 | |
| Company type | Government, later Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Shipping, transportation |
| Predecessor | United States Mail Steamship Company |
| Founded | August 27, 1921 |
| Defunct | 1992 |
| Fate | Liquidated |
| Headquarters | 1 Broadway, New York City, United States (1943–1978) 45 Broadway, New York City (1921–1943) 27 Commerce Drive, Cranford, NJ |
Area served | New York, Cobh (Queenstown), Plymouth, Cherbourg, London, Bremen (1929 Hamburg), Southampton, Danzig, Liverpool, Manchester, Pauillac (Bordeaux), Le Verdon, Naples, Genoa |
Key people | Kermit Roosevelt(Co-Founder) Paul Wadsworth Chapman (1929–1931) Albert Lasker (1921–1923) (Co-Founder) A.V. Moore (Moore-McCormack)(Co-Founder) W. Averell Harriman (United American Lines)(Co-Founder) Walter Kidde (Company) (1968–1978) Malcolm McLean (1978–1986) |
United States Lines was the trade name of an organization of the United States Shipping Board's (USSB) Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC), created to operate German liners seized by the United States in 1917. The ships were owned by the USSB and all finances of the line were controlled by the EFC. Among the notable ships of this period was Leviathan, a contender for largest ship in the world for a time.
Eventually the line was sold and went private to continue operating as a transatlantic shipping company that operated cargo services from 1921 to 1989, and ocean liners until 1969—most famously, United States.