US Steamships: A Picture Postcard History

Front Cover, U.S. Steamships: A Picture Postcard History by Frank O. Braynard with an Introduction by Wlater Cronkite, 1991. Cover Design by Joseph Mastrantuono. Book Design and Layout by Carol Brewer. GGA Image ID # 20499e2ef9

About the Front Cover Photograph

Publisher: Alfred Mainzer, Long Island City, NY, Postcard No. S-41935A • Manufacturer: Aerial Photo by Flying Camera, Inc. • Type: Colored Glossy Photograph • Postmark: Not Used • Value Index: D

About the Front Cover Image

The ability to see six of the largest liners in the world at New York City piers was a common sight in the 1950s. The ships are at the long-finger piers extending into the Hudson River. The West Side Highway can be seen on the right-hand side of the photograph.

Beginning with the 29,000 gross-ton CONSTITUTION, at the bottom of the photograph, belonging to the American Export Lines, we move upward to the AMERICA and UNITED STATES. These two liners with red, white, and blue smokestacks were the largest passenger ships built in the United States. They had 33,000 and 52,000 gross tonnage measurements, respectively. The UNITED STATES has retained the title as the fastest liner in the world.

The Greek Line flagship OLYMPIA is next, upward in the line, at Pier 88, partly hidden by the UNITED STATES. She has a measurement of 23,000 gross tons. The following two ships are the famous Cunard Line beauties.

The QUEEN ELIZABETH is being moved into position on the north side of Pier 90. The 83,000 gross-ton measurement gave her the title of the largest ship ever built.

At the south side of Pier 92 is the new MAURETANIA, successor to the famous Four-Stacker of the same name that had been sailing a few generations earlier. This MAURETANIA was completed in 1939 with a measurement of 35,000 gross tons.

Synopsis

Over many years, Postcards were collected for the message, history, and the scene. As a result of these collecting interests, we have a valuable source of information relating to many subjects, including steamships, from a historical, technical, and artistic perspective. The Postcards in this book provide a chronological history of U.S. Steamships.

Back Cover, U.S. Steamships: A Picture Postcard History by Frank O. Braynard, 1991. GGA Image ID # 2049b637a5

About the Top Rear Cover Image

Publisher: The Washington Crossing Card Collectors Club, Washington Crossing, PA • Manufacturer: Not Indicated • Type: Glossy Colored Artwork • Postmark: Not Used • Value Index: E

About the Top Rear Cover Postcard

The earliest attempts to move boats with steam power were made on paper by Leonardo da Vinci. However, there were reports of the Greeks also placing their magnificent brainpower into this effort.

Designers in England and France made several efforts, and several inventors in the United States have documented designs for ship steam power.

One name stands out before Robert Fulton. John Fitch of Philadelphia. PA. He was born in 1743 and died in 1798. and his grave was unmarked until 1910. While he was alive, his efforts produced a series of steamboats, and several of these inventions worked during the 1890s on the Delaware River.

Fitch was known to Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and Patrick Henry. There are reports of his having conversations with George Washington.

Fitch was known to have extraordinary manual skills. He was accomplished in brass foundry, clock-making, silversmithing, mapmaking, and steam engine building. He dreamed of oiler steam power to conquer the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

His life ended in tragedy after he gave all of his remaining assets to a tavern owner in Ohio and asked in return that he be provided with all of the alcoholic drinks that he wanted for the remainder of his life.

About the Bottom Rear Cover Image

Publisher: Merchants & Miners Line, Postcard No. 5A-H1024 • Manufacturer: Curt Teich & Company, Chicago, IL. • Type: Colored Photograph • Postmark: Baltimore, MD, • Value Index: D

About the Bottom Rear Cover Postcard

The CATHAM was the first of three coastal passenger liners built in 1926 and 1927 for the Merchant & Miners Transportation Company. All three ships were constructed by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Newport News, VA.

Four of the six decks on the CATHAM were used for passengers. The ship carried 302 people in first class and 12 in third class or crew. In the period before desegregation, Steerage space was reserved for Black servants.

Only two cabins were on the outside main deck at the stern, across from the area where the waiters had their sleeping quarters. The CHATHAM public rooms for the First Class passengers included a dance pavilion on the Boat Deck.

The Promenade Deck had a music room, smoking room, and social hall. Many of the staterooms had private toilets, an unusual feature then.

The floor in all staterooms and all public rooms, except the music room, had rubber tile. The other two ships were the DORCHESTER and FAIRFAX.

About the Author

Frank O. Braynard. creator of OP SAIL'76, has had a lifelong love of the sea and ships. He was born in Sea Cliff. NY was raised with a tiller in one hand and an artist's sketchbook in the other hand.

