Rupert Decker served in the United States Merchant Marine from 1927 to 1947.

Born on October 2 1908 in Rockland, Nova Scotia, Rupert Decker left at the age of nineteen to join the Merchant Marine. From his first position as quartermaster on the S.S. ISAAC T. MANN, Rupert rose through the ranks of boatswain, second mate, third and second officer, and chief mate to eventually achieve the rank of Captain aboard the S.S. ALCOA GUARD in 1944. Captain Rupert commanded several vessels for the Alcoa Steamship Company until 1947 when he began a six year sabbatical from the sea. Returning only for a five month cruise aboard the S.S. SEACLIFFE in 1953, Rupert Decker worked primarily as a kiln fireman in Worcester, Massachusetts until his retirement in 1973.

Decker's maritime career reflects the variety of American merchant shipping during the first half of the twentieth century. His vessels carried such diverse bulk cargoes as sugar from Cuba, coal from Hampton Roads, and automobiles to the West Indies and South America. The voyages took him around the world; to Bombay, Japan and Korea, and life was often dangerous; in 1941 while aboard the LEHIGH, she was torpedoed by the Germans and Decker and 38 fellow crew members were ordered into lifeboats.

An avid photographer, Rupert Decker captured many of the images he saw. These photographs are now cataloged in the Curatorial Department of Mystic Seaport Museum.