious service, the company always awarded the USL DSM.
The first award of the USL DSM went to Captain George Fried upon his retirement from United States Lines on 20 November 1934. It was ostensibly for a rescue of a crew of fliers the month before, yet just as the U.S. Navy Distinguished Service Medal had become a standard fixture at flag officer retirement ceremonies, so too was this medal. Captain Fried’s was a long career punctuated by eight oceanic rescues – he was a multiple recipient of the Congressional Lifesaving Medal and medals from the Life Saving Benevolent Association of New York; the United States Lines medal was more a celebration of his cumulative rescues. Up until the Second World War, the USL DSM remained a lifesaving medal; on the eve of the war, it became a medal for merit, in addition to keeping its lifesaving component. During the war, its award conditions during the Second World War aligned with those of the MM DSM; those seamen USL nominated to the U.S. Maritime Commission for the award were also awarded the company’s medal. The group valor USL DSM award USL made in 1943 for several of its shipmasters is significant since there was only one medal of merit for Merchant Mariners at the time; records show USL felt its mariners deserved recognition. After the war, and into the 1960s, the expanded conditions remained in effect.
Over the years, USL awarded a recorded 106 USL DSM and USL DSA. The number of both grades is inexact because not all crew lists were present in several press releases. The number of USL DSA is approximate since post-war notices only spoke of a blanket “medal” in several cases. Nevertheless, the number of awards was low and infrequent. The last award came in 1964.
The first half-decade of the award’s existence saw both medals awarded to officers and men. After an interruption of corporate control of the fleet, the first award of the medal went to a ship’s master only with the crew receiving citations and cash disbursements. After a period of relative quiet, a master and lifeboat crew received medals in 1949; 1956 had explicit mention fro USL that all cited individuals received a medal versus a medal or an award medal. After the last wartime award in 1945, the division of medals and awards is pure speculation on my part as the company left no records behind and the press did not distinguish between the two grades – a medal is a medal. The old pre-war codes remained strong in the industry through the Korean War; only afterward did management not take as paternalistic view toward labor as before – which might explain the widespread award of the medal.
Design
On the obverse is the depiction of a ship steaming toward the viewer. Waves break at the prow, and the sun rises behind it – rays streaking across the cloud-covered sky. The ship’s funnel has the company’s livery in red, white, and blue enamels. The DSM has this plaque on a medallion; the DSA omits the medallion and retains the central element.
Dieges and Clust designed and struck all USL DSM and DSA; I suspect all were done in two lots – one pre-war and another post-war. The USL DSM planchet has a different motto in the 1950s, and the suspension ribbon differs from 1951 onward. In terms of the ribbon, blacklight analysis of the ribbon for the 1930s and 1950s medals show no evidence of synthetic threads; the 1950s ribbon bar is of size and construction found in devices from the 1930s as well. The later awarding of exclusively USL DSM could point not to a corporate change in defining bravery, rather headquarters running out of USL DSA and overall expense of striking new medals.
The medals in the 1930s all came suspended on a ribbon of red, white, and blue stripes. The medal configuration on ribbon followed the format used often by civic and fraternal organizations: medal planchet suspended from a drape, and a length of ribbon draped behind the medal. By 1950, the ribbon was reconfigured with the medallion hanging on a drape alone. The DSM came with a ribbon bar.
The reverse of both medals has a blank space between the mottos, where the name of the recipient and date of the qualifying act is engraved.
Medals from the 1930s and 1940s came in a red oxblood leatherette case, and those from the 1950s came in a plain cardboard box. A certificate did not accompany any of the medals.
United States Lines Distinguished Service Medal to James J. Smith (1955)
USL DSM ObverseUSL DSM ReverseCol.: IW
Material: Gold. 37.3 mm. 28.0 grams. 14 karat. Obv: Full-on view of an ocean liner with red, white, and blue enameled smoke stack, UNITED STATES LINES DISTINGUISHED SERVICE MEDAL around. Rev: AWARDED / BY THE / BOARD OF DIRECTORS / TO / JAMES J. SMITH / NOVEMBER 17 1955 / FOR COURAGEOUS AND / MERITORIOUS ACTION / IN THE PERFORMANCE / OF DUTY. Edge stamped D&C (for Dieges & Clust of New York, Boston, Chicago, and Pittsburgh) 14K. Suspended on a red, white, and blue ribbon.
In the original cardboard box of issue.
The reverse of this example different than two recorded reverses from 1938 and 1943, in the motto, the title of awardee, and date format:
1938 Rev: AWARDED / BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS / TO / CAPTAIN HAAKON A. PEDERSEN / DEC. 13, 1938 / FOR HEROIC ACTION / IN THE PERFORMANCE / OF DUTY.
1943 Rev: AWARDED / BY THE / BOARD OF DIRECTORS / TO / CAPTAIN HAAKON A. PEDERSEN / FOR HEROIC ACTION / IN THE PERFORMANCE / OF DUTY.
Material: Gold. 37.3 mm. 28.0 grams. 14 karat. Obv: Full-on view of an ocean liner with red, white, and blue enameled smoke stack, UNITED STATES LINES above, DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD below. Rev: AWARDED BY THE / BOARD OF / DIRECTORS / TO / PHILIP W. BABCOCK / DEC 13 1938 / FOR HEROIC ACTION / IN THE PERFORMANCE / OF DUTY. Edge stamped D&C (for Dieges & Clust of New York, Boston, Chicago, and Pittsburgh) 10K. Suspended on a red, white, and blue ribbon.
I owe a great deal of thanks to the American Merchant Marine Museum – without the assistance of Dr. Joshua Smith and Bob Sturm for assisting me in my search for information on these obscure medals.
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 in stars for its cap badge. This initial design lasted a few months, only to radically change in the summer before the SS Leviathan’s maiden cruise. A few years later, the cap badge changed again. For a student of any shipping line identifying which cap badge was in use at any specific period of a shipping line’s existence is a challenge due to the overall lack of corporate documentation; United States Lines cap badge identification is particularly daunting as with each change in the line’s ownership and corporate identity, so too changed the badge – in effect echoing corporate livery. Luckily, United States Lines throughout its existence has left behind a clutch of clues in the form of photographs and ephemera which informed this essay. This essay will trace cap badges from United States Lines’ 1921 inception up until the 1951 launching of the SS United States; it is primarily concerned with the stylistic changes in cap badges of United States Lines (USL) licensed officers, and Boatswains and Able Bodied Seamen.[i]
NB.: Please click on the bold text for external links or additional images.
