WWI-Era Photograph of USS Maui Troop Ship in New York Harbor, c.1919

A large-format silver gelatin photograph capturing the USS Maui in New York Harbor with the lower Manhattan skyline rising behind her — the Woolworth Building unmistakable at left, joined by the Singer Building tower and the distinctive pyramidal crown of the Bankers Trust Building. The decks are lined with troops, and the funnel carries the Matson Line "M" insignia. Captioned "U. S. S. MAUI" in white lettering along the lower margin.

Built by Newport News Shipbuilding in 1917 for the Matson Navigation Company's Hawaii service, the Maui was requisitioned by the U.S. Navy almost immediately upon completion and commissioned as a troop transport. Between late 1917 and 1919 she carried more than 30,000 American servicemen to and from France, returning home in 1919 to scenes very much like the one in this photograph — soldiers crowding the rails as the ship passed the Battery on her way to the troop debarkation piers in Hoboken. Presented in a solid oak frame with wide tan mat behind glass.

History

The Woolworth Building, completed in 1913, was the tallest building in the world at the time of this photograph and would remain so until 1930. Its presence in the frame, alongside other landmarks of the pre-skyscraper-boom Manhattan waterfront, helps date the image to the immediate post-Armistice period of 1919, when the Maui made her homecoming voyages bringing American Expeditionary Forces back from France. Photographs of returning troop ships were widely produced as commemorative keepsakes for the men who served aboard them.

CONDITION

Good. Scuffing and visible creases to the photograph itself. Solid oak frame is sound with age-appropriate wear. Matted behind glass with no remarkable damage. Verso not inspected.

DIMENSIONS / SPECIFICATIONS

• Overall (framed): 19 1/4" H × 31 1/4" W × 3/4" D
• Visible image: 11 1/4" H × 19" W
• Frame: Solid oak
• Subject: USS Maui, New York Harbor, c.1919