Guide to Federal Records

Records of the United States Shipping Board

(Record Group 32)
1914-38

Overview of Records Locations

Table of Contents

  • 32.1 Administrative History
  • 32.2 Records of the U.S. Shipping Board (USSB) and the U.S. Shipping Board Bureau (USSBB) 1914-38
    • 32.2.1 General records
    • 32.2.2 Records of the Division of Planning and Statistics
    • 32.2.3 Records of the Field Information Division
    • 32.2.4 Records of the Marine and Dock Industrial Relations Division
    • 32.2.5 Records of the Bureau of Research
    • 32.2.6 Records of the Bureau of Regulations
    • 32.2.7 Records of the Bureau of Finance
    • 32.2.8 Records relating to port and harbor facilities
    • 32.2.9 Records concerning claims and legal matters
    • 32.2.10 Records of the National Adjustment Commission
    • 32.2.11 Records of the New York Harbor Wage Adjustment Board
  • 32.3 Records of the U.S. Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation and its Successor, the U.S. Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corporation 1917-38
    • 32.3.1 Records of the Board of Trustees
    • 32.3.2 Records of the Office of the General Comptroller
    • 32.3.3 Records of the Ship Protection Committee
    • 32.3.4 Records of claims organizations
    • 32.3.5 Records of the Investigations Department
    • 32.3.6 Records of the American Marine Standards Committee
  • 32.4 Records of the Construction Organization, Fleet Corporation 1917-28
    • 32.4.1 General records
    • 32.4.2 Records of the Ship Construction Division
    • 32.4.3 Records of the Shipyard Plants Division
    • 32.4.4 Records of the Passenger Transportation and Housing Division
    • 32.4.5 Records of the Supply and Sales Division
    • 32.4.6 Records of the Legal Division
    • 32.4.7 Records of the Contract Division
    • 32.4.8 Records of the Industrial Relations Division
    • 32.4.9 Records of the Fir Production Board
    • 32.4.10 Records of the Shipbuilding Labor Adjustment Board
    • 32.4.11 Records of the Construction Organization representative for the Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation, Bristol, PA
    • 32.4.12 Records of the Construction Organization representative for the American International Shipbuilding Corporation, Hog Island, PA
    • 32.4.13 Records of the Construction Organization district and foreign offices
  • 32.5 Records of the Operations Organization, Fleet Corporation 1917-36
    • 32.5.1 Records of the Division of Operations
    • 32.5.2 Records of the Operating Department
    • 32.5.3 Records of the Radio Department (and Section)
    • 32.5.4 Records of the Stevedoring Division
    • 32.5.5 Records of the Contract Division
    • 32.5.6 Records of the Maintenance and Repair Division
    • 32.5.7 Records of the Department (and Division) of Purchases and Supplies
    • 32.5.8 Records of the Traffic Department
    • 32.5.9 Records of the Ship Sales Division
    • 32.5.10 Records of the Insurance Division
    • 32.5.11 Records of the Statistical Department
    • 32.5.12 Records of district offices
    • 32.5.13 Records of foreign offices
    • 32.5.14 Records of the United States Lines
  • 32.6 Textual Records (General) 1917-33
  • 32.7 Cartographic Records (General)
  • 32.8 Still Pictures (General) 1914-30

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32.1 ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

Established: As an emergency agency by the Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), September 7, 1916. Formally organized January 30, 1917.

Functions: Regulated commercial maritime carriers and trade practices, marine insurance, transfers of ship registry, and the rates charged in interstate waterborne commerce. Investigated adequacy of port and water transportation facilities. Determined the necessity for steamship lines and the characteristics of vessels on those lines. Developed a naval auxiliary and merchant marine. Subsidized private ship construction.

Abolished: Effective March 2, 1934, by EO 6166, June 10, 1933.

