SS Leviathan, United States Lines – c1920

SS Leviathan poster, United States Lines – c1920

The Steam Ship Leviathan was originally built in Hamburg, Germany and named Vaterland (German for Fatherland). It was the second of three ships built for Germany’s Hamburg America Line transatlantic passenger service.At the time of it’s construction, as the poster states, the Leviathan was the largest passenger service in the world. Vaterland had made only a few trips when, in late July 1914, she arrived at New York City when World War I broke out. As a safe return to Germany seemingly unlikely the ship was laid up at New Jersey and remained immobile for nearly three years. When America entered into the war in 1917, Vaterland was  seized by the United States Shipping Board. On 6 September 1917 she was redesignated SP-1326 and renamed Leviathan by President Woodrow Wilson.

After the war a staggering $8,000,000 was allocated to her 14 month reconditioning and refurbishment. War duty and age meant that all wiring, plumbing, and interior layouts were stripped and redesigned while her hull was strengthened and her boilers converted from coal to oil while being refurbished; virtually a new ship emerged. This vintage Leviathan shipping poster was created to encourage passengers to travel on board the ship to try to recoup some of the costs. Leviathan became the flagship of the United States Lines and immediately proved popular with the American public. She started her career fully booked for her maiden voyage departing on 4 July 1923. Her passenger average reached a respectable 1,300 by 1926, making her the most traveled ship on the Atlantic, but given her capacity of 3,000 it was too little to be profitable.

High labor and fuel costs meant the ship was not making a profit. The problem was compounded by the National Prohibition Act which considered all US registered ships an extension of US territory, effectively making them “dry ships”. With Transatlantic shipping capacity oversaturated, alcohol-seeking passengers simply chose foreign companies to sail with. The Great Depression was the final nail in the coffin and United States Lines actively lobbied for the Shipping Board to either take the Leviathan back or subsidise her operation. She was laid up at her pier in Hoboken, New Jersey, in June 1933, having lost $75,000 per round trip since 1929. In the 13 years that she served United States Lines she carried more than a quarter-million passengers, never making a profit. Her demolition took place at Rosyth, Scotland in 1946.

There’s a deatiled and interesting article about the Vaterland or SS Leviathan on the Great Ocean liners website you can visit here.

Our posters are carefully and professionally created from vintage originals. Whilst great care is taken in the production of these posters, we also try to maintain a vintage feel, so there may be small imperfections, fold marks, scuffs, tears or marks that were part of the original poster master. If these do appear they should be visible on the larger views of the item on this listing. The originals of many of the posters we offer can cost many thousands of pounds, so whilst these posters look great, especially framed and mounted on a wall, they are intended as a fun, affordable reproductions and not intended fine art prints.

The 50x70cm version has been specially produced to be used in conjunction with Ikea’s 50x70cm Ribba picture frame which currently retails for around £12. So you can bag a bargain of print and frame for a great price.