Guion Line

Last updated September 09, 2024

The Liverpool and Great Western Steamship Company, known commonly as the Guion Line, was a British passenger service that operated the Liverpool-Queenstown-New York route from 1866 to 1894.^[1] While incorporated in Great Britain, 52% of the company's capital was from the American firm, Williams and Guion of New York.^[2] Known primarily for transporting immigrants, in 1879 the line started commissioning Blue Riband record breakers to compete against Cunard, White Star and Inman for first class passengers.^[1] The financial troubles of one of the company's major partners in 1884 forced the firm to return its latest record breaker, the Oregon, to her builders and focus again on the immigrant trade.^[3] The company suspended sailings in 1894 because of new American restrictions on immigrant traffic.^[4]

History

Steerage trade

In 1848, John Stanton Williams (c. 1810–1876) and Stephen Barker Guion (1820-1885) formed the New York firm of Williams and Guion to operate the Black Star Line of sailing packets on the Liverpool-Queenstown-New York route.^[5] In 1852, Guion relocated to Liverpool as the firm's agent while Williams remained in New York.^[5] The next year, Guion's older brother, William H. Guion joined the firm's New York office.^[5] The Black Star Line concentrated on the steerage trade^[6] and ultimately owned 18 sailing ships.^[5] Black Star was shut down in 1863 because of the success of iron-screw liners in attracting steerage passengers and the danger of Confederate commerce raiders during the Civil War.^[1] Stephen Guion, by now a naturalized British citizen, contracted with the Cunard Line and the National Line to provide steerage passengers.^[3]

In 1866, Stephen Guion incorporated the Liverpool and Great Western Steamship Company in Great Britain to operate a quartet of 2,900 GRT liners for a weekly service to New York.^[1] Although 52% of the capital came from the Williams and Guion partnership,^[5] the Guion Line was formed as a British company because American law only allowed U.S.-built ships to be registered in the U.S., and American shipyards were incapable at that time of building the iron-hulled screw steamers required to compete on this route.^[3] Guion took advantage of an 1846 legal decision that considered a British corporation as a British citizen even if its shareholders were largely foreigners.^[3]

By 1870, the Guion Line ranked third in the delivery of immigrants to New York, with 27,054 steerage passengers, but only 1,115 first class.^[3] The line's eight ships were known as good sea-boats and had a reputation for innovative engineering.^[6] Guion's Wisconsin and Wyoming were the first liners on the Atlantic built with compound engines.^[1] Unfortunately, Guion's ships also had a reputation for being slow.^[7] In 1873, the New York Times urged the U.S. Post Office to contract with another line because of the long passage times of Guion ships.^[7]

Ocean greyhounds

The five-year shipping depression beginning in 1873 changed the character of the Guion Line. By 1875, the fleet was reduced to the four newest ships.^[1] The directors decided that they needed record breakers to change the company's image and ordered two 17 knot steamers, the Montana and the Dakota, to win the Blue Riband. However, both ships proved to be major failures and only achieved 11.5 knots in service.^[1] In 1877, Dakota became a total loss after stranding off Anglesey, and in 1880 Montana was lost after she also stranded only a few miles away from her sister.^[1] Guion purchased Cunard's ten-year-old Abyssinia to take her place in the schedule.^[1]

William Pearce, the controlling partner of the John Elder shipyard, was convinced that a crack steamer that carried only passengers and light freight could be profitable because she would attract more passengers and spend less time in port.^[6] He proposed a ship that crammed the most powerful machinery possible into the hull, sacrificing everything to speed.^[1] When Cunard rejected his proposal, Pearce offered his idea to Guion at a bargain price of £140,000 at a time when express liners typically cost £200,000.^[6] He also agreed to share the initial costs. Financially stressed after a series of shipwrecks, Guion was pleased with the arrangement.^[6] Stephen Guion personally owned the new vessel.^[5]