Successor Agencies: U.S. Shipping Board Bureau, Department of Commerce (1933-36); U.S. Maritime Commission (1936-50); Federal Maritime Board, Department of Commerce (regulatory functions only, 1950-61); Federal Maritime Commission (regulatory functions only, 1961- ); Maritime Administration, Department of Commerce (all other functions, 1950-81); Maritime Administration, Department of Transportation (all other functions, 1981- ).

Finding Aids: Forrest R. Holdcamper, comp., Preliminary Inventory of the Records of the United States Shipping Board, PI 97 (1956); supplement in National Archives microfiche edition of preliminary inventories.

Related Records:

Record copies of publications of the United States Shipping Board in RG 287, Publications of the U.S. Government.
Records of the U.S. Maritime Commission, RG 178.
Records of the Maritime Administration, RG 357.
Records of the Federal Maritime Commission, RG 358.

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32.2 RECORDS OF THE U.S. SHIPPING BOARD (USSB) AND THE U.S.
SHIPPING BOARD BUREAU (USSBB)
1914-38

History: USSBB, Department of Commerce, assumed, by EO 6166, June 10, 1933, functions of USSB. Superseded by U.S. Maritime Commission, effective October 26, 1936, pursuant to the Merchant Marine Act (49 Stat. 1985), June 29, 1936.

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32.2.1 General records

Textual Records: Verbatim and official minutes of the USSB, 1917- 33, and of the Advisory Committee and special committees of the USSBB, 1933-36. Supplementary reports and memorandums (dockets) of the USSB, 1917-33 (400 ft.); and indexes, 1917-35 (140 ft.). General correspondence (2,047 ft.) and indexes (282 ft.), 1917- 36. Orders relating to vessel documentation, shipping rates, and claims, 1917-36. Records of the Office of the Historian, 1918-20; of the Personnel Division, 1917-38; and of the Information Bureau, 1918-19. Reports concerning USSB conferences, 1920-21, and maritime policy, 1926-27. Office files of USSB commissioners and other officials, 1917-36.

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32.2.2 Records of the Division of Planning and Statistics

Textual Records: General records, 1917-19, with index. Statistical reports on shipbuilding, 1918-19. Reference files, 1918-19, including reports on the Allied Maritime Control Council, a mission to Spain to conduct negotiations on shipping, Peruvian ports, and Russian railways. Records of the Committee on Manning of the Merchant Marine, 1918.

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32.2.3 Records of the Field Information Division

Textual Records: Office files of director John Nicholson, 1921- 22, including correspondence and reports on foreign discrimination against American ships, reports on port facilities and regulations, questionnaires and correspondence concerning shipping companies, and reports relating to an intercoastal shipping conference (August 1922).

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32.2.4 Records of the Marine and Dock Industrial Relations
Division

Textual Records: Records of the Marine Conference (Apr.-May 1918) of shipowners and employees on wages, working conditions, and marine labor efficiency, 1918. Transcripts of hearings relating to maritime employees, 1917-19. Awards and agreements in labor relations cases, 1917-22.

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32.2.5 Records of the Bureau of Research

Textual Records: General correspondence and statistical reports on general shipping, 1924-36. Correspondence and reports of John Nicholson as research associate of the USSB, 1922-28, concerning preferential treaties, tax- exemption plans, and conversion of vessels from steam to diesel.

Maps (8 items): Maps depicting U.S. shipping routes, world trade regions, USSB districts, and locations of USSB shipyards on the east coast of the United States, prepared by the Bureau of Research, 1914-31. SEE ALSO 32.6.

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32.2.6 Records of the Bureau of Regulations

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1917-33, and reference material, 1917-36, relating to freight and tariff rates.

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32.2.7 Records of the Bureau of Finance

Textual Records: Legal documents, including building, insurance, and operating contracts; mortgages; leases; and bills and contracts for the sale of vessels, docks, wharves, equipment, real estate, and housing facilities, 1917-36. Records relating to joint financial accounts, managing agents' agreements, lump-sum contracts, and trade studies, 1928-36.

