Please help to identify the uniform in the attached photo. It may date to either WWI or possibly the early 1900s.

Could be either US or Royal Navy depending on the date, or less likely a crewman from a large private shipping line with passenger liners.

The picture is very dark and low resolution so will not enlarge without distorting the name on the hat; can you make it out?

The wording on the hat looks like it reads someting like "Lerin/Lering/Legion" to me. There could be more words before or after that, but I am not sure. The guy in the photo should be a man born in the US circa 1867-1873. He would have been working as a plumber in the late 1800s / early 1900s, and so I would lean more on the idea that it sources to the US armed forces rather than a private company or foreign government.

Does anything about the hat or the number of stripes suggest anything as to rank within the US Navy? I'm also curious as to whether you think the photo dates to about WWI or closer to 1900? The guy would have been about 40-50 if it is from WWI, and so I think it is earlier unless my family is getting the story mixed-up as to who this could be.

The pre-wwi US & RN flat hats were very similar and both navy's have 3 stripes on the collar (in USN 3 became standard from 1876); not sure when the hat bands were discontinued in the USN.

Can't make any other stripes anywhere but if you can see any on the cuffs he's a US Navy Seaman.

As Jeff stated in his reply, it is a standard naval uniform. The flat "Donald Duck" cap would have the ships name "USS Atlanta" as an example embroidered on the tape. The hat band and rank lace for the cuff were standardized in 1876 by the Navy. As he has no cuff lace visible, it could be a picture he had taken when he entered the service.
The Navy used the same uniform from 1876 until WW 2 with very little change.
Your best bet would be to contact the Old Records Division of the National Archives to see if he has any records on file-
http://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records/pr...

Here's an example of a pre-WW1 US Navy uniform

Thank you both for the above feedback.