American Mail Line of

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

was a commercial steamship service with routes to and from

and the

Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...

. American Mail Line was founded in 1920, by

Pacific Steamship Company The Pacific Steamship Company was a US freight and passenger shipping company that operated between 1916 and 1936. The company was formed by the merger of the Pacific Coast Steamship Company and the Pacific-Alaska Navigation Company and was a dir ...

also with a $500,000 investment from Dollar Shipping Company. The American Mail Line operated regular service until June 1938. American Mail Line was not profitable and ran with subsidies from Dollar, due to the cancellation of the ocean mail contracts. American Mail Line - And their affiliate Dollar Steamship Lines operated Trans-Pacific Routes, primarily from China and Japan to Canada and the United States. Some of the American Mail Line ships come for the Admiral Oriental Company when Dollar became the owner of Admiral Oriental Line. Admiral Oriental Line formed by H. F. Alexander was acquired in 1922 and renamed the American Mail Line The American Mail Line ran Trans-Pacific Steamship Routes between the main ports of: Seattle, Victoria, Yokohama, Kobe, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Manila, and Honolulu. The Dollar Steamship Lines and the main owner of American Mail Line offered passengers joint service routes. In 1938 only service to and from California was offered. Regular service ended in 1938. After 1938 charter shipping was provided, American Mail Line was active with the

Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission 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, 1950. The c ...

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 C ...

during

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilisin ...

and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. During wartime the American Mail Line operated

Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by American shipyards during World War II. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were slightly larger and had more powerful steam turbine engin ...

s and

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

, also a few

Empire ship An Empire ship is a merchant ship that was given a name beginning with "Empire" in the service of the Government of the United Kingdom during and after World War II. Most were used by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT), which owned them and c ...

s. After World War 2 American Mail Line started Regular services again with a line of "Mail" Ships. The "Mail ship" ''China Mail'', ''Island Mail'', were a C2-SU design, built by Sun Yards of

Chester, Pennsylvania Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the Philadelphia metropolitan area (also known as the Delaware Valley) on the western bank of the Delaware River between Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware. ...

. In 1965 the American Mail Line acquired a line of five

Type C4-class ship The Type C4-class ship were the largest cargo ships built by the United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) during World War II. The design was originally developed for the American-Hawaiian Lines in 1941, but in late 1941 the plans were taken ...

ships, C4-S-1s.

Services

Regular Passenger and mail service ships in 1923 and 1936, from the Admiral Oriental Line: *'' President Grant'' *'' President Jackson'' *''

President Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was the nation's first U.S. secreta ...

'' *''President Madison (American ocean liner in service 1922–1938) *''

President McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party, he led a realignment that made Republicans largely do ...

'' Regular service ports of call in 1923 and 1936: Seattle, Victoria, Yokohama, Kobe, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Manila. Regular Passenger service ships in started in 1948: (service years) * SS Java Mail (1948-1969) *SS Island Mail (1948-1959) *SS Ocean Mail * India Mail (1948-1965) *SS China Mail (1948-1959) *SS Oregon Mail * SS Schuyler O. Bland (1957-1959) Regular Passenger service ports of call in 1957 for the above: Portland, Vancouver, Seattle, Yokohama, Kobe, Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, Hong Kong, Kobe, Nagoya, Yokohama, Pacific Northwest ports. Regular Passenger service ships starting in 1957: *Java Mail *Island Mail *American Mail *Canada Mail Regular service ports of call in 1957 for the above: Portland, Vancouver, Seattle, Yokohama, Kobe, Hong Kong, Manila, Cebu, Iloilo, Singapore, Penang, Port Swettenham, Medan, Singapore, Djakarta, Philippine ports, California ports and Pacific Northwest ports. Regular Passenger service ships in started about 1965 with C4 Mariner-class ships: (service years) *SS Ocean Mail (2) (1965-1974) *SS Canada Mail (1965-1974) * SS Japan Mail (1965-1974) *SS Washington Mail (1965-1974) *SS Philippine Mail (1965-1971)