Guion's 16-knot Arizona took the eastbound record, but not the Blue Riband (i.e. the westbound record). Arizona also won considerable publicity when on an early voyage she hit an iceberg head-on, telescoping 25 feet of her bow.^[3] She returned to St. John's, where a temporary wooden bow was fitted until permanent repairs were made in Scotland. Guion advertised this incident as proof of the ship's strength.^[1]

Two years later, Guion took delivery of an even faster Blue Riband winner, the 17-knot Alaska, also personally owned by Guion.^[5] To continue the program, Pearce offered Guion favorable terms on a third unit, the 18-knot Oregon of 1883.^[1] While these ships were uncomfortable, they proved popular with American clients because of their American ownership.^[3]

In 1876, John Williams died and the firm was restructured in 1883 to settle his estate.^[5] Then in January 1884, Stephen Guion's older brother, William, resigned from the firm because of bad investments unrelated to the steamship line.^[8] Unable to make payments to the shipbuilder, Stephen Guion returned the current Blue Riband holder, Oregon, to the Elders, who sold her to Cunard. Stephen himself died in December 1885,^[5] and his 37-year-old nephew, William H. Guion Jr., died a month later, forcing a liquidation of the now named Guion and Company. The line was reorganized as a public stock corporation to settle the estates.^[1]

Final chapter

The new directors, chaired by Sir William Pearce himself, continued a weekly schedule with the old Nevada, Wisconsin and Wyoming along with the relatively new Arizona and Alaska, while Abyssinia was put on long-term charter to the Canadian Pacific Line. In 1886, the line was granted a share of the British transatlantic mail contract. However, the company's reputation was hurt in 1891 when the recently returned Abyssinia burned at sea, fortunately without loss of life.^[9] In 1892, the cholera scare caused New York officials to quarantine vessels arriving with steerage passengers.^[10] The Wyoming was one of the ships detained and a crewman on the ship died of cholera.^[10] Immigration regulation was taken over by the Federal Government and steamship lines were made responsible for returning any immigrants found unfit. In December 1892, Guion directors decided to retire the three oldest steamers, which were primarily in the steerage trade.^[4] In 1894, outpaced by the latest twin-screw liners from Cunard, White Star and Inman, the directors also withdrew the two former record breakers and liquidated the remaining assets.^[1]

Guion fleet

All built for Guion unless otherwise indicated—presented in order of acquisition.^[1]

Ship	Built	In service for Guion	Type	Tonnage	Notes
Manhattan	1866	1866-1875	intermediate	2,900	Sold to Warren Line 1875
Chicago	1866	1866-1868	intermediate	2,900	Wrecked near Queenstown, Southern Ireland in 1868 with no loss of life
Minnesota	1867	1867-1875	intermediate	2,900	sold to Warren Line 1875
Nebraska	1867	1867-1874	intermediate	3,900	sold 1874
Colorado	1868	1868-1872	intermediate	2,900	Sunk in Mersey 1872 with 6 lost
Nevada	1869	1869-1893	intermediate	3,150	sold to Dominion Line. A notable passenger was Annie Moore, from Ireland, the first passenger to cross the threshold of Ellis Island in January 1892.
Idaho	1869	1869-1878	intermediate	3,150	Wrecked near Queenstown, Southern Ireland on 1 June 1878 with no loss of life
Wisconsin	1870	1870-1893	intermediate	3,250	sold 1893
Wyoming	1870	1870-1893	intermediate	3,250	sold 1893
Montana	1875	1875-1880	intermediate	4,300	Wrecked off Anglesey on 14 March 1880 with no loss of life
Dakota	1875	1875-1877	intermediate	4,300	Wrecked off Anglesey on 9 May 1877 with no loss of life
Arizona	1879	1879-1894	express	5,150	Eastbound record holder, sold 1898 to the U.S. Government
Abyssinia	1870	1880-1891	express	3,250	Purchased from Cunard, burned at sea 1891 with no loss of life
Alaska	1881	1881-1894	express	6,950	Blue Riband, sold 1899
Oregon	1883	1883-1884	express	7,400	Blue Riband, returned to builder and resold to Cunard 1884, sunk 1886, 1 died
Parthia ^[11]	1870	1885-1887	intermediate	3,200	Purchased from Cunard, sold in 1892 to the North American Mail Steamship Company as Victoria.

