General Steamship Company was founded in 1920 in Houston, Texas, as a Private Company, and now goes by Gensteam since 1996. General Steamship Company has a fleet of cargo ships that operate worldwide. Gensteam has a Gensteam Operations Desk website that tracks all shipping logistics. Gensteam headquarters is now in San Francisco, California. General Steamship Company was part owner of American Pacific Steamship Company in New York state and Los Angeles during and post World War II. American Pacific Steamship Company was founded in 1942 in New York City, and was previously called Los Angeles Tanker Operators Inc. which operated T2 tanker ships. During World War II the General Steamship Company and American Pacific Steamship Company were active with charter shipping with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration.
Weyerhaeuser Steamship Company was a cargo Liner company founded in Tacoma, Washington. Weyerhaeuser Steamship Company was founded by Weyerhaeuser Company in 1933. Weyerhaeuser is one of the largest lumber and paper companies in the United States. First called the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company which started with ships for towing logs in the Northwestern United States. Weyerhaeuser started Weyerhaeuser Timber Company with a ship he acquired in 1892. The log towing ship was a 140-foot sternwheeler built for the partnership, Weyerhaeuser and Denkman Company. In 1923 Weyerhaeuser added to ocean lumber cargo ship the SS Pomona and the SS Hanley. The two ships took lumber to the East Coast. In 1933 F. Weyerhaeuser starts the Weyerhaeuser Steamship Company and moves the headquarters to Newark, New Jersey. At the outbreak of World War II the US government orders the four Weyerhaeuser to take supplies to the British army in Egypt. The next year the other four company's ships are requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration. During World War II the Weyerhaeuser Steamship Company was active in charter shipping with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration. During wartime, the Weyerhaeuser Steamship Company operated Victory ships and Liberty shipss. The ship was run by its crew and the US Navy supplied United States Navy Armed Guards to man the deck guns and radio. The most common armament mounted on these merchant ships were the MK II 20mm Oerlikon autocannon and the 3"/50, 4"/50, and 5"/38 deck guns. In 1942 the SS Potlatch and the SS Heffron were sunk by German U-boats torpedoes. After the war, Weyerhaeuser Steamship Company purchased four Liberty ships for intercoastal shipping service. In 1950 Weyerhaeuser Steamship Company purchases the Pacific Coast Direct Line and moves its headquarter from Newark to San Francisco. In 1962 the Weyerhaeuser Line is started and Weyerhaeuser Steamship becomes a division of Weyerhaeuser Company.
Calmar Steamship Company was a proprietary subsidiary of the Bethlehem Steel founded in New York City in 1927. Bethlehem Steel Company founded Calmar Steamship Company and other steamship companies after finding general shipping companies could not meet the company's needs in a timely manner. At the time Bethlehem Steel Company was the second-largest steelmaker in the United States and the world, only behind U.S. Steel. Calmar Steamship Company shipped Bethlehem Steel Company products from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast. On the return trip, Calmar Steamship Company would bring lumber products from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast. Calmar Steamship Company closed in 1976, as United States steel manufacture declined in the 1960s.
Cosmopolitan Shipping Company, also called the Cosmopolitan Line, was founded in 1916 in New York City. Cosmopolitan Shipping Company operated cargo and passenger service from New York City to Le Havre France and Antwerp. From 1919 to 1939 operated United States Shipping Board ships under a United States contract, called the America-France Line. Later Cosmopolitan Shipping Company also operated the Southern Cross Line that served the east coast of South America. Southern Cross Line operated cargo ship with some passenger accommodations.
Merchants and Miners Transportation Company, often called M&M and Queen of Sea, was a major cargo and passenger shipping company founded in 1852 in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1852 is started with routes from Baltimore and Boston two wooden side wheelers ships. In 1859 M&M added two iron hulled steamers to its fleet. In 1866, post Civil War, M&M added routes to Providence, Rhode Island, Norfolk and Savannah, Georgia. In 1876 M&M purchased the Baltimore & Savannah Steamship Company add routes to Savannah, Jacksonville and Charleston. In 1907 the Winsor Line of Philadelphia's J. S. Winslow & Company of Portland, Maine was purchased, with seven steamships. The Winsor Line was founded in 1884 by J. S. Winslow. The Winsor Line first route was from Norfolk, Virginia to New England ports, supplying West Virginia coal. The Winsor Line sailing ship Addie M. Lawrence took ammunition to Europe during World War I. By World War II M&M had a fleet of 18 ships and add routes to Miami. With the outbreak of World War II the War Shipping Administration requisitioned Merchants and Miners Transportation Company fleet of ships for the war effort.
