Compañía Transatlántica Española

Last updated • 4 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Compañía Transatlántica Española, S.A.
Company type Sociedad Anónima
Industry transport
Founded1849
Defunct2012
Headquarters
Madrid
,
ProductsPassenger and cargo shipping
ServicesShip owner and ship operator

Compañía Transatlántica Española, S.A. (Transatlantic Company of Spain, abbreviated CTE), also known as the Spanish Line in English, was a passenger ocean line that has largely ceased operations although it still exists as a company. It is popularly known as "La Trasatlántica" in the Spanish language (Catalan: "La Transatlàntica").

Contents

History

CTE's first office in Spain was in Santander in the 19th century. Its head office was transferred to Barcelona after Antonio López y López, the owner of the company, married Catalan, Dona Lluïsa Bru Lassús.

"La Trasatlántica" was established in colonial Cuba in 1850 as "Compañia de Vapores Correos A. López" by Spanish businessman and slave trader Don Antonio López y López. It began operations with a 400-ton sail-steamer.

The steamship Colon at Port Said in 1898. She tried unsuccessfully to break the US naval blockade of the Philippines in the Spanish-American War. Colon at PortSaid-summer1898.png
The steamship Colón at Port Said in 1898. She tried unsuccessfully to break the US naval blockade of the Philippines in the Spanish–American War.
The steamship Alfonso XIII which was launched in 1889. She sank at Santander in 1915. El vapor Alfonso XIII de 1889.PNG
The steamship Alfonso XIII which was launched in 1889. She sank at Santander in 1915.

In 1878 Antonio López was ennobled with the title of Marquess of Comillas. His company changed its name to "Compañía Transatlántica Española", its present name, after being registered as a joint stock company in 1881. After the Marquess of Comillas's death in 1883, his fourth son, Don Claudio López Bru, took charge of the company. By 1894 the Compañía Transatlántica Española fleet reached 33 vessels with a total of 93,500 registered tons. [1]

In the 1898 Spanish–American War the Spanish Navy used 21 CTE ships as auxiliary vessels. They tried to break the blockade that the United States imposed on Cuba and the Philippines, the last great colonies of the Spanish crown, but were mostly unsuccessful. [2]

Reina Victoria-Eugenia, built in England in 1912 and renamed Argentina in 1931 Vapor Reina Victoria Eugenia.jpg
Reina Victoria-Eugenia, built in England in 1912 and renamed Argentina in 1931

After that war CTE's fleet became increasingly obsolescent, and its largest liners were small by international standards. It began to renew its fleet with two new technologically advanced sister ships launched in 1912: Reina Victoria-Eugenia from England and Infanta Isabel de Borbon from Scotland.

Carlos de Eizaguirre, mined in 1917 with the loss of 134 lives Carlos de Eizaguirre.jpg
Carlos de Eizaguirre, mined in 1917 with the loss of 134 lives

In 1917 a mine sank the CTE liner Carlos de Eizaguirre off Robben Island, killing 134 people. CTE claimed that the UK had planted the mine. The UK Admiralty denied it, and alleged that the German raider SMS Wolf had planted the mine.

After the First World War CTE continued to modernise its fleet. The Spanish-based shipbuilder Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval (SECN) was now able to build ocean liners as large as those CTE had previously bought from abroad, and the Marquess of Comillas owned 30 percent of SECN, so CTE commissioned SECN to supply the 10,500  GRT turbine steamships Alfonso XIII and Cristóbal Colón, both launched in 1923.

Claudio López Bru, second Marquess of Comillas, died in 1925. A new 9,922  GRT ship launched in 1928 was named Marques de Comillas after him.

After the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic in 1931, CTE renamed ships that had borne the names of members of the Spanish royal family. Alfonso XIII became Habana, after Havana in Cuba. Reina Victoria-Eugenia and Infanta Isabel de Borbon operated the mail ship service between Spain and the Río de la Plata, so they were renamed Argentina and Uruguay respectively.

Infanta Isabel de Borbon, built in Scotland in 1912 and renamed Uruguay in 1931 Vapor Infanta Isabel de Borbon.JPG
Infanta Isabel de Borbon, built in Scotland in 1912 and renamed Uruguay in 1931

The Spanish government had subsidised CTE to provide the mail service. In 1932 the Republican government withdrew the subsidy, so CTE withdrew the service [3] and laid up Argentina and Uruguay at Barcelona. [4]

The Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939 destroyed much of CTE's fleet, and left much of the remainder in disrepair. The Spanish Republican Navy requisitioned some CTE ships and used them to evacuate refugees from coastal cities besieged by the Nationalist armies. [5] In 1939 Nationalist air raids sank Argentina and Uruguay in Barcelona.

Between 1950 and 1960 CTE slowly recovered, but post-war advances in civil aviation overtook its passenger business. CTE shares fell and the ailing company lost investors. In 1960, at one of CTE's shareholders' meetings it was proposed to transform CTE into an airline, but funds were not forthcoming. Between the mid-1960s and 1974, CTE liquidated practically all its fleet.

