Robert Kermit Red Star Line

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House flag of the Red Star (packet) Line during the period in which it was operated by the New York company Byrnes, Trimble & Co. (1818–1835).
House flag of the Robert Kermit Red Star Line (aka Kermit Line ), 1835–1867.

The Red Star Line (also known as the Red Star Packet Line , New Line and Second Line ) was founded in 1818 by Byrnes, Trimble & Co. of New York . This shipping line should not be confused with the Belgian / American shipping company of the same name, Red Star Line , headquartered in Antwerp , which was founded in 1871 (the company operated a successful liner service between Europe and North America - with Philadelphia later as the destination port). On September 11, 1835, the Red Star (Packet) Line becamebought by Robert Kermit from New York, a shipowner and shipping agent for freight and passenger ships , and has since been called Robert Kermit Red Star Line (aka Kermit Line ). In 1851, Robert Kermit entered into a partnership with his brother-in-law Charles Carow. After Robert Kermit died in 1855, Carow took over the company. During the economic crisis that followed the American Civil War (1861-1865), the Red Star Line was disbanded in 1867.

Foundation of the Red Star Line by Byrnes, Trimble & Co.

In August 1817, Thomas S. Byrnes, George T. Trimble and Silas Wood founded the trading company Byrnes, Trimble & Co. in New York. That was a few years before the Erie Canal opened , at a time when New York State was getting its bread grain mainly from Pennsylvania and Virginia . The company was active in the so-called Chesapeake trade for a number of years and was one of the largest buyers of flour and grain from this region. Silas Wood was a native New Yorker, but lived in Fredericksburg on the Rappahannock River to do business locally. The partners also became owners and managers of several merchant ships and founded the Red Star Line in late 1818 .

Line service to Europe

The first shipping line that allowed freight / passenger ships to sail between New York and Liverpool on a schedule was the Black Ball Line , which was launched in 1817 by Isaac Wright & Son (William), Jeremia and Francis Thompson and Benjamin Marshall, and which was launched every six months Offered crossings to Liverpool. The Black Ball Line (now also known as the Old Line ) first faced competition in January 1822 from Byrnes, Trimble & Co., who announced that their Red Star Line (now also known as the "New Line") would also have one in the future Would offer liner service to Europe . After the company had already acquired a small fleet for trading goods with Liverpool in the first few years, the partners decided to start regular liner services between New York and Liverpool with four ships: the Panthea , Meteor , Hercules and Manhattan . The ships left New York on the 25th and Liverpool on the 12th of each month. Starting in 1823, the departure dates were moved to the 24th and 8th. Other competitors appeared fairly quickly in the fight for the regular transport of goods and passengers and founded their own shipping lines for this purpose, which is why the Red Star Line no longer the New Line , but called the Second Line . The names of the shipping lines were each very confusing and were often confused as their owners often changed over time. The above assignment corresponds to that of Albion and Staff. During the following years, other ships were added to the Red Star Line fleet , for example the John Wells and the John Jay , which was replaced by the England in 1834 . The new ships weren't necessarily faster than the old ones, but they were certainly more attractive from a passenger perspective.

Thomas S. Byrnes died in 1828, but the trading company continued under the name Byrnes, Trimble & Co. until 1831 . When Silas Wood finally returned to New York to take on more management tasks, the name was changed to Wood & Trimble , under which the partners continued to work until September 11, 1835 (sale of the shipping line shares to Robert Kermit) Company liquidation came.

Robert Kermit Red Star Line

Map of the port of New York on the southern tip of Manhattan Island in 1851. The docks of the Robert Kermit Red Star Line are in the center of the graphic.

Robert Kermit (1794–1855) received commercial training at the shipping company from William Codman. In 1817 he set up his own business for the first time with the Saint Line , but was not very successful with it. With the help of some wealthy patrons, he finally took over the Red Star Line in 1835 . He owned shares in all the ships on the line, which was unusual since the ships of many shipping lines were owned by different captains and shipbuilders. A number of accidents and shipwrecks occurred under the Kermit management , but in terms of the quality of the ships, their speed and regularity, the performance of the Red Star Line was still better than before. A list of ships which eventually sailed under the Red Star Line flag: John R. Skeddy (1845) , West Point , Constellation (1849) , Underwriter (1850) and Waterloo . Other ships of the Robert Kermit Red Star Line were: John Wells , England , Empire , Virginian , Samuel Hicks , Stephen Whitney , United States and Sheffield .

