Andrew Benoni Hammond was an American lumberman. He developed the Missoula Mercantile Co. He built the Bitterroot Valley Railroad and the Astoria & Columbia River Railroad. He was president of the Hammond Lumber Co. and the Hammond Steamship Co.
SS Cynthia Olson was a cargo ship originally built in Wisconsin in 1918 as the SS Coquina. Renamed in 1940, in August 1941 she was chartered by the US Army to transport supplies to Hawaii. While in passage between Tacoma, Washington and Honolulu on December 7, she was intercepted by the Japanese submarine I-26, which sank her with gunfire. Although the commander of the submarine ensured that all of the crew had escaped into boats, none of them were ever found. Cynthia Olson was the first United States Merchant Marine vessel to be sunk after the entry of the United States into World War II.
SS Barbara Olson was a cargo ship built in Wisconsin in 1918 as the SS Corrales. Barbara Olson was able to escape an attack off the coast of California in the early days of World War II. The Barbara Olson was built under a United States Shipping Board (USSB) contract in 1918 as the SS Corrales and renamed in 1940. On July 25, 1942, she was chartered by the US Army to transport supplies to the Territory of Hawaii as the USAT Barbara Olson for World War II. On January 14, 1946, her Army service ended. In 1964 she was run aground four miles (6.4 km) north of Pimentel, Peru and declared a total loss.
Mississippi Shipping Company of New Orleans, Louisiana was a passenger and cargo steamship company founded in 1919. In 1961 officially changed its name to the Delta Line. The Mississippi Shipping Co. serviced port from the Gulf of Mexico and east coast of South America. The Mississippi Shipping Co. was formed to support coffee merchants and Brazilian produce to New Orleans and up the Mississippi River. competing with the New York City trade. Delta Line failed to upgrade to container ships and modernize as other shipping lines did in the 1970s. In 1982 Delta Line, now owned by the Holiday Inn Corporation sold the line to Crowley Maritime. Crowley was the largest US barge and tugboat operator at the time. Crowley started to modernize the ships on the route, but sold the shipping line to the United States Lines in 1985. United States Lines brought some of the ships into its routes but went bankrupt in 1986. At its peak in 1949, the Mississippi-Delta line owned 14 ships at a total of 98,000 grt. Delta Line also moved into passenger cruise with to ship. During World War II the Mississippi Shipping Company was active with charter shipping with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration. During wartime, the Mississippi Shipping Company operated Victory ships, Liberty shipss, and a few Empire ships.
Pacific Far East Line, also called PFEL in short, was a passenger and cargo shipping line founded in 1943 by Thomas E. Cuffe, in San Francisco, California. At the beginning he started by chartering foreign ships to run the lines in tramp trade. Later scheduled cargo services were added to the line. During World War II the South Atlantic steamship line was active with charter shipping with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration.
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 was a and 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.
Shepard Steamship Company of Boston, Massachusetts was founded in 1930 by Otis N Shepard, and H B, Shepard with service from Pacific Coast to Philadelphia, New York City, Albany and Boston. Service was called the Shepard Line Shepard Steamship Company moved to 21 West Street, New York City in 1947. The Shepard Steamship Company's main cargo was lumber products. Otis N Shepard company, Otis Shepard & Co. partnered with George H. Morse in 1868 to form Shepard & Morse Lumber Company of Burlington, Vermont. During World War II the Shepard Steamship Company was active in charter shipping with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration. During wartime, the Shepard 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.
Interocean Shipping Company, Interocean Steamship Company of San Francisco was a subsidiary of the Bethlehem Steel Company founded in the late 1930s and closed in 1986.
Northland Transportation Company operated cargo and passenger ships from Seattle to Southeast Alaska starting in 1923. During World War II Northland Transportation Company was active in charter shipping with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration. Northland Transportation Company, proposed a loan from United States Shipping Board to build a ship for Puget Sound-Alaska trade in 1933. In 1934, the company was granted a $350,000 loan to build a new ship. The 1,400 tons passenger ship, was built at Lake Washington Shipyard in Houghton, Washington. Northland Transportation Company Seattle dock and warehouse were at Pier 56, now Ainsworth and Dunn Wharf.
Sudden & Christenson Company was a shipping and lumber company founded in 1899. Edwin A. Christenson and Charles Sudden of San Francisco, California started the company and shipping line to supply northwest lumber to cities on the east coast, west coast and far east. The ships would return with goods and passengers from the remote ports. Some of the ships also had passenger service on the upper decks. Sudden & Christenson Company and Los Angeles Steamship Company-United American Line started a joint venture called the Arrow Line in 1926. Arrow Line operated from Northwest Pacific Coast Ports and Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Sudden & Christenson's San Francisco Headquarters was at 110 Market Street with docks at Pier 15. Sudden & Christenson Company was incorporated in California in 1903. The Sudden & Christenson company dissolved in 1944 and Sudden & Christenson, Inc was founded to pay of the liability of franchise taxes, and operated till dissolved in 1965. Charles Sudden died in 1913 and Edwin Christenson became president with D. Walter Rasor as vice president. The company started with schooners and added steamships. During World War I Sudden & Christenson operated Merchant navy ships for the United States Shipping Board. During World War II Sudden & Christenson was active with charter shipping with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration. Sudden & Christenson had docks in San Francisco, Vancouver, Seattle, Portland, Astoria, Los Angeles and Yokohama, Kobe, Shanghai, Dalian and Tsingtao. Far East ports were a joint venture with the North China Line. In late 1950s came the more cost-effective loading and unloading system, container shipping. The Sudden & Christenson fleet, now aged and on an obsolete system, put the company in decline, closing in 1965.