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32.2.8 Records relating to port and harbor facilities

Textual Records: Records of the Inter-Regional Traffic Committee of the U.S. Railroad Administration, a functional predecessor of the Port and Harbor Facilities Commission, 1918. Records of the Port and Harbor Facilities Commission, 1918-20. Reference files on U.S. ports, 1917-20. Blueprints, maps, and statistical tables and charts, 1918-19. Indexes, 1918-26. Reports of the Port and Harbor Facilities Mission that studied port and harbor facilities in England and France, 1918. Foreign port survey, 1926-29. Reference file on foreign ports, 1914-20. Reports on the facilities at foreign ports, 1929-30. Wartime data on U.S. port facilities, 1918-19. News releases and newspaper clippings, 1919- 20.

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32.2.9 Records concerning claims and legal matters

Textual Records: Office files of General Counsels Norman Beecher, 1923, and Chauncy G. Parker, 1925-33 (108 ft.); and Assistant General Counsel R. A. Dean, 1919-21. Court decisions and legal opinions in maritime cases, 1917-35. Records relating to merchant marine legislation, 1921-35; to a Congressional investigation of the USSB, 1924-25; and to the codification of navigation laws, 1920-29. Ocean mail contract records, 1928-35, including records of or about the Interdepartmental Subcommittee on Ocean-Mail Contracts, 1929-33. Records of USSB and USSBB committees regarding the Special Senate Committee Investigating Ocean-Mail Contracts, 1933-35.

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32.2.10 Records of the National Adjustment Commission

Textual Records: Minutes of meetings, 1917-20. General records on longshoremen's wages, hours, and working conditions, 1918-20. Adjustment case files and transcripts of hearings, 1917-19.

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32.2.11 Records of the New York Harbor Wage Adjustment Board

Textual Records (in New York): Minutes, 1917-19. General correspondence concerning NY harbor craft workers, 1917-19. Records relating to wage disputes, 1918-19.

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32.3 RECORDS OF THE U.S. SHIPPING BOARD EMERGENCY FLEET
CORPORATION AND ITS SUCCESSOR, THE U.S. SHIPPING BOARD MERCHANT
FLEET CORPORATION
1917-38

History: Established by the U.S. Shipping Board, April 16, 1917, pursuant to the Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729) to acquire, maintain, and operate a fleet of merchant ships to meet the needs of national defense and foreign and domestic commerce. Renamed U.S. Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corporation by act of February 11, 1927 (44 Stat. 1083). Abolished, effective October 26, 1936, and functions transferred to the U.S. Maritime Commission, pursuant to the Merchant Marine Act (49 Stat. 1985), June 29, 1936.

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32.3.1 Records of the Board of Trustees

Textual Records: Legal documents relating to the establishment of the corporation, 1917-36. Official minutes of the board, 1917-36; and its Committee of Operations, 1918-20.

Related Records: Duplicate set of minutes of the Committee of Operations, SEE 32.5.1.

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32.3.2 Records of the Office of the General Comptroller

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1917-37. Correspondence and other records of the Credit Manager relating to financial transactions with shipbuilding companies and steamship lines, 1918-22. Financial and statistical reports of the corporation, 1919-38, with index, 1919-36. Statements of assets and liabilities, 1923-36. Ship cost summaries, 1918-22.

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32.3.3 Records of the Ship Protection Committee

History: Appointed May 1917 to receive and consider methods suggested by citizens for protecting merchant ships from torpedoes. Cooperated with the Naval Consulting Board.

Textual Records: General correspondence, with indexes, 1917-21.

