Last modified: 2023-12-31 by rob raeside
Keywords: united states shipping lines |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
See also:
Standard Fruit and Steamship Company (Vaccaro Brothers and Co.), New Orleans
(1899-present)
Vaccaro Brothers began as a family owned banana-importing firm in New Orleans in
the late 19th century. The Vaccaros chartered their first ship in 1899 to run
between Honduras and New Orleans and were enormously successful, especially
after they were able to buy surplus ships at bargain prices following World War
I. By 1935, the company was operating 35 ships and was the leading rival to the
powerful United Fruit Company (now trading as Chiquita). They initiated
passenger service to Mexico and the Caribbean aboard their ships in 1924 and
continued to carry passengers until the 1950s. Although Standard Fruit and
Steamship had been chartered as a public stock company in 1923, it remained
overwhelmingly in family hands until the 1960s, when the second generation of
Vaccaros decided to get out of the shipping business and sell the line to Castle
and Cooke, a prominent Hawaiian sugar and pineapple company now known as Dole.
SFS now operates under the name Dole Ocean Cargo Express, but I don't know if it
still uses the same flag, of which I've found several variants, two of which
I've illustrated:
Source: Lloyds 1912 - A horizontal blue-white-blue triband with
a red V with serifs on the center.
Source: Talbot-Booth (1937),
US Navy's 1961 H.O. - White with blue stripes
along the upper and lower edges and a large red sans-serif V on the center.
National Geographic (1934) shows the same design but with serifs.
Joe McMillan, 22 November 2001
Standard Fruit & Steamship Co. (Vaccaro Brothers & Co.). Apart from the letter variances there is also the width of white flag band which is shown as equal, broad or very broad. Of interest is the US Navy publication which shows very broad in the US section but equal under the Honduras section where it appears as part of the fleet was under that flag. Possibly this is a deliberate differencing. There was also a British company, Standard Fruit & Steamship Co. Ltd. for ships under the UK registry which had the same livery as the US fleet according to Talbot-Booth but as he shows a flag version of equal bands this still leaves a question.
Neale Rosanoski, 1 August 2004
States Marine Corp., New York (1930-1982)
States Marine got its start as a tramp steamer operation and began developing
scheduled services as a small liner company in the years immediately before
World War II. After the war it expanded rapidly by purchasing surplus vessels
from the government, buying out existing small firms, and investing carefully in
foreign steamship companies. When States Marine shocked the shipping world by
buying U.S. Steel's
Isthmian Line in 1956 (the largest shipping transaction
ever), it became the second largest line under the U.S. flag and the largest not
receiving subsidies from the government. States Marine then started shifting its
vessels to flags of convenience. The company was so prominent that the Maritime
Administration selected it to operate the experimental nuclear-powered merchant
ship N.S. Savannah from its launch in 1959 until 1963. States Marine started
shifting its operations to foreign flag after other companies used political
influence to block the company's entry into the subsidized arena in the early
1960s. When the founders of the line retired in the late 1970s, their heirs
started liquidating the companies holdings, selling off its last ships by
1982. The States Marine flag was a burgee of three horizontal stripes, white,
blue and red, with a blue vertical stripe at the hoist bearing a single white
star.
Sources:
Stewart (1953),
US Navy's 1961 H.O.
Joe McMillan, 23 November 2001
States Steamship Co., San Francisco (originally Portland, Oregon) (1921-1979)
The lumber merchant Charles Dant of Portland founded this line to handle his
lumber schooners as well as the vessels he had leased from the U.S. Shipping
Board for his Columbia Pacific Steamship Company. Columbia Pacific, founded in
1919, operated from Portland to the Far East and Europe. In 1928, Dant dropped
the Columbia Pacific name and operated everything under the name States
Steamship Co, or States Line. The line never really grew very large. SSS ended
its European service by the 1930s and eventually focused mainly on service to
the Philippines. It suffered from strong foreign competition and the failure of
its owners to make the shift to containerization in the 1970s. High fuel prices
in the late 1970s finally drove the company into bankruptcy. During its history,
SSS used two basic flag designs:
Source: Wedge (1951), Stewart (1953) - A blue over white burgee with a red vertical stripe in the hoist. (This is also shown as the flag of the Pacific-Atlantic Steamship Co and the Quaker Line, presumably subsidiaries of SSS. I have no other information on these companies.)
by Joe McMillan
Sources:
US Navy's 1961 H.O.,
Styring (1971) - Blue with a red seahorse on a wide,
wavy white band from lower hoist to upper fly. According to
www.westsea.com/tsg3/catlocker/cat17chart.htm,
States Line used the seahorse logo from the "early 1900s", but apparently not on
its flag until at least the late 1950s. The second image here from
Stewart & Styring (1963) is similar to the first except that the wavy
band runs horizontally across the flag and the words "States Line" are added in
red flanking the seahorse.