Blidberg Rothchild Company was a shipping company founded by Allan Blidberg and Sylvester Rothschild in New York City, United States. The shipping company has is start with a previous company Blidberg and Sagen Company founded by Tryggve Sagen and Allan Blidberg. Tryggve Sagen owned a ship in Oslo, Norway before coming to the United States in 1919. Sylvester Rothschild was born in 1896 in Sweden, he was a finance officer in Gothenburg. Rothschild came to America in 1919 and started the shipping company with Sagen. Blidberg and Sagen Company had shipping routes from New York to Scandinavian and Baltic ports. Sagen was president, Blidberg vice president and Sylvester Rothschild was the Secretary for the shipping company. Sylvester Rothschild was from Gothenburg Sweden, were he was the Vice-consul. In the 1930s Tryggve Sagen departed the company and the firm was renamed Blidberg Rothchild Company. The company had offices in Gothenburg and Norway. Blidberg Rothchild Company worked with an affiliated company Eastport Steamship Co of New York. Blidberg Rothchild Company also worked with an affiliated company Bridgeport Steamship Line of New York, a New Haven Railroad company.
Boland and Cornelius Company was a shipping company founded in 1904 by Messrs Boland and Adam E. Cornelius in Buffalo, New York. Adam Edwards Cornelius came up with the idea of having self-unloading ships to save time and money. Adam Edwards Cornelius self-unloading ships changed the way ships were unloading. In 1907 Boland and Cornelius founded the American Steamship Company a subsidiary of Boland and Cornelius Company. American Steamship Company later became the current GATX Corporation. Boland and Cornelius Company flew a white and red flag with B&C in blue.
James Griffiths & Sons, Inc. was founded by Captain James Griffiths (1861-1943) in Seattle, Washington in 1885. James Griffiths was from Newport, Wales, where he was a captain of a ship. He started as an agent for NYK Line of Japan. James Griffiths ran the company with his sons: Stanley and Bert. James Griffiths & Sons, Inc. entered into a venture with the Olympic Steamship Company in 1936 to form the Consolidated Olympic Company. Consolidated Olympic Company had routes to Long Beach, California, Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, called the Olympic-Griffiths Line. The Olympic-Griffiths Line ship was the SS Olympic Pioneer was a 7,216-ton cargo ships, common freight was lumber and newsprint. Other ships operated were leased.
North Atlantic & Gulf Steamship Company was founded in New York City on February 13, 1932, by George V. Reilly, William M. Stevens, and David H. Jackman. The president of North Atlantic & Gulf Steamship Company in 1932 was Charles Walter Ulsh. North Atlantic & Gulf Steamship Company's treasurer and vice president was Clifton Waller Barrett. Charles Walter Ulsh and Clifton Waller Barrett founded the ship broker firm Ulsh & Barrett. Charles Walter Ulsh invited and patented a skid platform pallet for shipping. His United States patent #US1934389A is used for a stackable and nested skid platform.
Parry Navigation Company was a shipping company founded in 1942 by Alfred Walter Parry Jr. in New York City. Alfred Walter Parry Jr. first career was ship broker with Smith & Terry Inc. in New York City. He was also the office manager of the Interocean Steamship Company of New York in New Orleans. Smith & Terry Inc also were managing agents for the some United States Shipping Board ships. Alfred Walter Parry Jr. father, Alfred Walter Parry, Sr., was an agent for a railroad company. Parry Navigation Company operated ships for the World War II. Alfred Walter Parry Jr. became a Colonel in the United States Army. Parry served with the US Army Transportation Corps in the South Pacific Ocean. Parry Navigation Company expanded the company and opened an office in San Francisco in 1945. Parry Navigation Company stated the Parry Line in 1947 and expanded with route to Galveston, Texas. The Parry Line had routes from the West Coast of the United States to Manila, Shanghai, Hong Kong and North China. Parry was the vice president for the Lykes Brothers Steamship Company for a few years. Parry was awarded the Legion of Merit and World War II Victory Medal for his service in the US Army Transportation Corps. Charles W. Perkes was a manager in Parry Navigation Company. Perkes, before Parry worked for the Dollar Line.
Polarus Steamship Company was founded in 1918, and again in 1923 in New York City by Tikhon Nicholas Agapeyeff (1891–1931). Tikhon N. Agapeyeff's 1918 frim, operated for only about two years. In March 1921, Agapeyeff sold the first Polarus Steamship Company to the C. M. Fetterolf Company for $250,000. The next incorporation in 1923 was a partnership of Agapeyeff, Marcel Levy, and Charles S. Dunaif. Marcel Levy was an attorney and Charles S. Dunaif was an exporter.
Pope & Talbot, Inc. was a lumber company and shipping company founded by Andrew Jackson Pope and Frederic Talbot in 1849 in San Francisco, California. Pope and Talbot came to California in 1849 from East Machias, Maine. Pope & Talbot lumber company was very successful, with the high demand of the 1849 Gold Rush.
United States Navigation Company was founded by Edward Carl Wilhelm Oelsner (1888-1973) in New York City in 1917. Oelsner was a Prussian-born German, who came to America in 1908. In 1915 became a manager of the Hamburg America Line's New York office. In 1917 he became a steamship broker, he then founded his own steamship brokerage firm, United States Navigation Company. United States Navigation Company's first clients were the Hamburg-American Line and North German Lloyd Line. Next Oelsner entered into a joint venture with Biehl & Company chartering ships that serviced the Gulf of Mexico ports. United States Navigation Company when went from just a shipbroker to a ship owner, with the purchase of 1885 SS City of Salisbury, a 397-ton cargo ship. On March 7, 1973, Oelsner died, he and his wife, Eva, were on vacation in Torremolinos, Spain. United States Navigation Company continued doing business. In 1979 the United States Navigation Company was sold and in 1981 closed. The United States Navigation Company supported the World War II effort with its ship and as an operator of United States owned ships.