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32.3.4 Records of claims organizations

Textual Records: Minutes and general records of the Cancellations, Claims, and Contracts Board, 1919-20; Requisition Claims Committee, 1919-20; Construction Claims Board, 1919-21; and Claims Commission, 1921-22. Administrative and claims correspondence, memorandums, transcripts of hearings, and minutes of the Committee on Settlement and Adjustment, 1922. Minutes, 1920-21; general records, 1919-24; reports and bulletins, 1917- 20; wage reimbursement handbook, 1919; and records relating to "co-efficient" claims, 1921-23, of the Committees on Wage Reimbursement. Records maintained by the secretary to the first Committee on Wage Reimbursement, 1919-20. General records of the Administrative Section, Department of Claims, 1919-23. Records of the Department of Claims relating to claims of Bethlehem Steel Corporation, 1917-24; and Skinner & Eddy Company, 1918-35.

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32.3.5 Records of the Investigations Department

History: Superseded the Plant Protection Section, Construction Organization, which was abolished January 13, 1920. Investigated cases of subversive and pro-German activities, thefts, smuggling, and graft. Discontinued October 1926.

Textual Records: Investigative case files of the home office (Philadelphia, PA), 1918-26, and (in New York) the New York, NY, office, 1918-19, with index. Reports of investigators, 1918-20. Records of the Chief Intelligence Officer, 1918-19.

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32.3.6 Records of the American Marine Standards Committee

History: An independent agency, 1923-38, promoting standardization and simplification of equipment used in ship construction and operation; closely associated first with the Construction Organization and later with the USSBB.

Textual Records: Committee reports on specific equipment and correspondence, 1923-38.

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32.4 RECORDS OF THE CONSTRUCTION ORGANIZATION, FLEET CORPORATION
1917-28

History: Established in 1917, under the corporation general manager, to acquire and build vessels, drydocks, shipyards, and housing and transportation facilities. Beginning in April 1918 supervised by the corporation director general. Production curtailed after the Armistice; discontinued February 1926.

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32.4.1 General records

Note: Among the records described below are candidates for transfer to regional archives. Please consult the National Archives to determine current locations.

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1917-26, with indexes. Office files of Directors General Charles M. Schwab, 1918, and Charles Piez, 1917-19; General Manager and Vice President John L. Ackerson, 1918-20; Secretary Stephen N. Bourne, 1918-19 (in Philadelphia); and Construction Managers H. E. Frick, 1919-20, and F. P. Baldwin, 1920. Correspondence, reports, and other records accumulated by the Office of Vice President for Administration, 1918-20. Reports and other records concerning financial relations with companies, 1917-20. Correspondence, organization charts, and other records accumulated by the Organization and Efficiency Committee, 1919- 20. Requisitioned hull registry and acceptance documents, 1917- 21, completion and progress reports, 1917-19, and trial trip reports, 1918-21. Records concerning relations with Congressional committees, including a general information file, 1919-20; report on construction activities ("Ackerson's Story for Congress"), 1919; and records of or about the Senate Committee on Commerce, the House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, and a select investigating committee (Walsh Committee) of the House, 1919-20.

Photographs (29,176 images):Storage condition of board records in the Gulf District, 1920 (GD, 12 images). Fuel oil installations in Honolulu, HI, 1920 (HH, 32 images). Fore River, MA, shipyard, n.d. (FRS, 9 images). Shipyards, shipbuilding activities, and housing project construction, 1917-20 (CV, 29,122 images). Members of the corporation, 1917 (CV-P, 1 image). SEE ALSO 32.7.

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32.4.2 Records of the Ship Construction Division

Textual Records: Correspondence and vessel camouflage records of the Steel Ship Section, 1917-19. Building, testing, and ship performance records of the Concrete Ship Section and the Wood Ship Section, 1917-21. Records of the Technical Section relating to ship protection, including records relating to the otter gear or paravane and tracings of ship plans, 1917-20; and specifications for ships, 1917-20. Reports; correspondence; speeches; statistics of the construction program; design drawings of vessels; and general files of the Records (Statistical) Section relating to contracts, types of ship construction, shipyards, labor, and fiscal matters, 1917-21.