Captain Herbert Harley, Spring 1923
Cap badges & maritime fashion
Before discussing USL’s cap badges, a brief sketch of maritime fashion trends and cap badge design is useful.
Functionally, cap badges offer a means to instantly identify a person’s role aboard a ship. It is safe to assume the more elaborate a cap badge, the greater one’s responsibility. In the United Kingdom, for example, a licensed officer in the Merchant Navy would have laurels flanking a central device, and a rating would not. In the United States, an eagle over the central device might suggest command responsibilities – but not always. USL straddled the line for how it used cap badges to denote shipboard position. And, when speaking of shipboard position, for the period up until the Second World War, USL followed traditional American Merchant Marine professional titles. These titles had analogs between the United States Navy and British Merchant Navy. By the 1930s, each of the positions coalesced into communities: officers, senior seamen, and junior seamen. Each had a distinct style of dress and associated headwear.
USL
U.K. Merchant Navy
U.S. Navy
Master
Master
Captain
First Mate
First Mate
Commander
Second Mate
Second Mate
Lieutenant
Third Mate
Third Mate
Ensign
Boatswain
Uncertified Mate
Warrant Officer (un-commissioned)
Able Bodied Seaman (senior)
Mate/Boatswain’s Mate
Chief Petty Officer
Able Bodied Seaman
Leading Seaman/Able Bodied Seaman
Petty Officer
Ordinary Seaman
Seaman
Rank/Rate equivalency chart
The United Kingdom was the undisputed leader in merchant shipping in the century leading up to the Second World War. The uniforms and garb worn by British mariners set the model for most other leading maritime nations. During the Victorian era, navies and mercantile marines freely borrowed British fashion and motifs; this is particularly evident by other countries’ appropriation of the “Elliot’s eye” (the “executive curl”) on officers’ uniforms in places as far afield as Portugal and Japan and all in-between.[i] British tastes continued to hold sway during the Edwardian and interwar periods. These eras saw the widespread adoption of the double-breasted reefer with two rows of buttons, some degree of cuff lace for cold-weather garments, and the high-collared white cotton or duck chocker-whites for summer and tropical wear. On this very British canvas, maritime nations sparingly placed autochthonic motifs and symbols on the uniforms of their military and commercial fleets. Headwear held regional flourishes; yet, the British continued to define the uniform’s vocabulary.[ii]
The professionalization of the British maritime trades began in the mid-1850s and continued through the 1860s with the certification of masters and mates,[iii] and engineers.[iv] Coinciding with certifications, so too came a movement to uniform those involved in the maritime trades: seemingly everyone wore a uniform or at least a cap, from dockmasters to lighthouse keepers, and pilots to ship quartermasters. For British merchant seamen, the similarity between their dress and that of their military counterparts was due to innovations set by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P. & O.).
P. & O. was the first sizeable British shipping company to adopt a standardized uniform for its shipboard employees. P. & O. was formed in 1837 when the company held an Admiralty contract to carry mail to the Iberian Peninsula and gained a royal charter three years later. At the time, it was standardizing uniforms in the 1860s, P. & O. was the premier British shipping concern. While considering uniforms to give its shipboard employees, it decided to mirror the dress of the Royal Navy. This costume not only paid homage to the foremost naval power of the world but also emphasized P. & O.’s role as the Crown’s proxy in support of Legitimists in the First Carlist War in Spain and the earlier Portuguese Absolutist crisis and Civil War. The company’s house flag recalls this history: triangles in blue and white of royalist Portugal, and yellow and red of Spain. In honor of the company’s support, the Crown granted P. & O. officers the privilege of wearing a sword – a right shared by no others in the British mercantile marine. Taking this status to the hilt, P. & O., in turn, gave its employees the impression of military smartness. This uniform came to represent the expertise of the wearer, and the rank insignia indicated one’s seniority aboard the vessel. In this fashion, P. & O. likened masters and mates to naval captains and lieutenants.[v] Given the prestige afforded by a position with P. & O., many ex-Royal Navy officers joined to the company’s senior ranks. P. & O. also followed the British military tradition of giving its members a cap badge. Military cap badges recalled a defining element from the unit’s arms[vi]; in P. & O.’s case, its cap badge was an elegant visual metaphor for the “Oriental” part of its name: the rising sun. These innovations pioneered by P. & O. spread throughout the British merchant fleet, and within a decade, other shipping companies large and small followed P. & O.’s lead. In time, these uniforms with unique caps became markers of professional pride among their wearers and symbolized the trust invested in them by their companies.
ca. 1960s, P. & O. blazer badge, Officer’s Association
Although P. & O. derived its cap badge design from an element of its corporate arms, most British shipping companies did not rate the same privilege. Most companies opted to use their house flags flanked by a wreath of gold laurel branches; the design is reminiscent of period Royal Navy cap badges – but with a commercial slant. By the turn of the twentieth century, passenger liners – as opposed to cargo carriers – placed more of an emphasis on uniform appearance, and from them came a small constellation of cap badges. Nevertheless, not all shipping companies were strict with their uniform requirements. Since it was British custom for mates and wardroom officers[vii] to change ships between voyages, many officers did not invest in company livery. These individuals opted to wear a simple cap with an anchor flanked by laurels or some other generic, nautical-themed badge. By 1919, industry uniforms in the United Kingdom underwent a complete renovation.
Before the 1920s, a royal crown on the cap badge was the province of the Royal Navy or royally warranted companies. As such, a crown device was a badge of prestige within British maritime circles. With the passing of the British Mercantile Marine Uniform Act of 1919, all British merchant seamen had state-prescribed uniform instructions. A key concept in the Act was if a merchant seaman’s company did not have a cap badge, they had the option to wear a distinctive Merchant Navy cap badge created in the style of a Royal Navy badge. The officer’s cap badge comprised of a wreath of oak leaves in gold and silver bullion flanking a silvered bronze anchor on a padded maroon felt base in the shape of an oval with a gold bullion anchor. A cable of gold wire surrounded the oval itself. Surmounting the central device was a Naval crown (corona navalis); although not in legislation, in practice, officers placed swatches of felt under the crown denoting their shipboard department (see chart). All components were affixed to a black wool base reinforced with black cloth and a backer of black paper. Overall, the cap badge generally measured 78mm x 78.5mm. For seamen who were in the employ of companies that already had a cap badge, the Act’s first provision read:
“Provided that where, on the 4th day of September 1918, the Masters and Officers of the Ships belonging to any Company or Firm were accustomed to use a cap with a distinctive badge, that badge may, if the Company or Firm so desire, be substituted.”[viii]
Able Bodied Seamen also had a cap badge modeled after those of Royal Navy Petty Officers – theirs was the same as the officer’s cap badge except it omitted the laurel wreath.
ca. 1940s, Cap Badge, United Kingdom, Merchant Navy Officerca. 1940s, Cap Badge, United Kingdom, Merchant Navy Chief Petty Officer
In 1928, King George V denoted the British merchant marine, the “Merchant Navy” in honor of the heroic job it rendered in service of the United Kingdom during the First World War. The King’s action went beyond the honorific since the proclamation also actively militarized the British Merchant Marine. Since there was a spirit of professional pride and honor in being in the maritime trades, British merchant seamen took to the pomp and circumstance of their uniforms; being likened to the Royal Navy only increased their pride and cemented their allegiance to the Crown.
