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White Star Line
The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually grew to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between the British Empire and the United States. While many other shipping lines focused primarily on speed, White Star branded their services by focusing more on providing comfortable passages for both upper class travellers and immigrants.
White Star is remembered for its innovative vessel Oceanic, its long-serving flagship Olympic, and for the losses of some of its best passenger liners, including the wrecking of Atlantic in 1873, the sinking of Republic in 1909, the loss of Titanic in 1912, and the wartime sinking of Britannic in 1916. Despite its casualties, the company retained a prominent hold on shipping markets around the globe before falling into decline during the Great Depression. White Star merged in 1934 with its chief rival, the Cunard Line, operating as Cunard-White Star Line until Cunard purchased White Star's share in the joint company in 1950. Cunard then operated as a single company until 2005 and is now part of Carnival Corporation & plc. As a lasting reminder of the White Star Line, modern Cunard ships use the term White Star Service to describe the level of customer service expected of the company.
The first company bearing the name White Star Line was founded in Liverpool, England, by John Pilkington and Henry Wilson in 1845. It focused on the UK–Australia trade, which increased following the discovery of gold in Australia in 1851. Because of this, many wished to emigrate to Australia, and the population of Australia increased from 430,000 to 1.7 million inhabitants in three years. From this time on, Pilkington and Wilson emphasized the safety of their ships when addressing the press. In order to make the crossings more pleasant aboard these austere wooden sailboats, musician groups were hired to allow the passengers to dance to popular tunes. In this trade, speed and size became important assets. The fleet initially consisted of the chartered sailing ships RMS Tayleur, Blue Jacket, White Star, Red Jacket, Ellen, Ben Nevis, Emma, Mermaid and Iowa. Tayleur, the largest ship of its day, was the one on which high hope was placed. These hopes were quickly dashed. Departing on its maiden voyage on 19 January 1854, Tayleur proved difficult to handle, and its crew was inexperienced. When it struck rocks in very rough seas at Lambay Island, near Ireland, on 21 January, the ship sank, with only 290 of the 650 people on board surviving. Subsequent inquiry placed the blame on its owners, Charles Moore & Co., who did not take the necessary safety precautions when the ship was put into service. This exonerated the White Star Line and the ship's captain of any blame.
In order to compensate for the loss of Tayleur, the company ordered several clippers of its own, the first of which was Red Jacket. The ship proved to be sufficiently efficient on the Australian route to ensure a certain success for the company, which could thus own new, faster ships such as Shalimar, Sultana, Emma and White Star. In addition, the company also ran voyages from Liverpool to Victoria, British Columbia, which it promoted in Welsh newspapers as being the gateway to the Klondike Gold Rush. One of the ships on this route was Silistria. Travelling around Cape Horn and stopping in Valparaiso and San Francisco, she reached Victoria after a voyage lasting four months.
In 1856, however, the company lost postal contracts, while Wilson persisted in wanting ever larger ships to keep the public's attention. Pilkington, becoming disillusioned, then left the company. Wilson replaced him with his brother-in-law, James Chambers, and the company continued its activities, betting everything on sailing ships while its most direct rivals, the Black Ball Line and the Eagle Line merged in 1858 after the difficulties engendered by the establishment of their service using steamships. During these years, Wilson paid attention to migration flows, directing his services to Canada or New Zealand according to trends. In 1863, the company acquired its first steamship, Royal Standard.
The original White Star Line merged with two other small lines in 1864, its competitors the Black Ball Line and the Eagle Line, to form a conglomerate: the Liverpool, Melbourne and Oriental Steam Navigation Company Limited. Meanwhile, under Wilson's leadership, the company continued to borrow large amounts of money to finance new construction, including its second steamer, Sirius. Worried, Chambers left the company and was replaced by John Cunningham, but business did not improve. Sirius had to be sold before it could enter service. The merger did not prosper and White Star broke away to concentrate on Liverpool to New York City services. Heavy investment in new ships was financed by borrowing, but the company's bank, the Royal Bank of Liverpool, failed in October 1867. White Star was left with an incredible debt of £527,000 (approximately equivalent to £70,674,000 in 2024), and was forced into bankruptcy.
On 18 January 1868, Thomas Ismay, a director of the National Line, purchased the house flag, trade name and goodwill of the bankrupt company for £1,000 (approximately equivalent to £123,600 in 2024), with the intention of operating large steamships on the North Atlantic service between Liverpool and New York. Ismay established the company's headquarters at Albion House, Liverpool. Ismay was approached by Gustav Christian Schwabe, a prominent Liverpool merchant, and his nephew, the shipbuilder Gustav Wilhelm Wolff, during a game of billiards. Schwabe offered to finance the new line if Ismay had his ships built by Wolff's company, Harland and Wolff. Ismay agreed, and a partnership with Harland and Wolff was established. The shipbuilders received their first orders on 30 July 1869. The agreement was that Harland and Wolff would build the ships at cost plus a fixed percentage and would not build any ships for White Star's rivals. In 1870, William Imrie joined the company.
As the first ship was being ordered, Ismay formed the White Star Line, with a capital of £400,000, divided into shares of £1,000. The company was managed by a new firm: Ismay, Imrie and Company. Despite this complex organization, the shipping company was known publicly throughout its existence as the White Star Line. A debate reigned as to which route Ismay expected to compete on when the company was launched. In 1870, four companies were firmly established on the route between Liverpool and New York: the Cunard Line, the Guion Line, the Inman Line and the more modest National Line, in which Ismay once had shares. The characteristics of the ships ordered from Harland and Wolff, however, hinted that Ismay aimed at the North Atlantic from the outset.
