Masters, Mates & Pilots

In the course of my research I have come across many interesting American-Hawaiian Steamship Company officers that had the good fortune to survive the Second World War relatively unscathed. Others were a major influence on the officers I’ve profiled, but retired or passed away prior to the war.

As such, they are not accounted for in my detailed pages on American-Hawaiian’s losses during the war. I decided to expand the scope of the site and in March of 2014 I added this new ‘Masters, Mates and Pilots’ section to tell their stories in times of both war and peace.

In some cases I’ve been lucky enough to find, or be found by their families, which allows me to provide much more information. In other cases the profiles may initially be just as much information as I am able to scrape together on my own.

I hope you find their stories as interesting as I have, and if you are a family member, I'd love to hear from you.

Of course 'Masters, Mates and Pilots' is also the name of a trade union that represents people in this profession. It was not until January of 2018 that I was able to confirm Bernard was a member. He belonged to Boston Local No. 11, which was located at 5 Rowe's Wharf. I stumbled upon an old article from December of 1945 of the association's newsletter that mentioned this local honored Bernard and thirty-one other members who were lost in World War II. They created a memorial tablet, but unfortunately, like most, misspelled Bernard's last name and noted him as a Second Mate though he had been serving as Chief Mate of the Arkansan and was a licensed Master. I wrote to the chapter to see if the tablet still existed, and to see if I could get a photo of it, but to date they have not responded.

Below is a partial list of American-Hawaiian Steamship Co. officers I have been able to identify. I have included links for those men that I have profiled to date and noted which school they may have attended (if known) and what year they graduated:

* In process with the upcoming page on the SS Oregonian's loss.

** In process with the upcoming page on the SS William D. Burnham's loss.

CMA = California Maritime Academy (1939-2015)

CNS = California Nautical School (1929-1939)

MMA = Massachusetts Maritime Academy (1942-now)

MNS = Massachusetts Nautical School (1913-1942)

MNTS = Massachusetts Nautical Training School (1891-1913)

NYNS = New York Nautical School (1875-1929)

NYSMMA = New York State Merchant Marine Academy (1929-1941)

NYSMMA = New York State Merchant Marine Academy (1941-1949)

PNS = Pennsylvania Nautical School (1889-1947)

USMMA = United States Merchant Marine Academy (1943-now)

USNA = United States Naval Academy (1845-now)