American Foreign Steamship Corporation was founded in Brooklyn, New York City, in 1932 by Ira L. Rosenson, Sophia Pruss and Elias Katz. Rosenson was an attorney and the major shareholder in the firm. American Foreign Steamship Corporation purchased a 5,570-ton cargo ship SS Eastern Glen from the American South African Line in 1933. American Foreign Steamship Corporation named the ship the SS American Oriole. The ship was built by Kabushiki Kaisha Uchida Zosengo company of Yokohama, Japan, in 1920. The ship was a United States Shipping Board ship. The next two ships purchased was the SS Liberty Glo and SS Wildwood, these were Hog Islanders type ships. The two ships were purchased from the South Atlantic Steamship Company. In 1938 another Hog Islanders ship was purchased the, SS Magmeric, renamed the SS American Robin. The American Oriole was sold to England in 1940 to help with the World War II efforts. She was renamed the SS Barberrys, but on November 26, 1942, she was sunk by a torpedoed from German submarine U-663 off of St. John's, Newfoundland.
Wilmore Steamship Company was a steamship shipping company that was founded in New York City in 1930. The Wilmore Steamship Company mainly operated coal ships, called Collier ship. The coal ships main routes were loading coal at Hampton Roads, Virginia, and delivering the coal to New England ports. The first two ships on the on the route were the SS Berwindglen and SS Berwindvale. Both ships were built by Bethlehem Steel's Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation at Quincy, Massachusetts, at the Fore River Shipyard. SS Berwindglen and SS Berwindvale were new 4,411-ton colliers ships, that had first United States engines that used pulverized coal-fired boilers. The steamship SS Mercer, a 9,500 ton merchant ship was the test ship of pulverized coal, modified to evaluated pulverized coal in 1929. The test were good and the SS Berwindglen and SS Berwindvale were built for this new fuel. Wilmore Steamship Company was named after Wilmore Heights, Pennsylvania. Wilmore Steamship Company was active in supporting the World War II effort.
De La Rama Steamship Company, Inc. was a shipping company founded in New York City by the Isidro de la Rama family in 1930. Isidro de la Rama family founded the De La Rama Steamship Company to export sugar from their large his sugar plantations in the Philippines. Isidro de la Rama was also commissioned by the United States Army to be a blockade runner to bring supplies, such as food and ammunition, to the United States Army and Philippine Army after the invasion of Empire of Japan into the Philippines.
Dichmann, Wright & Pugh, Inc. was shipping company founded in Norfolk, Virginia in 1925 by Vilh Dichmann, Bland Saunders Wright, Frank C. Pugh, Clint B. Sellers, and Alan Smith. Pugh had operated a company office in Philadelphia. Clint B. Sellers operated a company office in New York City. Saunders Wright was Dichmann, Wright & Pugh, Inc. President. Alan Smith was the company secretary and treasurer. Bland Saunders Wright worked in the Dichmann, Wright & Pugh, Inc. headquarters in Norfolk until his death on October 16, 1944. After Wright death, Alan Smith became president of Dichmann, Wright & Pugh, Inc and John M. Levick became assistant secretary and treasurer. With the start of World War II Dichmann, Wright & Pugh, Inc. supported the war effort.
Overlakes Freight Corporation was shipping agent company founded in New York City on April 21, 1932, by William M. Nicholson. Overlakes Freight Corporation operated Liberty Ships during and for post World War II efforts. Most of Overlakes Freight Corporation ships were purchased by the War Shipping Administration for the war. Nicholson also owned the Nicholson Universal Steamship Company, Nicholson, Erie, Dover, Ferry Line, Nicholson Terminal & Dock Company, Aqua Terminal & Dock Corporation and the Nicholson Transit Company.
T. J. Stevenson & Company, Inc. was a shipping firm founded in New York City by Thomas J. Stevenson on December 2, 1935. In 1920 Thomas J. Stevenson started working as a ship broker in New York City. Thomas J. Stevenson's father Henery Stevenson worked as a clerk at a shipping firm in New York City starting in 1910. T. J. Stevenson & Company supported the World War II effort by operating United States owned ships. After the war T. J. Stevenson & Company purchased surplus war cargo ships. Thomas J. Stevenson was born in 1892 and died on January 28, 1968.
R. A. Nicol & Company was a shipping and ship broker company founded in New York City by Robert Alexander Nicol in 1923. Robert Alexander Nicol was born in England in 1880. Robert Alexander Nicol came to the United States in 1906 at the age of 26, from Liverpool, England. In 1290 Robert Alexander Nicol became a naturalized United States citizen. He started in the shipping business by working for the Oriental Navigation Company in New York City in 1916. R. A. Nicol & Company's office was at 17 Battery Place, New York City. R. A. Nicol & Company supported the World War II effort by operating United States owned ships.