Related Research Articles

The Cunard Line is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its four ships have been registered in Hamilton, Bermuda.

The Blue Riband is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest average speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. The record is based on average speed rather than passage time because ships follow different routes. Also, eastbound and westbound speed records are reckoned separately, as the more difficult westbound record voyage, against the Gulf Stream and the prevailing weather systems, typically results in lower average speeds.

SS City of Glasgow of 1850 was a single-screw passenger steamship of the Inman Line, which disappeared en route from Liverpool to Philadelphia in March 1854 with 480 passengers and crew. Based on ideas pioneered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel's SS Great Britain of 1845, City of Glasgow established that Atlantic steamships could be operated profitably without government subsidy. After a refit in 1852, she was also the first Atlantic steamship to carry steerage passengers, representing a significant improvement in the conditions experienced by immigrants. In March 1854 City of Glasgow vanished at sea with no known survivors.

The International Navigation Company (INC) was a Philadelphia-based holding company owning 26 ships totaling 181,000 tons and carried more passengers than either Cunard or White Star, when the company was reorganized as International Mercantile Marine in 1902. The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania approved a charter for the INC on May 5, 1871. The company was commonly known as the Red Star Line due to the red star on its white house flag. The principal American organizer and general agent of INC was the shipbroking firm of Peter Wright & Sons, one of the oldest, most respected, and most financially prosperous of the Philadelphia import-export houses. Principal financial backing was provided by the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. Although the financial interests were headquartered in the United States, the backers did not believe that a transatlantic steamship line could be run successfully under an American flag. Ships were to be built in foreign yards, operated under foreign flags, and manned with foreign crews.

City of Paris, was a British-built passenger liner of the Inman Line that held the Blue Riband as the fastest ship on the north Atlantic route from 1889 to 1891 and again from 1892 to 1893. A sister ship of the City of New York and a rival of the White Star Line Teutonic and Majestic, she proved to be the quickest of the pre-Campania twin-screw express liners. In 1893, she was renamed Paris and transferred to US registry when the Inman Line was merged into the American Line. She and her sister were paired with the new American built St Louis and St Paul to form one of the premier Atlantic services. Paris served the US Navy as the auxiliary cruiser USS Yale during the Spanish–American War and is remembered for slipping into the harbor at San Juan, Puerto Rico, under the Spanish guns of Morro Castle. After Paris returned to commercial service, she was seriously damaged in 1899 when she grounded on The Manacles off the British coast. Rebuilt and renamed Philadelphia, she sailed for the American Line until requisitioned again during World War I as the transport Harrisburg. After the war, she continued with the American Line until 1920 and was scrapped in 1923.

The Inman Line was one of the three largest 19th-century British passenger shipping companies on the North Atlantic, along with the White Star Line and Cunard Line. Founded in 1850, it was absorbed in 1893 into American Line. The firm's formal name for much of its history was the Liverpool, Philadelphia and New York Steamship Company, but it was also variously known as the Liverpool and Philadelphia Steamship Company, as Inman Steamship Company, Limited, and, in the last few years before absorption, as the Inman and International Steamship Company.

The Black Star Line was the name used by American sailing packets owned by the New York firm of Williams and Guion from 1848 to 1866. The line owned 18 ships on the Liverpool-Queenstown-New York route. The line was shut down in 1863 because of the success of newer, faster liners and the danger of transatlantic travel during the American Civil War.

SS Abyssinia was a British mail liner built in 1870, and originally operated by the Cunard Line on the Liverpool–New York route. She later served the Guion Line on the same route and the Canadian Pacific Line in the Pacific. In December 1891, Abyssinia was destroyed mid-Atlantic without loss of life by a fire that started in her cargo of cotton, highlighting the danger in carrying both cotton and passengers on the same ship.

