Bristol City Line

Last updated March 17, 2024

Bristol City Line was a British shipping line based in Bristol, England that traded from 1704 until 1974.^[2] From 1760 Bristol City Line also built ships.^[2]

Early steamship services

Bristol City Line started a regular transatlantic steamship service between Bristol and New York in 1879.^[2] The early years of the service were troubled by shipwrecks. The first SS Bristol City sailed from New York on 28 December 1880 and was lost.^[2] Just under a year later, on 3 December 1881, her sister ship the first SS Bath City sprang a leak off Grand Banks, Newfoundland and sank.^[2] 14 months after that, on 23 February 1883 the first SS Gloucester City struck an ice floe and sank.^[2] On 10 February 1887 the first SS Wells City collided with the SS Lone Star in the Hudson River and sank.^[2] She was salvaged but sold.^[2] In July 1893 Llandaff City successfully towed the crippled transatlantic Liner Olympia with 250 passengers aboard after the latter had been drifting for four days with a broken shaft.^[3] On 23 February 1900 the second SS Bath City was wrecked on Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel.^[2] On 31 January 1904 the first SS Boston City collided with SS Colardo and was beached off Sandy Hook, New Jersey. She was refloated but sold.^[2]

First World War

On 19 August 1915 the German submarine U-24 shelled and sank the second SS New York City about 40 miles off Fastnet Rock.^[2] On 30 August 1917 SS Kansas City sailed from New York and was lost.^[2] On 18 December 1917 SM U-94 torpedoed the second SS Bristol City off the south coast of Ireland with the loss of 30 lives. On 2 January 1918 SM U-91 torpedoed and sank the second SS Boston City in St. George's Channel.

Between the wars

In January 1933 the second SS Exeter City was abandoned in a gale and sank about 600 miles southeast of Cape Race, Newfoundland.^[2] The company added a service to Canada in the same year.^[2]

Second World War

On 1 July 1941 the first SS Toronto City was serving as a weather ship in the Atlantic when U-108 torpedoed and sank her with the loss of all hands.^[2] On 21 December 1942 U-591 torpedoed and sank the first SS Montreal City in the Atlantic.^[2] On 5 May 1943 U-358 torpedoed and sank the third SS Bristol City.^[2]

Post war operations and takeover

The company extended its Canadian service to the Great Lakes in 1958.^[2]

In 1970 the company's first container ship was launched.^[2] However, in 1971 Bibby Line took over the company and the ship was completed as the 31,036 MV Dart America, a vessel that was crewed and managed for Clarke Traffic Services Ltd of Montreal. Her sister ship MV Dart Atlantic was launched in 1971. In 1972 MV Halifax City was sold to Thai owners and MV Coventry City and the third MV Toronto City were transferred to Bibby Line. In 1974 Dart America was transferred to Bibby Line, leaving only Dart Atlantic which was sold to C.Y. Tung in 1980.^[2] The two Dart class vessels were operated as part of the Dart Container Line consortium.^[4]

Related Research Articles

An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes. Only one ocean liner remains in service today.

Holland America Line (HAL) is a US-owned cruise line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States.

APL, formerly called American President Lines Ltd., is an American container shipping company that is a subsidiary of French shipping company CMA CGM. It operates an all-container ship fleet, including nine U.S. flagged container vessels.

HMS Cheshire was a passenger ship that was built in Scotland in 1927 and scrapped in Wales in 1957. She belonged to Bibby Line, which ran passenger and cargo services between Rangoon in Burma and various ports in Great Britain, via the Suez Canal and Gibraltar. The Admiralty requisitioned her in 1939 and had her converted into an armed merchant cruiser (AMC). She was converted into a troopship in 1943, and returned to civilian service in 1948.

CP Ships was a large Canadian shipping company established in the 19th century. From the late 1880s until after World War II, the company was Canada's largest operator of Atlantic and Pacific steamships. Many immigrants travelled on CP ships from Europe to Canada. In 1914 the sinking of the Canadian Pacific steamship RMS Empress of Ireland just before World War I became largest maritime disaster in Canadian history. The company provided Canadian Merchant Navy vessels in World Wars I and II. Twelve vessels were lost due to enemy action in World War II, including the RMS Empress of Britain, which was the largest ship ever sunk by a German U-boat.

P Henderson & Company, also known as Paddy Henderson, was a ship owning and management company based in Glasgow, Scotland and operating to Burma. Patrick Henderson started business in Glasgow as a merchant at the age of 25 in 1834. He had three brothers. Two were merchants working for an agent in the Italian port of Leghorn; the third, George, was a sea captain with his own ship.