States Steamship Company, also called States Line and SSS, was started in 1928 by Charles Dant, in Portland, Oregon and later moved to the headquarters to San Francisco. Dant started the States Steamship Company to take his lumber product to market. He had a fleet of lumber schooners. Dant started by leasing ships from the United States Shipping Board - Emergency Fleet Corporation and founded the Columbia Pacific Steamship Company in 1919, Columbia Pacific Steamship Company routes were between Portland, Far East and Europe. In 1928 Dant merged the Columbia Pacific Steamship Company into the States Steamship Company. The Europe route ended in 1932 and the ship moved to a Philippines route. With the shift to container shipping in the 1960s and Dant's fleet of ships becoming older and obsolete, the company into bankruptcy in 1979. States Line operated four subsidies: Pacific-Atlantic Steamship Company, California Eastern Line founded in 1937 for lumber shipping, Oregon Oriental Line and the Quaker Line.
J. H. Winchester & Company was founded by James Henry Winchester (1824-1913) in New York City in 1856. J. H. Winchester & Company was a cargo agent for the United States Shipping Board post World War I, in the 1920s. Winchester raised and born in Annapolis, Nova Scotia, Canada, on June 4, 1824. He moved to the United States in 1831 and settled in Eastport, Maine. Winchester completed the United States naturalized prossess on July 7, 1845 and became a US citizen. He moved to New York and became a ship captain. In New York became a partner in two brigantine sailing ships, one the Mary Celeste. The Mary Celeste was found hastily abandoned in 1872 between the Azores and Portugal. The abandonment is still a mystery today.
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.
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.
Charles R. McCormick Lumber Company was founded in 1908 by Charles R. McCormick in San Francisco, California. McCormick purchased a mill site in St. Helens, and formed the Helens Mill Company. To feed the mill McCormick's St. Helens Timber Company also purchased 4,000 acres of timber. In 1912 McCormick formed the St. Helens Lumber Company as parent company over Helens Mill Company and the St. Helens Timber Company. In 1912 McCormick expanded the company with a second sawmill, a creosoting plant and shipyard, the St. Helens shipyard. McCormick also expanded into San Diego, California with a railroad ties factory, to supply Santa Fe Railway and the mines of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico. At the San Diego site, he built a dock to unload his timbers. With the Great Depression slow down, McCormick closed dock at San Diego in April 1931.
Olympic Steamship Company was founded in Seattle, Washington on August 22, 1925 by John Ambler, Charles A. Wallace and William W. Shorthill. Olympic Steamship Company had routes that served the Pacific Northwest. Olympic Steamship Company had a fleet of about 4 ships. Olympic Steamship Company was named after Olympic Mountains in the state of Washington. John Ambler was an attorney, and Charles A. Wallace previously worked at Fisher Flouring Mills Company. William W. Shorthill was a clerk at Pacific Steamship Company. After the start of the company Joseph L. Carman, Jr., became the vice president. Carman previously was president of Alaska Washington Airways. Olympic Steamship Company's first ship was an acquired 5,335-ton tanker, named the SS Dayton. Olympic Steamship Company renamed the Dayton, the SS Olympic. SS Olympic was built in 1907 as the Harport in South Shields, England. In 1936 Olympic Steamship Company went into a joint venture with James Griffiths & Sons, Inc., as the Consolidated Olympic Company. Consolidated Olympic Company offered a Long Beach, California, Seattle, Tacoma, Washington route on the Consolidated Olympic Line. The Consolidated Olympic Line was later renamed the Olympic-Griffiths Line. The Olympic-Griffiths Line acquired the 7,216-ton cargo ship SS Olympic Pioneer, which was used on Pacific Northwest lumber and newsprint routes. SS Olympic Pioneer also did two long voyages on world wide trade route. The SS Olympic Pioneer then moved to a routed from Puget Sound to Japan moving US Army supplies. Olympic-Griffiths Line chartered ships for the other routes on the line. Ernest Clayton became president of the firm in 1940. Ernest Clayton previously worked for the Mccormick Steamship Company. Olympic Steamship Company was active in supporting the World War II effort.
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.
W. R. Chamberlin & Company was a lumber and shipping company founded in 1915 by William Richmond Chamberlin in the Balboa Building in San Francisco, California. W. R. Chamberlin & Company main business was selling, brokering and shipping lumber and timber products from Portland, Oregon to the growing city of San Francisco and the San Francisco Bay area. By 1928 Chamberlin has four steamships to transport his lumber: the Barbara C, Phyllis, Stanwood, and W. R. Chamberlin, Jr. W. R. Chamberlin & Company was active in supporting the World War II efforts. W. R. Chamberlin & Company's ship the SS W.R. Chamberlin Jr put into service in the United States Navy and renamed USS Tackle (ARS-37). USS Tackle was damaged by an exploding mine on September 4, 1943 and too damaged to be repaired. Before founded W. P. Chamberlin & Company, Chamberlin Chamberlin was president of Byxbee & Clark Company, a lumber company in San Francisco.
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.