Maps: Miscellaneous plans of the Technical Section relating to shipyards, ships, plants, and machinery to be built for the Fleet Corporation, 1917-19. SEE ALSO 32.6.

Architectural and Engineering Plans (2,798 items): Technical Section ship plans, 1917-28 (2,200 items). Steel Ship Section camouflage designs, 1917-19 (400 items). Concrete ship plans of the Concrete Ship Section, 1918-19 (90 items). Ship design drawings (publication) of the Records (Statistical) Section, 1918-20 (108 items). SEE ALSO 32.6.

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32.4.3 Records of the Shipyard Plants Division

Textual Records: General correspondence regarding fabricating plants, 1917- 18. General records and reports of the Power Section, 1918-19. Inspection reports of the National Board of Fire Underwriters, 1918-19. Records relating to plant extensions at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Sparrows Point, MD, and the Union Iron Works, Alameda, CA, and to contract cancellations at the latter installation, 1918-19.

Maps: Published nautical charts of harbors, ports, and coastal areas of the United States, annotated to show improved or changed harbor facilities and the location of different shipyards and other marine harbor activities, 1917-28. Shipyard location charts and plant layout blueprints of the Records and Progress Section, 1918-19. SEE ALSO 32.6.

Architectural and Engineering Plans (7,300 items): Plans of shipyard plants, 1917-19 (7,000 items). Plans of plants at Sparrows Point, MD, and Alameda, CA, 1918-19 (300 items). SEE ALSO 32.6.

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32.4.4 Records of the Passenger Transportation and Housing
Division

Textual Records: General correspondence and reports relating to housing for shipyard workers, 1917-26. General project files concerning housing and transportation projects, 1917-22, with index. General correspondence and reports of the Investigations Branch, 1917-18. General records of the Design Branch, 1918-19.

Architectural and Engineering Plans(17 items): Plans of housing projects, 1918. SEE ALSO 32.6.

Photographs (11,200 images):Houses and housing projects, 1918-20 (H). SEE ALSO 32.7.

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32.4.5 Records of the Supply and Sales Division

Textual Records: Reports of the Standardization Branch, 1918.

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32.4.6 Records of the Legal Division

Textual Records: Correspondence, reports, and memorandums relating to legal aspects of ship construction, procurement, foreign contracts, shipping patents, claims, insurance, contract cancellations, and construction of shipyard plants, facilities, and housing, 1917-20.

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32.4.7 Records of the Contract Division

Textual Records: Correspondence, reports, and other records, relating to contract negotiations for construction of vessels, machinery and equipment, and to inspection and investigation of companies, 1918-20.

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32.4.8 Records of the Industrial Relations Division

Textual Records: Records relating to labor disputes and unfair labor practices, training shipyard workers, wage scales, and safety and sanitary standards, 1917-19.

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32.4.9 Records of the Fir Production Board

History: Established as the Fir Emergency Committee (Douglas Fir Emergency Bureau), by the West Coast Lumbermen's Association, July 1917, to handle government timber orders. Fir Production Board established, February 1918, absorbing the Fir Emergency Committee. Headquarters in Seattle, WA (closed April 1919), and Portland, OR (closed August 1919).

Textual Records (in Seattle): General correspondence and secretary's correspondence of the Portland office, 1917-19. General correspondence of the Seattle office relating to the lumber embargo, 1917-18. Records of C. W. Stimson, USSB's Special Representative in Charge of the Lumber Embargo and Secretary to the Fir Production Board, Seattle, 1918.

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32.4.10 Records of the Shipbuilding Labor Adjustment Board

History: Established in August 1917 as an independent agency by agreement of the USSB Fleet Corporation, the Navy Department, the American Federation of Labor, and shipbuilders to regulate hours, wages, and labor conditions in the shipbuilding industry. Also known as the Macy Board for its Chairman, V. Everit Macy. Terminated, April 1, 1919.

