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Merchant Marine is a phrase defined as “…1. the vessels of a nation that are engaged in commerce…”, and “… 2. the officers and crews of such vessels…” in the Random House Dictionary of the English Language, 1966, on page 896. The concept of merchant ships in the service of the military developed during and after the Civil War, yet the American history of merchant shipping dates back to the early 1600s (see John Spears, The Story of the American Merchant Marine.). Ocean-going commerce expanded up until the 1850s, due to the highly-valued craftsmanship of wooden ships (see Benjamin Labaree, America and the Sea: A Maritime History.), which later could not compete with new technologies of steam and industrial shipbuilding enjoyed by other maritime nations. The 20th century witnessed the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 and the later recognition of the United States Merchant Marine veterans by President Reagan in 1988 for service in World War II. This selection from the Library includes ship registers, histories and periodicals, among the many topics of merchant ships and crews, incorporating a section on the Merchant Marine of the Second World War.
Not all books on the subject of the merchant marine are included here: if you do not see what you are looking for, please call the Library at 310-54807618 x 215.
Reference Works:
Bibliography:
Naval & maritime history; an annotated bibliography. / Robert Greenleigh Albion,
Conference proceedings:
Proceedings – American Merchant Marine Conference. American merchant marine conference proceedings volume 17. / The Propeller Club of the United States, 1952.
Ship registers and Yearbooks:
The List of Merchant vessels of the United States… / 1873; 1884-1887; 1891-1989. Published at various times by the United States Treasury Department, the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Navigation, and the United States Department of Transportation and the United States Coast Guard.
See also Lloyd’s Register of Shipping, at http://www.lamaritimemuseum.org/libcollection.htm
on the Library Collections web page, by selecting “shipping”.
See also American Record of Shipping, at http://www.lamaritimemuseum.org/libcollection.htm
on the Library Collections web page, by selecting “shipping”.
Merchant ships 1942./Edited by E.C. Talbot-Booth, 1942.
Merchant ships 1949-1950./ Edited by E.C. Talbot-Booth, 1949, c1939.
Merchant ships 1968./ Edited by E.C. Talbot-Booth, 1968.
Merchant ships 1978, volume 1 & 2. / Edited by E.C. Talbot-Booth, 1978.
Merchant ships: world built vessels of 1000 tons gross and over …. / Compiled
by the Publishers, 1954-1965, c1952.
Topics and Commentaries:
Biography:
The Abraham Lincoln of the sea : the life of Andrew Furuseth. / by Arnold Berwick.
Biography, continued:
Black jacks : African American seamen in the age of sail. / W. Jeffrey Bolster, 1997.
Peter, the odyssey of a merchant mariner. / by Peter Chelemedos, 1992.
The sea years of Joseph Conrad. / by Jerry Allen, 1965.
Education and examinations:
American merchant seaman’s manual, for seamen by seamen. Edited by Felix M. Cornell and Allan C. Hoffman.
Blue book of questions and answers for second mate, chief mate, master, ocean, coastwise, yachts. /By W. A. MacEwen.
Specimen examinations for merchant marine deck officers. / United States Coast
Guard, 1963.
History:
The American merchant marine … / The American Bureau of Shipping, 1933.
Black jacks : African American seamen in the age of sail / W. Jeffrey Bolster, 1997.
From America to United States in four parts: the history of the long-range merchant shipbuilding programme of the United States Maritime Commission./ L.A. Sawyer and W.H. Mitchell
The H. W. McCurdy marine history of the Pacific North west. / edited by E.W. Wright.
The H. W. McCurdy marine history of the Pacific North west. / edited by Gordon Newell.
Heroes in dungarees : the story of the American merchant marine in World War II. / by John Bunker, 1995.
A history of the merchant navy, by H. Moyse-Bartlett.
Merchant steam vessels of the United States, 1790-1868.
“The Lytle-Holdcamper list,” initially compiled from official merchant marine documents of the United States and other sources. / by William M. Lytle and Forrest R. Holdcamper ; rev. and edited by C. Bradford Mitchell, with the assistance of Kenneth R. Hall, 1975, c1952.
Navy and Merchant Marine. / by W.J. Henderson …, 1918.
Queens of the western ocean; the story of America’s mail and passenger sailing lines. / By Carl C. Cutler With a foreword by Chester W. Nimitz.
The United States merchant marine at war. Report of the war shipping administrator to the President. / United States War Shipping Administration, 1946.
Shall we scrap our merchant marine? / by A.D. Rathbone, IV, 1945.
Ships and sailors: the story of our merchant marine. / by William H. Clark, 1983.
The story of the American merchant marine. / by John R. Spears, 1918.
Labor unions:
Merchant seamen : a short history of their struggles / William L. Standard.
Legal status, laws, etc.:
Brutality on trial : Hellfire Pedersen, Fighting Hansen, and the Seamen’s Act of 1915 / E. Kay Gibson ; foreword by James C. Bradford and Gene A. Smith.
