The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between the British Empire and the United States. While many other shipping lines focused primarily on speed, White Star branded their services by focusing more on providing comfortable passages for both upper class travellers and immigrants.
SS Ceramic was an ocean liner built in Belfast for White Star Line in 1912–13 and operated on the Liverpool – Australia route. Ceramic was the largest ship serving the route until P&O introduced RMS Mooltan in 1923.
P. Henderson & Company, also known as Paddy Henderson, was a ship owning and management company based in Glasgow, Scotland and operating to Burma and New Zealand. Patrick Henderson started business in Glasgow as a merchant at the age of 25 in 1834. He had three brothers. Two were merchants working for an agent in the Italian port of Leghorn; the third, George, was a sea captain with his own ship.
SS Akaroa was a UK steam ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship. She was launched in 1914 in Ireland as Euripides for Aberdeen Line. When new, she was the largest ship in the Aberdeen Line fleet.
SS Megantic was a British transatlantic ocean liner that was built in Ireland and launched in 1908. She was one of a pair of sister ships that were ordered in 1907 by Dominion Line but completed for White Star Line.
Elder Dempster Lines was a UK shipping company that traded from 1932 to 2000, but had its origins in the mid-19th century.
SS Gothic was a passenger-cargo liner launched in December 1947, though not completed until a year later. She became the most famous of the quartet when she was designated a royal yacht from 1952 to 1954.
SS Ionic was a steam-powered ocean liner built in 1902 by Harland and Wolff in Belfast for the White Star Line. She was the second White Star Liner to be named Ionic and served on the United Kingdom – New Zealand route. Her sister ships were SS Athenic and SS Corinthic.
SS Doric was a British ocean liner operated by White Star Line. She was put into service in 1883. Built by the Harland and Wolff shipyards in Belfast, she was the sister ship of the Ionic which was put into service a few months earlier. Although the original purpose of the construction of the two ships was not known with certainty, both began their careers chartered by the New Zealand Shipping Company which operated them on the route from London to Wellington.
SS Zealandic was a British ocean liner initially operated by White Star Line. She was used both as a passenger liner and a cargo ship as well as serving during both world wars.
SS Delphic was an ocean liner of the White Star Line, built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast and completed on 15 May 1897. She worked the New Zealand trade. She was a fairly slow ship primarily intended for transporting emigrants and goods to New Zealand. Despite this, she made her first crossings on the New York route before joining the route to New Zealand. For twenty years, her service on this route was uneventful, with the exception of troop transport missions during the Second Boer War.
SS Coptic was a steamship built in 1881, which was successively owned by the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and the Japanese Oriental Steam Ship Co. before being scrapped in 1926. She was filmed by Thomas Edison in 1897 in one of his early movies. The movie is currently stored in the Library of Congress.
Cunard-White Star Line, Ltd, was a British shipping line which existed between 1934 and 1949.
SS Ionic was a cargo liner initially in service with White Star Line from 1883 until 1900. She was used on the company's joint route to New Zealand with the Shaw, Savill & Albion Line. She was sold to the Aberdeen Line in 1900 and renamed SS Sophocles, and was withdrawn for service in 1906 and scrapped in 1908.
SS Themistocles was a UK steam ocean liner and refrigerated cargo ship. She was launched in 1910 in Ireland and scrapped in 1947 in Scotland. She was built for Aberdeen Line, White Star Line managed her for a few years, and she spent the latter part of her career with Shaw, Savill & Albion Line.
QSMV Dominion Monarch was a UK passenger and refrigerated cargo liner. Her name was a reference to the Dominion of New Zealand. The unusual prefix "QSMV" stood for quadruple-screw motor vessel.
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 Runic was a refrigerated cargo ship built at Harland and Wolff, Belfast in 1949 for the Shaw, Savill & Albion Line. She was launched at Belfast in October 1949, and entered service in March 1950, and was designed for trade between the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. She had two sister ships; Persic and Suevic.
SS Tokomaru was a British steam cargo ship built in 1893 as Westmeath by C. S. Swan & Hunter of Wallsend for a Sunderland shipowner. The steamer was sold the following year to Shaw, Savill and Albion Steamship Company, renamed Tokomaru, and converted to a refrigerated ship for their New Zealand and Australian routes. In January 1915 the ship was torpedoed and sank off Le Havre, France.
MV Waimarama was a UK refrigerated cargo liner. She was built in Northern Ireland for Shaw, Savill & Albion Line and launched in 1938. She carried perishable foods, particularly meat, from New Zealand to the United Kingdom.