Textual Records: General records, consisting of correspondence from the field and files of the home office, 1917-19. Transcripts of hearings, October 1917; March-December 1918. Decisions and agreements, 1917-19. Historical files, 1917-19. Cost of living hearings, 1917-18. Records relating to Pacific coast wage rates, wage reimbursements, and wage scales, 1917-19.

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32.4.11 Records of the Construction Organization representative
for the Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation, Bristol, PA

Note: The records described below are candidates for transfer to regional archives. Please consult the National Archives to determine current locations.

Textual Records: General records, 1917-22, with indexes (in Philadelphia). Contract records, 1917-22, and correspondence relating to cancellation of contracts, 1919-22 (in Philadelphia).

Photographs (560 images):Plant construction progress at Bristol, PA, yard of Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation, 1917-19 (PC). SEE ALSO 32.7.

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32.4.12 Records of the Construction Organization representative
for the American International Shipbuilding Corporation, Hog
Island, PA

Note: The records described below are candidates for transfer to regional archives. Please consult the National Archives to determine current locations.

Textual Records: Reports of a private management engineering firm, the Egstrom-Holt Company, containing detailed analyses of the procedures and operations of the yard, 1919-22. Contract records, 1917-22. Index to destroyed personnel folders, 1917-20.

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32.4.13 Records of the Construction Organization district and
foreign offices

Note: Additional records described below are candidates for transfer to regional archives. Please consult the National Archives to determine current location.

Textual Records: Selected records of district offices, including the Delaware River District; Hog Island Plant, American International Shipbuilding Corporation (in Philadelphia); South Yard, New York (in New York); and Washington State shipyards (in Seattle), 1917-22. Correspondence, contracts, specifications, inspectors' reports, progress charts, and statistical and accounting records of the special representative in Japan and China regarding vessels built in those countries for the Fleet Corporation, 1918-21.

Architectural and Engineering Plans (800 items):Plans of Japanese-built vessels, 1919-21. SEE ALSO 32.6.

Photographs (459 images): Shipyard construction and facilities, Delaware River District, Philadelphia, PA, 1917-19 (SCF). SEE ALSO 32.7.

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32.5 RECORDS OF THE OPERATIONS ORGANIZATION, FLEET CORPORATION
1917-36

History: Established 1917. Consisted of administrative units of the corporation that supervised and controlled the operation of USSB ships. Functioned until Fleet Corporation was absorbed by the U.S. Maritime Commission, October 29, 1936.

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32.5.1 Records of the Division of Operations

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1917-34 (619 ft.). Records of the Office of the Director of Operations, 1917-20. Administrative orders, 1918- 36. Organization charts, 1921-26. Reference materials, 1918-26. Financial reports on vessel operations, 1920-23. Reports on the operating costs of shipping companies, 1927-32; and of vessels operated for the American Relief Administration, 1919-21. Records relating to laid-up fleets, 1921-23; and port facilities, 1919-25. Minutes of the Committee of Operations, 1918-20. Reports and correspondence of the Shipping Control Committee, 1918-19. Subject correspondence of the Chartering Committee, 1917-19. General correspondence, reports, and other records of the Tank Steamer Department, 1918- 19. Records of the Sailing Vessels Department, 1918-20.

Related Records: Duplicate set of minutes of the Committee of Operations, SEE 32.3.1.

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32.5.2 Records of the Operating Department

Textual Records: Correspondence and other records of the Deck Department regarding the work and placement of deck officers, 1919-20. Correspondence and reports of the Engineer Department regarding the placement and performance of engineers and engine crews, 1919-20. Correspondence, reports, and other records of the Pursers Department relating to stewards, 1919-21, supercargoes, 1918-20, and bunkering, 1918-20.

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32.5.3 Records of the Radio Department (and Section)

Textual Records: Correspondence, memorandums, and reports, 1919- 30.

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32.5.4 Records of the Stevedoring Division

Textual Records: Correspondence, reports, memorandums, and rate schedules, 1920-31.