Lifeboats:
U.S. Merchant Marine life boat information; examination question and answers. / by Con
Campion, 1929.
Maritime law:
The Merchant marine act, 1936, the Shipping act, 1916, and related acts; (as amended through the 91st Congress, 2d session). / U.S. Government Printing Office, 1970.
Merchant marine laws, 1939-1940. The Merchant marine act, 1936, as amended; the
Transportation act, 1940; Neutrality act, 1939; Dangerous cargo act, 1940; and other laws
affecting the marine industry enacted by the Seventy-sixth Congress, with appendix containing the Shipping act, 1916, the merchant marine acts, 1920 and 1928, Carriage of goods by sea act, amendments to the Seamen’s act and other previously enacted legislation. / United States Marine Progress, Inc., 1941.
Navigation laws of the United States, 1940. Compiled by Frederick K. Arzt.
The Merchant marine act, 1936, the Shipping act, 1916, and related acts; (as amended through the 91st Congress, 2d session) The U.S. maritime industry in the national interest. / by Irwin M. Heine.
Navigation:
The merchant marine manual. / by Capt. Eugene E. O’Donnell, 1918.
Merchant marine officers’ handbook, by Edward A. Turpin and William A. MacEwen …, 1942.
Periodicals:
Professional mariner : the journal of professional seamanship. Volumes:
Pacific Maritime : the journal of record for the West Coast commercial maritime industry. Volumes:
The Anchor Light. Volumes:
The Compass. Volumes:
The Compass : A magazine of the sea. Volumes:
Radar:
Radar training school for American Merchant Marine Officers. / U.S. Department of Commerce Maritime Administration
Sailors Salaries, etc. :
The earnings and employment of seamen on U. S. flag ships. In cooperation with Federal
Maritime Board [and] Maritime Administration, U. S. Dept. of Commerce./ United States. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1958.
Sailors’ Union of the Pacific:
Brotherhood of the sea : a history of the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific, 1885-1985 / by Stephen Schwartz, 1986.
Seafaring life:
Sea grist; a personal narrative of five months in the merchant marine. / by Lehmann Hisey, 1922.
Seamanship:
The men on deck; master, mates and crew, their duties and responsibilities; a manual for
the American merchant service, by Felix Riesenberg…
Practical seamanship for use in the merchant service: including all ordinary subjects;
Seamanship and ship handling an extension course in practical navigation and preparation for Merchant Marine Examination of the United States Coast Guard. / by L.E. Delaney and Lorcan F. Crawford, 1947.
Standard seamanship for the merchant service, by Felix Riesenberg … 625 illustrations.
Shipbuilding—Canada:
Wooden ships and iron men; the story of the square-rigged merchant marine of British North America, the ships, their builders and owners and the men who sailed them. / by Frederick William Wallace … illustrated by photographs and drawings, 1924.
Shipping—History:
Cargo carriers of the Great Lakes : the saga of the Great Lakes fleet–North America’s fresh water merchant marine. / by Jacques LesStrang, 1985.
Jane’s merchant shipping review / edited by A.J. Ambrose, 1984.
Lake carriers Cargo carriers of the Great Lakes : the saga of the Great Lakes fleet–North
America’s fresh water merchant marine / by Jacques LesStrang, 1981.
The story of the American merchant marine, by John R. Spears.
Ships:
American mariner : a documentary biography of her role as liberty ship, training ship, missile instrumentation ship, mystery ship, test target / Herbert Paul Hahn, 1980.
American merchant ships, 1850-1900, by Frederick C. Matthews …
The last of the windjammers, v.1. / by Basil Lubbock Merchant fleets, a survey of the merchant navies of the world, by Critchell Rimington … with numerous contributed articles.
Liberty ships. / by John Gorley Bunker.
Merchant marine house flags and stack insignia. / United States Hydrographic Office, 1961.
Ships of the U.S. Merchant Marine; with an introduction by Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, U.S.N. Illustrated by Jack Coggins, 1947.
United States Navy:
ABC defense and damage control for merchant marine personnel.
World War, 1939-1945
“A careless word– a needless sinking” : a history of the staggering losses suffered by the U.S.
Convoy : merchant sailors at war, 1939-1945 / [by] Philip Kaplan, Jack Currie.
Merchant Marine, both in ships and personnel during World War II / by Arthur R. Moore, 1983.
Merchant Marine war diary (1945) : Battle of Okinawa : China Sea typhoons : victory. / by Henry Kasper, 1991.
Nor death dismay, a record of merchant ships and merchant mariners in time of war. / by Samuel Duff McCoy …, 1992.
Convoy : merchant sailors at war, 1939-1945 / [by] Philip Kaplan, Jack Currie.
Sea war; the story of the U. S. merchant marine in World War II. / by Felix Riesenberg, 1956.
The fighting commodores : the convoy commanders in the Second World War / by Alan Burn.
The United States merchant marine at war. Report of the war shipping administrator to the President.
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