By the 1920s and reaching full elaboration in the 1930s, those countries who followed the British example and organized national merchant navies used the British uniform lexicon. Considering the British example, on the one hand, cap badges used in a country’s merchant marine identified the wearer as an officer or a representative of the company, and on the other, displayed authority vested in the wearer by the company – and by proxy, the state. The general international model of cap badge design was the company’s house flag or a device from the company’s corporate identity placed on wool backing and flanked by laurel or some other leaf of distinction. Some countries used national devices or a crown specific to their ruling family, while others used ancestral symbols; for instance, Portugal used an armillary sphere surcharged with a Portuguese Order of Christ Cross – a distinctive national emblem recalling Prince Henry, the Navigator. During the same period, the United States not only lacked a government-sponsored Merchant Navy but also lacked public respect for the maritime trades. Since the United States looked primarily inward, the country had minimal design elements specific to its maritime establishment. Since the public considered Britain and the European powers the paragons of shipping and passenger transport, Americans copied their cap badge designs, albeit without crowns or ciphers.
ca. 1970s, Cap Badge, Portugal, Merchant Navy Officer
After the First World War, the United States government found itself with a fleet of ships it seized from the Central Powers as well as a mass of ships purpose-built for convoy duty. Unable to stop the industrial juggernaut it unleashed with over-subscribed ship contracts, vessels on the United States federal government’s account came off the ways long after the cessation of hostilities. By the end of 1919, the federal entity created to manage the fleet in peacetime had 1,261 ships at its disposal. At the same time in 1920, the number of ships fell to 1,183. Since never before had the country had such a large, government-owned fleet, the government turned to private businesses to run its ships and share profits from their operation. The number of managing agents or operators at this point numbered 187; they operated anywhere from one ship to a fleet of 59. In a decade, the industry stalled, and only 24 shipping companies managed 205 government ships. By 1940, three companies managed a pool of 37. Insignia houses based in the major port cities of San Francisco and New York, and to a lesser extent Providence, Rhode Island provided distinctive insignia made-to-order for many of the new companies – B. Pasquale Co. and Gordon, Elkies Military Supply Company (GEMSCO), being noted suppliers.
Many American shipping companies up to and immediately after the First World War were democratic in the issue of cap badges. The standard American cap badge in the 1920s was an embroidered house flag flanked by laurel branches on wool backing. If a company had a cap badge, it was worn on a cap irrespective of whether or not an individual was a licensed officer or an Able Bodied Seaman. On passenger liners, the position of the wearer may have been embroidered on the badge itself; e.g. “Surgeon,” “Quartermaster,” or “Master.” This trend was followed up until the eve of the Second World War. Other steamship lines did not issue cap badges for anyone except licensed officers; these caps looked like an unadorned U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer cap – a mohair band over the base of the cap and a white crown. Between the wars, American shipping companies appeared to follow the British precedent by having families of cap badges denoting the wearer’s position within the shipboard hierarchy. Recall, the British Merchant Navy used a reductive model of cap badge design to denote a wearer’s rank: a cap badge without oak leaves was prescribed for petty officers, and those who held an officer’s license wore cap badges with oak leaves.
☆ ☆ ☆
United States Lines Cap Badges 1921-1951
Over the period of thirty years, United States Lines had three distinct periods reflected in cap badge design: United States Shipping Board management, Paul W. Chapman acquisition, and International Merchantile Marine ownership. Each period saw numerous designs as corporate identity and personnel shifted: from operating in the shadow of European liners, becoming a wartime organization, and finally positioning itself as the pre-eminent American trans-Atlantic passenger service.
USSB Years: 1921-1929
1921-1922
From 1921 through 1922, there is a distinct absence of photographs of the crews of United States Shipping Board (USSB) ships assigned to United States Lines. With no photographs, a study is unable to be made of their uniform insignia. However, a tantalizing clue regarding insignia comes in the form of a news item from December 1922:
The Marine Journal, December 23, 1922, p. 26.
This indicates that the ships themselves were to fly the house flags of their operators and the government insignia was to be removed from their stacks (funnels); although USL was exempt – USSB issued the line its own house flag in September 1921. Up to this point, ship officers most probably wore the insignia of their respective employers; at this time, Moore & McCormack Co., Roosevelt Steamship Co., Inc., and United American Lines, Inc. acted as the managing operators of USL for USSB. Their management did not last long; in 1922 United American Lines abandoned the scheme to form their own, competing North Atlantic route. By March 1923, the remainder of the operators left USSB alone to operate the Line. By April 1923, with the entry of SS Leviathan into the USL fleet, did the Line adopt a unique livery.
April 1923 – May 1923
The cap badges worn by United States Lines mariners eventually followed the trends of the greater international maritime establishment, with design embellishments endemic to the United States and particularly to the company itself, but it started out as an outlier. The first cap badge appeared a priori. Its overall dimensions are greater than any other cap badge of the period and its central element was a stylistic innovation. Whereas all other U.S. maritime firms may be using cap badges with flags, USL decidedly did not. From April 1923 until May 1923, Captain Herbert Hartley is noted wearing the following:
ca. 1923, Cap Badge, United States Lines Officer.
Captain Herbert Hartley, May 1923.
June 1923 – 1927
At the time of the SS Leviathan’s maiden voyage on 4 July 1923, the cap badge took another design shift – the central eagle element was reduced and behind it were two angled flagstaffs with the USL house flag fluttering downward and two pairs of anchor crowns and flukes below. The overall construction was quite large for the period. The central eagle element became the logo for uniform buttons and was used on ship stationery. The new cap badge rarely found its way off of the uniform cap.
Photograph from LOC dated (July) 1923. This photograph’s date is a bit of a humdinger. Herbert Hartley is shown wearing commodore stripes, yet he was given the rank of Commodore of USL on 26 October 1926; and whites would have been worn in April 1927 – a four-year error! In actuality, he wore a commodore’s stripe to distinguish himself from his four-striper executive and staff officers. All ship manifests list him as captain up until November 1926.SS Leviathan officers, June 1923.
