The Isthmian Steamship Company was a shipping company founded by
US Steel
The United States Steel Corporation is an American steel company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It maintains production facilities at several additional locations in the U.S. and Central Europe.
The company produces and sells steel products, ...
in 1910.
Isthmian Steamship was the brainchild of US Steel President
James A. Farrell, who had connections with the maritime industry through his father's trade as a ship's master. Farrell realized that US Steel could save substantial sums of money by owning its own fleet of freighters, rather than chartering cargo space from other companies. Farrell named the company after the
Isthmus of Panama
The Isthmus of Panama, historically known as the Isthmus of Darien, is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North America, North and South America. The country of Panama is located on the i ...
, in honour of America's recent construction achievement, the
Panama Canal
The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...
.
Farrell headquartered Isthmian Steamship in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, partly in order to take advantage of
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...
's respected name in the industry, and partly to benefit from Britain's long history of maritime experience. Management of the company was assigned to the British
Federal Steam Navigation Co Ltd, a company which traced its own origins back as far as 1782 with the
British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
. The US end of Farrell's new company was managed by the
Norton Lilly Agency.
Early fleet
The company's first ship was ''Bantu'', a British steamship launched in 1902 and bought by US Steel from the
Bucknall Line in 1910 for a reputed £24,000. In 1911 US Steel took delivery of its first newly-built ship, , from
William Hamilton and Company
William Hamilton and Company was a British shipbuilding, shipyard in Port Glasgow, Scotland. The company was bought by Lithgows, Lithgow Ltd., which later became Scott Lithgow and was nationalisation, nationalised as part of British Shipbuilders i ...
in
Port Glasgow
Port Glasgow (, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recent census in 2011 s ...
, and bought second-hand the British
tramp ship ''Kentra''.
In 1913 Isthmian added ''Buenaventura'', newly-built by the
Northumberland Shipbuilding Company
The Northumberland Shipbuilding Company was a shipbuilding business based at Howdon in Tyne and Wear.
History
The company was established by Harry S. Edwards in Howdon in 1883. Following the death of the founder the business was bought by Rowla ...
. She was joined in 1914 by another newly-built ship, ''
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
'', from the North of Ireland Shipbuilding Company in
Derry
Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...
. Until 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 ...
broke out in 1914, all Isthmian ships remained
registered
Registered may refer to:
* Registered mail, letters, packets or other postal documents considered valuable and in need of a chain of custody
* Registered trademark symbol, symbol ® that provides notice that the preceding is a trademark or service ...
in Britain.
Isthmian also bought second-hand the entire fleet of Charles G Dunn of Liverpool: , and the twin-stacked
cargo liner
A cargo liner, also known as a passenger-cargo ship or passenger-cargoman, is a type of merchant ship which carries general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the 19th century, and eventually gave way to conta ...
''Crofton Hall'' all in 1914, followed by in 1915. With the outbreak of the First World War, Farrell re-registered all the company's ships in the then-neutral United States.
Isthmian Steamship Company
On 30 January 1930 ''Isthmian Steamship Company'' was organized separately from US Steel which retained the ships ''Steel Chemist'', ''Steel Electrician'', ''Steelmotor'', and ''Steelvendor''. Isthmian Steamship Company acquired the ships:
* ''Anniston City'' (April)
* ''Crofton Hall'' (April)
* ''Mobile City'' (April)
* ''Steel Exporter'' (April)
* ''Atlanta City'' (May)
* ''Chattanooga City'' (May): Sunk by 20 February 1943.
* ''Steel Seafarer'' (May): 1921–1943. Sunk by seaplane in 1943.
* ''Steel Traveler'' (May): 1922–1944. Sunk by mine in 1944.
* ''Steel Inventor'' (June): 1920–1954. Collided with (rammed) and sunk
USS ''Woolsey'' in 1921.
* ''Steel Scientist'' (June): Operated as the transport ship 1944–1947.
* ''Steel Trader'' (June)
* ''Steel Voyager'' (June)
* ''Memphis City'' (July)
* ''Montgomery City'' (July)
* ''San Francisco'' (July)
* ''Steel Age'' (July)
* ''Steel Engineer'' (July)
* ''Steel Mariner'' (July)
* ''Tuscaloosa City'' (July)
* ''Bessemer City'' (August)
* ''Birmingham City'' (August)
* ''Ensley City'' (August)
* ''Knoxville City'' (August)
* ''Steelmaker'' (August)
* ''Chickasaw City'' (September)
* ''Fairfield City'' (September)
* ''Steel Ranger'' (September)
* ''Steel Worker'' (September)
* ''Selma City'' (October)
was bought in 1947, renamed ''Steel Director'', and operated until sold to the
States Marine Lines
States Marine Lines was the Passenger ship, passenger and cargo ship, cargo of the States Marine Corporation founded by Henry Mercer in 1930 in New York City. In 1931 Cornelius S. Walsh became an investor and the company Secretary. They started ...
in 1956, where she continued operating under the same name until scrapped in 1971.
The company would continue to expand its operations in the ensuing decades. In 1956 however, the by then highly lucrative company, then under retired Vice admiral
Glenn B. Davis
Glenn Benson Davis (January 2, 1892 – September 9, 1984) was a highly decorated officer in the United States Navy with the rank of Vice admiral (United States), Vice Admiral. He distinguished himself as Commanding officer of battleship USS Wash ...
, was sold to States Marine Lines. US Steel justified the sale on the grounds that Isthmian's overall usefulness had diminished, as it now carried only a fraction of the corporation's exports.
It continued to operate as a property of States Marine until the early 1970s. Its last list of corporate officers is dated 1974.
Other ships
* ''Sea Partridge'': Renamed ''Steel Vendor'' (1943–1971)
SS ''Sea Partridge''
€“ Retrieved 2019-07-22
See also
*World War II United States Merchant Navy
World War II United States Merchant Navy was the largest civilian Navy in the world, which operated during World War II. With the United States fighting a world war in all the world oceans, the demand for cargo and fuel was very high. Cargo and ...
References
*Atherton, John (2000): ''Imperial Steel: The History of the Isthmian Steamship Company: 1910-1956'', Xlibris Corporation,
Extract
External links
2
{{Authority control
Defunct shipping companies of the United States
Defunct shipping companies of the United Kingdom