imm corporate seals

The American Merchant Marine Museum has a collection of corporate seals from IMM. Below are the seal impressions.

Seals col.: AMM Impressions col.: IW

List of seals (company - place incorporated - incorporation year)

The Atlantic Transport Co. of W. Va. - Baltimore, MD - 1898

Number One Broadway Corporation - New York - 1920

Roosevelt Steamship Company, Inc - Delaware - 1920

Broadway-Whitehall Corporation Formerly Number One Broadway Corporation - New York - 1920

Transportation Trading Co., Inc - New York - 1923

American Steamship Corporation - Delaware - 1925

American Pioneer Line-Atlantic Division, Inc. - New York - 1928

Atlantic Australian Line - New York - 1928

International Mercantile Marine Dock Company, Inc. - New York - 1928

The Baltimore Mail Steamship Company - Maryland - 1930

American Lines Company - Nevada - 1931

United States Lines Company - Nevada - 1931

North Atlantic Transport Company - Republic of Panama - 1939

Main Corp. - Republic of Liberia - 1971

Ming Corp. - Republic of Liberia - 1971

Mist Corp. - Republic of Liberia - 1971

An interesting take on the activities of I.M.M and its various subsidiaries at the time of the ratification of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 is "tell-all" by Ewing Young Mitchell, a former Assistant Secretary of Commerce in the early Roosevelt Administration: Kicked In and Kicked Out of the President's Little Cabinet (1936).

Main, Ming and Mist Corporation

Out of curiosity I decided to figure out who the Main, Ming, and Mist were. I discovered they were paper-front companies that owned the sister ships, American Main (1972), American Ming (1973), and American Mist (1972). These three ships were Far East feeder vessels and were managed on behalf of United States Lines by Jardine, Matheson, & Co. They were eventually returned to United States Lines and subsequently renamed, Strait Container, American Islander, and American Comanche. The American Ming and American Mist ownership passed to further paper-front companies whose only holdings were the single ships. Do note: USL filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1986.

Main Corp fleet:

American Main (1972) - Liberia ; renamed Strait Container (1978) - Liberia

Ming Corp fleet:

American Ming (1973) - Liberia owner Conship Corp (only holding) ; (1973) owner Ming Corp - Liberia ; renamed American Islander (1977) - Liberia ; renamed Formosa Container (1979) - Liberia ; (1984) owner Pro-Line Sg Co Ltd - Liberia.

Mist Corp fleet:

American Mist (1972) - Liberia ; renamed American Comanche (1978) owner American Comanche Ltd - London.

Tianjin Eagle (1975) - Panama ; renamed Trade Splendor (1989) owner Trade Splendor Inc - Panama.