SHIPS OF THE U.S. MERCHANT MARINE 



MOORE-McCORMACK LINES entered upon its postwar opera- 

 tions with a fleet of thirty-three cargo and passenger Hners, newly 

 constructed or redesigned, and equipped with faciUties to answer the most 

 exacting demands of shippers and travelers. 



On three vital trade routes, linking a dozen countries, these ships are 

 now in operation. They include a group of seven new cargo liners com- 

 bining special features with the basic C-3 design, the three great luxury 

 hners of the "Good Neighbor" fleet, and twenty-three (all built since 

 1940) modern C-2, C-3 and Victory-type cargo liners. 



Their itineraries include some of the world's most important trade 

 routes. They are now moving food, raw materials and manufactured 

 goods in two separate services between the Atlantic and Pacific ports of 

 the United States and Canada and the east coast of South America, and 

 in a third service between the Atlantic Coast ports of the United States 

 and the Scandinavian and Baltic countries of Europe. A vital role, indeed, 

 in the upbuilding of a sound world economy. 



The first operation ever undertaken by this firm, soon after its estab- 

 hshment in 1913, involved the dispatch of the S.S. Montara to Brazil. 

 During the first World War, the S.S. Saga, a passenger vessel, was oper- 

 ated by Moore-McCormack Lines between the United States and Brazil 

 and Argentina, providing the only neutral-flag service available on that 

 route during a period of three years. 



From the days of that pioneering venture, they have been identified 

 with South American trade, and in 1938, when the United States Mari- 

 time Commission established the "Good Neighbor" fleet, they were hon- 

 ored with the assignment as its operator. 



When this service was projected in 1938 with the Brazil, the Uruguay 

 and the Argentina, it was the opinion of some observers that the venture 

 would be unsuccessful. In the first place, it was said, the demand for ac- 

 commodations to South America was not sufficiently great to warrant the 

 use of such large ships and, in the second place, the thirty-eight-day round 



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