Cargo ships

American Mail Line's five C5-S-75a cargo ship built by Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Newport News, Virginia as

break bulk cargo In shipping, break-bulk, breakbulk, or break bulk cargo, also called general cargo, are goods that are stowed on board ships in individually counted units. Traditionally, the large numbers of items are recorded on distinct bill of lading, bil ...

or container ship, with at 15,950 tons, . The largest general cargo liners in 1969. * ''Alaskan Mail'' 1968, renamed SS ''Cape Girardeau'' 1978. Assigned for non-retention in

National Defense Reserve Fleet The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of Ship, ships of the United States, mostly Merchant ship, merchant vessels, that have been Reserve fleet, mothballed but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during nationa ...

as of April 2020 * ''Indian Mail'' renamed , assigned for non-retention in the National Defense Reserve Fleet as of April 2020 * ''Korean Mail'' built 1969, scrapped 1995. (staterooms for twelve passengers) * ''Hong Kong Mail'' built 1968, renamed in 1978, scrapped June 2008. * ''American Mail'' (1969) later renamed SS ''Cleveland'', scrapped 2009

World War II

file:SS American Victory.jpg, World War II

The SS Alhambra Victory and others were run by its American Mail Line crew and the US Navy supplied United States Navy Armed Guards to man the deck guns and radio. The most common armament mounted on these merchant ships were the MK II 20mm Oerlikon autocannon and the 3"/50, 4"/50, and

5"/38 The Mark 12 5"/38-caliber gun was a United States dual-purpose naval gun, but also installed in single-purpose mounts on a handful of ships. The 38-caliber barrel was a mid-length compromise between the previous United States standard 5"/51 low ...

deck guns. World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merchant Marine, 2007-2014 Project Liberty Ship, Project Liberty Ship, P.O. Box 25846 Highlandtown Station, Baltimore, M

/ref> Operated during World War II: * SS Alhambra Victory * SS Appleton Victory * SS Cabell * MS Cape Flattery (1940) * SS John S. Copley * SS Cushing Eells * SS George Clymer * SS George R. Holmes * SS Gilbert Stuart * SS Joel Palmer * SS Francis W. Pettygrove * SS John A. Johnson * SS John B. Kendrick * SS John Lind * SS Ida M. Tarbell * SS Norway Victory * SS Mankato Victory * SS Meriwether Lewis * Empire Peregrine * SS Samakron * SS Samfaithful * SS Samuel Parker * SS Sidney Edgerton *SS Temple Victory * SS Thomas A. Hendricks * SS Tufts Victory * SS R. P. Warner * SS Ralph Barnes * SS William H. Dall * SS West Cressey **Sank or damaged: *Capillo Dec. 8, 1941 bombed, later sunk by U.S. Army *Coldbrook June 2, 1942 ran aground, total loss *Collingsworth Jan. 9, 1943 torpedoed *John S. Copley Dec. 16, 1943 torpedoed, damaged *Crown City Sept. 2, 1942 ran aground *Francis W. Pettygrove Aug. 13, 1943 torpedoed *George Clymers June 7, 1942 torpedoed *Meriweather Lewis March 2, 1943 torpedoed *Samuel Parker July 22, 1943 several direct hits was repaired *John A. Johnson Oct. 30, 1944 torpedoed

Korean War

* SS Canada Mail *

SS Union Victory USNS ''Perseus'' (T-AF-64) was a ''Denebola''-class stores ship acquired by the U.S. Navy. Her task was to carry stores, refrigerated items, and equipment to ships in the fleet, and to remote stations and staging areas. ''Perseus'' was laid d ...

* SS Allegheny Victory * SS New World Victory

Vietnam War

* Red Oak Victory * SS Dartmouth Victory - SS Alaska Mail in 1960 * SS Great Falls Victory * SS Las Vegas Victory * SS Navajo Victory * SS North Platte Victory * SS Mayfield Victory

References

{{reflist Defunct shipping companies of the United States Transport companies established in 1920 Transport companies disestablished in 1974 1920 establishments in Washington (state) 1920 mergers and acquisitions