Donaldson Line

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The British shipping company Donaldson Line existed from 1855 to 1967.

history

Founding years

The company was founded in 1855 by the Donaldson Brothers. However, it was not until 1858 that it began a regular service with a wooden barque from the River Clyde via Brazil to the La Plata ports. From 1870 to 1880 the steamers of the shipping company had a red chimney with a white ring and black tip, from 1880 until the end of 1967 the chimney was black with a white ring. Also around 1880, Donaldson expanded the timetable to include a service from Glasgow to Quebec and Montreal. Another line from Bristol to Montreal was started in 1894, but was soon discontinued due to a lack of freight.

As a Limited

In 1913 the company was converted to the corporation Donaldson Line Limited and in 1916 the Anchor Line took over the majority stake in four passenger steamers of the Donaldson Line. The four ships were placed under the care of the separately operating Anchor-Donaldson Limited. The South American services of the shipping companies Donaldson Line and Glasgow Steamship Company were combined in 1919 in the Donaldson South American Line. In 1924 the Donaldson Line took over a service from Glasgow and Liverpool to the American Pacific coast and in 1934 Donaldson took over the liner service from the Bristol Channel to Canada from the Leyland Line together with the Bristol City Line . When the Anchor Line was dissolved in 1935, the Anchor-Donaldson Line was also sold. The majority was acquired by the Donaldson Line, which then changed its name to Donaldson Atlantic Line . In 1938 the board of directors of Donaldson Bros. Ltd., which administered Donaldson shares, changed its name to Donaldson Bros. & Black Ltd.

post war period

After the end of the Second World War, the shipping company initially resumed its freight services to the North American Pacific coast and Canada. In 1948 the timetable was expanded to include smaller passenger services to Canada. The North Pacific ships on this route were handed over to the Blue Star Line in 1954 . A liner service to the Great Lakes began three years later.

Against the background of the capital-intensive upcoming containerization , the entire Donaldson fleet was sold and the company dissolved in 1967.

Ships

The first ship of the Donaldson Line, which was not only designed for the transport of cargo, but also for passenger service, was the Cassandra (7396 GRT), which entered service in 1906 and had space for 1200 passengers.

The largest ships in the history of the Donaldson Line were the sister ships Athenia (II) with 13,465 GRT and Letitia (II) with 13,475 GRT, which were put into service in 1923 and 1925, respectively , which were commissioned for the Anchor Donaldson liner service from Great Britain to Canada were. The Athenia was sunk by a German submarine in 1939. The Letitia also had to be ceded to the British Admiralty for military service in 1939 , but was again active for the shipping company after the war.

literature

  • PJ Telford: Donaldson Line . World Ship Society, Kendal 1989, ISBN 0-905617-54-1 .
  • Duncan Haws: Merchant Fleets 13: Donaldson Line . TCL Publications, Hereford 1988.

Web links