Joe McMillan, 23 November 2001
Some time ago I landed on a site offering various WWII and related articles,
and found a house flag bearing a swastika at
http://www.snyderstreasures.net/pages/stateslines.htm showing silverware and
commenting: "This silver is extremely rare with these particular markings, as
the
swastika became politically incorrect with the rise of the Nazi movement in
Germany. The States Lines logo was changed several times in the following years.
First to a cross within a circle -- which was still too closely reminiscent to
the swastika design, then to a much more acceptable seahorse. The old silver was
either destroyed or sold off. Some pieces were picked up by crew members of the
German-American Bund who worked as \stewards - there are documented cases of
espionage agents and German sympathizers among the crew - used and kept over the
years. One of the more famous of these espionage groups was the Duquesne Spy
Ring. Thirty-three spies were arrested and convicted in 1942 of espionage
activities, many of them working for various cruise lines plying the Atlantic,
acting as couriers to take information back to Germany."
On the this
site, presenting the collection of Björn Larsson, we find a coloured image:
by Jarig Bakker
i.e. red flag with black upright swastika. Funnel: red band with
same symbol between black bands. Here it says "States Steamship
Lines/States Steamship Company".
Jan Mertens, 23 October 2003
In Flags and Funnels Brown 263: States
Steamship Co., Portland, Ore.
Funnel: Black with on a wide red stripe a white clockwise swastika.
Flag: 2:3; red with in the center a white clockwise swastika, approximately half
the height of the flag. The swastika is drawn somewhat thick, by giving some of
the width of the gaps to the inner arms.)
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 29 October 2003
The red flag with the swastika reversed is shown by Brown 1926 under the name
of Colombia Pacific Shipping [sic] Co. and Oregon Oriental Line but this is
presumably an incorrect version. The comment on the company logos and the change
to a circle containing a cross does not appear to have resulted in a flag change
but such a logo did replace the swastika previously shown on the funnel band.
Neale Rosanoski, 1 August 2004
Referring to the States Steamship Co. and its bygone swastika house flag, see
this page of the Maritime Timetable Images site:
http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/statlogo.htm showing a few
examples, and offering some cautionary remarks. There are a few more in the
on-line 1912 Lloyds Flags & Funnels aka LLo11]( surely that is "12") ?
Jan Mertens, 15 September 2006
Seen on Nautiques (site offering
maritime collectibles) another version of the swastika flag (direct
link):
“A breakfast card dated June 28, 1935 as the GENERAL LEE sailed eastbound. This
line started in 1932 by buying old tonnage and offering bargain prices voyages
from the West Coast to the Orient. They had the misfortune of picking the
swastika for their logo.”
The flag is a red field, white upright swastika: see attachment, most resembling
the version described by Peter Hans.
Jan Mertens, 1 March 2007
located by Jan Mertens, 15 October 2005
Source: image cropped from photo by Scott Johnson.
This simple flag is apparently used as a jack (see also
here. Red with the words "Statue of Liberty / Ferry" in two rows, in white,
and in script.
In fact the operating company in question is the
Circle Line, quoted from
http://www.circlelinedowntown.com:
"Circle Line - Statue of Liberty Ferry, Inc has provided countless visitors with
access to Liberty & Ellis Island for over 50 years. Circle Line - Statue of
Liberty Ferry is owned and operated by third generation members of the original
families that founded the company.
Circle Line - Statue of Liberty Ferry, Inc is an authorized concessionaire of
the Statue of Liberty National Monument, National Park Service, and Department
of the Interior.
Circle Line Harbor Cruises, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Circle Line -
Statue of Liberty Ferry, Inc. Circle Line Harbor Cruises provides harbor cruises
aboard ZEPHYR, a luxury yacht & Miss New York, one of Circle Line's historically
charming vessels, high speed thrill rides aboard Shark and vessel charters for
private events."
