Barber Steamship Lines was founded in 1902 as Barber & Company Inc. and also operated the New York & Oriental Steamship Company. In 1928 Barber Steamship Lines operated the American West African Line. In 1945 Barber Steamship Lines was renamed the Wilhelmsen Lines, as it was acquired by Wilh. Wilhelmsen, a Norwegian company, later was renamed again to Barber International. American West African Line was closed in 1946, now part of Barber Steamship Lines. Barber Steamship Lines operated in the Far East and then around the World with Wilh. Wilhelmsen ships. Barber Steamship Lines also operated ships of British James Chambers & Company (1945 to 1955), Norwegian Fearnley & Eger Company and A. F. Klaveness & Co.

American West African Line

During World War II the American West African Line was active with charter shipping with the

Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

and

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime Co ...

. After World War II American West African Line purchased some of the low-cost surplus ships. During wartime, the American West African Line line operated Victory ships and

Liberty ships Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost constr ...

Ships

*Ship of Barber Steamship Lines and American West African Line: * SS West Humhaw * SS Cathlamet * SS Challenger * SS City of New York * SS West Irmo Sank 1942 Uboat * SS Otho * SS Sagadahoc * SS West Cawthon * SS West Cusseta * SS West Humhaw * SS West Irmo * SS West Isleta * SS West Kebar * SS West Lashaway Sank by German submarine U-66. * SS Zarembo * SS Stephen Smith * SS Wesley W. Barrett * SS George Ade *

SS John Carter Rose SS ''John Carter Rose'' was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after John Carter Rose, a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and previously was a U ...

SS Jared Ingersoll SS ''Jared Ingersoll'' was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Jared Ingersoll, an American Founding Father, lawyer, and statesman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a delegate to the Continen ...

SS Thomas Stone SS ''Thomas Stone'' was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Thomas Stone, a Founding Father, American planter and lawyer who signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a delegate fo ...

* SS Cedar Rapids Victory * SS Coastal Competitor *

SS Felix Riesenberg SS ''Felix Riesenberg'' was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Felix Riesenberg, a mariner, explorer, civil engineer, chief officer of the United States Shipping Board, (USSB) and author of mari ...

SS Belgium Equity SS ''Richard A. Van Pelt'' was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Richard A. Van Pelt. Construction ''Richard A. Van Pelt'' was laid down on 9 January 1945, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) ...

SS Radcliffe Victory USNS ''Sgt. Andrew Miller'' (T-AK-242) was built as Victory ship SS ''Radcliffe Victory'', a , built at the end of World War II. She served during the war and its demilitarization as a commercial cargo vessel operated by American West Africa ...

SS West Kedron ''Empire Eland'' was a Design 1019 cargo ship that was built in 1920 as ''West Kedron'' by Long Beach Shipbuilding Co, Long Beach, California, United States for the United States Shipping Board (USSB). She was transferred to the United States ...

Empire Gazelle An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...

* SS Taos Victory * SS Westbrook Victory * SS Westerly Victory * SS Zanesville Victory * SS Drury Victory * SS Escanaba Victor Richard Bland Richard D. Spaight Harvard Victory Felix Riesenberg Frank Adair Monroe Benjamin H. Bristow Bushrod Washington James A. Farrell James K. Polk James M. Goodhue Jared Ingersoll Jeremiah M. Daily Jeremiah Wadsworth Thomas Hooker Vernon L. Parrington John R. McQuigg Edward L. Grant Julia Ward Howe Oakley Wood Arthur P. Davis * SS Matt W. Ransom * SS West Nohno *

SS Empire Eland ''Empire Eland'' was a Design 1019 cargo ship that was built in 1920 as ''West Kedron'' by Long Beach Shipbuilding Co, Long Beach, California, United States for the United States Shipping Board (USSB). She was transferred to the United States ...

* Bigorange XVIII * Bigorange XVIII * Danae * Franconia * Talnati * Tamesis * Tamesis * Taronga * Tender * Champion * Themis * Tourcoing * Tourcoing * Tønsberg * Tønsberg *

MV Taiko MV ''Taiko'' was a roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) freighter managed by the Norwegian-Swedish shipping line Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics. She was built as ''Barber Hector'' by Hyundai Heavy Industries at Ulsan, South Korea in 1984 for Blue Funnel Li ...

MV Tricolor MV ''Tricolor'' was a 50,000 tonne Norwegian-flagged vehicle carrier built in 1987, notable for having been involved in three English Channel collisions within a fortnight. History MV ''Tricolor'' was originally launched in 1987 as ''Nosac Sun'' ...

MV Tampa MV ''Tampa'' was a roll-on/roll-off container ship completed in 1984 by Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. in South Korea for the Norway-based firm, Wilhelmsen Lines Shipowning. In 2001, the vessel was at the centre of the Tampa Affair when its ...

References

{{Liberty ships Defunct shipping companies of the United States Transport companies established in 1903