One of the last luxury ocean-liners of the company was ship Virginia de Churruca, sold to Trasmediterránea which used it for ferry services to the Balearic Islands. The profits from sales like these, undertaken "at the point of death", were minimal.

In 1978 a non-functional Compañía Transatlántica Española was integrated into the Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI), a Spanish state entity that absorbed failed companies in order to service debt, among other purposes.

In 1994 CTE became a private company after being acquired by Naviera del Odiel. CTE managed to survive, but was only engaged minor shipping operations using chartered ships, as well as in real-estate business. In its last days CTE was not even a shadow of the transoceanic shipping company it was in its heyday, when its luxury passenger liners cruised the World's oceans.

Following the strengthening of the Euro currency between 2005 and 2006, as well as higher fuel costs, CTE found it increasingly difficult to service the debts to its creditors. Finally, in September 2012 it entered an insolvency procedure. [6]

Monuments

CTE pavilion at the 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition, was designed by Antoni Gaudi Trasatlantica (1888).jpg
CTE pavilion at the 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition, was designed by Antoni Gaudí

CTE had a pavilion in the maritime section of the 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition. It designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, better known for the Sagrada Família. The CTE pavilion was demolished only a few years after its completion to make way for the Passeig Marítim, Barcelona's harbor promenade. Models of this now-demolished structure can be seen at the Sagrada Família museum. [7]

Compania Transatlantica allegory, by Rossend Nobas, on one side of the monument "A Lopez y Lopez" in Barcelona. A Lopez y Lopez - 004.jpg
Compañía Transatlántica allegory, by Rossend Nobas, on one side of the monument "A López y López" in Barcelona.

There is a sculptural relief representing a Compañía Transatlántica allegory on one side of the monument "A López y López" in Barcelona. This work was made by the Catalan sculptor Rossend Nobas.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacint Verdaguer</span> Spanish writer and poet

Jacint Verdaguer i Santaló was a Catalan writer, regarded as one of the greatest poets of Catalan literature and a prominent literary figure of the Renaixença, a cultural revival movement of the late Romantic era. The bishop Josep Torras i Bages, one of the main figures of Catalan nationalism, called him the "Prince of Catalan poets". He was also known as mossèn (Father) Cinto Verdaguer, because of his career as a priest, and informally also simply "mossèn Cinto".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comillas</span> Municipality in Cantabria, Spain

Comillas is a small township and municipality in the northern reaches of Spain, in the autonomous community of Cantabria. The Marquessate of Comillas, a fiefdom of Spanish nobility, holds ceremonial office in the seat of power at a small castle which overlooks the town. The Comillas Pontifical University was housed here before it moved to Madrid, and the old university buildings are among the finest examples of architecture in the town. Besides this, there are many notable medieval and baroque buildings.

From 1909 until the Spanish Civil War, naval construction in Spain was monopolized by the Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval – (SECN) also Spanish Society for Naval Construction (SECN). During this time the majority of its shares were owned by the United Kingdom firm (John Brown and Vickers-Armstrong), and therefore almost all ships built by the company were developed after Royal Navy designs.

<i>LAtlàntida</i>


L'Atlàntida is an 1877 poem in Catalan by Jacint Verdaguer. It consists of an introduction, ten books, and a conclusion, dealing with the wanderings of Heracles in the Iberian Peninsula, the sinking of the continent of Atlantis, the creation of the Mediterranean Sea, and the discovery of the Americas.

Antonio Lopez may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Instituto Nacional de Industria</span> Spanish state-owned financing and industrial holding company

Instituto Nacional de Industria was a Spanish state-owned financing and industrial holding company established in Francoist Spain for the development of industry and social control. It was succeeded by the Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI) in 1995.

<i>Antonio López</i> (shipwreck) Historic Spanish ship shipwrecked in waters near Dorado, Puerto Rico

Antonio López was a merchant steamship that was built in Scotland in 1882 for the Spanish Compañía Transatlántica Española (CTE). A United States Navy auxiliary cruiser sank her in the Spanish–American War when she was trying to run the US blockade to supply materiél to the Spanish garrison on Puerto Rico. She is now the only known Spanish shipwreck in US waters from the war. Her wreck site, in 1,700 feet (520 m) of water off Dorado, Puerto Rico, was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Claudio López, 2nd Marquess of Comillas</span> Spanish businessman and shipping magnate

Claudio López y Bru, 2nd Marquess of Comillas, GE, was a Spanish peer, businessman, and immensely rich shipping magnate and landowner. He inherited the companies his father Antonio López y López had founded.

MV <i>Mar Negro</i>

Mar Negro was an armed merchantman of the Nationalist Spanish Navy during the Spanish Civil War. The cargo ship was launched in 1930 along with her sister ship MV Mar Cantábrico, and after five years with the Compañía Marítima Del Nervión company, she was requisitioned by the Spanish Republican Navy in 1936. Captured by a group of Nationalist sympathizers from her crew off Algeria in 1937, she entered in service in 1938 after being converted to an auxiliary cruiser.