Arizona was a record breaking British passenger liner that was the first of the Guion Line's Atlantic Greyhounds on the Liverpool-Queenstown-New York route. One nautical historian called Arizona "a souped up transatlantic hot rod." Entering service in 1879, she was the prototype for Atlantic express liners until the Inman Line introduced its twin screw City of New York in 1889. The Arizona type liner is generally considered as unsuccessful because too much was sacrificed for speed. Laid up in 1894 when Guion stopped sailings, Arizona was sold four years later and briefly employed in the Pacific until she was acquired by the US Government for service in the Spanish–American War. As the US Navy's Hancock she continued trooping through World War I, and was scrapped in 1926.

British Queen was a British passenger liner that was the second steamship completed for the transatlantic route when she was commissioned in 1839. She was the largest passenger ship in the world from 1839 to 1840, then being passed by the SS President. She was named in honour of Queen Victoria and owned by the British and American Steam Navigation Company. British Queen would have been the first transatlantic steamship had she not been delayed by 18 months because of the liquidation of the firm originally contracted to build her engine.

City of Paris was a British passenger liner operated by the Inman Line that established that a ship driven by a screw could match the speed of the paddlers on the Atlantic crossing. Built by Tod and Macgregor, she served the Inman Line until 1884 when she was converted to a cargo ship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Western Steamship Company</span>

The Great Western Steam Ship Company operated the first regular transatlantic steamer service from 1838 until 1846. Related to the Great Western Railway, it was expected to achieve the position that was ultimately secured by the Cunard Line. The firm's first ship, Great Western was capable of record Blue Riband crossings as late as 1843 and was the model for Cunard's Britannia and her three sisters. The company's second steamer, the Great Britain was an outstanding technical achievement of the age. The company collapsed because it failed to secure a mail contract and Great Britain appeared to be a total loss after running aground. The company might have had a more successful outcome had it built sister ships for Great Western instead of investing in the too advanced Great Britain.

SS Baltic was a wooden-hulled sidewheel steamer built in 1850 for transatlantic service with the American Collins Line. Designed to outclass their chief rivals from the British-owned Cunard Line, Baltic and her three sister ships—Atlantic, Pacific and Arctic—were the largest, fastest and most luxurious transatlantic steamships of their day.

SS Oregon was a record-breaking British passenger liner that won the Blue Riband for the Guion Line as the fastest liner on the Atlantic in 1884. She was sold to the Cunard Line after a few voyages and continued to improve her passage times for her new owner. In 1885, Oregon was chartered to the Royal Navy as an auxiliary cruiser, and her success in this role resulted in the Admiralty subsidizing suitable ships for quick conversion in the event of a crisis. She returned to Cunard service in November 1885 and four months later collided with a schooner while approaching New York. Virtually all persons on board were rescued before Oregon sank. Her wreck, 18 miles south of Long Island, remains a popular diving site.

Scotia was a British passenger liner operated by the Cunard Line that won the Blue Riband in 1863 for the fastest westbound transatlantic voyage. She was the last oceangoing paddle steamer, and as late as 1874 she made Cunard's second fastest voyage. Laid up in 1876, Scotia was converted to a twin-screw cable layer in 1879. She served in her new role for twenty-five years until she was wrecked off of Guam in March 1904.

Persia was a British passenger liner operated by the Cunard Line that won the Blue Riband in 1856 for the fastest westbound transatlantic voyage. She was the first Atlantic record breaker constructed of iron and was the largest ship in the world at the time of her launch. However, the inefficiencies of paddle wheel propulsion rendered Persia obsolete and she was taken out of service in 1868 after only twelve years. Attempts to convert Persia to sail were unsuccessful and the former pride of the British merchant marine was scrapped in 1872.

The Britannia class was the Cunard Line's initial fleet of wooden paddlers that established the first year round scheduled Atlantic steamship service in 1840. By 1845, steamships carried half of the transatlantic saloon passengers and Cunard dominated this trade. While the units of the Britannia class were solid performers, they were not superior to many of the other steamers being placed on the Atlantic at that time. What made the Britannia class successful is that it was the first homogeneous class of transatlantic steamships to provide a frequent and uniform service. Britannia, Acadia and Caledonia entered service in 1840 and Columbia in 1841 enabling Cunard to provide the dependable schedule of sailings required under his mail contracts with the Admiralty. It was these mail contracts that enabled Cunard to survive when all of his early competitors failed.