USSB Years: 1927-1929
The previous design did not last very long, probably due to size. As cap badges went, it took up 50% more real estate on the caps’ crown. Caps of the era did not benefit from crown stiffeners, so the badge itself may have become floppy over time. The next recorded cap badge to appear on USL uniform caps is the very uninspiring eagle over house flag and wreath type – however, at the time, these three elements together were exciting. The new style of cap badge was adopted with an enthusiasm that equaled the British merchant sailor’s experience the decade prior.
By 1927, cap badges with eagle elements became prevalent across the American Merchant Marine. This stylistic change came on the heels of the 28 February 1925 abolition of the U.S. Naval Reserve Force and the creation of a U.S. Naval Reserve (USNR), Merchant Marine Reserve taking effect on 1 July 1925. Despite the prohibition of wearing a U.S. Navy uniform, Merchant Marine Reservists often identified their special status of being in the USNR (Merchant Marine) by donning their U.S. naval officer’s caps. At the same time, USSB began reorganizing its lines and taking an interest in livery; during this period, USSB introduced eagles in the same style as the U.S. naval officer’s cap – the embroidered eagle above the federal shield. American Merchant Marine officers wore cap badges with an eagle above the house flag and wreath elements on cap badges – advertising the Federal government’s control of their shipping lines.
Previous authors incorrectly opined that since the USL fleet held a large complement of USNR officers, the new cap badge was very much a nod to them. It was supposed that USL masters, chief engineers, senior mates, and engineer officers all joined the USNR as or when possible. This is wholly incorrect; in fact, only 12% of all officers aboard the SS Leviathan were members of the USNRF. All officers – USNRF or not – wore this style of cap badge throughout the USL fleet in early 1927.
In later years, period photographs from other steamship lines attest to a unique bifurcation among USNR and other ship personnel. Some officers who were members of the USNR had the eagle on their caps, and those who were not members did not. This was not the case prior to February 1941 in the USL fleet. When there was a difference, it was with Able Bodied Seamen. The industry trend at the time was for unlicensed seamen to wear a cap similar to that of a U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer; except their caps had no insignia or ornamentation (follow this link for an example); USL personnel in positions of responsibility all wore a cap with insignia of some sort.
Captain Harry V. Manning, January-February 1927 at the time of his command of SS President Roosevelt. Col.: AMMM.
Chapman Era & A Federal Interlude
1929-1931
In a United States Lines period advertisement from early 1930, a curious cap badge with what appears to be a flag with a trisected triangle and a star is present. This represents the first cap badge for use on the newly-acquired Paul W. Chapman United Stated Lines fleet; an image of his daughter raising a flag with the same design is here. For United States Lines, there were two distinct cap badges in use with the trisected triangle: one on a white flag with a red star, and another with a blue ring surrounding the trisected triangle. The former triable was blue, and the latter, was red. Period documentation shows Chapman’s house flags for USL had a central blue triangle device with a red star in the canton from late 1929 through mid-1930; from mid-1930, while still under Chapman’s management and through his insolvency, the revised logo and cap badges remained. These cap badges were worn by licensed officers and pursers alone; period photographs do not suggest them being worn by Able Bodied Seamen.
There is speculation that Chapman’s other line: American Merchant Line purchased with USL, was actually the holder of a blue triangle device with a red star in the canton, and United States Lines had a red triangle – this may be idle speculation and has yet to be corroborated.
July 1931 – December 1931
Paul W. Chapman failed to meet payments to the Federal government, and in July 1931 the company was seized by USSB and handed to Roosevelt Steamship Co., R. Stanley Dollar, and Kenneth D. Dawson for operation in December of the same year. In March 1932, the former ran the ships for all intents and purposes. Soon thereafter, Roosevelt Steamship Co. became a constituent line of International Mercantile Marine, Co. (IMM), with IMM gaining exclusive control of USL in 1934. Cap badges in the brief period between July 1931 and spilling into December 1931 remained the last Chapman design.
In regard to the mid-1930 Chapman design, it followed design cues used on cap badges by USNR officers in the Merchant Fleet – in USL’s case, instead of a flag, the company’s logo was surmounted by an eagle device. During this period, a corporate logo within a ring inscribed with the shipping line’s name became all the vogue among both privately held and USSB-managed lines; for USL, in particular, this was a throwback to the cap badge worn by officers of the ships that comprise of its early fleet, United States Mail Steamship Company. Below find the new design and an advertisement from 1931. These cap badges were worn by licensed officers and pursers.
Up until the 1930s, few American steamship companies used metal and enamel (cloisonné) cap badges. Among those companies that had them as part of their livery, their use was only among those that commanded or wanted to appear to control a substantial market segment. Before the 1930s, woven cap badges were preferred insignia items. Metal cap badges tended to tarnish quickly in a marine setting and required vigilance to be maintained, while quality woven devices required no such care. When companies used cloisonné, it was for house flags on their uniform caps. The industry moved toward cloisonné in the 1930s and continued throughout the Second World War. International Mercantile Marine – the eventual owner of United States Lines – was one of the few U.S. companies that pioneered the use of an integral metal and cloisonné cap badges with their holding American Lines, and an innovation they dropped by the 1920s.[ix] During the 1920s, when USL was Chapman-owned, large cloisonné badges were issued to steward department members who worked in a service role – e.g. server, porter, attendant. These cap badges were much like those of other large ocean carriers where stewards wore caps with badges derived from a central element of the company’s livery. Stewards with Cunard Lines had a mast with two flags on their caps, White Star Line, an enamel white star, Matson a large M, and USL the stylized ship’s prop.
With International Mercantile Marine (IMM) ownership of USL, both the cap badge with the surmounting eagle device and the large cloisonné badges disappeared. Going forward, officers and senior seamen wore the same cap badge – as was the trend among most steamship lines, who were aligning themselves visibly with British steamship lines – with the new house flag and laurel leaves. In this initial period under IMM, USL had syncretic caps, borrowing from British and American traditions.