<i>Príncipe de Asturias</i> (ocean liner) Spanish ocean liner (1914-1916)

Príncipe de Asturias was a steam ocean liner, built in Scotland for the Spanish Naviera Pinillos. She was launched in 1914 and wrecked in 1916 with the loss of at least 445 lives. She was the sister ship of Pinillos' 8,170 GRT Infanta Isabel, which was launched in 1912.

Ramón Alonso R. was a merchant steamship that was built in Scotland in 1898 and scrapped in Spain in 1959. Its original name was Montclair. It was renamed José Gallart in 1901, Balmes in 1911 and Ramón Alonso R. in 1929. Its first owner was the British Elder Dempster Lines, but it spent most of its career with a succession of Spanish owners. It was built as a transatlantic ocean liner with some cargo capacity, but in 1927 it was refitted as a cargo ship. In 1913, when it was called Balmes, the ship survived a serious cargo fire in mid-Atlantic.

Enrique Jacobo Pedro Luis Plácido Zóbel de Ayala was a Spanish-born industrialist and philanthropist who became the first patriarch of the Zóbel de Ayala family. He was also one of the leaders in the Philippine Falange during the 1930s and 1940s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ramón Acha Caamaño</span> Puerto Rican Spanish Army general

Ramón Acha Caamaño was a brigadier general in the Spanish Army. As Captain in charge of the Spanish Artillery in San Juan, he defended Puerto Rico against U.S. attack during the Spanish–American War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish Republican Navy</span> Naval Arm of Spanish Republic

The Spanish Republican Navy was the naval arm of the Armed Forces of the Second Spanish Republic, the legally established government of Spain between 1931 and 1939.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas</span> Manufacturer in the Philippines

The Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas, S.A., also known as the Compañía Española de Tabacos de Filipinas, was a Spanish multinational joint-stock company, one of the world's most important enterprises in the late 19th and early 20th century, and the Philippines' first private tobacco company. Founded by the 1st Marquess of Comillas in Barcelona in 1881 and based in Manila, it is also simply known as Tabacos de Filipinas in Spain, and as La Tabacalera in the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antonio López, 1st Marquess of Comillas</span> Spanish businessman (1817–1883)

Antonio López y López, 1st Marquess of Comillas, GE, was a Spanish businessman, slave trader and shipping magnate. He was the founder of a number of important companies, and one of the world's wealthiest men in the second half of the nineteenth century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marquess of Comillas</span> Spanish nobility title

Marquess of Comillas is a hereditary title in the Peerage of Spain, accompanied by the dignity of Grandee of Spain. On 3 July 1878, the title Marquess of Comillas was granted to Antonio López y López by the King Alfonso XII, in recognition of his contribution to the town of Comillas in northern Spain. The title recalls the name of his hometown.

SS <i>Carlos de Eizaguirre</i> Steam passenger and cargo liner sunk during World War I

SS Carlos de Eizaguirre was a steam passenger and cargo liner of the Compañía Transatlántica Española (CTE). She was launched in 1903 in England as Léopoldville for the Compagnie Maritime Belge du Congo (CMBC), sold in 1908 to the African Steamship Company, which renamed her Landana, and sold in 1910 to CTE who renamed her Carlos de Eizaguirre after one of its former directors.

SS <i>Infanta Isabel de Borbon</i> Steam ocean liner, built in Scotland for Spanish service to the River Plate

SS Infanta Isabel de Borbon was a steam ocean liner and mail ship launched in 1912 in Scotland and operated by the Compañía Transatlántica Española (CTE). She and her sister ship Reina Victoria-Eugenia represented a significant modernisation of CTE's fleet of ageing and obsolescent ships.

SS <i>Reina Victoria-Eugenia</i> Steam ocean liner, built in England for Spanish service to the River Plate

SS Reina Victoria-Eugenia was a steam ocean liner and mail ship launched in 1912 in England and operated by the Compañía Transatlántica Española (CTE). She and her sister ship Infanta Isabel de Borbon represented a significant modernisation of CTE's fleet of ageing and obsolescent ships.

References

  1. "Compañía Transatlántica Española". Mar y Barcos.
  2. List of CTE ships that took part as auxiliary vessels in the Spanish–American War
  3. "Compañía Transatlántica (1887–1932) (Española)". Historia y Arqueología Marítima (in Spanish). Fundación Histarmar. Retrieved 14 November 2020.
  4. Dunn 1973, p. 159.
  5. "Ancla del "Alfonso XIII"". Museo de Anclas. Archived from the original on 6 January 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  6. "130 años después, la Trasatlántica entra en concurso". La Carta de la Bolsa. 20 September 2012.
  7. Joan Bassegoda i Nonell, Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), Barcelona, Fundació Caixa de Pensions, 1984. ISBN   84-505-0683-2. p. 236

Bibliography