Posted 2 years ago
TomTopol
(36 items)
United States Of America - Seaman Passports
for the US Merchant Marines were introduced on February 23, 1942, as a wartime measure. This type of passport was short-lived and was discontinued on August 28, 1945. No fees were collected for such a passport issued to an American seaman who required a passport in connection with his duties aboard an American flag vessel.
In 1942, against overwhelming odds, Captain Hugh Mulzac became the first African-American merchant marine naval officer to command an integrated crew during World War II.
Captain Mulzac was but one of the approximately 24,000 African-Americans (10 % of the Service) in the Merchant Marine during WWII.
William Edward Lew was a music professor and powerful tenor who performed in the Boston area. He joined the Merchant Marine in 1943 at age 78 and served for one year as a cook.
THIS SEAMAN PASSPORT was issued to Clarence Frederick Pine (DOB 12/14/02) from East Providence, Rhode Islands, on September 29, 1942. The first African American Seaman's passport I ever saw. But there is another curiosity...
Page six shows a British immigration stamp from 1944, which is already unique as usually, these types of passports rarely have some stamps. But the fascinating stamps are on pages seven and eight. A total of six entry/exit stamps from Bremerhaven/Germany from 1955!
I have never seen Seaman passports with border stamps - this is the first one!