The America class was the replacement for the Britannia class, the Cunard Line's initial fleet of wooden paddle steamers. Entering service starting in 1848, these six vessels permitted Cunard to double its schedule to weekly departures from Liverpool, with alternating sailings to New York. The new ships were also designed to meet new competition from the United States.

SS President was a British passenger liner that was the largest ship in the world when she was commissioned in 1840, and the first steamship to founder on the transatlantic run when she was lost at sea with all 136 onboard in March 1841. She was the largest passenger ship in the world from 1840 to 1841. The ship's owner, the British and American Steam Navigation Company, collapsed as a result of the disappearance.

SS Parthia (1870–1956) was an iron-hulled transatlantic ocean liner built for the Cunard Line by William Denny and Brothers in Dumbarton, Scotland. Her sister ships were the Abyssinia and Algeria. Unlike her two sisters, Parthia was smaller, built in a different shipyard and had a slightly different funnel arrangement. The Parthia was retired by Cunard in 1883 and sold to John Elder & Co., who subsequently transferred her to the Guion Line. After serving with the Guion Line and operating on trans-Pacific routes with the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, she was refitted and renamed Victoria.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Gibbs, Charles Robert Vernon (1957). Passenger Liners of the Western Ocean: A Record of Atlantic Steam and Motor Passenger Vessels from 1838 to the Present Day. John De Graff. pp. 52–92.
↑ New York Times (2 August 1873). Williams and Guion, A Thoroughly English Line.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Fry, Henry (1896). The History of North Atlantic Steam Navigation with Some Account of Early Ships and Shipowners. London: Sampson, Low & Marston. OCLC 271397492.
1 2 New York Times (25 December 1892). Going Out of Business.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 New York Times (20 December 1885). Obituary: Stephen Baker Guion.
1 2 3 4 5 Fox, Stephen. Transatlantic: Samuel Cunard, Isambard Brunel and the Great Atlantic Streamships.
1 2 New York Times (29 July 1873). Transatlantic Mails, Is there more than one mail a week to England?.
↑ New York Times (21 January 1884). William H. Guion, Ruined by loans to friends.
↑ New York Times (1892). The burning of the Abyssinia, Second officer censored by London Board of Trade.
1 2 Harper's Weekly (17 September 1892). Cholera in New York Bay.
↑ Ljungstrom, Henrik. "Parthia (I)/Victoria". Original. The Great Ocean Liners. Retrieved 5 October 2013.

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.

[gibbs-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Gibbs, Charles Robert Vernon (1957). Passenger Liners of the Western Ocean: A Record of Atlantic Steam and Motor Passenger Vessels from 1838 to the Present Day. John De Graff. pp. 52–92.

[times1-2] New York Times (2 August 1873). Williams and Guion, A Thoroughly English Line.

[fry-3] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Fry, Henry (1896). The History of North Atlantic Steam Navigation with Some Account of Early Ships and Shipowners. London: Sampson, Low & Marston. OCLC 271397492.

[times4-4] 1 2 New York Times (25 December 1892). Going Out of Business.

[times5-5] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 New York Times (20 December 1885). Obituary: Stephen Baker Guion.

[fox-6] 1 2 3 4 5 Fox, Stephen. Transatlantic: Samuel Cunard, Isambard Brunel and the Great Atlantic Streamships.

[times2-7] 1 2 New York Times (29 July 1873). Transatlantic Mails, Is there more than one mail a week to England?.

[times3-8] New York Times (21 January 1884). William H. Guion, Ruined by loans to friends.

[times6-9] New York Times (1892). The burning of the Abyssinia, Second officer censored by London Board of Trade.

[harpers-10] 1 2 Harper's Weekly (17 September 1892). Cholera in New York Bay.

[TGOL-11] Ljungstrom, Henrik. "Parthia (I)/Victoria". Original. The Great Ocean Liners. Retrieved 5 October 2013.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]