The following are all known individuals who received the United States Lines Distinguished Service Medal or the United States Lines Distinguished Service Award.
[DSM] United States Lines Distinguished Service Medal
[DSA] United States Lines Distinguished Service Award
[grade unresolved] Contemporary source confirms an award but does not establish whether the recipient received the USL DSM or the USL DSA.
The lists of recipients are grouped by United States Lines ship; the date is the year and month of award (if known).
1934 November
SS Washington
George Fried (Master) [DSM]
Ralph C. Dooley (Chief Officer) [DSA]
Alex Marra [DSA]
Arnold Boehm [DSA]
Charles Mortensen [DSA]
Hans Ingebrightsen [DSA]
John Breda [DSA]
Joseph Bongiavion [DSA]
Joseph Kane [DSA]
Lester Lawson [DSA]
Michael Quinn [DSA]
Robert Fiolka [DSA]
Rudolph Arendt [DSA]
Rescue of seaplane crew.
1935 May
SS President Harding
William Huettmann (Quartermaster) [DSM]
Rescue of a passenger.
1937 May
SS American Merchant
Alfred M. Moore (Master) [DSM]
Theodore Christensen (Chief Officer) [DSM]
David Gillan (Boatswain) [DSA]
Alfred Moss (Quartermaster) [DSA]
John Hadlock (Able Seaman) [DSA]
Edward Granat (Seaman) [DSA]
Frank Maria (Seaman) [DSA]
Timothy Morley (Seaman) [DSA]
4 October 1936 rescue of Mabel A. Frye.
1939 February
SS American Farmer
Haakon Andrew Pedersen (Master) [DSM]
James Augustus Freeman Knowlton II (2nd Officer) [DSM]
Donald G. Forbes [DSA]
Nathan Lieberman [DSA]
Roderic Emmons [DSA]
Timothy Moriarty [DSA]
Philip W. Babcock [DSA]
William Nixon [DSA]
19 December 1938 rescue of the master and seven crew (and mascot bulldog Yummie) of the waterlogged British schooner SS Fieldwood.
1939 February
SS American Banker
Alfred M. Moore (Master) [DSM]
Charles Kaiser (Chief Officer) [DSM]
Additional recipients, if any, not yet identified [grade unresolved]
Rescue of the schooner Pioneer on 1 October 1938. The schooner’s crew had remained lashed to the rigging in heavy seas before the American Banker maneuvered to rescue them. A contemporary radio-news script records the rescue by the American Banker and the earlier failure of a passing Japanese vessel to assist.
1940 June
SS Washington
Harry Manning (Master) [DSM]
Tom Floyd (Bell Boy) [DSM]
For service in light of interdiction by a German submarine on 11 June 1940 off the coast of Portugal. The encounter occurred on the morning of 11 June 1940. The submarine stopped the liner and signaled that its passengers and crew had ten minutes to abandon ship before the Germans recognized that the vessel was neutral and allowed it to proceed.
1940 June
SS Washington
John Gorman (A.B.) [DSM]
Frederick Osborn Wooley (Deck Cadet) [DSM]
J. R. Fels (Junior Officer) [DSA]
J. Sleglik (Electrician) [DSA]
F. Estes (Oiler) [DSA]
For the rescue of a fellow crew member.
1943 April 1
Haakon Andrew Pedersen (Master) [DSM] “posthumous”
John E. Thevik (Master) [DSM]
John F. Spears (Master) [DSM]
J.M. Hatfield (Master) [DSM]
In recognition of “specially meritorious service under unusual stress and hazard.” Captain Pedersen’s award was the only posthumous award of the USL DSM – he was later found to be alive in a Japanese prison camp (follow the link above for more details about his experience – in his own words).
1945 June
SS Nathanael Greene
George A. Vickers (Master) [DSM]
For wartime service under unusual stress and danger, including the Nathanael Greene’s passage with Arctic Convoy PQ 18 in September 1942 and her survival after severe damage on 14 September 1942. The vessel was subsequently torpedoed off North Africa on 23 February 1943 and beached the following day.
1946
SS American Ranger
Oscar Johnson (Master) [DSM]
For boarding the disabled American Farmer, restoring her machinery, removing the towlines of the British steamer Elizabete, and proceeding toward port under the American Farmer’s own power on 4 August 1946. The American Farmer had been abandoned after a collision on 31 July 1946.
1949
SS Pioneer Sea
David R. Phoebus (Master) [DSM]
George C. Previll (2nd Officer) [DSM]
? Wagster (3rd Officer) [grade unresolved]
Charles Berry (Deck Utility) [grade unresolved]
Okay Lawson (Fireman) [grade unresolved]
Gouvencio Esquierdo (A.B.) [grade unresolved]
George Knob (Purser) [grade unresolved]
? Palmer (Deck Cadet) [grade unresolved]
John Nolan (Engine Cadet) [grade unresolved]
4 additional others [grade unresolved]
Rescue of crew from two tanker barges and a tug.
1951 October
SS American Counselor
Edwin T. Fletcher (Master) [DSM]
Peter Soynarowski (3rd Ass’t Engineer) [grade unresolved]
Albert Tierbroot (Oiler) [grade unresolved]
Carlos Perujo (Ordinary Seaman) [grade unresolved]
Henry A. Mushik (Able Seaman) [grade unresolved]
Hubertus Vershueren (Able Seaman) [grade unresolved]
Luis Lorenzi (Able Seaman) [grade unresolved]
Millar Montieth (Able Seaman) [grade unresolved]
Oscar Alvarez (Boatswain) [grade unresolved]
William McIntyre (Engine Utility) [grade unresolved]
Rescue of French trawler Duc de Normandie on 21 February 1951. The trawler capsized in a storm off the Belgian coast. The American Counselor reached the scene and recovered Captain Pierre Rique and his brother, François. Captain Rique died after being brought aboard; François Rique was the sole survivor of the disaster.
1956 January
SS American Miller
William H. Wight (Master) [DSM]
Francis R. Kahle (Chief Officer) [DSM]
Charles D. Cummings (Junior 3rd Officer) [DSM]
James J. Smith (1st Ass’t Engineer) [DSM]
John W. Kidney (3rd Ass’t Engineer) [DSM]
Chong I. Lee (Seaman) [DSM]
Fred Ksartis (Seaman) [DSM]
Lawrence Lumberg (Seaman) [DSM]
Melvin D. Saunders (Seaman) [DSM]
Paul Walker (Seaman) [DSM]
Dr. Rafael Roldan (Passenger) [“Similar award”]
Rescue of SS Sea Mazzella on 17 November 1955.
Allied objects for USL DSM are part of James J. Smith Collection on dittybag here:
Mementos of Chief Engineer James Joseph Smith
1956 September
SS America
Fred Fender (Master) [DSM]
11 officers and crew members [award grade unresolved]
April 1956 transfer of an injured seaman from the Finnish motorship MV Kirsti H to the America. Captain Fender and 11 members of his crew received awards at a shipboard ceremony in New York.
1960 December
SS Pioneer Main
Frederick Geary Collison, Jr. (Master) USMMA ‘42 [DSM]
14 officers and crew members [DSM]
For the rescue in April 1960 of four Taiwanese-Chinese fishermen from a swamped trawler in the China Sea. The medals, with accompanying scrolls and citations, were presented by Capt. Jones F. Devlin, vice president in charge of operations for United States Lines, aboard the vessel at her North River pier.
1964
SS American Press
Vincent A. Moscatello (Chief Officer) [DSM]
Rescue of a dock worker.