In 1915 the first passenger ship the MUNAMAR was built for the eastern Cuba trade. After World War I, Frank Munson having succeeded from his brother began a passenger and freight service from New York to east coast of South America using foreign built vessels interned in American ports.

The MOCCASIN (ex PRINZ JOACHIM of Hamburg America Line) inaugurated the service in December 1919 but sank at her pier in Brooklyn and was sold. A second ship MARTHA WASHINGTON (formerly of Unione Austriaca, Austria) followed by HURON, AEOLUS and CALLAO (formerly GROSSER KURFURST and FRIEDRICH DER GROSSE and SIERRA CORDOBA of Norddeutscher Lloyd).

In July 1921 the first of four "535"class transports converted to passenger ships by the United States Shipping Board were assigned to Munson Line. AMERICAN LEGION, SOUTHERN CROSS, PAN AMERICAN and WESTERN WORLD. Thus the ex German liners were returned to the USSB, and in 1922 MARTHA WASHINGTON was ceded to Italy after an act on Congress recognized her as belonging to Cosulich Line reorganized under the Italian Flag.

A new ship MUNARGO was commissioned for Caribbean service. In 1925 Munson Line purchased its previously chartered vessels from the USSB and the service continued with sailing to Bermuda added in 1930.

The WESTERN WORLD ran aground on San Sebastian Island off the coast of Brazil in August 1931 and remain stuck, four months later she arrived in New York for repairs.

The depression resulted in severely reduced traffic and the MUNAMAR was sold and as Munson Line ran into financial troubles its ships were laid up or scraped. The MUNARGO was transferred to a tourist service Miami, Nassau, Havana in 1937 but sold a year later when the company went bankrupt. The remaining passenger ships were taken over by the Maritime Commission and laid up.

Munson Line passenger ships

MUNAMAR, MOCCASIN, MARTHA WASHINGTON, HURON, AEOLUS, CALLAO, AMERICAN LEGION, SOUTHERN CROSS, PAN AMERICAN, WESTERN WORLD