Although the firm's 'C' logo could well be used on a flag, I've been unable to
locate a clear picture of one
Jan Mertens, 15 October 2005
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 17 July 2007
Source: Stevens Towing Company site
A venerable firm, Stevens Towing Co., Inc. is at home at Yonges Island, SC. From
Stevens Towing Company site:
“Stevens Towing Co., Inc., is a midsize barge transportation company based in
Yonges Island, South Carolina, just south of Charleston. Stevens has been in
business since before 1913, originally engaged in moving produce and passengers
from local barrier islands to the Charleston market. Today Stevens engages
inland, coastwise and ocean towing. We have experienced operators, and a
complete fleet of tugs and barges for all freight/construction operations…”
Despite a large amount of photos I have not really seen an actual flag (perhaps
one of two very small ones on the bow, or on a fender, of some vessel) so – for
want of anything better – shown here is a flag from their logo: a green flag
bearing a large, offset white disk with red serifed initials ‘ST’ (the ‘T’
placed lower). The funnels show the flag with the disk in the middle, so for the
moment let us suppose that a real flag would have a central disk as well.
The initial business was named Stevens Line Co. (Rockville, SC), founded by
brothers who operated a cotton gin business. Having already worked with barges
and become pilots at Charleston because of the cotton slump, Joseph Stanyarne
and William Yates subsequently ran a passenger boat at the 1893 Chicago World
Fair. Then they returned to their home state and launched their own
transportation company mainly carrying food produce. Now there is a gap to be
filled in as the webpage is still under construction… Final sentence: “Today,
Stevens operates ten tugs and towboats. We have about thirty barges and about
one hundred employees. Some of the employees are second generation.” Together
with J.E. Oswalt and Sons at Batesburg, Stevens Towing have set up Charleston
Heavy Lift LLC in order to operate a floating crane in Charleston harbour.
Jan Mertens, 13 January 2007
T. J. Stevenson & Co, (Stevenson Lines), New York (1946-at least 1960)
Not much on this company, except that it seems to have been sufficiently
successful for its owner to buy the Ward Line, the predominant line in the New
York- uba trade, from the Atlantic, Gulf, and West Indies holding company
shortly before the Cuban Revolution and the US boycott put a stop to that trade.
The flag was a red-white-red horizontal triband with the owner's initials in
white on the upper (T and J) and lower (S) stripes.
Source:
US Navy's 1961 H.O.
Joe McMillan, 23 November 2001
Stockard Steamship Company, New York (by 1919-at least 1961)
Apparently this was a small company serving New York, Philadelphia, and various
ports in the Caribbean. I've found two flags under this company's name:
Sources: Wedge (1951),
US Navy's 1961 H.O.
- White with a red block-style S. Wedge (1951)
lists this as "Caribbean Line (Stockard Steamship Corp)"
Source: Wedge (1951), listed as
Ivaran Lines of Stockard SS Corp - a red flag red with a white C. (This entry is
a little puzzling, since I was under the impression that Ivaran was a Norwegian
company. In any case, it seems that it was within the last year sold to
Lykes Brothers.
Joe McMillan, 25 November 2001
Stockard Steamship Corporation. The second flag of red with a white "C" is that of Ivarans Rederei ASA formed as Ivar An. Christensen, hence the "C". I would image that the involvement with Stockard resulted from WW2 as they operated a tramping service between the east coast of USA and South America which was previously managed by fellow Norwegian company S. Holter-Sorensen. Talbot-Booth in Merchant Ships 1944 shows the vessels "Ivaran" and "Lise" in the name of Ivaran Lines which fits with the name based New York given by Wedge 1951. Subsequently Ivarans appear to have re-established in Oslo under their own name.
Neale Rosanoski, 1 August 2004
image by Jarig Bakker, 15 October 2005
Stolt-Neilsen Inc., Panama-City, FL - white flag, red square, white "S".
Source:
Loughran (1995)
Jarig Bakker, 15 October 2005
Sturges & Co., New York (mid 19th century)
I'm not sure, but this may be the same company as Sturges, Clearman & Co, which
served the New York-Liverpool route in the 1840s-50s. Otherwise I have no
information, since a number of people named Sturges and Sturgis were involved in
the shipping business in New York and Boston in the 19th century. Anyway, it's a
nice flag: quarterly blue and red, with a white cross throughout, bordered blue
on the red quarters.
