States Marine Lines was the

passenger A passenger is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The vehicles may be bicycles, ...

and

cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

of the States Marine Corporation founded by Henry Mercer in 1930 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 1931 Cornelius S. Walsh became an investor and the company Secretary. They started by chartering foreign ships to run the lines in

tramp trade A boat or ship engaged in the tramp trade is one which does not have a fixed schedule, itinerary nor published ports of call, and trades on the spot market as opposed to freight liners. A steamship engaged in the tramp trade is sometimes called ...

. Later scheduled cargo services was added to the line. In 1934 States Marine started monthly cargo routes to

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. In 1937 States Marine charted the SS ''Carrollton'' a 1903, 1,732 tons from, acquired by Saginaw Dock and Terminal Company of

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. In 1940 States Marine Lines purchased the SS ''Lone Star'' a 1919, 5,101 tons cargo ship from

Mississippi Shipping Company The Mississippi Shipping Company also known as Delta Line, was a passenger and cargo steamship company founded in 1919 in New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1961, the company officially changed its name to Delta Line. The Mississippi Shipping Company ...

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and the SS ''Wolverine'', 1919, 4,990 tons, cargo ship from Export Steamship Company in

. In 1941 States Marine Lines charted the SS ''Atlantic Trader'', 1918, 2,241 tons, a cargo ship from Saginaw Dock and Terminal Company of Cleveland. In 1941 States Marine Lines charted the SS ''Green Mountain'', a 1919, 4,988 tons, a cargo ship from Federal Marine Corp. of New York. In 1941 States Marine Lines charted the SS ''Hoosier'', 1920, a 5,060 tons cargo ship from Hoosier Marine Corp. of New York. In 1941 States Marine Lines charted the SS ''Keystone'', 1919, a 5,565 tons, cargo ship from Shepard Steamship Company of Boston, MA. On 10 July 1942 SS ''Hoosier'' was sunk by the

U-boat U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...

''U-376'' after departing Archangel, USSR. On March 13, 1943, the SS ''Keystone'' sunk by U-172 after her engine failed in convoy UGS-6 from New York to North Africa. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the States Marine Lines was active with charter shipping 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 wartime, the Mississippi Shipping Company 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 ...

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. ...

, and 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 ...

World War II

* SS Benjamin Hawkins *World War II Victory ships: * SS Mercer Victory * SS Morgantown Victory * SS Westerly Victory * SS Hugh J. Kilpatrick *World War II 1920 ships: **Chipana, 1920, 3,280 tons, from Grace Steamship Lines of New York. **Curaca, 1920, 3,280 tons, from New Orleans and South American Steamship Company.

Post World War II

After World War II there were many low-cost ships for sales, States Marine Lines was now able to own more ships than charter. States Marine Lines continued to charter both U.S. and foreign ships. *States Marine Lines purchased from the U.S. Maritime Commission

Type C2 ship Type C2 ships were designed by the United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) in 1937–38. They were all-purpose cargo ships with five holds, and U.S. shipyards built 328 of them from 1939 to 1945. Compared to ships built before 1939, the C2s we ...

s: * SS Cotton State, C2, 1946, 6,103 tons * SS Empire State, C2, 1945, 6,214 tons * SS Garden State, C2, 1946, 6,103 * SS Golden State, C2, 1946, 6,103 tons * SS Hoosier State, EC2, 1944, 7,280 tons * SS Keystone State, EC2, 1944, 7,210 tons * SS Magnolia State, C2, 1946, 6,103 tons * SS Old Dominion State, EC2, 1944, 7,210 tons * SS Palmetto State, EC2, 1945, 7,207 tons * SS Volunteer State, EC2, 1944, 7,216 tons * SS Constitution State, 1943 In 1947 States Marine Lines sold off ''Atlantic Trader'', ''Green Mountain'', ''Wolverine'', ''Blue Grass State'', ''Evergreen State'', ''Lone Star State'', ''Peach Tree State''. In 1947 States Marine purchased controlling interest in the South African Marine Corp., also called Safmarine.

Korean War

States Marine Lines served as Merchant Marine Naval shipping company, supplying goods for the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. Ships made trips to and from

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

. About 75 percent of the personnel taken to Korea for the Korean War came by the Merchant Marine Ships. States Marine Lines transported goods, mail, food and other supplies. About 90 percent of the cargo was moved by Merchant Marine Naval to the Korea War Zone. States Marine Lines made trips between the US and Korea helping American forces engaged against

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

aggression in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. After the war most ships were put into the

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 ...

. *

United States Merchant Marine The United States Merchant Marine is an organization composed of United States civilian sailor, mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of ...

ships: * SS Alamo Victory *SS Brigham Victory *SS Beatrice Victory *SS Earlham Victory *SS Grove City Victory *SS Kenyon Victory *SS Loma Victory *SS Oberlin Victory *SS Occidental Victory *SS Ouachita Victory *SS Sharon Victory * SS Twin Falls Victory *SS Wesleyan Victory

Post Korean

In 1954 States Marine took over management of Bloomfield Steamship Company in

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas, which was closed in 1969. Bloomfield was founded on post World War II low-cost ships by Ben M. Bloomfield. In 1954 ''Old Dominion State'' and ''Wolverine State'' are sold off. In 1955 States Marine purchased four 1945, 10,780 tons

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 ...

s from the Joshua Hendy Corp. Second ''Hoosier State'', Second ''Keystone State'', Second Wolverine State, and the second Lone Star State. In 1957 States Marine purchased four 1945 Victory ships ewach former line ship names ''Cotton State'', Magnolia State, Palmetto State, and Volunteer State. States Marine also took on charters for the: ''Alma Victory, Beloit Victory, Binghampton Victory, Britain Victory, Clovis Victory, Creighton Victory, Iran Victory, Knox Victory Clovis Victory, Rock Springs Victory and Simmons Victory''. In 1960 States Marine purchased: 7,868 tons C2 ships: SS''Badger State'', ''Bay State, Bayou State, Evergreen State, Blue Grass State, and Buckeye State,, (2), C3, 1943, 7,868 tons. Also Type C3: ''Copper State, SS Aloha State, and Gopher State, SS Steel Director'' NS ''Savannah'' near the Golden Gate Bridge in 1962, managed by States Marine

Nuclear-powered cargo ship

In 1962 States Marine took over management of the first nuclear-powered cargo ship, NS ''Savannah''. Built in 1958 at 13,559 tons, States Marine managed the ship for the

U.S. Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government. It is responsible for gathering data for business and governmental decision making, establishing industrial standards, catalyzing econo ...

for one year.

Vietnam War

For 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 ...

States Marine operated the charter for the SS ''Gainesville Victory''. Also, in 1965 Henry Mercer purchased Cornelius Walsh shares in the company and purchase the

Waterman Steamship Corporation Waterman is an American deep sea ocean carrier, specializing in liner services and time charter contracts. It is owned by SEACOR Holdings. History Waterman was founded in 1919 in Mobile, Alabama by John Barnett Waterman, Henry Crawford Slaton, ...

. States Marine also supported the Vietnam War with line owned ships and ships charter. States Marine failed to upgrade to

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

s and modernize as other shipping lines did in the 1970s and with the Vietnam War over States Marine closed in 1974, all ships being sold or scrapped due to age.

References

{{Commons category, Savannah (ship, 1961), NS Savannah Defunct shipping companies of the United States Transport companies established in 1930 1930 establishments in New York (state)