The Isthmian Steamship Company was a shipping company founded by

US Steel United States Steel Corporation, more commonly known as U.S. Steel, is an American integrated steel producer headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, with production operations primarily in the United States of America and in several countries ...

in 1910. Isthmian Steamship was the brainchild of US Steel President

James A. Farrell James Augustine Farrell Sr. (February 15, 1863 – March 28, 1943) was president of US Steel from 1911 to 1932. A major business figure of his era, Farrell expanded US Steel by a factor of five during his presidency, turning it into America's f ...

, 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 The Isthmus of Panama ( es, Istmo de Panamá), also historically known as the Isthmus of Darien (), is the narrow strip of land that lies between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, linking North and South America. It contains the country ...

, in honour of America's recent construction achievement, the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

. Farrell headquartered Isthmian Steamship in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, partly in order to take advantage of

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

'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 East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

. The US end of Farrell's new company was managed by the Norton Lilly Agency.

Early fleet

The company's first ship was ''Bantu'', a British steamship launched in 1902 and bought by US Steel from the Bucknall Line in 1910 for a reputed £24,000. In 1911 US Steel took delivery of its first newly-built ship, , from

William Hamilton and Company William Hamilton and Company was a British shipyard in Port Glasgow, Scotland. The company was bought by Lithgow Ltd., which later became Scott Lithgow and was nationalised as part of British Shipbuilders in 1977. During the Second World War th ...

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recen ...

, and bought second-hand the British tramp ship ''Kentra''. In 1913 Isthmian added ''Buenaventura'', newly-built by the

Northumberland Shipbuilding Company The Northumberland Shipbuilding Company was a shipbuilding business based at Howdon in Tyne and Wear. History The company was established by Harry S. Edwards in Howdon in 1883. Following the death of the founder the business was bought by Rowlan ...

. She was joined in 1914 by another newly-built ship, ''

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

'', from the North of Ireland Shipbuilding Company in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

. Until the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out in 1914, all Isthmian ships remained registered in Britain. Isthmian also bought second-hand the entire fleet of Charles G Dunn of Liverpool: , and the twin-stacked

cargo liner A cargo liner, also known as a passenger-cargo ship or passenger-cargoman, is a type of merchant ship which carries general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the 19th century, and eventually gave way to conta ...

''Crofton Hall'' all in 1914, followed by in 1915. With the outbreak of the First World War, Farrell re-registered all the company's ships in the then-neutral United States.

Isthmian Steamship Company

On 30 January 1930 ''Isthmian Steamship Company'' was organized separately from US Steel which retained the ships ''Steel Chemist'', ''Steel Electrician'', ''Steelmotor'', and ''Steelvendor''. Isthmian Steamship Company acquired the ships: * ''Anniston City'' (April) * ''Crofton Hall'' (April) * ''Mobile City'' (April) * ''Steel Exporter'' (April) * ''Atlanta City'' (May) * ''Chattanooga City'' (May): Sunk by 20 February 1943. * ''Steel Seafarer'' (May): 1921–1943. Sunk by seaplane in 1943. * ''Steel Traveler'' (May): 1922–1944. Sunk by mine in 1944. * ''Steel Inventor'' (June): 1920–1954. Collided with (rammed) and sunk USS ''Woolsey'' in 1921. * ''Steel Scientist'' (June): Operated as the transport ship 1944–1947. * ''Steel Trader'' (June) * ''Steel Voyager'' (June) * ''Memphis City'' (July) * ''Montgomery City'' (July) * ''San Francisco'' (July) * ''Steel Age'' (July) * ''Steel Engineer'' (July) * ''Steel Mariner'' (July) * ''Tuscaloosa City'' (July) * ''Bessemer City'' (August) * ''Birmingham City'' (August) * ''Ensley City'' (August) * ''Knoxville City'' (August) * ''Steelmaker'' (August) * ''Chickasaw City'' (September) * ''Fairfield City'' (September) * ''Steel Ranger'' (September) * ''Steel Worker'' (September) * ''Selma City'' (October) was bought in 1947, renamed ''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.

Other ships

* ''Sea Partridge'': Renamed ''Steel Vendor'' (1943–1971)SS ''Sea Partridge''
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References

*Atherton, John (2000): ''Imperial Steel: The History of the Isthmian Steamship Company: 1910-1956'', Xlibris Corporation,
Extract

External links

2 {{Authority control Defunct shipping companies of the United States Defunct shipping companies of the United Kingdom

Early fleet

Isthmian Steamship Company

Other ships

See also

References

External links