Within the world of American merchant maritime insignia during the 1930s, one of the more striking departures from the British is the absence of a reductive model of cap badges. Instead of families of cap badges, Americans used chinstraps to denote the difference between licensed officers and Able Bodied Seamen: gold for the former, and black leather for the latter. This was a direct adoption from the United States Navy – the British Royal Navy and Merchant Navy had no such distinction. USL, under federal ownership and Paul Chapman (1923-1932), gold and black leather chinstraps were employed; although as as an I.M.M. company (1932-1938), both licensed officers and Able Bodied Seaman wore black leather straps; and from 1938 onward, gold and black leather chinstraps were worn.
ca. 1920s, Cap Flag, American Line Officer (British style)
Concurrent with the change in ownership, the USL adopted a new house flag. This flag over time was affectionately called the “blue goose,” and was originally the house flag of I.M.M.’s American Line; it was inaugurated in 1893. When I.M.M. retired the American Line in 1922, the flag passed to Panama Pacific Line; in 1932 it was flown by United States Lines, except defaced with line’s initials: U S L. Keeping with visual standardization, the newly acquired American Merchant Lines likewise wore a defaced blue goose flag with its initials: A M L. I.M.M. eventually rebranded itself United States Lines, and USL as the flagship line wore a non-defaced blue goose as the Panama Pacific Line was absorbed by USL in 1939. A full record of USL’s vexillological changes are here (opens in a new browser tab).
USL’s cap badges and cap configuration remained relatively stable in terms of their design up from I.M.M. purchase through 1940; in 1941 SS America deck and engineering officers began wearing cap badges with eagles surmounting the wreath and flag; stewards, pursers, and cadets kept the cap badges without the eagle. The chin strap changed to gold bullion from black patent leather. The embroidered eagles on the cap badges faced the viewer’s right, following the precedent of United States Naval Officer cap badges of the period.
Chief Engineer J. J. GanelyCommander Giles StedmanChief Steward John KingPre-war USL cap badge
From October 1939 onward, USL personnel may be found wearing cap badges with blue goose defaced with USL or a plain blue goose. This continued. The defaced blue goose house flag persistence is most probably due to the fact that merchant seamen were wont to throw away their insignia unless so compelled; in fact, the defaced blue goose house flag on cap badges continued throughout the Second World War until 1947.
Yet in the decade after the USL acquisition by I.M.M., several variations of the blue goose house flag and badge themselves may be seen on the caps of USL personnel. This variety is due to the contortions of line mergers and acquisitions. Although the blue goose is often associated with the USL, it was the identifier – in order – for American Line, Panama Pacific Line, and United States Lines. In essence, the various cap badges act as clues in a vast web of corporate archaeology.
Panama Pacific purser. Ocean Ferry, December 1932.SS Virginia, November 1938
The cap badge on the left, above, worn by a Panama Pacific purser is quite similar to that worn by an Atlantic Transport Line (ATL) officer; this is due to the fact that I.M.M. acquired ATL ships and merged them with Red Star Line, and personnel and the former’s ships migrated to the Panama Pacific Line. Both licensed officers and stewards on Panama Pacific Line ships wore the same cap badge; livery was shared with American Line – I.M.M.’s flagship line through the 1920s until its demise in 1932. By 1938, PPL pursers (and it may be assumed by extension, all officers), wore a cap badge without the dragging anchor (see image on the right, above).
1920, American Line1930s, American Line1924, Atlantic Transport Line1924, Atlantic Transport Line
In looking at the various stylistic changes in house flags, it is evident that Panama Pacific Line combined two key elements from its predecessors, the dragging anchor – which was very much a British design, and the house flag of American Lines; the house flag of American Lines on the upper left is of British style as well – the flag is pulling away from the pole (the is a J. R. Gaunt badge); the pole itself is rendered in metal representing the hook and eye weaving present in bullion badges. The upper right badge is of American manufacture and takes a more representative approach to the house flag – it has the halyard following the length of the pole with the pole appearing realistic and not a reproduction in metal of woven work; over the years, the halyard becomes stylized or omitted by American insignia manufactures and when it is represented, it appears as beads or hashes in the negative space between the hoist and the pole.
After 1932, the blue goose has taken on the following forms:
Despite cap badges available via multiple ship chandlers in Manhattan, there was some creative play with USL cap badges by USL’s mariners, especially up to and during the Second World War. In the period leading up to the war, some stewards combined a silver-washed U.S. Army wreath with their blue goose – silver being the traditional color of steward cap badge laurels. The below badge is from the SS America which was acquired by the U.S. Navy and commissioned as the USS West Point (AP-23) and used as a troop transport throughout the Second World War from June 1941 through 1946 when it went back to USL ownership. The USL crew mostly remained with the ship as it changed owners – the United States Navy augmented the crew with newly commissioned USNR officers and gunnery crew, and the United States Army assigned Army personnel under the command of a Transportation Officer to manage troop affairs.
ca. 1941-1946, United States Lines Steward, USS West Point.
In January 1943, the United States Maritime Service (USMS) opened its ranks to all licensed officers in the American Merchant Marine – enrollment was wholly voluntary without remuneration, but with the benefit of wearing a federally-sanctioned uniform and insignia, and honorary rank. Ship’s officers – much like their British counterparts when the crown sponsored the British Mercantile Marine Uniform Act of 1919 – were not keen on divesting themselves of their corporate insignia; this led to a back-pedaling of sorts, and the United Kingdom allowed existing corporate insignia to remain in force. No official mandate stated USMS uniform insignia shall and must be worn when commissioned; however, a fluke in USMS cap badge construction enabled sea-going USMS officers to modify the government-issued cap badge and place house flags on them. This deft alteration showed the wearers as both patriotic members of the American Merchant Marine and employees of United States Lines. This did not preclude USL-licensed officers from wearing bullion and house flag cap badges. This did not preclude licensed officers from continuing to wear the eagle and laurel wreath cap badges – the only change from pre-war cap badges was that badge’s eagle faced the viewer’s left; most of these cap badges had the blue goose in enamel – I am familiar with a single example of the cap badge completely woven.
In the gallery below, there are two defaced USMS cap badges as well as a photograph of a woven wreath and eagle cap badge. Included below is also the completely woven badge. The defaced badges show a USMS cap badge with a Panama Pacific Line blue goose – this is evidence that PPL personnel continued to sail with their old insignia intact after line merger. Period photos show a USL defaced blue goose remained in effect for wear throughout the war and these house flags made their way to USMS cap badges; thus far I have not noted the appearance of postwar cap flags defacing USMS cap badges; this may very well be that this defacement was a wartime measure only, and peacetime brought a return to prewar woven cap badges a less militaristic stance by ship officers.
After the end of hostilities, the Federal government began devolving vessels back to United States Lines for peacetime operations. A refurbishment of corporate livery either took place in 1946 – this is evident in the SS America II’s debut in New York Tims advertising copy from October 1946 showing a re-designed house flag with a less rounded blue goose taking on a dynamic poise. This blue goose found its way to cap badges, supplanting the USL-defaced blue goose badges that officers and stewards wore for the duration of the war.