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32.5.5 Records of the Contract Division

Textual Records: General records, 1918-26. Charters, agreements, and contracts of affreightment, 1917-32 (110 ft.).

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32.5.6 Records of the Maintenance and Repair Division

Textual Records: General correspondence, blueprints, and charts, 1919-21. Records relating to diesel conversion and other major alterations, 1923-26. Records relating to the reconditioning of S.S. Leviathan, 1922-24.

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32.5.7 Records of the Department (and Division) of Purchases and
Supplies

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1920-36.

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32.5.8 Records of the Traffic Department

Textual Records: General records, 1920-36 (251 ft.), with an index. Records of the Export Coal Department and the Shipping Trades Department, 1919-20. Records of the Rates Section, 1918- 20. Records of the Claims Division, 1919- 31, with index. Correspondence and other records of W. F. Taylor, Assistant Director of Operations, as supervisor of predecessor departments, 1918-20, concerning allocation and assignment of vessels, port conditions, and relief shipments of food. Reports on corporate structure of steamship companies, 1918-26. Reports and reference material on foreign markets, 1920-30.

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32.5.9 Records of the Ship Sales Division

Textual Records: General records, 1919-36. Records of the Joint Committee on the Ship Scrapping Program, 1927.

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32.5.10 Records of the Insurance Division

Textual Records: General correspondence, 1918-36. Insurance case files relating to major casualties to vessels, 1918-36; with index, 1918-29.

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32.5.11 Records of the Statistical Department

Textual Records: General records, 1919-34. Cargo, bunker, and vessel movement reports, 1919. Lists of USSB-controlled vessels, 1919, and registers of USSB-owned ships, 1919-20. Lists of shipowners and operating companies, 1919. Reports on the laid-up fleet, 1921. News clippings and ship operators' committee bulletins concerning a strike of seamen in Baltimore, MD, May- June 1921. Annual reports of waterborne foreign commerce of the United States, 1924-28, 1930-33.

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32.5.12 Records of district offices

Textual Records: Records of the New York, NY, District Office (in New York), including records of the Tank Steamer Executive, 1918- 19; records relating to stewards, 1917-18; records of Fleet Surgeon W. W. Meiners, 1918-21; records of the Tramp Steamer Bulk Cargo Conference, 1920-21; and records of the board of survey of S.S. Vaterland (S.S. Leviathan), 1917-18. Records of the Baltimore, MD, District Office relating to personnel on vessels, 1919-29 (in Philadelphia). Records of the Philadelphia, PA, District Office, relating to personnel on vessels, 1918-33. Records of the Boston, MA, District Office (in Boston), including records relating to vessel personnel, 1922-33; managing operators' vessel operating reports for the American Republic Line and the Yankee Line, 1930-33; and records relating to pier leasing, vessel docking and berthing, and cargo and equipment storage at the Boston Army Base, 1921-25. Records of the Norfolk, VA (South Atlantic) District Office, including records relating to office personnel, 1918-22; records of the Hampton Roads Bunkering Association, 1917-19; records of the Harbor and Shipping Control Board, 1918-19; and a report on weather conditions (1905-21) on the James River, 1921 (in Philadelphia). Records of the Charleston, SC, District Office relating to personnel on vessels, 1919-29 (in Atlanta). Records of the Jacksonville, FL, District Office relating to office personnel, 1918-25 (in Atlanta). Records of the New Orleans, LA, (Gulf) District Office relating to office personnel and personnel on vessels, 1918-36 (in Fort Worth). Records of the San Francisco, CA (Pacific Coast, South Pacific, and Pacific Coast) District Office (in San Francisco), including records relating to office and vessel personnel, 1917-28; office files of Capt. A. E. Pillsbury relating to the commandeering of German ships on the Pacific coast, 1917-18; and reports, correspondence, and other records relating to port facilities on the Pacific coast, in the Philippines, and in Hawaii, 1917-24. Records of the Portland, OR, (Pacific Coast, North Pacific, Pacific Coast, and Puget Sound District) subagency office relating to office personnel, 1918-29 (in Seattle). Records of the Seattle, WA, (Pacific Coast District subagency office, and North Pacific and Puget Sound) District Office relating to office personnel and personnel on vessels, 1919-29 (in Seattle). Records of the Office of the Special Agent, Cleveland, OH, consisting of crew lists, 1917-19; correspondence with the suboffice in Montreal, Canada, 1918-20; and correspondence of the Montreal office, 1918- 20.

