Cap Insignia, United States Lines

This cap badge is decorated with the flag used by United States Lines from the creation of the line in 1923 until 1929. Photographic evidence indicates it was worn, at least, by the ship's chief stewards. A different cap badge was worn by the deck officers.

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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