Along with the change in corporate livery, where United Stated Lines was the exclusive user of the blue goose, came re-imagined rank insignia which shadowed United States Naval and United States Army Transport Service trends. The new insignia reflected an overall shift from the American Merchant Marine referencing a British model, and now, looking inward highlighted America’s newfound sense of primacy in global affairs.
1954, SS Empire State Mariner transfer ceremony to U.S. Navy (commissioned as USNS Observation Island) 1959, SS American Merchant USL Safety Award ceremony
When United States Lines brought SS United States into transatlantic service, it inaugurated a new sleek, svelte blue goose which was also perched on USL officer cap badges. With liner service also came a full return to passenger-facing stewards and pursers, who wore cap badges without a surmounting eagle device in bullion. This configuration of cap badges remained in force through the 1950s.
[i] Ordinary Seamen commonly did not wear headwear which included a provision for a cap badge.
[ii] It is also worth noting stars or crowns found above other countries’ cuff lace evoke the executive curl through mimesis. The U. S. Navy star device came to be placed on the sleeves in May 1863; the star – derived from the canton of the U. S. Federal flag – recalled a central element on the U. S. Navy officer cap badge: a laurel wreath with a star in the center. The British are careful to pronounce the garb worn by employees of a company is livery; the garb worn by an armed service is a uniform. Writing as an American and following America usage, I will use uniform throughout the text.
[v] P. & O. fossilized Royal Navy traditions long after the Royal Navy moved on. A fascinating tradition was calling the captain of a ship Commander. This title came from the shortened Royal Navy “Master and Commander,” which meant “captain and military commander of the ship” – the U. S. Navy uses similar parlance for the same role: Commanding Officer. Do note: Master was the abbreviated form of the older British maritime title “Master Under God” – this recalled the ship’s captain’s absolute authority over all aboard. Thus the concatenated title Commander combined the two. Another striking fossilization was the wear of fore-and-aft shoulder straps to indicate rank among the ship’s officers. Even after the Royal Navy began wearing shoulder boards, P. & O. held on to the older sartorial form. This uniform anomaly was kept until 1973 when P. & O. took on contemporary uniform accouterments. At this time, gone were the shoulder straps and the “Oriental rising sun” cap badge; in their place were shoulder boards and a Merchant Navy-style cap badge emblazoned with the P. & O. house flag.
[vi] In and of themselves, British army cap badges encapsulated a unit’s history and proud moments; they were examples of heraldry on a grand scale.
[vii] In the British Royal Navy and merchant service, there was the tradition of Wardroom officers and Standing officers. Wardroom officers were commissioned officers and some staff officers were permitted to mess together. Standing officers were those who were attached to the ship between sailings and personnel changes. Standing officers were most often pursers and warrant officers (ship’s carpenters, cooks, and craftsmen) and were vital for fitting out a ship.
[viii] By the 1960s and into the 1970s, some companies defaced Royal Navy officer cap badges by removing the anchor and Queen’s crown and replacing them with a house flag or corporate motif and the Naval Crown. I am unaware of any defaced Merchant Navy cap badges.
[ix] I.M.M. was not an innovator in terms of nautical enamel cap badges; New York City Yacht Club members wore a small enamel and struck metal button with a representation of the club burgee since the turn of the twentieth century [see LOC]. But, one of its members was an owner of I.M.M. and the yachting set was keen on the appearance of their yacht crews. I would extend the same to the crews of their steamship lines; in fact, some officers in the United States Line fleet trace their early careers to being mates aboard private yachts
Military uniforms tell a story. The bit and bobs that are scattered across them offer clues to their context and sometimes even political battles fought far from the crew compartment or barracks. American Merchant Marine uniforms in the inter-war period were work clothes.
I was bothered by a statement by a General Dalton of the United States Shipping Board’s testimony to U. S. Congress in December 1926:
He claimed more than 50% of officers aboard United States Lines (USL) ships were reservists in the U. S. Naval Reserve Force (USNRF) – in fact just about all. The reason I was bothered has to do with the fact that pretty much all officers aboard USL ships wore a cap badge with an eagle – older collectors of Merchant Marine insignia told me, the reason for the eagle is because the officers were WWI veterans, and to give them a nod, United States Shipping Board (USSB) gave them caps with eagles on them. The eagles were reminiscent of the eagle found on a U.S. Naval officer’s cap – a cap forbidden for reservists to wear while not in uniform. As assumptions go, this is a fair one to consider. Across the Atlantic, P&O did this to attract ex-Royal Navy officers and they said they did too. And, it follows fellows who joined USNRF invariably stayed in USNRF after the war and they wished to wear their caps or something similar – to mark themselves apart. That makes sense – sort of.
So, I decided to locate and consult primary documents to corroborate the General’s statement. I found he was grossly incorrect or misinformed or just plain conflating the truth. Using these documents, I created a spreadsheet of the officers on SS Leviathan‘s maiden cruise and cross-referenced them with USNRF lists to determine:
Who had a commission in 1929 (if they were lieutenants in 1929, it would be safe to assume they were ensigns in 1923… they had two ranks to jump).
Nationality.
Why the SS Leviathan? She was the flagship of the USL fleet – at the time she was the largest, most modern ship in the US merchant fleet (but, she was built by the Germans and captured when the US joined WWI) and she had the cream of the industry aboard. The licensed officers didn’t change too much on the SS Leviathan – many of whom were there on the maiden voyage mostly stuck around through the line’s acquisition by Paul W. Chapman in 1929 and on through Roosevelt/IMM acquisition in 1931/2. Nationality is important to consider since foreigners could not join USNRF; the complaint for many was that the American Merchant Marine was crowded with foreigners. In counting the foreigners, I could determine the true number of seamen who were eligible for enrollment in USNRF.
I discovered there were 78 people who might nominally be considered officers on the SS Leviathan‘s maiden voyage (per a news item lauding them). Of those 78; only 5 of them were not U.S. citizens. And, of the remaining 73, 9 held commissions in the USNRF in 1929. The number of reservists made up 12% of the officers.
In looking at USL passenger lists from other ships, USL did denote an officer’s enrollment in USNRF correctly – except potentially in one instance, Giles Steadman; the USNRF rolls from 1926 are unavailable. On those lists, invariably only the master of the ship held a commission in the USNRF/USNR during the decade spanning 1924-1934; among those listed on the lists, that would be 20% of merchant seamen were members of USNRF during the period cited by the General.