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32.5.13 Records of foreign offices

Textual Records: General correspondence of the European Headquarters Office (London, England), 1919-32; and records relating to the requisitioning of foreign vessels, 1918-19. Correspondence of Port Agencies at Brest, France, 1919-21, and Santos, Brazil, 1926-29. Consolidated correspondence of Port Agencies in the eastern Mediterranean (Piraeus, Greece; Constantinople, Turkey; and Port Said and Alexandria, Egypt), 1920-25. Correspondence of the district office for southern Europe (Barcelona, Spain), 1927-29. Correspondence of General Agencies at Antwerp, Belgium, 1922-25; Barcelona, Spain, 1924-30; Copenhagen, Denmark, 1920-25; Dublin, Ireland, 1921-24; Glasgow, Scotland, 1923-24; Hamburg, Germany, 1919-25; Havana, Cuba, 1920- 21; Honolulu, HI, 1921-23 (in San Francisco); Le Havre, France, 1920-25; Liverpool, England, 1919-26; Paris, France, 1919-21; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 1921-26; and Rotterdam, The Netherlands, 1920-24.

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32.5.14 Records of the United States Lines

History: Established by the Fleet Corporation in 1921 to operate its passenger liners, including S.S. Leviathan (ex-Vaterland) and S.S. America. Ceased operations in 1929.

Textual Records: Records of the New York office, 1922-29 (in New York). Records of the Paris office, 1922-29.

Photographs (250 images): Publicity scenes aboard U.S. Line ships, 1918-28 (PUS, 178 images). S.S. America (PIA, 68 images). S.S. Republic, President Roosevelt, Manhattan, and President Hoover (SS, 4 images).
see also 32.7.

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32.6 Textual Records (General)
1917-33

Records of the Fir Production Board (in Seattle) including correspondence of the secretary's office at Portland, 1917-19; records of J.H. Bloedel, 1918; and records of Lynde Palmer, 1917-19. Records of the Boston, MA, District Office (in Boston) consisting of the records of J.B. Merrifield, chief clerk of the district office, 1921-33.

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32.7 Cartographic Records (General)

see Maps under 32.2.5, 32.4.2, and 32.4.3. see Architectural and Engineering Plans under 32.4.2, 32.4.3, 32.4.4, and 32.4.13.

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32.8 Still Pictures (General)
1914-30

Photographs (1,544 images):Merchant marine training and apprenticeship, 1918 (RS, 55 images). Illustrations for The Merchant Marine Bulletin, 1920-30 (MMB, 1,159 images). Fender system of the James River Bridge, n.d. (JRB, 5 images). Albums of Hamburg-American Line photographs depicting the facilities of the line and an emigration facility in Hamburg, Germany, 1914-18 (SB, 325 images).

Posters (5 images): Advertising the ships and promoting sailing on the vessels of the United States Line, S.S. Leviathan, S.S. President Harding, S.S. President Roosevelt, S.S. America, and S.S. George Washington, 1928-29 (P).

see Photographs under 32.4.1, 32.4.4, 32.4.11, 32.4.13, and 32.5.14.


Bibliographic note: Web version based on Guide to Federal Records in the National Archives of the United States. Compiled by Robert B. Matchette et al. Washington, DC: National Archives and Records Administration, 1995.
3 volumes, 2428 pages.

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This Web version is updated from time to time to include records processed since 1995.


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