Shaw, Savill & Albion Line

Shaw, Savill & Albion Line
IndustryShipping
Founded1882
Defunct1975
FateDefunct
SuccessorFurness, Withy Co. Ltd.
Headquarters
London Edit this on Wikidata
,
United Kingdom Edit this on Wikidata

Shaw, Savill & Albion Line was the shipping line of P Henderson & Company, a British shipping management that operated trans-British, Australian and New Zealand cargo and passenger routes when P Henderson's Albion Line merged with Shaw Savill Line in 1882, lasting till 1970 when Elder Dempster Lines chartered P Henderson fleets in 1947 till 1965 when Ocean Group plc acquired Elder, Dempster, till the Suez crisis when the last 3 Henderson ships were transferred to Elder, Dempster and the Henderson label phased out.[1][2][3]

History

Lindfield was a four-masted barque built in 1891. Shaw, Savill and Albion sold her to Norwegian buyers in 1911.

The company was created in 1882 by the amalgamation of Shaw, Savill and Company and Albion Line.[3]

At the annual shareholders' meeting of the company on 12 April 1892, profits for the year of £35,270 16s 2d were announced.[4]

Aberdeen Line's Themistocles, built in 1911, came to Shaw, Savill and Albion in 1932.

In 1928 White Star Line bought 18 Shaw, Savill and Albion ships.[5] In 1932 Shaw, Savill and Albion took over Aberdeen Line, and in 1933 Furness, Withy Co., Ltd. acquired control of Shaw, Savill and Albion.[6] In 1934 White Star merged with Cunard Line and gave up its routes to Australia and New Zealand, selling assets including the liners Ionic and Ceramic to Shaw, Savill and Albion.

Shaw, Savill and Albion ran refrigerated cargo liners between New Zealand and the UK via the Panama Canal. [7][8] In the 1930s Harland and Wolff built for Shaw, Savill four 13,000 DWT refrigerated cargo motor ships: Waiwera and Waipawa launched in 1934, Wairangi launched in 1935 and Waimarama launched in 1938. As well as being unusually large for their era, the "W-class" were among the swiftest cargo ships in the World. On sea trials Waimarama achieved 20 knots (37 km/h).[9]

In 1936, Shaw, Savill and Albion announced plans to sell Ionic.[10] She was scrapped in 1936 or 1937 in Osaka, Japan. In 1939 the company introduced a new flagship, the 27,155 GRT QSMV Dominion Monarch. Her unique initials stood for "Quadruple Screw Motor Vessel".

In the Second World War Dominion Monarch was a highly successful troop ship. A U-boat sank Waiwera in June 1942.[11] The "W-class" refrigerated ships' unusually high speed led to both Wairangi and Waimarama being selected for Operation Pedestal to relieve Malta. Both were sunk by enemy action on 13 August 1942,[12][13] the day before the convoy reached its destination. Waiwapa was the only member of the "W-class" to survive the war.

Cammell Laird completed the cargo ship Persic for Shaw, Savill and Albion in 1949.

In 1955 Dominion Monarch was joined by a new flagship, the 20,204 GRT Southern Cross. The 24,731 GRT Northern Star replaced Dominion Monarch in 1962. As the scheduled liner trade declined, the company laid up Southern Cross in 1972, initially in the Port of Southampton, and after 6 months she sailed to the River Fal for further lay up until being sold to Greek interests in 1973; after a major transformation she reappeared as Calypso.

With the company losing money and the oil crisis of 1973 having a major effect on the company a decision was made to withdraw Northern Star and Ocean Monarch from service in 1975, with both ships being sold to Taiwanese breakers. Northern Star was only 13 years old when she was scrapped. With a long history of mechanical problems there was no potential purchaser of her.

