States Steamship Company, also called States Line and SSS, was started in 1928 by Charles Dant, in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

and later moved to the headquarters to

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. Dant started the States Steamship Company to take his lumber product to market. He had a fleet of lumber schooners. Dant started by leasing ships from the

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...

Emergency Fleet Corporation The Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) was established by the United States Shipping Board, sometimes referred to as the War Shipping Board, on 16 April 1917 pursuant to the Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729) to acquire, maintain, and operate merchant shi ...

and founded the Columbia Pacific Steamship Company in 1919, Columbia Pacific Steamship Company routes were between Portland,

Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ter ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. In 1928 Dant merged the Columbia Pacific Steamship Company into the States Steamship Company. The Europe route ended in 1932 and the ship moved to a

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

route. With the shift to

container shipping Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the pro ...

in the 1960s and Dant's fleet of ships becoming older and obsolete, the company into bankruptcy in 1979. States Line operated four subsidies: Pacific-Atlantic Steamship Company, California Eastern Line founded in 1937 for lumber shipping, Oregon Oriental Line and the Quaker Line. Charles Dant was a major stock holder in the China Import and Export Lumber Company, which had a large sawmill plant in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. The Pacific-Atlantic Steamship Company was active with charter shipping with the

Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

and

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime Co ...

for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Pacific-Atlantic Steamship Company also operated charter shipping for the

Korea War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

and

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

States Steamship Company flag

In 1928 Charles Dant pick the

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

( at that time symbol of good luck until the 1930s) for this ship's flags. The red flag had a black upright swastika on it. After

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

picked the swastika for the

Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...

flag in 1937, Dant was forced to change his flag to avoid associations with a state hostile to the United States. The first flag was blue and white with a red vertical stripe at the pole and was used until the 1950s. The swastikas painted on the

funnels A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its construc ...

have been replaced by a white

sun cross A sun cross, solar cross, or wheel cross is a solar symbol consisting of an equilateral cross inside a circle. The design is frequently found in the symbolism of prehistoric cultures, particularly during the Neolithic to Bronze Age periods of ...

on a blue background. In the 1950s, the logo and flag was changed to a red

seahorse A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meaning "sea monster" or " ...

between the waves. New logo was ordered in

Walter Landor Walter Joseph Landor (born Walter Landauer, July 9, 1913 – June 9, 1995) was a brand designer and the founder of Landor & Fitch. He was an acclaimed designer and a pioneer of branding and consumer research techniques widely used to this day. ...

Associate and served until the end of the company's existence.

States Steamship Company ships

Die Prinz Eitel Friedrich als bewaffnete USAT Otsego

States Steamship Company ports: San Francisco, Portland,

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

Kobe Kobe ( , ; officially , ) is the capital city of Hyōgo Prefecture Japan. With a population around 1.5 million, Kobe is Japan's seventh-largest city and the third-largest port city after Tokyo and Yokohama. It is located in Kansai region, whic ...

