Isthmian Steamship Company

The Isthmian Steamship Company was a shipping company founded by US Steel in 1910.

Isthmian Steamship Company
IndustryMaritime
Founded1910–1974
Headquarters
London, England and New York, USA
ServicesSea transport

Isthmian Steamship was the brainchild of US Steel President James A. Farrell, who had connections with the maritime industry through his father's trade as a ship's master. Farrell realized that US Steel could save substantial sums of money by owning its own fleet of freighters, rather than chartering cargo space from other companies. Farrell named the company after the Isthmus of Panama, in honour of America's recent construction achievement, the Panama Canal.

Farrell headquartered Isthmian Steamship in London, partly in order to take advantage of Great Britain's respected name in the industry, and partly to benefit from Britain's long history of maritime experience. Management of the company was assigned to the British Federal Steam Navigation Co Ltd, a company which traced its own origins back as far as 1782 with the British East India Company. The US end of Farrell's new company was managed by the Norton Lilly Agency.

The company's first ship was the SS Bantu, a British vessel launched in 1902 and purchased by US Steel in 1907 for a reputed £24,000. By 1914, the company had purchased six additional ships – Kentra, Buenaventura, Santa Rosalia, Charleton Hall, Craston Hall and the sleek cargo liner Crofton Hall – all sturdy British steamships. With the outbreak of World War I however, Farrell brought the company back under the protective cover of the flag of America, which was not at the time a belligerent.

Isthmian Steamship Company

On 30 January 1930 Isthmian Steamship Company was organized separately from US Steel which retained the ships SS Steel Chemist, SS Steel Electrician, SS Steelmotor, and SS Steelvendor. Isthmian Steamship Company acquired the ships:[1]

  • SS Anniston City (April)
  • SS Crofton Hall (April)
  • SS Mobile City (April)
  • SS Steel Exporter (April)
  • SS Atlanta City (May)
  • SS Chattanooga City (May): Sunk by U-606 20 February 1943.[2]
  • SS Steel Seafarer (May): 1921-1943. Sunk by seaplane in 1943.[3]
  • SS Steel Traveler (May): 1922-1944. Sunk by mine in 1944.[4]
  • SS Steel Inventor (June): 1920-1954. Collided with (rammed) and sunk USS Woolsey in 1921.[5]
  • SS Steel Scientist (June): Operated as the transport ship SS Sea Owl from 1944 until 1947.
  • SS Steel Trader (June)
  • SS Steel Voyager (June)
  • SS Memphis City (July)
  • SS Montgomery City (July)
  • SS San Francisco (July)
  • SS Steel Age (July)
  • SS Steel Engineer (July)
  • SS Steel Mariner (July)
  • SS Tuscaloosa City (July)
  • SS Bessemer City (August)
  • SS Birmingham City (August)
  • SS Ensley City (August)
  • SS Knoxville City (August)
  • SS Steelmaker (August)
  • SS Chickasaw City (September)
  • SS Fairfield City (September)
  • SS Steel Ranger (September)
  • SS Steel Worker (September)
  • SS Selma City (October)

The SS Sea Marlin was purchased in 1947, renamed the SS Steel Director, and operated until sold to the States Marine Lines in 1956, where she continued operating under the same name until scrapped in 1971.

The company would continue to expand its operations in the ensuing decades. In 1956 however, the by then highly lucrative company, then under retired Vice admiral Glenn B. Davis, was sold to States Marine Lines. US Steel justified the sale on the grounds that Isthmian's overall usefulness had diminished, as it now carried only a fraction of the corporation's exports.

It continued to operate as a property of States Marine until the early 1970s. Its last list of corporate officers is dated 1974.[6]

Other Ships
  • Sea Partridge: Renamed SS Steel Vendor (1843-1971.[7]
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References
  1. Isthmian Steamship Company- Retrieved 2019-07-23
  2. SS Chattanooga City- Retrieved 2019-07-23
  3. SS Steel Seafarer- Retrieved 2019-07-23
  4. SS Steel Traveler- Retrieved 2019-07-23
  5. SS Steel Inventor- Retrieved 2019-07-24
  6. "Final listing of company officers as reported by the 1974 Marine Dictionary: President: D. D. Mercer, Vice President: E. E. Davis, Vice President: Q. V. Ryan, Treasurer: J. W. Johnson, Purchasing Agent: J. S. Bates"
  7. SS Sea Partridge- Retrieved 2019-07-22
  • Atherton, John (2000): Imperial Steel: The History of the Isthmian Steamship Company: 1910-1956, Xlibris Corporation, ISBN 0-7388-1642-6. Extract.
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