Prudential Steamship Corporation was a

shipping Freight transport, also referred as ''Freight Forwarding'', is the physical process of transporting Commodity, commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it h ...

company founded in 1933 in New York City by Stephan Stephanidis. Prudential Steamship Corporation operated the Prudential Lines. Prudential Lines main routes was from the United States to Mediterranean ports. The Prudential Lines was never successful and was always near bankruptcy. Prudential Lines was active in supporting the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

efforts. At its peak in the 1960s Prudential Lines owned and operated two tankers, and five cargo ships. In 1960 the Prudential Steamship Corporation was sold to

Spyros Skouras Spyros Panagiotis Skouras (; gr, Σπύρος Σκούρας; March 28, 1893 – August 16, 1971) was a Greek-American motion picture pioneer and film executive who was the president of 20th Century-Fox from 1942 to 1962. He resigned June 27, 19 ...

and his family. In 1969 the Prudential Lines merged with Grace Lines, which continued to operate the fleet as the Prudential Grace Line.

History

Stephan Stephanidis was born in

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and immigrated to America. In 1933 he started the Prudential Steamship Corporation with one old cargo ship. Prudential Steamship Corporation operated US charter ships during World War II. Prudential Steamship Corporation made a number of management errors starting in the 1950s that kept it near bankruptcy. Fellow Greek, Spyros Skouras, loaned Stephanidis money to keep Prudential Steamship Corporation in operations. Spyros Skouras was a motion picture and film executive. He became the president of the

20th Century-Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

from 1942 to 1962. When Stephan Stephanidis died in 1960, Spyros S. Skouras became the owner of Prudential Steamship Corporation due to the large loan he had many to the firm. Spyros Solon Skouras son, Spyros S. Skouras, became the head of Prudential Steamship Corporation. Spyros S. Skouras had founded Admiralty Enterprises, Inc. for ships owned by the family and as the management firm of the Prudential Lines. In 1970,

Grace Line W. R. Grace and Co. is an American chemical business based in Columbia, Maryland. It produces specialty chemicals and specialty materials in two divisions: Grace Catalysts Technologies, which makes catalysts and related products and technologies ...

was sold to the Prudential Lines for $44.5 million, with the merged company renamed Prudential Grace Line. Prudential Grace Line was sold to Delta Steamship Lines in 1978. Subsequently, Delta Steamship Lines was itself acquired and consolidated by

Crowley Maritime Crowley, legally Crowley Maritime Corporation, is based in Jacksonville, Florida. Founded in 1892, Crowley is primarily a family- and employee-owned vessel management, owner, and supply chain logistics services company, providing services globall ...

in 1982. The sale did not end Prudential Steamship Corporation financial and management problems. In 1978 Plato A. Skouras took the family company to court, with claims for mismanagement, in Skouras v. Admiralty Enterprises, Inc. In 1981 Prudential Lines near bankruptcy, the United States Government gave the firm a 10 year $2.6 million loan. In 1981 to raise funds Prudential Lines sold its South American shipping operations, of seven ships, for $75 million to Delta Steamship Lines, Inc. a subsidiary of Holiday Inns, Inc. In 1986 Prudential Lines went into involuntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy by three of its creditors. Asbestos-related claims also were added to the bankruptcy filing.

Admiralty Enterprises, Inc.

Admiralty Enterprises, Inc. was a holding company that operated subsidiary companies. The subsidiary companies were World Wide Tankers, Inc., Prudential Lines, and Skouras Lines. In 1966 Admiralty Enterprises founded the SMC Shipping Corporation to aid the troubled Prudential Lines. SMC Shipping Corporation financed the order of five new ships, type

Lighter Aboard Ship The lighter aboard ship (LASH) system refers to the practice of loading barges (lighters) aboard a bigger vessel for transport. It was developed in response to a need to transport lighters, a type of (usually but not always) unpowered barge, be ...

or LASH. World Wide Tankers, Inc. was founded on Jan. 13, 1949 in California. **Some World Wide Tankers Inc - Skouras Lines ships: *Saroula (Saroui), built in 1959 by Ingalls SB, was Exxon Seattle - Esso Seattle, acquired in 1981, scrapped in 1984. type T5-S-41a *Barbara Jane, built in 1959 by Ingalls SB, became Baldbutte ,scrapped 1984, type T5-S-41a *John Goode, a Z-ET1-S-C3 Liberty ship Tanker built by California Shipbuilding Corp, owned 1948 to 1954

World War II

Prudential Lines's fleet of ships were used to help the World War II effort. During World War II Prudential Lines operated Merchant navy ships for the

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...

. During World War II Prudential Lines 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 ...

. Prudential Lines operated

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a 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 construction. Mass ...

s for the merchant navy. The ship was run by its Prudential Lines crew and the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

supplied

United States Navy Armed Guard United States Navy Armed Guard units were established during World War II and headquartered in New Orleans.World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merchant Marine, 2007-2014 Project Liberty Ship, Project Liberty Ship, P.O. Box 2 ...

s to man the deck guns and radio.World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merchant Marine, 2007-2014 Project Liberty Ship, Project Liberty Ship, P.O. Box 25846 Highlandtown Station, Baltimore, M

/ref>

Ships

file:The Emerald in Venice, Italy on May 13, 2008.jpg, SS The Emerald, ''The Emerald'' in 2008 *Some ships owned *SS The Emerald cruise ship *USS Alamance, SS Southstar, was USS Alamance *Lash Italia, *SS Cape Florida (AK-5071), SS LASH Turkiye *Camp Fear, built in 1971.

(LASH) barge carrier *'Prudential Seajet, built in 1965 *Prudential Oceanjet, built in 1965 *Santa Magdalena *Santa Mercedes *Santa Mariana *Santa Maria **Five Surplus Victory Ships: * Newberry Victory * San Angelo Victory *

SS Attleboro Victory SS ''Attleboro Victory'' was a Victory ship built for the War Shipping Administration late in World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. It saw service in the European Theater of Operations in the Atlantic Ocean during 1945, and in t ...

* Biddeford Victory * Moline Victory *

SS South Bend Victory USNS ''Bowditch'' (T-AGS-21) was the lead ship of her class of oceanographic survey ships for the United States Navy. Launched as the SS ''South Bend Victory'' in 1945, Maritime Commission hull number MCV 694, a type VC2-S-AP3 Victory ship, she ...

, operator 1950 to 1953 for

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

**Liberty Ships: * Sarah Orne Jewett * Patrick B. Whalen, renamed Bostonain in 1950, * Belgian Liberty *Richard Montgomery Liberty ship (operated from 1946 to 1952), sank in 1960. **Type C4-S-1A: *

USS Paul Revere (APA-248) USS ''Paul Revere'' (APA/LPA-248) was the lead ship of the ''Paul Revere'' class of attack transport in the United States Navy. She was named for the early patriot and Founding Father, Paul Revere (1735–1818). She later served in the Spanish Na ...

file:Liberty ship at sea.jpg,

of World War II **World War II and post war operated ships: **Liberty Ships: * Sarah Orne Jewett * Frank Adair Monroe * Frank P. Walsh *Molly Pitcher On March 17, 1943 was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-521 in North Atlantic. * * Horace Williams * Charles Tufts * SS George W. Norris *John E. Schmeltzer *Eastern Guide, Liberty shipdot.gov Eastern Guide, Liberty ship
/ref> * SS New Bern Victory Troopship

References

{{Victory ships Defunct shipping companies of the United States American companies established in 1933

History

Admiralty Enterprises, Inc.

World War II

Ships

See also

References