Braynard has been an artist, author, and counsel to the maritime industry. He worked for the American Merchant Marine Institute, was a ship news reporter for the NY Herald Tribune, and was the founder and program director for the South Street Seaport Museum. Braynard is currently the curator of the American Merchant Marine Museum.

He has written and illustrated more than 20 books and numerous magazine articles. One of his most ambitious publications was a six-volume history of the famous U.S. Lines flagship, LEVIATHAN.

Braynard is the past president of the Steamship Historical Society of America and an honorary member of the Council of American Master Mariners, the Veteran Wireless Operators Association, and many maritime organizations. He is a Fellow of the Rochester Museum & Science Center and the Royal Society, London.

In 1986, the American Merchant Marine Museum awarded him the Bowditch Maritime Scholar of the Year Award. The Board of OPSAIL 1986 presented the Frank Braynard Trophy to the United States Coast Guard Ship EAGLE on her 50th Birthday.

In 1987, the Steamship Historical Society of America named him one of the first two recipients of their Maritime Achievement Award.

▓▓▓ "0-9" ▓▓▓

1. 502
2. 522
3. 535

▓▓▓ "A" ▓▓▓

1. Acapulco
2. Admiral d.w. Taylor
3. Admiral f.d. Upham
4. Admiral w.s. Simms
5. African Endeavor
6. African Enterprise
7. Agamemnon
8. Agwileon
9. Alabama
10. Alaska
11. Alcoa Cavalier
12. Alcoa Clipper
13. Alcoa Corsair
14. Alcor
15. Alexander Hamilton
16. Algonquin
17. Alleghany
18. Allianca
19. Am Alp Aijk
20. America
21. American Eagle
22. American Farmer
23. American Navigator
24. American Seafarer
25. Amerika
26. Ancon
27. Andrew Fletcher
28. Antigua
29. Antinoe
30. Apache
31. Aquarama
32. Arcadia
33. Argentina
34. Arosastar
35. Arrow
36. Arthur Murray
37. Artsah
38. Asbury Park
39. Athenia
40. Atlandia
41. Atlantic
42. Atlantic City
43. Atlantis
44. Australis
45. Azure Seas

▓▓▓ "B" ▓▓▓

1. Bager Mariner
2. Bahama Star
3. Barnett
4. Belfast
5. Belgenland
6. Belgic
7. Berkley
8. Berkshire
9. Bermuda Star
10. Bershire
11. Borinquen
12. Boston
13. Brabantia
14. Brandon
15. Brazil
16. Brazos
17. Bremen
18. Brinckerhoff
19. Br1tanis
20. Britannia
21. Britannic
22. Brooklyn
23. Bunker Hill

▓▓▓ "C" ▓▓▓

1. C3
2. C4
3. Cabo de Buena Esperanza
4. Calamares
5. California
6. Calvin Austin
7. Camden
8. Canadian Express
9. Cape May
10. Captain Patterson
11. Caracas
12. Caribbean Prince
13. Carondelet
14. Castle Verde
15. Catskill
16. Centennial State
17. Champlain
18. Charles
19. Charles A. Dunning
20. Charles A. Stafford
21. Charleston
22. Chateau Terry
23. Chatham
24. Chauncey M. Depew
25. Cherokee
26. Chester W. Chapin
27. Chicago
28. China
29. Chiriqui
30. Chouteah Charles P.
31. Christopher Columbus
32. City of Alpena
33. City of Bangor
34. City of Detroit III
35. City of Erie
36. City of Los Angeles
37. City of Montgomery
38. City of New York
39. City of Para
40. City of Paris
41. City of Pernambuco
42. City of Rio de Janeiro
43. City of Sacramento
44. City of St. Ignace
45. City of St. Louis
46. Clermont
47. Cleveland
48. Coamo
49. Col. Frederick C. Johnson
50. Colonial Explorer
51. Colorado
52. Columbia
53. Comal
54. Comet
55. Comfort
56. Commonwealth
57. Concord
58. Congress
59. Connecticut
60. Constitution
61. Contessa
62. Cristobal
63. Cuba
64. CVE

▓▓▓ "D" ▓▓▓

1. Dakota
2. David W. Branch
3. Day Star
4. De Kalb
5. De Witt Clinton
6. Del Mar
7. Del Norte
8. Del Sud
9. Delbrasil
10. Delmarva
11. Delta Queen
12. Deltargentino
13. Denali
14. Diamond Island
15. District of Columbia
16. Dixie
17. Dorchester
18. Dorothy Alexander
19. Doulos
20. Duque de Caxias

