 | |
| Industry | Transport |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1891 |
| Defunct | 1980 |
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Orient Overseas Container Line |
| Headquarters | Hartlepool, UK |
Key people | Christopher Furness Sir James Steel (Chairman) |
Furness Withy was a major British transport business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange.
The company was founded by Christopher Furness and Henry Withy (1852–1922) in 1891 in Hartlepool. [1] This was achieved by the amalgamation of the Furness Line of steamers with the business of Edward Withy and Co., iron and steel shipbuilders and repairers, of West Hartlepool, which was founded by Edward Withy (1844-1927), Henry Withy's brother. [2] An early acquisition in 1900 was a controlling interest in Richardsons Westgarth & Company, a marine engineering business. [2]
Furness, Withy started with 18 vessels and over the subsequent years it owned in excess of a thousand ships. [3] It bought the Prince line in 1916. [1] In 1917 the Furness Shipbuilding Co Ltd was established, at Haverton Hill, River Tees, initially for war production. [4] The Furness family sold its interests in the Company to a consortium led by Frederick Lewis, a Director in the business, in 1919. [1]
Also in 1919, Furness, Withy bought from Canada Steamship Lines the Quebec Steam Ship Company, which ran scheduled services between New York and Bermuda. Furness, Withy renamed its acquisition the Furness Bermuda Line. [5] In 1928 Furness, Withy acquired the Red Cross Line. [6]
In 1965 Furness, Withy acquired Royal Mail Lines (formerly Royal Mail Steam Packet Company) in 1965. [7]
In 1965, British and Commonwealth Shipping, Furness Withy, P&O and The Ocean Steamship Company established Overseas Containers Limited to exploit containerisation. [8]
In 1966 Furness, Withy terminated its Furness Bermuda Line operation. [5] [9]
In 1968 Furness, Withy bought the Houlder Group, a company with offshore oil interests. [10] Furness Withy bought Manchester Liners in 1970. [11]
The company was acquired by the Orient Overseas Container Line of Hong Kong in 1980. [3] In 1990 it was resold to the Oetker Group, who at the time of purchase were the owners of Hamburg Süd. [3]
Furness Withy operated both tramp and liner services. The latter included transatlantic Royal Mail and passenger routes, initially from West Hartlepool to Boston and New York, and later from Liverpool to St John's, Newfoundland, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Boston. The Liverpool — Boston route was worked by a pair of sister ships, RMS Newfoundland and RMS Nova Scotia. The first Newfoundland and Nova Scotia were built in 1925 and 1926 but were requisitioned in 1940 and 1941. Both were lost to enemy action: Nova Scotia as a troop ship in 1942; Newfoundland as a hospital ship in 1943. S.S. Fort Amherst [12] and her sister ship S.S. Fort Townshend [13] were built by Blythswood Shipbuilding [14] in 1936. They sailed between Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New York and the British West Indies. In 1952 S.S. Fort Amherst she was taken over by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary after the explosion of the RFA Bedenham and renamed RFA Amherst. [15] A second Newfoundland and Nova Scotia were built as replacements in 1947 and served until 1962, when Furness, Withy sold them to Dominion Navigation Co. A third Newfoundland and Nova Scotia were built in 1964 and 1965, and were chartered to Shaw, Savill & Albion Line in 1973. [16]
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by a Scot, James MacQueen. The line's motto was Per Mare Ubique. After a troubled start, it became the largest shipping group in the world in 1927 when it took over the White Star Line. The company was liquidated and its assets taken over by the newly formed Royal Mail Lines in 1932 after financial trouble and scandal; over the years RML declined to no more than the name of a service run by former rival Hamburg Süd.
SS Montrose was a British merchant steamship that was built in 1897 and wrecked in 1914. She was built as a cargo liner for Elder, Dempster & Company. In 1903 the Canadian Pacific Railway bought her and had her converted into a passenger liner.
USS Maartensdijk was a cargo steamship that was laid down in England in 1902 as Egyptiana, but launched as Rapallo. She served in the United States Navy as USS Maartensdijk from 1918 until 1919, with the Naval Registry Identification Number ID-2497.
Fort Victoria was a 7,784 GRT passenger steamship that was built in 1912 as Willochra. During the First World War she was requisitioned for use as a troopship. In 1920 she was sold and renamed Fort Victoria, serving until lost in a collision in 1929.
Edward Withy was born in Bristol, England and in 1869 co-founded a shipbuilding partnership at Hartlepool that eventually became part of Furness Withy. He sold the firm in 1884 and emigrated from England to New Zealand, where he was elected to Member of Parliament in 1887, representing the Auckland electorate of Newton. He was the father of Arthur Withy, journalist and political activist. Like his son, he was a single-taxer and follower of Henry George.
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.
Houlder Line was a number of related British shipping companies originally established by the Houlder brothers.
SS Canonesa was a refrigerated cargo steamship that was built in Ireland in 1920 and sunk by a u-boat in the Atlantic Ocean in 1940.
SS Hatarana was a cargo steamship that was built as part of an emergency shipbuilding programme during the First World War, and sunk without loss of life in the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War. She was built as War Sailor, one of a batch of cargo ships that the United Kingdom ordered from Japanese shipyards. She was renamed Hatarana in 1919 when she changed owners.
RMS Nova Scotia was a 6,796 GRT UK transatlantic ocean liner and Royal Mail Ship. In World War II she was requisitioned as a troopship. In 1942 a German submarine sank her in the Indian Ocean with the loss of 858 of the 1,052 people aboard.
SS British Transport was a general cargo steamship that was built in England in 1910 and scrapped in Italy in 1933. In 1917 she became the first merchant ship to succeed in sinking a U-boat.
HMS Castle Harbour was a civilian harbour vessel of 730 tons that was taken-up from trade (TUFT) during the Second World War by the Royal Naval Dockyard in Bermuda for use by the Royal Naval Examination Service and later armed and commissioned as a warship, providing harbour defence from submarines.
Furness Bermuda Line was a UK shipping line that operated in the 20th century. It was part of Furness, Withy and ran passenger liners between New York and the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda from 1919 to 1966.
SS New Australia was a UK-built turbo-electric passenger steamship that had a varied career from 1931 to 1966. She was built as the ocean liner Monarch of Bermuda, was a troop ship in the Second World War and was damaged by fire in 1947.
SS Sagamore was a transatlantic cargo liner that was built in Ireland in 1892 for George Warren's White Diamond Steam Ship Company. In 1913 she was modified to carry passengers as well as cargo. In 1917 a German U-boat sank her, causing the death of 52 members of her crew.
SS Manchester City was a British cargo steamship that was built in Glasgow in 1937 and scrapped in Faslane in 1964. The Royal Navy requisitioned her in the Second World War.
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