Source: chart of "Private Signals of the Merchants of New York"
Joe McMillan, 25 November 2001
Sun Oil Company, Philadelphia (and Marcus Hook, PA) (1901-present)
Sun Oil Company, called at various times the Sun Company and now officially
Sunoco, Inc., was founded in 1886 by Robert Pew to develop crude oil resources in the Lima,
Ohio, area. It was incorporated under the Sun Oil name in 1890. Sun got into the
shipping business in 1901 when the company bought land for a refinery at Marcus
Hook, Pennsylvania, on Delaware Bay below Philadelphia. The tankers were
originally employed bringing crude oil from Texas to the new plant. Sun also got
into the shipbuilding business in 1916 and built some 40% of the tankers
constructed or converted for wartime use in World War II. Shortly after the war,
Sun was running some 21 ships, but in the period since then has largely
abandoned the overseas exploration and production business and now concentrates
primarily on refining and marketing. It sold its shipbuilding subsidiary in
1982. As far as I can tell, Sun Transport, the shipping arm of Sunoco, now
operates only a few very large crude carriers to feed its refineries in the
Philadelphia area. I've found three flags used over the years by Sunoco
and its predecessors:
Source: Wedge (1951) - White with the words "Sun Oils" in the shape of a diamond surrounded by a red diamond.
Source: US Navy's 1961 H.O. - Blue with the word "Sunoco" in blue on a yellow diamond.
Source: Stewart & Styring (1963) - Blue with the word "Sunoco" in blue, fimbriated yellow, superimposed across a yellow diamond, with a red arrow piercing the diamond from upper fly to lower hoist.
Joe McMillan, 25 November 2001
G. Sutton Charleston Line, New York (mid 19th century)
No information on this line other than what can be deduced from the name and
source--that it connected New York and Charleston, South Carolina, in the 1850s.
The flag was blue with a large white disk in the hoist.
Source: chart of "Private Signals of the Merchants of New York"
Joe McMillan, 25 November 2001
G. Sutton Charleston Line. Richard McKay in "South Street" for the period 1815-1825 notes that early issues of the "Journal of Commerce" refer to George Sutton being New York agents for the Charleston Packets, Ship Line.
Neale Rosanoski, 1 August 2004
Sutton & Co, New York (1850s)
I don't know if this Sutton and Company was related to the G. Sutton that ran
the Charleston Line. It was one of many companies that operated clipper ships to
California via Cape Horn during the 1850s gold rush. The flag was red with a
beehive beset by bees in yellow. (I apologize for the shaky drawing, but had
trouble getting it quite right.)
Source: chart of "Private Signals of the Merchants of New York" and clipper cards illustrated in the Time-Life book, The Clipper Ships
Joe McMillan, 25 November 2001
Sutton & Co. To expand slightly on the departure card shown in "The Clipper
Ships", and which is noted as being issued some years after 1852, the full name
as advertised appears to be Sutton & Co.'s Disptach Line for San Francisco which
I take it is really just a trade name for the service. Although the company are
domiciled at 58 South Street McKay does not mention them in his book and they do
not figure in the list of firms located on the street in 1852 so I presume that
they were later arrivals operating after 1860 as McKay basically finishes his
detail at this point.
Neale Rosanoski, 1 August 2004
Sword Line, New York
The flag was a red swallowtail divided by four narrow horizontal white stripes
and the word "Sword" on the center. The Sword Line seems to have been
formed
after World War II using former enemy ships seized during the war and provided
(whether by sale or lease I don't know) to the company. It apparently started up
in 1947 and was still in business in 1961. The name of the company seems to have
derived from the names of its ships, which, as far as I have found, all began
with the name of a state and ended with "Sword," as Florida Sword, Alabama
Sword, and Texas Sword.
Source:
US Navy's 1961 H.O.
Joe McMillan, 25 November 2001
Sword Line Inc. was originally Sword Steamship Line Inc. apparently dating back to at least 1932. I think you will find that the post WW2 fleet was mainly ex Liberty and the like rather than ex enemy. Stewart 1953 and 1957 show a slightly different flag format based on 3 red and 2 white equal bands.
Neale Rosanoski, 1 August 2004
Swayne & Hoyt Lines (circa 1920s-30s)
Swayne & Hoyt was apparently one of a number of tramp companies, some of which
later developed into scheduled "lines," that operated with government-owned
ships leased from the U.S. Shipping Board in the years following World War I.
This company seems to have operated mainly along the U.S. Pacific coast. The
flag was a burgee-shaped diagonal triband, blue in the hoist, white in the
center, and pink in the fly (as shown in
National Geographic (1934)) with the red initials S&H on
the white stripe.
Source:
National Geographic (1934)
Joe McMillan, 25 November 2001
Swayne & Hoyt Lines. As the source is not detailed it is impossible to
speculate on the accuracy of the differences which relate to the colouring of
the upper band and the letters.
Neale Rosanoski, 24 May 2004
US shipping lines house flags - 'T' continued