The Atlantic Transport Line was an American passenger

shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

line based in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

, Maryland. In 1901 the company was folded into the

International Mercantile Marine Company The International Mercantile Marine Company, originally the International Navigation Company, was a trust formed in the early twentieth century as an attempt by J.P. Morgan to monopolize the shipping trade. IMM was founded by shipping magnat ...

(IMM).

History

The line developed with railroad support as an offshoot of Bernard N. Baker's Baltimore Storage and Lighterage Company in 1881. Although American owned, the Atlantic Transport Line operated from Britain, with British registered and manned vessels, most of which were British built. General cargo, live cattle and small numbers of passengers were carried from Baltimore and Philadelphia to British ports and the line developed an excellent reputation for shipping valuable horses. A full-scale weekly passenger service between New York and London commenced in 1892 and today the line is best remembered for its exclusively first class direct London to New York passenger/cargo service operated by its four Minne-class ships: ''Minneapolis'', , ''Minnetonka'' and from 1900 to 1915. In 1898 the U.S. Government bought seven of the Line's ten ships for use as military transports in the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

(Baker lent another for use as a hospital ship). The line survived this potentially devastating blow because Baker pulled off a sensational deal and bought a British competitor's five brand new ships almost immediately as replacements. The Atlantic Transport Company of West Virginia was formed at this time to assert American ownership of the line's overseas assets. Baker's attempt to sell the line to British owners in the late 1890s sparked the chain of events that lead to the formation of the IMM. The line's most important ships were all sunk during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After the war four huge replacements for the Minne-class ships were planned. Only two of these were built however, and the passenger service, which recommenced in 1923, never matched pre-war successes. With

first class travel First class is the most luxurious and most expensive travel class of seats and service on a train, passenger ship, airplane, bus, or other system of transport. Compared to business class and economy class, it offers the best service and most co ...

declining, a tourist third-class ship was introduced in 1925 and for two seasons operated a second. But the line was faltering even before the Wall Street crash and with the recession of 1931 its remaining ships were laid up or transferred to other IMM lines, and it effectively ceased to exist. The American holding company survived until 1936. ''Minnewaska'' was the last ship the Atlantic Transport Line operated.

Fleet

References

Sources

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External links

The Atlantic Transport Line, 1881 – 1931

GG Archives * {{Authority control Shipping companies of the United States History of Baltimore Companies based in Baltimore Transatlantic shipping companies