Souvenir pin
Smithsonian Institution
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This object appears in the following sections:
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Souvenir pin from S.S. Leviathan
Catalog #: 1991.0856.33,
Accession #: 1991.0856
In collection
From the Smithsonian Collection
A souvenir pin from the ocean liner Leviathan, sporting the house flag adopted by the new owners of the United States Lines in late 1931. |
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Physical Description |
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Pin in the shape of a ship’s wheel with gold lettering reading “S.S. Leviathan” on white ceramic background. Ceramic inset in the shape of a pennant with an eagle and the initials “U S L” in blue.
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Details |
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Credit: | Gift of Frank O. Braynard |
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History |
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The ocean liner Leviathan was built as the Vaterland for Germany’s Hamburg-American Line in 1914. During World War I the American government seized the ship and operated it as a troopship. After a complete reconditioning at Newport News, Virginia, in 1922-23, the Leviathan became the flagship of the new United States Lines, which operated it for the U.S. Shipping Board until 1929. Subsequently sold into private hands, the ship ran until 1934. Laid up as a result of high operating costs and low Depression-era patronage, the Leviathan was sold to Scottish shipbreakers in 1938 and dismantled.
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