Under the pressure of tough competition , the timetables were tightened after the crossings were reorganized due to ship disasters , the launching of new ships, etc. In 1844–1848, some ships began to take three-month tours instead of the traditional four-month tours (calculated from one Liverpool departure to the next). The West Point , the Waterloo and the Virginian were among the fastest "packets" on the North Atlantic route. These efforts to achieve record times took their toll on the ships as well as the seafarers who served on them. Because you always went to the limit, these ships often had problems and accidents, especially the Virginian was badly affected. Those who served on such a "Bloodboat" were called "Packet Rats".

For many years, Kermit operated the shipping line in his name (which is why it was often called the Kermit Line ). In 1851 Robert Kermit finally entered into a partnership (Kermit & Carow) with his brother-in-law Charles Carow, with whom he continued the shipping company , commission business and commercial trade. Incidentally, Charles Carow was the father of Edith Kermit Carow , who was married to the later US President Theodore Roosevelt . After Kermit's death in 1855, Carow took over the business, but suffered massive revenue and losses during the post-war recession (after the end of the American Civil War in 1865). Not least because the Red Star Line fleet consisted only of sailing ships , and in the late 1860s the steamships finally began their triumphal march and took over the transport of mail and freight as well as the emigration business. All American sailing lines were closed by 1880 at the latest. The Red Star Line was active up to and including 1867.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ A picture of the house flag can be found on the website of "flagspot.net" . Accessed March 30, 2009.
  2. ↑ Ships and shipping of old New York (1915) from the "Bank of the Manhattan Company", page 42 (description of the flag)
  3. ↑ A picture of the house flag can be found on the website of "Flags of the world" . Accessed March 16, 2009. Source: a graphic in the Private Signals of the Merchants of New York publication . A reprint of this graphic can also be found in the book The Clipper Ships by AB Whipple
  4. ↑ a b In the English language, the term packet (German = parcel) refers to a ship that transports mail, passengers and goods
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g Portrait gallery of the Chamber of Commerce of the State of New York: catalog and biographical sketches (1890) , by George Wilson, pages 206-208.
  6. ↑ In several publications such as Ships and shipping of old New York (1915) by the "Bank of the Manhattan Company" (page 39) it is stated that the Red Star Line was founded in 1821/22, which is not entirely correct. The trading company Byrnes, Trimble & Co. was founded in August 1817 and the Red Star Line in 1818. In 1821, and in January 1822, the partners started a shipping line service.
  7. ↑ a b c Across the Oceans by Seija-Riitta Laakso
  8. ^ A b The old merchants of New York City (1863) by Joseph Alfred Scoville, pp. 215/216.
  9. ↑ a b c Across the Oceans by Seija-Riitta Laakso, page 41.
  10. ↑ Across the Oceans by Seija-Riitta Laakso, page 37.
  11. ^ Friends of the City of New York in the Nineteenth Century (1904) by William Henry S. Wood, 15.
  12. ↑ "eraoftheclipperships.com" . Accessed March 30, 2009.
  13. ^ Square Riggers on Schedule. The New York Sailing Packets to England, France, and the Cotton Ports by Robert Greenhalgh Albion, Princeton 1938.
  14. ^ The Transatlantic Mail by Frank Staff, Massachusetts 1980.
  15. ↑ Across the Oceans by Seija-Riitta Laakso, page 50.
  16. ^ A b Biographical register of Saint Andrew's society of the state of New York (1922) by William M. MacBean, pp. 169/170.
  17. ^ The old merchants of New York City (1863) by Joseph Alfred Scoville, pp. 26/27.
  18. ↑ Days of the Old Packet article in the "New York Daily Times" of December 13, 1891. A transcribed version of this article can be found at "theshipslist.com" . Both websites accessed on March 28, 2009.
  19. ↑ Across the Oceans by Seija-Riitta Laakso, page 357.
  20. ^ The old merchants of New York City (1863) by Joseph Alfred Scoville, p. 358.
  21. ↑ Square-riggers on schedule by Robert Greenhalgh Albion, pages 276-281
  22. ↑ Biography of the First Lady Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt "White House"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. in Washington. Accessed March 16, 2009.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / obamawhitehouse.archives.gov  
  23. ↑ Edith Kermit Carow Roosevelt: Portrait of a First Lady by Sylvia J. Morris, page 20.

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