Selected Collections

*Vera*. Between 1898 and circa 1900. Photochrom Print Collection. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.

The Prints & Photographs Division has a large number of military and civilian ship images, but coverage of US ships is not comprehensive and non-US ships are even less so. Larger and more prominent ships are more likely to be found in the collections than smaller and lesser known ones. Our collections do not include many ship plans, although some appear in the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) Collection.

One common question is whether the Library has photos of World War II Liberty Ships. While the Prints & Photographs Division has a small number of Liberty Ship photos scattered in the collections, mostly in the New York World-Telegram & Sun collection and the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information collection, we do not have photos of most of the Liberty Ships produced.

Collections

See below for descriptions of collections that are good sources for images of ships. Links will guide you to fuller information from the Prints & Photographs Online Catalog or descriptive pages on the Prints & Photographs Reading Room web site.

Bain Collection (summary and search)
Date span: 1860-1937, bulk 1910-1920. The Bain News Service was based in New York City so most of the ship photos in the collection show ships in New York's harbor. Ocean Liners and US Navy ships are the most common. The negatives in the collection have been digitized and can be searched online. There are some groups (LOTs) of photographs, most of which duplicate the negatives, but may contain some photos not found in negative form.
Detroit Publishing Company Collection (summary and search)
Date span: 1880-1930, bulk 1890-1910. While the Detroit Publishing Company was based in Detroit, they took photos of places across the United States. The collection is strong in photos taken in the Great Lakes, but also has images from both coasts, the Mississippi River, and some smaller bodies of water. Most of the negatives have been scanned and can be searched online. There are some LOTs which could contain photos or ships that are not scanned. Some of the LOTs are sorted by subject, while other ship photos will be found in LOTs based on the state they were taken in.
Harris & Ewing Collection (summary and search)
Date span: 1905-1945. The Harris & Ewing firm was based in Washington, DC so most of their ship photos were taken in the District of Columbia, Maryland, or Virginia. The majority of the photos show US Naval ships or private yachts. Most of the negatives are scanned and can be found online.
National Photo Company Collection (summary and search)
Date span: 1850-1945; bulk 1909-1932. This news photo service was based in Washington, DC. The National Photo Company Collection has some ship photos taken in and around the DC area. Most are US Navy ships or private yachts. The majority of the negatives are scanned and can be found online. There is a group of National Photo Company photos, LOT 12358, which contain over 2,500 photos related to World War I. Some of those show US and foreign military ships which may not be found in the scanned negatives.
Specific Subject File Filing Series (catalog record description)
Date span: 1850-1980, bulk 1870-1960. The Specific Subject File (SSF) is located in the Prints & Photographs Reading Room. Some images have been digitized and can be found in the online catalog. The two largest headings for photos of ships are Ships and "Ships, US. Govt. While the majority of the ship photos can be found in those two categories, photos can also be found under specific types of ships, i.e. Steamboats, Sailing Ships or under ship related headings like Waterfronts or Whales and Whaling.
New York World Telegram & Sun Collection (collection guide)
Date span: 1880-1967, bulk 1920-1967. The New York World Telegram & Sun Collection contains a large number of ship photos. Some photos have been scanned in response to purchases of copies, but the majority have not. The largest collection of photos can be found under the heading Shipping--Ships. Military ships can be found under the name of the country followed by Navy, i.e. United States--Navy. Ship photos can also be found under other headings such as Roosevelt, Theodore, President -- Yachts or Hawaii--Pearl Harbor. Do note that the collection is not stored on-site so after putting in a request, it can take up to 5 business days to retrieve the photos.
Stereographs Filing Series (summary and search)
Date span: 1860-1945, bulk 1870-1920. The stereograph collection contains good photos of ships from the second half of the 19th century through the first two decades of the 20th century. Many of the photos show ships in port or as they are arriving or leaving. Military ships are most likely to be found in the LOTs associated with the Civil War (LOT 4182), Spanish-American War (LOT 11524, Lot 12300, Lot 12301, Lot 12302) and the first World War (LOT 11527).
Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Collection (FSA/OWI) (summary and search)
Date span: 1935-1945. The Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information collection includes photos of World War II ships, mostly Liberty Ships under construction. There are a smaller number of photos showing the shipping industry in the United States.
Historic American Engineering Record Collection (HAER) (summary and search)
Date span: 1933-currently.The Historic American Engineering Record has surveyed more than 50 ships. Some of the surveys include measured drawings while others only include photographs.
Popular Graphic Art Filing Series (PGA) (summary and search)
Date span: 1700-1900. Most of the ship prints in the PGA collection come from the mid to late 1800's. Many show a named ship while others feature several ships in a battle. There are also views of ports and coastlines with unnamed ships. These include all types of ships from yachts to ocean liners as well as military ships.
Drawings (Documentary) Filing Series (summary and search)
Date span: 1700-1900. The drawings can vary from quick sketches to fairly elaborate, colored illustrations. Many of the named ships in our Drawings collections come from the Civil War. Alfred R. Waud is the most prolific artist of Civil War era ships in the collection. While there are some other named ships in the collection, the majority outside of the Civil War era appear in larger drawings of a port or waterway. Drawings of unnamed ships by William Berryman (Jamaica, 1808-1815) can be found in this series.
Drawings (Master) Filing Series (summary and search)
Date span: 1830-1930. Joseph Pennell (UK and US, 1880 - 1926) is a prominent artist of unnamed ships in this series.
Photographs Sorted by Subject (PR 03) (catalog record description)
Date span: 1880-1950. This large collection of photos sorted by subject heading contains a sizable collection of ship images, many of them large format photos. It is particularly strong in US Naval ships from 1890 through 1920. Battleships are well represented as are troop transport ships used during World War I. This collection is stored off-site and needs to be requested in advance. Ask reference staff about placing a request for a particular ship.

Ships: Navigating for Images at the Library of Congress

Prints & Photographs: Ask a Librarian

Selected Collections

Collections