▓▓▓ "E" ▓▓▓

1. Eastern States
2. Eastland
3. Ecuador
4. Edgemont
5. Edmond B. Alexander
6. Elisha Lee
7. Elizabeth A
8. Ellenis
9. Emerald Seas
10. Emily h.m. Weder
11. Ernest Hinds
12. Escort Carrier No. 1
13. Essex
14. Europa
15. Evangeline
16. Excalibur
17. Exeter
18. Exochorda
19. Express
20. Extavia
21. Exxon Valdez

▓▓▓ "F" ▓▓▓

1. Fairfax
2. Finland
3. Fort Victoria
4. Franca C.
5. Free State Mariner

▓▓▓ "G" ▓▓▓

1. Gauiah
2. Gaucho Martin Fierro
3. Gay Head
4. General George S. Simonds
5. General Slocum
6. General W. P. Richardson
7. General William O. Darby
8. George F. Elliot
9. George Washington
10. Georgic
11. Gloucester
12. Gordon Rowe
13. Governor
14. Governor Dingley
15. Granite State
16. Great Eastern
17. Great Northern
18. Greater Buffalo
19. Greater Detroit
20. Greater Detroit III
21. Green Port
22. Grosser Kurfürst
23. Guatemala

▓▓▓ "H" ▓▓▓

1. H. F. Alexander
2. Haleakala
3. Hamburg
4. Hamilton
5. Harvard
6. Hatl
7. Havana
8. Haverford
9. Hendrick Hudson
10. Henry F. Dimock
11. Henry T. Allen
12. Hermann
13. Homeric
14. Hoosier State
15. Horatio Hall
16. Horton Hall
17. Hunter Liggett

▓▓▓ "I" ▓▓▓

1. Illinois
2. Imperator/Vaterland/Bismark
3. Independence
4. Indiana
5. Iroquois
6. Irwin
7. Islander
8. Istanbul
9. Itaus

▓▓▓ "J" ▓▓▓

1. J. M. White
2. J. W. Andrews
3. J. W. MC Andrew
4. James Parker
5. Jane Christianson
6. Jefferson
7. Jin Jiang
8. Johann Heinrich Burchard
9. John Englis
10. John J. Meany
11. John L. Clem
12. Joseph T. Dickman
13. Juniata

▓▓▓ "K" ▓▓▓

1. Kahloke
2. Kaiser Wilhelm II
3. Kedmah
4. Kennebec
5. Kent
6. King Alexander
7. Korea
8. Korea Maru
9. Kroonland

▓▓▓ "L" ▓▓▓

1. La Grande Duchesse
2. La Guardia
3. La Janeele
4. Lady Grace
5. Lailani
6. Langdale Queen
7. Larchmont
8. Lee. Robt. E.
9. Leedstown
10. Leeuwarden
11. Leviathan
12. Lexington
13. Liberté
14. Limburgia
15. Logos
16. Long Island
17. Lurine
18. Luxor

▓▓▓ "M" ▓▓▓

1. M. V. Columbia
2. Madison
3. Malolo
4. Manchuria
5. Mandalay
6. Manhattan
7. Maplecourt
8. Maria Del Carmen
9. Mariposa
10. Martha's Vineyard
11. Massachusetts
12. Matsonia
13. Maui
14. Mazatlan
15. Medina
16. Merchant Vessels
17. Merion
18. Merrimac
19. Meteor
20. Metropus
21. Mexico
22. Milwaukee Cupper
23. Minnekahda
24. Minnelora
25. Minnesota
26. Minnewaska
27. Minota Uros
28. Mironus
29. Mississippi Queen
30. Mobile
31. Mohawk
32. Monarch Star
33. Monarch Sun
34. Mongolia
35. Monitor
36. Monmouth
37. Monroe
38. Monrovia
39. Monsterrat
40. Monterey
41. Monticello
42. Mormacmail
43. Morro Castle
44. Mount Clay
45. Munargo
46. Myrtle II

▓▓▓ "N" ▓▓▓

1. Nantucket
2. Nantucket Clipper
3. Narraganset
4. Nassau
5. Natchez
6. Naushon
7. Negbah
8. Nelly
9. New Bedford
10. New Orleans
11. New Shoreham
12. New Shoreham II
13. New York
14. Newport Cupper
15. Nobska
16. Nopatin
17. Norfolk
18. Normandie
19. North American
20. Northland
21. North Star
22. North West
23. Northern Pacific
24. Northland

▓▓▓ "O" ▓▓▓

1. Oglala
2. Ohio
3. Old Colony
4. Oriental Empress
5. Oriental Jade
6. Oriental Pearl
7. Oriental President
8. Oriente
9. Orizaba
10. Ouroc