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White Star Line
The White Star Line was a British shipping line. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually grew to become one of the most prominent shipping companies in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between the British Empire and the United States. While many other shipping lines focused primarily on speed, White Star branded their services by focusing more on providing comfortable passages for both upper class travellers and immigrants.
White Star is remembered for its innovative vessel Oceanic, its long-serving flagship Olympic, and for the losses of some of its best passenger liners, including the wrecking of Atlantic in 1873, the sinking of Republic in 1909, the loss of Titanic in 1912, and the wartime sinking of Britannic in 1916. Despite its casualties, the company retained a prominent hold on shipping markets around the globe before falling into decline during the Great Depression. White Star merged in 1934 with its chief rival, the Cunard Line, operating as Cunard-White Star Line until Cunard purchased White Star's share in the joint company in 1950. Cunard then operated as a single company until 2005 and is now part of Carnival Corporation & plc. As a lasting reminder of the White Star Line, modern Cunard ships use the term White Star Service to describe the level of customer service expected of the company.
The first company bearing the name White Star Line was founded in Liverpool, England, by John Pilkington and Henry Wilson in 1845. It focused on the UK–Australia trade, which increased following the discovery of gold in Australia in 1851. Because of this, many wished to emigrate to Australia, and the population of Australia increased from 430,000 to 1.7 million inhabitants in three years. From this time on, Pilkington and Wilson emphasized the safety of their ships when addressing the press. In order to make the crossings more pleasant aboard these austere wooden sailboats, musician groups were hired to allow the passengers to dance to popular tunes. In this trade, speed and size became important assets. The fleet initially consisted of the chartered sailing ships RMS Tayleur, Blue Jacket, White Star, Red Jacket, Ellen, Ben Nevis, Emma, Mermaid and Iowa. Tayleur, the largest ship of its day, was the one on which high hope was placed. These hopes were quickly dashed. Departing on its maiden voyage on 19 January 1854, Tayleur proved difficult to handle, and its crew was inexperienced. When it struck rocks in very rough seas at Lambay Island, near Ireland, on 21 January, the ship sank, with only 290 of the 650 people on board surviving. Subsequent inquiry placed the blame on its owners, Charles Moore & Co., who did not take the necessary safety precautions when the ship was put into service. This exonerated the White Star Line and the ship's captain of any blame.
In order to compensate for the loss of Tayleur, the company ordered several clippers of its own, the first of which was Red Jacket. The ship proved to be sufficiently efficient on the Australian route to ensure a certain success for the company, which could thus own new, faster ships such as Shalimar, Sultana, Emma and White Star. In addition, the company also ran voyages from Liverpool to Victoria, British Columbia, which it promoted in Welsh newspapers as being the gateway to the Klondike Gold Rush. One of the ships on this route was Silistria. Travelling around Cape Horn and stopping in Valparaiso and San Francisco, she reached Victoria after a voyage lasting four months.
In 1856, however, the company lost postal contracts, while Wilson persisted in wanting ever larger ships to keep the public's attention. Pilkington, becoming disillusioned, then left the company. Wilson replaced him with his brother-in-law, James Chambers, and the company continued its activities, betting everything on sailing ships while its most direct rivals, the Black Ball Line and the Eagle Line merged in 1858 after the difficulties engendered by the establishment of their service using steamships. During these years, Wilson paid attention to migration flows, directing his services to Canada or New Zealand according to trends. In 1863, the company acquired its first steamship, Royal Standard.
The original White Star Line merged with two other small lines in 1864, its competitors the Black Ball Line and the Eagle Line, to form a conglomerate: the Liverpool, Melbourne and Oriental Steam Navigation Company Limited. Meanwhile, under Wilson's leadership, the company continued to borrow large amounts of money to finance new construction, including its second steamer, Sirius. Worried, Chambers left the company and was replaced by John Cunningham, but business did not improve. Sirius had to be sold before it could enter service. The merger did not prosper and White Star broke away to concentrate on Liverpool to New York City services. Heavy investment in new ships was financed by borrowing, but the company's bank, the Royal Bank of Liverpool, failed in October 1867. White Star was left with an incredible debt of £527,000 (approximately equivalent to £70,674,000 in 2024), and was forced into bankruptcy.
On 18 January 1868, Thomas Ismay, a director of the National Line, purchased the house flag, trade name and goodwill of the bankrupt company for £1,000 (approximately equivalent to £123,600 in 2024), with the intention of operating large steamships on the North Atlantic service between Liverpool and New York. Ismay established the company's headquarters at Albion House, Liverpool. Ismay was approached by Gustav Christian Schwabe, a prominent Liverpool merchant, and his nephew, the shipbuilder Gustav Wilhelm Wolff, during a game of billiards. Schwabe offered to finance the new line if Ismay had his ships built by Wolff's company, Harland and Wolff. Ismay agreed, and a partnership with Harland and Wolff was established. The shipbuilders received their first orders on 30 July 1869. The agreement was that Harland and Wolff would build the ships at cost plus a fixed percentage and would not build any ships for White Star's rivals. In 1870, William Imrie joined the company.
As the first ship was being ordered, Ismay formed the White Star Line, with a capital of £400,000, divided into shares of £1,000. The company was managed by a new firm: Ismay, Imrie and Company. Despite this complex organization, the shipping company was known publicly throughout its existence as the White Star Line. A debate reigned as to which route Ismay expected to compete on when the company was launched. In 1870, four companies were firmly established on the route between Liverpool and New York: the Cunard Line, the Guion Line, the Inman Line and the more modest National Line, in which Ismay once had shares. The characteristics of the ships ordered from Harland and Wolff, however, hinted that Ismay aimed at the North Atlantic from the outset.