Pacific Far East Line, also called PFEL in short, was a

passenger A passenger is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The vehicles may be bicycles, ...

and

cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

shipping line founded in 1943 by Thomas E. Cuffe, in

San Francisco, California 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 ...

. At the beginning he started by chartering foreign ships to run the lines in

tramp trade A boat or ship engaged in the tramp trade is one which does not have a fixed schedule, itinerary nor published ports of call, and trades on the spot market as opposed to freight liners. A steamship engaged in the tramp trade is sometimes called ...

. 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 The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 1950. The c ...

and

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

. After the end of World War II, the Pacific Far East Line purchased some of the low-cost surplus ships. All purchased ships were given names ending with the word "Bear". Pacific Far East Line flag was blue with a golden bear and below the letters PFEL, and Pacific Far East Line ads called PFEL routes "Routes of the Bear". During wartime, the South Atlantic steamship line operated

Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by American shipyards during World War II. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were slightly larger and had more powerful steam turbine engin ...

s and

Liberty ships Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. ...

. Chairman Thomas E. Cuffe died in 1959. Pacific Far East Line operated some lighter aboard ships. In 1977, the US Maritime Subsidy Board approved the application of PFEL for being granted a construction-differential subsidy (CDS) for financing the reconstruction of four LASH barge carriers into full

container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...

s at Bethlehem Steel's San Francisco shipyard at a cost of U$5 millions each. The four ships were the Thomas E. Cuffe, Golden Bear, Japan Bear, and the Pacific Bear, all built in 1971 and 1972 at Avondale Shipyards, Inc., New Orleans, La. However, as containerization expanded, Pacific Far East Line failed to upgrade sufficiently rapidly its fleet to

s and modernize as other shipping lines did in the 1970s. With the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

over Pacific Far East Line lost revenues and eventually went bankrupt and closed in 1978, all ships being sold or scrapped due to age.

Coastwise Line

Coastwise Line was owned-managed by Pacific Far East Line out of San Francisco, with Headquarters at 315 California Street. Coastwise Line was founded by Hector Hunt in 1938 in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. The ships of Coastwise Line flew a white and blue flag with "CL" on it. During World War II, Coastwise Line was active in chartering ships. In 1960, the company closed. Coastwise Line's main ports included New York City, New Orleans, Galveston, Havana, and others. They also operated ferry lines across San Francisco Bay and riverboats between San Francisco and Sacramento. Additionally, Coastwise Line had port facilities for transferring equipment across the Sacramento River between Port Costa and Benicia, California. Main route was moving Northwest timber. Coastwise Line operated the ''Alaska service'' which ran between the Pacific Coast and British Columbia to/from Alaska. Coastwise Line operated the ''Columbia River service'' that ran between Portland, Oregon to/from Long Beach, California.

Lykes Coastwise Line

Lykes-Coastwise Line was a partnership founded in 1934 in Florida, with routes on the east coast, the agreement ended in 1946. Lykes-Coastwise Line also operated charter ships during World War II.

Pacific Far East Line Routes

Pacific Far East Line envelope for Tin Can Island mail

*US homes ports were:

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and San Francisco. * Main foreign ports were: Japan, Yokohama, Kobe, Osaka, Okinawa, Korea, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Guam, Philippines, Manila, Philippine Islands, and Thailand. Also ports in Manchuria. Some ports in the

U.S.S.R. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

Ships

file:SS American Victory.jpg, World War II

file:YAG 39 USS GEORGE EASTMAN (After being refitted with scientific equipment).jpg, World War II

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...

Some ships charted or owned by Pacific Far East Line and Coastwise Line: * SS Canada Bear (was SS Paducah Victory) * SS Hawaii Bear * SS Alaska Bear (was SS Bluefield Victory) * SS India Bear * SS California Bear * SS Peter Silvester sank * SS Golden Bear LASH carrier (was Beaver Mariner) * SS Korean bear (was Sooner Mariner) * SS Hong Kong Bear C4 * SS Oregon Bear C4 * SS Washington Bear C4 (was Tar Heel Mariner) * SS Pacific Bear Sank * SS Guam Bear (renamed SS New Zealand Bear) * SS Japan Bear (was Grand Canyon Mariner) * SS Tosina * SS Portland Trader * SS Nikobar, Sank 1934 as SS Carlsholm * SS Ames Victory * SS Anchorage Victory * SS Boise Victory * SS Villanova Victory * SS Winthrop Victory charted for Vietnam War * SS Simmons Victory * SS Greeley Victory * SS Owensboro Victory * SS Grinnell Victory * SS Santa Clara Victory, charted for Vietnam War * SS Rider Victory * SS Pan American Victory, charted for Vietnam War * SS Princeton Victory, charted for Vietnam War * SS Swarthmore Victory charted for Vietnam War * SS Yugoslavia Victory * SS Luther Burbank charted for Vietnam War * SS Morgantown Victory for Vietnam War * SS Lyman Stewart * SS Morrison R. Waite * SS Augustus Thomas * SS Henry M. Stephens * SS Hiram S. Maxim * SS Edwin Abbey * SS Chung Tung * SS Fleetwood * SS George Eastman * SS Rufus King * SS Mariposa, originally a cargo carrier named Pine Tree Mariner, bought from Matson in 1971 and sold in 1979

Coastwise Line Ships

SS Coast Farmer ''Coast Farmer'', gaining the name in 1937 and previously bearing the names ''Point Arena'' (1928) and ''Riverside Bridge'' (1920), was a U.S. Shipping Board Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1023 ship ordered under the name ''Minnewawa'' and ...