▓▓▓ "P" ▓▓▓

1. Palmetto State
2. Pan America
3. Panama
4. Panamanian
5. Panhandle State
6. Park City
7. Pastime
8. Pastores
9. Peninsula State
10. Pennsylvania
11. Peten
12. Pilgrim Belle
13. Pine Tree Mariner
14. Ponce
15. Portland
16. Porto Rico
17. Portugal
18. Powhatan
19. President
20. President Adams
21. President Buchanan
22. President Cleveland
23. President Cooudge
24. President Fillmore
25. President Garfield
26. President Grant
27. President Harrison
28. President Hayes
29. President Hoover
30. President Jackson
31. President Jefferson
32. President Johnson
33. President Monroe
34. President Pierce
35. President Polk
36. President Roosevelt
37. President Taylor
38. President Van Buren
39. President Wilson
40. Pricilla Alden
41. Prince Eitel Friedrich
42. Priscilia
43. Providence
44. Provincetown
45. Puerto Rico

▓▓▓ "Q" ▓▓▓

1. Queen of Bermuda
2. Queen Frederica
3. Queen Mary
4. Queen of Nassau
5. Quirigua

▓▓▓ "R" ▓▓▓

1. Rangeley
2. Red Cross
3. Regina
4. Reliance
5. Republic
6. Resolute
7. Rhode Island
8. Richard Peck
9. Richelieu
10. Rimutaka
11. Robert E. Lee
12. Robert Fulton
13. Robt. E. Lee II
14. Roma
15. Romance

▓▓▓ "S" ▓▓▓

1. S. S. Alabama
2. S. S. Boston
3. S. S. United States
4. Sable
5. Sacramento
6. Sagadohoc
7. Saint John
8. Salomome
9. San Andros
10. San Jacinto
11. San Juan
12. San Lorenzo
13. Sandy Hook
14. Sankaty
15. Santa Barbara
16. Santa Cecilia
17. Santa Clara
18. Santa Cruz
19. Santa Elena
20. Santa Lucia
21. Santa Magdalena
22. Santa Maria
23. Santa Mariana
24. Santa Mercedes
25. Santa Paula
26. Santa Rosa
27. Santa Teresa
28. Santiago
29. Savannah
30. Scanmail
31. Scanpenn
32. Scanstates
33. Scanyork
34. Seeandbee
35. Seminole
36. Senator
37. Servian
38. Seven Seas
39. Shamrock
40. Shawmut
41. Shelby APA
42. Siberia
43. Siberia Maru
44. Siboney
45. Singleton Palmer
46. Solace
47. South American
48. Southern Cross
49. Southland
50. Spartan
51. St. Louis
52. St. Mihiel
53. St. Paul
54. St. Croix
55. st.louis
56. Star of the East
57. State of Maine
58. State of Ohio
59. Steamboat Days
60. Surriento
61. Susan B. Anthony
62. Swift Arrow

▓▓▓ "T" ▓▓▓

1. Talamanica
2. Tarsus
3. Tashmoo
4. Tenadores
5. Tennessee
6. The Era of the Joy Line
7. Thistle
8. Thomas E. Moran
9. Thomas H. Barry
10. Tionesta
11. Titanic

▓▓▓ "U" ▓▓▓

1. Uncatena
2. United States
3. Universe Campus
4. Uruguay
5. USS Munargo
6. USS Warszawa

▓▓▓ "V" ▓▓▓

1. Vaderland
2. Valchem
3. Vanderbilt
4. Vaterland
5. Veendam
6. Venezuela
7. Veragua
8. Victorian Express
9. Ville de Uege
10. Virginia
11. Volendam

▓▓▓ "W" ▓▓▓

1. Wakefield
2. Warwick
3. Washington
4. Washington Irving
5. West Point
6. Western States
7. William Oswald
8. Wolverine
9. Wooster Victory

▓▓▓ "Y" ▓▓▓

1. Yale
2. Yarmouth
3. Yarmouth Castle
4. Yorktown Cupper
5. Yucatan

▓▓▓ "Z" ▓▓▓

1. Zeeland

Library of Congress Catalog Listing

• Personal name: Braynard, Frank O. (Frank Osborn), 1916-2007.
• Main title: U.S. steamships: a picture postcard history / by Frank O. Braynard; introduction by Walter Cronkite.
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Published/Created: Vestal, NY: Almar Press, 1991.
• Description: 140 p.: ill.; 28 cm.
• ISBN: 0930256204
• LC classification: NC1878.S4 B73 1991
• Variant title: United States steamships
• Portion of title: US steamships
• LC Subjects: Steamboats in art. Postcards--United States. Steamboats--United States--History.
• Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 129-130) and index.
• LCCN: 91004409
• Dewey class no.: 741.6/83/0973
• Geographic area code: n-us---
• Type of material: Book