The Collins Line was the common name for the American shipping company started by Israel Collins and then built up by his son Edward Knight Collins, formally called the New York and Liverpool United States Mail Steamship Company. Under Edward Collins' guidance, the company grew to be a serious competitor on the transatlantic routes to the British Cunard shipping company.

SS Castilian was a British cargo steamship and is now a dangerous wreck in the Irish Sea off the coast of North Wales. She was built in 1919 to a standard First World War design. In 1943 while carrying munitions she struck rocks off The Skerries, Isle of Anglesey and sank.

Furness Withy was a major British transport business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange.

USS Hisko (ID-1953) was a tanker that served in the United States Navy from 1917 to 1919.

Counties Ship Management Co. Ltd. (CSM) was an ocean-going merchant shipping company based in the United Kingdom. During the Second World War CSM merchant ships made a substantial contribution to supplying the British war effort, at a cost of 13 ships lost and 163 officers and men killed.

Eagle Oil and Shipping Company was a United Kingdom merchant shipping company that operated oil tankers between the Gulf of Mexico and the UK. Weetman Pearson, 1st Viscount Cowdray founded it as the Eagle Oil Transport Company in 1912 and sold it to Royal Dutch Shell in 1919. It was renamed Eagle Oil and Shipping Company in about 1930, and remained a separate company within the Royal Dutch Shell group until it was absorbed in 1959.

Dart Containerline Co Ltd was a consortium of shipping companies that commenced operations in 1969, thus becoming one of the first container shipping operators.

Lamport and Holt was a UK merchant shipping line. It was founded as a partnership in 1845, reconstituted as a limited company in 1911 and ceased trading in 1991.

SS Rosalind was a passenger and cargo carrying ship that was operated by the Red Cross Line between New York and St John's, sailing along the northeast coast of North America, in the early part of the twentieth century. Originally named Tosari when she was launched in 1890, she was renamed Admiral after a year when she was bought by Deutsche Ost-Afrika Linie. She joined the Red Cross Line in 1902 and worked the route for twelve years, with a short break in 1912 working in Australia when she was renamed City of Sydney, finally colliding with Shag Rock off the coast of Nova Scotia and sinking on 17 March 1914. She is known as the ship after which Rosalind Russell is named.

Wessel, Duval & Co. was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1825 Augustus Hemenway (1805-1876) as Hemenway & Co.. Augustus Hemenway started the shipping company to move his timber products to markets. Augustus Hemenway had timberland in Maine and started his schooner shipping company to take timber to Eastcoast ports. Later he opened a sugar plant in Cuba, his ships would take lumber to Cuba and bring back sugar. Next, he expanded his timber products to Argentina and other Western South American ports. By 1828 the company expanded to Valparaiso, Chile. Augustus Hemenway married into a Boston merchant family, marrying Mary Tileston (1820-1894) in 1840. In 1865 Héctor Beéche (?-1914) became a partner in the firm and a subsidiary company, Wessel, Duval y Cía, was founded in Chile by Charles P. Hemenway, Augustus's brother. Charles had acted on Augustus' behalf in other matters as needed and became a partner in 1870. T. Quincy Browne became a partner in 1870 also and for a few years the firm was called Hemenway & Browne. In 1875 William Muller joined as a partner, the name returned to Hemenway & Co. Augustus Hemenway died in Cuba in 1876. The partnership continued as Hemenway & Co. till 1885. In 1885 Muller retired and Carlos Wolff joined the partnership, the company name was changed to Hemenway, Beeche and Co.. In 1888 Peter "Perdo" M. Wessel (1851-1821) joined the partnership and the company name was changed to Browne, Beeche and Co.. In 1891 a New York City office was opened on 68 Brad Street, and most key workers moved to New York. The next year the Boston office was closed. In 1896 Wolff retired and in 1897 George L. Duval (1855-1931), W. L. Parker, and q became partners. With the new partners, the company name was changed to Beeche and Co.. In 1905 T. F. Budge and Robert Jaffray became partners. In 1907 the company name was changed to Wessel, Duval & Co. In the 1900s the company moved from sailing ships to steamships and opened a new West Coast Line at 47 Cedar Street, later moved to 1 Broadway. The West Coast Line started regular service from New York City to Valparaiso and Callao, Peru. West Coast Line main cargo was railroad and mining equipment to the expanding business in Chile and Peru, along with general cargo. The Chile rail firm, Ferrocarril del Llano de Maipo in Santiago used Wessel, Duval & Co. to import their railroad equipment in 1890. The return cargo from Chile was nitrate of soda. The West Coast Line chartered steamship as needed and was the US manager and agent for other shipping lines. West Coast Line also shipped UK and US coal for coal ships and to nations. For the West coast of South America both the steamer and sail ships used the starits of Magellan, this changed on August 15, 1914, with the opening of the Panama Canal, some routes began to use the Panama Canal cutting about 10,000 miles off the trip. The outbreak of World War I changed service, some charted ships were requisition by their home country, and the United States Shipping Board, gave some ships to the Line to operate for the War effort. Normal operations did not return till 1924, all post-war work have been completed. In from 1920 to 1932, West Coast Line was the US agent for Compania Sud Americana de Vapores, the South America Steamship Company of Chile. South America Steamship Company had luxury passenger service to and from Chile and New York City, on a fleet of luxury steamers: SS Renaico, SS Aconcagua and SS Teno. During World War II Wessel Duval & Company operated ships to support the war in the Pacific War and European theatre. Wessel, Duval & Co. operated some ships in the support of Korean war in the early 1950s. As ships aged and were retired Wessel, Duval & Co. has moved into media, advertising and marketing.

