Kerr Steamship Company, Kerr Company, ran passenger and
cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...
s from
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...
,
Ceylon
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
and other ports. Kerr Company was founded in 1916, and was sold to
Norton Lilly International
Norton Lilly International, was founded as Norton Lilly & Company in 1841 in New York City by John Norton Jr., In 1834, John Norton, Jr. moved to New York in 1834, he was born in Eastport, Maine in 1816. John Norton, Jr. John Norton, Jr. shipping ...
in 1994 after a Kerr-Norton joint venture that started in 1981.
In the 1920s Kerr Steamship Company was the largest steamship company in the United States. Kerr Steamship Company served during
World War I
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 ...
taking supplies to the War. Kerr Steamship Company opened an office at 7 Rue Scribe,
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
and ran docks at
Bordeaux
Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
. Later, Kerr Steamship Company opened operations in Marseilles, Chicago, and New Orleans to support the war effort. In the
“K” Line shipping system, the Kerr Steamship Company shipped most and sometimes all the cargo in
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...
, "K" Line-Kerr Corporation. In 1994 Kerr Company was the sub-agent for
United Arab Shipping Company
Hapag-Lloyd AG is a German international shipping and container transportation company, the 5th biggest in the world. It was formed in 1970 through a merger of Hamburg-American Line (HAPAG) and Norddeutscher Lloyd.
History
The company was for ...
, and is an agent for Torm West Africa Line, Alliance Navigation, Compagnie Generale Maritime, and Compania Chilena de Navegacion Interoceanica. Kerr was the sub-agent in the South Atlantic region for the
"K" Line America.
Early steamship
Early Kerr steamships:
* (1901)
* (1906)
* (was ''Himalaia'' 1910)
* (was ''Borneo'' 1910)
* (was ''Erodiade'' 1910)
*''Kerwood'' (was ''Budapest'' 1911)
* (was ''Marawitz'' 1907)
*''Keresaspa'' (was ''Franconia'' 1903)
*''Rochester'', sunk 1917 by U-boat (was ''Yagüez'')
* (1919)
* (1911)
*''
Mount Clay
Mount Clay is a peak located in Thompson and Meserve's Purchase in Coos County in the Presidential Range of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It is a rise about long and a few hundred feet tall, with summit elevation of ; it lies on the ...
'' (1904)
* (1904)
World War II
Kerr-Silver line
*''Bowness Park''
*''Mohawk Park''
*''Fort St. Antoine''
*''Fort Dearborn''
*Tanker:
*''Andrew Dillion'' (1950s)
Kerr-Silver Services
*Kerr-Silver Services 1920-1930's ships:
*''Silversandal''
*''Silverteak''
*''Silvercypress''
*''Silveryew''
*''Silverwalnut''
*''Silverpalm''
*''Silverwillow''
*''Silvermaple''
*''Silveroak''
*''Silverelm''
*''Silverguava''
*''Silverbelle''
*''Silverash''
*''Silverbeech''
*''Silverhazel''
*''Silverlarch''
*''Silverpine''
*''Silvercypress''
*''Silversandal''
*''Silverteak''
*''Silverwalnut''
*''Silveryew''
*Prince Line services: 1930's ships, working with Stanley & John Thompson of the United Kingdom (later merged with Java Pacific) :
*''Chinese Prince''
*''Cingalese Prince''
*''Javanese Prince''
*''Malayan Prince''
*''Siamese Prince''
See also
*
Yusuf bin Ahmed Kanoo
References
{{reflist
Shipping companies of the United States