United American Lines, the common name of the American Shipping and Commercial Corporation, was a shipping company founded by

W. Averell Harriman William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986) was an American politician, businessman, and diplomat. He was a founder of Harriman & Co. which merged with the older Brown Brothers to form the Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. investment ...

in 1920. Intended as a way for Harriman to make his mark in the business world outside of his father, railroad magnate

E. H. Harriman Edward Henry Harriman (February 20, 1848 – September 9, 1909) was an American financier and railroad executive. Early life Harriman was born on February 20, 1848, in Hempstead, New York, the son of Orlando Harriman Sr., an Episcopal clergy ...

, the company was financed by the younger Harriman's mother,

Mary Williamson Harriman Mary Williamson Averell Harriman (July 22, 1851 – November 7, 1932) was an American philanthropist and the wife of railroad executive E. H. Harriman. Born in New York to a successful family, Averell married Harriman in 1879. Averell's father ...

. Entering into the shipping world with little experience, Harriman's United American Lines entered into agreements with

Hamburg America Line The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG), known in English as the Hamburg America Line, was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, in 1847. Among those involved in its development were prominent Germ ...

( or HAPAG), which was determined to recover after the financial disaster that befell the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

company as a result of

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 ...

. After the brief and unsuccessful attempt at transatlantic service by the

United States Mail Steamship Company The United States Mail Steamship Company – also called the United States Mail Line, or the U.S. Mail Line – was a passenger steamship line formed in 1920 by the United States Shipping Board (USSB) to run the USSB's fleet of former German ocea ...

(U.S. Mail Line) ended, Harriman's United American Line was temporarily assigned control over the former U.S. Mail Line ships in 1921. His inexperience taken advantage of by HAPAG and the almost complete end of immigration to the United States drained millions of dollars from the company and led Harriman to sell the company to HAPAG in 1926.

Passenger fleet

* * * * * * ''

Resolute Resolute may refer to: Geography * Resolute, Nunavut, Canada, a hamlet * Resolute Bay, Nunavut * Resolute Mountain, Alberta, Canada Military operations * Operation Resolute, the Australian Defence Force contribution to patrolling Australia's Exc ...

References

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External links

* Transport companies established in 1920 Defunct shipping companies of the United States 1920 establishments in New York (state) Transport companies disestablished in 1926 1926 disestablishments in New York (state) {{US-shipping-company-stub