Beyond the inaccuracy of the General’s statement, it would also be safe to assume that there is no connection between the actual numbers of USNRF officers and the cap badges worn by officers aboard USSB-owned lines; the eagle on the cap badge may very well just be an indicator of nationality as does the corona navalis for the British Mercantile Navy of the same period.
The nuance of uniforms in the American Merchant Marine is different than that found in the military. Although they share the same clothes as sailors, merchant seaman did not relish in wearing badges and patches to show how they transited through shipboard hierarchy. These hierarchies were not hard and fast. So, using a cap mark oneself is counterintuitive in a merchant marine setting.
Numbers of merchant seamen in the MMR was relatively static; these numbers are from 1934. It is of note that no men – that is non-officers enrolled.
The General would not be correct even if he said all USL ships flew the Merchant Marine Naval Reserve Flag – during this period – the flag could be flown if the commanding officer of a vessel held a commission in USNRF and 50% of the officers aboard held commissions, or if the U. S. Navy felt the ship was worthy as a naval auxiliary. Membership in the USNRF was originally one to not be handed a white feather during the First World War, it later had a mixture of patriotism, a little cash, and subsidized courses. As for the officers in the USNRF, many did not pay much attention to Naval Regulations. If they had the U.S. Naval officer cap in their wardrobe, they wore it in the course of their daily work routine. Uniform standards were set by the master of the vessel – the demand may be that officers show up in a jacket in the saloon or there may have been a devil may care attitude altogether aboard. On USL ships, only crew members who faced passengers kept up appearances on passenger liners; otherwise, those in engine spaces would wear work clothes and caps without grommets. The later could not be bothered with buttons and badges – they had real work to do.
Merchant Marine Naval Reserve Flag awardees, 1930. Ships were reviewed each year for award qualification.Merchant Marine Naval Reserve Flag awardees, 1931
This is not to say Merchant seamen threw anything they wanted together on. On steamship lines that carried passengers, there was an assumption that the crew would have a smart appearance as one might find in a hotel – but they would be decked out in nautical uniforms. There is no bureaucratic fight on Merchant Marine uniforms of the 1920s and 1930s, and by 1929, only two USL ships ever earned the right to fly the Naval Reserve Flag by the end of 1920s by virtue of personnel count (the flag was given to ships with 50% of officers aboard holding USNRF commissions).
References
United States Congress, Senate, Committee on Commerce. “Proposed Sale of Certain Ships by the United States Shipping Board Hearing Before a Subcommittee of the Committee on Commerce, United States Senate, Sixty-Ninth Congress, Second Session, Pursuant to S.Res. 294, Requesting the Shipping Board to Postpone Consummation of the Sale Or Charter of the ‘Leviathan’ and Certain Other Vessels Operated by the Board: December 13, 1926.” Washington, D. C. : GPO, 1936.
United States Congress, House, Committee on Appropriations. “Navy Department Appropriation Bill for 1936: Hearing Before the Subcommittee of the Committee on Appropriations, House of Representatives, in Charge of Navy Department Appropriation Bill for 1936. Seventy-fourth Congress, First Session.” Washington, D.C. : G.P.O., 1935, p. 208.
United States Navy. Register of commissioned officers, cadets, midshipmen, and warrant officers of the United States Naval Reserve: January 1, 1929. Washington, D. C. : GPO, 1929.
United States Navy. Register of commissioned officers, cadets, midshipmen, and warrant officers of the United States Naval Reserve: January 1, 1930. Washington, D. C. : GPO, 1930, pp. 121-122.
United States Navy. Register of commissioned officers, cadets, midshipmen, and warrant officers of the United States Naval Reserve: January 1, 1931. Washington, D. C. : GPO, 1931, pp. 201-202.
United States National Archives and Records Administration. “Passenger and crew lists of vessels arriving at New York, 1897-1942” v. 7626-7628 Jul 20-23 1923 (NARA Series T715, Roll 3334).
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 and the new Chapman syndicate yesterday morning when Miss Johanna Chapman [15 years old], daughter of Paul W. Chapman, president of the lines, tugged it aloft amid cheers. The blue triangle is a Chapman crest. Chapman handed a $4,000,000 check to T. V. O’Connor, chairman of the shipping board, thus closing one of the biggest marine deals in history in taking over the giant liner, once the Vaterland. Commodore H. A. Cunningham, commanding the old and the new line, lowered the old house flag which boasted a blue field, white circle with red USL inscribed. The next liner of the eleven to be transferred to the new company will be the American Farmer of the American Merchant line, now in port.
Daily News (New York, New York). April 9, 1929, p 50.
Wet Leviathan
On the hurricane deck of the S. S. Leviathan in Manhattan last week stood a 15-year-old girl in a dark sailor blouse, a white canvas hat and black shoes and stockings. To the mainmast peak she, Joanna Chapman, ran up a small triangular flag picked out with the letter Y. Her father, Paul Wadsworth Chapman, handed a $4,000,000 check to Chairman T. V. O’Connor of the U. S. Shipping Board. The biggest shipping deal in U. S. history thus completed, the Leviathan’s personnel was cut 10% and away she sailed with 1,398 passengers.
Time (New York, New York). April 22, 1929.
Or… the central device is a “trisected triangle” as described in July 1929.
References
“Chapman takes over Leviathan for $4,000,000.” Daily News (New York, New York). April 9, 1929, p 50.
“Wet Leviathan.” Time (New York, New York). April 22, 1929.
“Bremen expected to break world speed record.” Galveston Daily News (Galveston, Texas). July 21, 1929, p 32.
Usually, when a steamship company of any gravitas incorporates itself, it assumes all the trappings of a maritime organization. It usually invests in stock certificates depicting sea-borne commerce, a house flag flown from the masts of its vessels, cap devices for its officers and stewards, and buttons to adorn its uniform coats. United States Lines (USL) throughout its history was no different. Below, please find an array of buttons made expressly for United States Lines.
A discussion point especially worth considering is button backs are often excellent aides to determine the period of button manufacture, but not necessarily wear. Large steamship companies with several corporate incarnations like United States lines buck the trend. Buttons, like cap badges, were bought from uniform shops or disbursed by pursers – and they continued to be disbursed until their stock was depleted. And uniform items were often recycled either out of goodwill or for practical reasons. For instance, aboard United States Lines ships in the 1950s corporate policy and tradition encouraged licensed officers to dine together in the ship’s informal dining room – the saloon. Dress requirements of the era dictated the wear of khaki coats in the saloon; ever-practical, officers loaned each other coats between watches or sold them amongst themselves when they paid off – an engineer might be wearing a predecessor of two or more voyages ago’s coat to appear properly attired for dinner! Regarding buttons, this meant a coat could have older-style buttons for quite some time with no one the wiser. Moreover, the Second World War confused the once-staid field of button wear; whereas the United States Navy and steamship companies once exercised tight control over the supply of buttons, wartime exigencies introduced substitutions and ersatz designs – thus, once established button designs fell away, leaving United States Navy or “yacht club” buttons as the only options for seamen – the latter being United States Merchant Marine Academy Cadet buttons (!).