A variation of the flag used by the United Tribes of New Zealand was used by the Shaw, Savill & Albion Line as its company flag.[14]

References

Notes

  1. De Kerbrech 1986.
  2. Waters 1961, p. 157.
  3. "Shaw Savill & Albion Line (Est. 1882)". The Ocean Liner Virtual Museum. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  4. "Shaw, Savill & Albion Company". The Evening Post. Wellington, NZ. 16 June 1892. p. 4. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  5. "White Star Gets 18 Ships; Shaw, Savill & Albion Steamers Acquired by English Line". The New York Times. 29 March 1928. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  6. "Essendon Obtains Another Ship Line; Chairman of Furness-Withy Gets Control of the Shaw, Savill & Albion Co. Possesses Record Fleet. Transportation Leader Now Guides More Than Forty Shipping and Affiliated Companies". The New York Times. 22 May 1933. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
  7. Harnack 1938, p. 575.
  8. Talbot-Booth 1942, p. 542.
  9. Wilson 1956, p. 185.
  10. "Ionic's Last Trips In Pacific Recall 33-Year Service". Christian Science Monitor. 9 September 1936. Retrieved 3 November 2012. Announcement by the Shaw Savill & Albion Company that the liner Ionic is to be sold at the end of this year recalls the 50 years of the history of direct steam service between New Zealand and the homeland.
  11. Helgason, Guðmundur. "Waiwera". uboat.net. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  12. "Wairangi". Shipping and Shipbuilding. North East Maritime Forum. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  13. "Waimarama". Shipping and Shipbuilding. North East Maritime Forum. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  14. Barraclough & Crampton 1978

Bibliography

  • Barraclough, EMC; Crampton, WG (1978). Flags of the World. London: Frederick Warne & Co. ISBN 978-0723220152.
  • Bell, Andrew; Robinson, Murray (2011). Shaw Savill's Magnificent Seven: Corinthic, Athenic, Ceramic, Gothic, Persic, Runic, Suevic. Preston: Ships in Focus. ISBN 9781901703603.
  • Bowen, Frank Charles (1939). The Flag of the Southern Cross: The History of Shaw Savill & Albion Co. Limited, 1858-1939. Liverpool: Shaw, Savill & Albion Co. OCLC 31641836.
  • Bowen, Frank Charles (1947). The Flag of the Southern Cross: The History of Shaw Savill & Albion Co. Limited, 1939-1945. London: Shaw, Savill & Albion Co. OCLC 248911566.
  • Bryant, Sir Arthur (1957). One Hundred Years under the Southern Cross: Shaw Savill Line. London: Shaw, Savill & Albion. OCLC 963707882.
  • De Kerbrech, Richard P (1986). Shaw Savill & Albion: The Post-War Fortunes of a Shipping Empire. London: Conway Maritime Press. ISBN 0851773931.
  • De Kerbrech, Richard P (1992). The Shaw Savill Line: Images in Mast, Steam and Motor. Ship Pictorial series. Coltishall: Ship Pictorial Publications. ISBN 0951603833.
  • Harnack, Edwin P (1938) [1903]. All About Ships & Shipping (7th ed.). London: Faber and Faber.
  • Savill, David (1986). Sail to New Zealand: The Story of Shaw Savill & Co., 1858-82. London: Robert Hale. ISBN 0709028091.
  • Spong, Henry C; Osborne, Richard H (2011). Shaw, Savill & Albion: A Fleet History – incorporating the Albion Line; Shaw, Savill & Company; John Leslie; Walter Savill and his ships, Crusader Shipping Company; Aberdeen & Commonwealth Line. Windsor: World Ship Society. ISBN 9780956076939.
  • Talbot-Booth, EC (1942) [1936]. Ships and the Sea (Seventh ed.). London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co Ltd.
  • Waters, Sydney D (1961). Shaw Savill Line: One Hundred Years of Trading. Christchurch: Whitcombe and Tombs. LCCN 62035767.
  • Wilson, RM (1956). The Big Ships. London: Cassell & Co.
  • Swiggum, Susan; Kohli, Marjorie (14 July 2013). "Shaw, Savill & Company, London / Albion Line, Glasgow / John Leslie & Partners, Aberdeen / Shaw, Savill & Albion Line". TheShipsList. Retrieved 3 November 2012.

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