, Shanghai,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

Saigon , population_density_km2 = 4,292 , population_density_metro_km2 = 697.2 , population_demonym = Saigonese , blank_name = GRP (Nominal) , blank_info = 2019 , blank1_name = – Total , blank1_ ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. * SS ''General Lee'', passenger from United Fruit in 1932 * SS ''General Pershing'', passenger from United Fruit in 1932 * SS ''General Sherman'', passenger from United Fruit in 1932 * SS ''Hakozaki Maru'' * SS ''Terukuni Maru'' * SS ''Haruna Maru'' * SS ''Katori Maru'' * SS ''Yasukuni Maru'' * SS ''Hakone Maru'' * SS ''Fushimi Maru'' * SS ''Kaisar-I-Hind'' * SS ''Chitral'' * SS ''Ranpura'' * SS ''Corfu'' * SS ''Ranchi'' * SS ''Naldera'' * SS ''Carthage'' * SS ''San Clemente'' * SS ''San Rafael'' * SS ''Flomar'' (1919) * SS ''President Monroe'' * SS ''President Van Buren'' * SS ''President Polk'' * SS ''President Adams'' * SS ''President Hayes'' * SS ''President Wilson'' * SS ''President Garfield'' * SS ''Gneisenau'' * SS ''Potsdam'' * SS ''Scharnhorst'' * SS ''Ramses'' * SS ''Christiaan Huygens'' * SS ''Johan van Oldenbarnevelt'' * SS ''Johan de Witt'' * SS ''Marnix van St. Aldegonde'' * SS ''Colorado'' * SS ''Montana'' * SS ''Idaho'' * SS ''Nevada'', sank * SS ''Wyoming'' * SS ''Michigan'', sank off Philippines in storm. * SS ''California'' (1961) * '' Empire State VI'' * SS ''Hawaii'' * SS ''M.M. Dant'' * SS ''Arizona'' * SS ''Pennsylvania'' (1944) * SS ''Illinois'', June 1, 1942 torpedoed * SS ''Oregon'', Feb. 28, 1942 shelled by submarine * SS "Ohio", Unknown * SS ''C.E. Dant'' * SS ''Washington'' (1941) * SS ''San Angela'' *''San Felipe'' (1919)

Quaker Line and California Eastern Line

Quaker Line and California Eastern ships: * ''San Simeon'' * SS ''San Marcos'' * SS ''San Diego'' * SS ''San Lucas'' * SS ''San Vincente'' * SS ''San Rafael'' * SS ''San Anselmo'' * SS ''San Domingo'' * SS ''San Gabriel'' * SS ''San Clemente'' * SS ''San Felipe'' * SS ''San Bernardino'' * SS ''California'', torpedoed on Aug. 13, 1942 * SS ''Illinois'' * SS ''Iowa'' (1920), sank, all crew lost. * SS ''Kentucky'', torpedoed on Sept. 18, 1942 * SS ''Laruel'', sank in 1929 on Columbia River with load with lumber.

Pacific-Atlantic Steamship Company

Pacific-Atlantic Steamship Company Chartered ships:

Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace losses caused by German submarines. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were slight ...
s

*''Alma Victory'' *''Billings Victory'' *SS ''Boise Victory'' * SS ''Davidson Victory'' *SS ''Drew Victory'' *SS ''Lewiston Victory'' *SS ''Middlesex Victory'' *SS ''Paducah Victory'' *SS ''Wellesley Victory'' *SS ''Saginaw Victory'' * SS ''Iran Victory'' * SS ''Colgate Victory'' * SS ''Nampa Victory''

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass ...
s

*SS ''Alan Seeger'' *SS ''Jose Pedro Varela'' *SS ''Felix Riesenberg'' *SS ''Allen C. Balch'' *SS ''Robert G. Harper'' *SS ''Felix Riesenberg'' (also to States Line) *SS ''William Allen White'' *SS ''William Sproule'' *SS ''J. D. Ross'' * SS ''Star of Oregon'', Torpedoed and sunk by ''U-162'' off

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

*SS ''Jack London'' *SS ''James Devereaux'' *SS ''Nathaniel Hawthorne'', was torpedoed on Nov. 7, 1942 *SS ''Henry Adams'' *SS ''Lucien La Baudt'' * SS ''Henry Bacon'', Torpedoed and sunk by aircraft in Barents Sea *SS ''Peter Kerr'', bombed on July 5, 1942 *SS ''Elias Howe'', bombed on Sept. 24, 1943 *SS ''John Sevier'', torpedoed on April 6, 1943 * SS ''Francisco Coronado''

Tanker

* SS ''Mission Solano''

Type C1 ship Type C1 was a designation for small cargo ships built for the United States Maritime Commission before and during World War II. Total production was 493 ships built from 1940 to 1945. The first C1 types were the smallest of the three original M ...

* SS ''Rose Knot'' (post war)

External links

Liberty Ships built by the United States Maritime Commission in World War II

References

{{Authority control Transport companies established in 1919 Defunct shipping companies of the United States 1979 disestablishments in California Transport companies disestablished in 1979 1928 establishments in Oregon