* SS Coast Trader sank *SS Coast Banker *SS Coast Merchant *SS Coast Shipper *SS Coast Miller * SS Codington * SS Leland Stanford * Coastal Sentry * SS La Grange *SS Abbot L. Mills *SS King S. Woolsey * SS Jacob H. Gallinger * SS James Lick * SS James W. Cannon * SS Harry Leon Wilson *SS Harvey W. Wiley *SS Henry Villard * SS Horace See * SS Benjamin Bonneville *SS Henry Longfellow * SS ''Charles M. Russell'' * SS ''Elizabeth Blackwell''

Lykes Coastwise Line ships

*''Empire Flamingo '' *''Empire Falcon'' * SS ''Joel Chandler Harris'' *SS ''Abbot L. Mills'' * ''Empire Ortolan''

PFEL LASH carrier

Two C4-S-1t LASH carriers were built by

Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division was created in 1905 when the Bethlehem Steel Corporation of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, acquired the San Francisco-based shipyard Union Iron Works. In 1917, it was incorporated as Bethlehem Shipbuil ...

in San Francisco: * SS ''China Bear'' 1962 LASH carrier, scrapped 1986 * SS ''Philippine Bear'' 1962 LASH carrier, scrapped 1986 The C4-S-1 class, also known as the ''Mariner'' class, where the largest of the C4 ships, 37 were built. SS Cape Island MSC

PFEL Ro-Ro Ship

* ''Atlantic Bear'' was a

Roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

ship built in 1976 by Sun Shipyards for the Pacific Far East Line, at 17,300 DWT for $30 million, in 1984 she was renamed ''Atlantic Spirit'' in 1989 ''Kaimoku'' in 1998 ''El Yunque''.

PFEL Type C7 Ships

Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point Shipyard constructed two C7-S-88a container ships for Pacific Far East Line (PFEL). The two new ships were launched as SS ''Australia Bear'' and SS ''New Zealand Bear''. ''Australia Bear'' was completed in 1973, but before ''New Zealand Bear'' had been fully outfitted both ships were sold in 1974 to Sea-Land Service, Inc. and renamed ''Sea-Land Consumer'' and ''Sea-Land Producer'' as Sealand's SL18P class. Sea-Land was bought by the

CSX Corporation CSX Corporation is an American holding company focused on rail transportation and real estate in North America, among other industries. The company was established in 1980 as part of the Chessie System and Seaboard Coast Line Industries merge ...

in 1986, and both ships were renamed in 2000. The domestic U.S. liner operations of Sea-Land were sold in 2003 and subsequently operated under the name

Horizon Lines Horizon Lines, Inc. was an American domestic ocean shipping and logistics company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was the largest Jones Act-compliant maritime shipping and logistics company, and accounted for approximately 37 per ce ...

. Their service life came in a full circle when Matson, who had initially designed the ships decades earlier, acquired Horizon Lines in 2015. The vessels would serve their new owners a few more years as ''Matson Consumer'' and ''Matson Producer''. They were scrapped in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

PFEL C8-S-81b ships

In the late 1960s, shipbuilding engineer Jerome L. Goldman designed the first LASH ships,

Type C8-class ship Type C8-class ships are a type of Heavy Lift Barge Carrier. Type C8 ships were the 8th type of ship designed by the United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) in the late 1960s. As done with the Type C1 ships and Type C2 ships, MARCOM circulated ...

, the Acadia Forest and the Atlantic Forest. Avondale shipyard start construction in 1969 of the second LASH ships the C8-S-81b. The ten C8-S-81b LASH ships were of identical design and built from 1970 to 1973. The 11 ships were used by two shipping lines Prudential Grace Line in New York and Pacific Far East Line in San Francisco. The price for each ship was $21.3 million. *C8 Barge Carrier ship names: **''Thomas E. Cuffe'', Golden Bear, Pacific Bear, Japan Bear, and China Bear''

World War II

Coastwise Line fleet of ships were used to help the World War II effort. During World War II Coastwise Line operated Merchant navy ships for the

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was a corporation established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting ...

. During World War II Coastwise Line was active with charter shipping with the

and

. Coastwise Line operated

s and

s for the merchant navy. The ship was run by its Coastwise Line crew and the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

supplied

United States Navy Armed Guard The United States Navy Armed Guard was a force of United States Navy gunners and related personnel established during World War II to protect U.S. merchant shipping from enemy attack.World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merc ...

s to man the deck guns and radio.World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merchant Marine, 2007-2014 Project Liberty Ship, Project Liberty Ship, P.O. Box 25846 Highlandtown Station, Baltimore, M

/ref> **World War 2 ships: * SS Coast Trader June 7, 1942 torpedoed * SS Coast Farmer July 20, 1942 torpedoed * SS Augustus Thomas Oct. 24, 1944 bombed * SS Rufus King July 7, 1942 stranded, broke in two * SS Samuel Heintzelman July 1, 1943 sank by surface raider in Indian Ocean * SS Peter Sylvester Feb. 6, 1945 torpedoed * SS Abbot L. Mills * SS Rider Victory * SS Ames Victory * SS Anchorage Victory * SS Anniston Victory * SS Harry Leon Wilson * SS Jacob H. Gallinger * SS Villanova Victory * SS Yugoslavia Victory * SS Boise Victory * SS Princeton Victory * SS Benjamin Bonneville * SS Owensboro Victory * SS Elizabeth Blackwell * SS Simmons Victory * SS Charles M. Russell

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pacific Far East Line Defunct shipping companies of the United States Transport companies established in 1943 1943 establishments in California