A. H. Bull Steamship Company was a shipping company and passenger liner service founded in New York City in 1902 by Archibald H. Bull (1848-1920). Service started with shipping between New York and Florida. His fleet of ships then added service to other Eastcoast ports. The company is also often called the Bull Lines and the Bull Steamship Line or A. H. Bull & Company. While founded in New York, Bull soon move its headquarter to Peir 5 in Baltimore, Maryland. Bull Lines main Eastcoast ports were: Baltimore, Charleston, Philadelphia, Tampa and Norfolk, Virginia. Oversea ports: Porto Rico, Antwerp, Bordeaux, Hamburg, Bremen, Copenhagen, and West Africa. Bull Steamship Line supported the US war effort for both World War I and World War II, including the loss of ships.

Sword Line Inc. was a steamship company founded by Charilaos "Charles" G. Poulacos and Abbott Abercrombie in New York City in 1933. Sword Line Inc. had shipping routes from Atlantic ports to and Gulf of Mexico ports. Charilaos "Charles" G. Poulacos and Abbott Abercrombie purchased the ship Eastern Sword in 1932. The Eastern Sword was a 3,785-ton cargo ship built in 1920 at the Uraga Dry Dock Co. Ltd, at Uraga, Japan. The ship sank after being hit by a torpedo from German submarine U-162 on May 4, 1942 twelve miles (19 km) off the coast of Georgetown, Guyana. The Eastern Sword had a crew of 38 and only 13 survived the attack. Sword Line Inc. was active in supporting the World War II effort.

HMS Salopian was a motor ship that was built in 1926 as the passenger ship Shropshire. She belonged to Bibby Line, which ran passenger and cargo services between Rangoon in Burma and various ports in Great Britain, via the Suez Canal and Gibraltar. The Admiralty requisitioned Shropshire in 1939, had her converted into an armed merchant cruiser (AMC), and renamed her Salopian. A German U-boat sank her in the Battle of the Atlantic in 1941.

References

↑ Greenway, Ambrose (2011). Cargo Liners: An Illustrated History. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-78346-929-1.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Swiggum, Susan; Kohli, Marjorie (2 April 2006). "Bristol City Line". The Ships List. S. Swiggum. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
↑ Dundee Courier – Thursday 20 July 1893
↑ "Bibby Line". Red Duster. Merchant Navy Association. Archived from the original on 12 June 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2012.

External links

"House flag, Bristol City Line of Steamships Ltd". Royal Museums Greenwich.
Watson, Brian. "Bristol City Line". Benjidog Historical Research Resources.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[Green-1] Greenway, Ambrose (2011). Cargo Liners: An Illustrated History. Barnsley: Seaforth Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 978-1-78346-929-1.

[ShipsList-2] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Swiggum, Susan; Kohli, Marjorie (2 April 2006). "Bristol City Line". The Ships List. S. Swiggum. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 15 June 2011.

[3] Dundee Courier – Thursday 20 July 1893

[Red_Duster-4] "Bibby Line". Red Duster. Merchant Navy Association. Archived from the original on 12 June 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2012.

[2]

[3]

[4]