United States Lines Uniform Buttons gallery
IMM Co. 1920s, obverse
VC-84-12
IMM Co. 1920s, reverse
VC-84-12
USL 1920s, SS Leviathan, obverse
VC-88-27
USL 1920s, SS Leviathan, reverse
VC-88-27
USL 1929-1931, obverse
VC-88-26
USL 1929-1931, reverse
VC-88-26
USL 1929-1931. obverse
VC-88-26 (enamels)
Col.: Anon
USL-AML 1929-1931 "Chapman Era," obverse
no catalog number
Col.: Anon
USL late 1940s, obverse
VC-88-28
USL late 1940s, reverse
VC-88-28
In looking at United States Lines buttons, the timeline admittedly appears choppy. This has as much to due with corporate history as with currents within merchant marine attire.
NB.: Please click on the bold text for a large-size image of the cited button.
USSB years 1923-1929
[VC-88/27] begins the collection of United States Lines buttons; it was originally the button for officers serving on SS Leviathan in 1923 continued to be seen up until the 1930s; its wear continued after the scrapping of SS Leviathan since its personnel transferred primarily to Panama Pacific Line ships – as uniforms wore out, this button disappeared.
Chapman era 1929-1931
[VC-88/26] inaugurates the short Chapman era (1929-1931) that began when the United States Shipping Board (USSB) sold USL to Paul W. Chapman & Co. and ended when the lack of profits practically sank the company. The button employed a relatively simple Deco logo and its design was reproduced on flags, ephemera, medals, and buttons – and it stood out since it resembled a stylized ship’s propeller. These buttons came in gilt and nickel for Deck/Engineering and Steward’s Departments, respectively; First Class stewards were nattily uniformed and they sported buttons with enamels – the design was mirrored their cap badges. Some of [Chapman era] buttons have an added star to the USL logo – these were worn by employees aboard USL-American Merchant Lines ships (USL and AML were bought together and merged under Chapman).
The USLO button was created in 1929, immediately after Paul Chapman took control of USL, and was in use until 1930. The letters are an abbreviation for “United States Lines Operations, Inc.” This company was separate from but related to USL and was under the same corporate umbrella as USL. The firm was concerned with running the assets – boats and utility craft around the docks – and various dockside facilities and warehouses used by the USL fleet. Thus far, I have not come across any definitive photographs of its wear.
After Paul W. Chapman & Co. had both USL and AML taken from it by USSB, the Federal government handed AML to J. H. Winchester & Co. and managed USL alone. During this brief period, I am unaware of any new button patterns coming about; in fact, USL ships continued to wear a version of Paul W. Chapman & Co. flag.
IMM holding 1932-1952
[VC-84/12] wear by USL personnel is debatable since USL did not fall directly under the International Merchantile Marine Company (IMM) corporate umbrella until 1932 – this button pattern is ten years older than the acquisition. After the acquisition, a more generic IMM Co. button, [VC-84/11] was worn on USL uniform whites during the 1930s. In analyzing period photographs, this specific button was not always worn; with USL officers joining the ranks of the United States Naval Reserve (USNR), USL officers often wore USN or USNR buttons when appropriate. With most officers enrolling in the United States Maritime Service in the 1940s for wartime service, they wore that service’s buttons. With the War Shipping Administration’s return of the fleet to USL control in March 1946, USL took a proud view of its wartime service and redesigned both its house flag and introduced a new button design ( [VC-88/28] ) with a re-imagined “Blue Goose”; this button held through the launching of the SS United States, afterward of which United States Navy buttons were exclusively worn.
Harry Manning, 1930s. Col.: U.S. Lines papers, AMMMButton detail; U.S. Navy pre-May 15, 1941 design. Curses!
References
McGuinn, William and Bazelow, Bruce S. (2006). American Military Button Makers and Dealers; Their Backmarks & Dates. McLean, Virginia: William McGuin & Brice S. Bazelow. A catalog of backmarks along with brief histories of manufacturers.
Sturm, Robert C. (2017). SS United States: The View From Down Below. Medford, New York: Robert C. Sturm. Although a description of the Big U from a past Engineer’s perspective, it has many photographs of crew members.
VanCourt, Don. (1998). Transporation Uniform Buttons, Vol. III: Maritime and Aviation. Madison, New Jersey: Don VanCourt. The only reference on maritime uniform buttons; the author uses McGuinn and Bazelow to assist in cross-referencing button dates.
In 1927, new a cap badge appeared for officers serving aboard USL ships – they featured an eagle over the house flag of the company. In later years, the eagle would denote membership in the USNR. Hense, as would commonly be seen – officers would wear badges with eagles and ABs would not. This was simply due to USNR status, not a command position. In 1927, if such a distinction existed between officers and ABs – and using the reproduction cap badge as a model – such a badge for ABs would appear thus:
A hierarchy of cap badges to denote membership in the USNR only appeared on the eve of the Second World War; it was worn by crew members of the SS America in February 1941. For the 1927 fleet, research is thus far inconclusive.
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. S. Leviathan of the United States Lines lying at Pier 86, in the Hudson River, at the foot of 46th Street, Manhattan. It was a dull morning, but the ship’s three red, white and blue funnels shone in their new paint.
Ten thousand passes had been issued to visitors. Until 9:45 A. M. the decks were black with people. By then five thousand visitors had been aboard. Then the gray-uniformed attendants refused to admit any more and the stewards gradually cleared the decks of all but passengers.”
“Cast Off!” Time (New York, New York), Monday, July 16, 1923.
Crew List, July 1923
The crew signed articles on 1 July 1923, and the ship set sail on 4 July. She returned from Southampton, England to New York on 23 July 1923, only to turn around again on 27 July. On her maiden voyage, she carried a complement of 1,269 seaman – on the way back she had 1,362 due to picking up about 100 from another ship (details on passenger list).
The executive staff of the SS Leviathan on her maiden voyage were recorded in the 7 July 1923 edition of The Marine Journal (vid.: sheets 94 & 95 from Crew List):