29 x 38 in. cotton canton with 45 double-appliquéd, cotton stars configured in horizontal rows 7/8/7/8/7/8. Canvas hoist with two brass grommets, stamped "SS Olivette." Mounted to 31 3/4 x 41 in. canvas. 

The stamp on the hoist suggests that the Naval Jack may have represented the SS Olivette, a 250-foot ship built under the supervision of Captain James McKay, Jr., in Philadelphia and launched 16 February 1887. Captain McKay brought the vessel into Tampa on 29 April 1887 and subsequently served as her master. The Olivette was one of two steamers owned by the Plant Steamship Company, and was used to meet the growing demand for steamer accommodations between Port Tampa and Havana between the 1890s and early 1900s.

During the war for Cuban independence from Spain, an embargo was imposed by Spanish General "Butcher" Weyler on the exportation of goods, primarily tobacco on Cuban ships, with the hope of forcing the cigar factories to shut down. A window of ten days was granted to transport supplies from Havana to the United States, and H.B. Plant was persuaded by leading manufacturers of the period to send the Plant Steamship Company's steamers to Havana before the embargo deadline to transport back enough tobacco to keep their factories running. The Olivette and the Mascotte, which was also operated by the Plant Steamship Company, returned with tremendous cargoes, thus saving the cigar industry. On 28 March 1898, the Olivette transported survivors from the Maine to Port Tampa. Over a period of 25 years, the Olivette covered the run between Port Tampa and Havana, until she was wrecked and went ashore during a storm in January 1918, which resulted in the complete loss of the steamer.

Source: Sanchez, Arsenio M. (1994) "The Olivette and Mascotte of the Plant Steamship Line," Sunland Tribune: Vol. 20 , Article 7. Available at: https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/sunlandtribune/vol20/iss1/7

Provenance: Collection of Jeffrey Kenneth Kohn, MD.