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The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by a Scot,
James MacQueen. The line's motto was ''Per Mare Ubique'' (everywhere by sea). After a troubled start, it became the largest shipping group in the world in 1927 when it took over the
White Star Line
The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between t ...
.
The company was liquidated and its assets taken over by the newly formed Royal Mail Lines in 1932 after financial trouble and scandal; over the years RML declined to no more than the name of a service run by former rival
Hamburg Süd
Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft A/S & Co KG, widely known as Hamburg Süd, is a German container shipping company. Founded in 1871, Hamburg Süd is among the market leaders in the North–South trade. It also serves a ...
.
History as Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
The RMSPC, founded in 1839 by James MacQueen, ran tours and mail to various destinations in the Caribbean and South America, and by 1927, was the largest shipping group in the world. MacQueen’s imperial visions for the RMSPC were clear; he hoped that new steamship communications between Britain and the Caribbean would mitigate post-Emancipation instabilities, in particular by promoting commerce. From the outset the company aimed to be the vanguard of British maritime supremacy and technology, as F. Harcourt suggests, the RMSPC presented itself "as existing not merely for the good of its shareholders but for the good of the nation". The high hopes for the business were boosted by the government’s mail contract subsidy, worth £240,000 a year. The RMSPC evolved vastly from 1839 to the beginning of the 20th century. It introduced new technologies, such as John Elder’s
marine compound steam engine in 1870, and worked to redefine seafaring by focusing on comfort and passenger requirements.
In January 1903
Owen Philipps was elected to the RMSP's Court of Directors, and that March he was elected Chairman. Under Philipps, RMSP grew by acquiring controlling interests in multiple companies. Philipps was knighted in 1909 and ennobled as Baron Kylsant in 1923. However, poor economic circumstances and controversy surrounding a deception by Philipps meant that the RMSPC collapsed in 1930, after which various constituent companies were sold off. In 1932, its successor, the Royal Mail Lines (RML) was formed, continuing the memory and operations of the RMSPC.
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...
granted the initial Royal Charter of Incorporation of "The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company" on 26 September 1839.
In 1840 the Admiralty and the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company made a contract in which the latter agreed to provide a fleet of not fewer than 14 steam ships for the purpose of carrying all Her Majesty's mails, to sail twice every month to Barbados in the West Indies from Southampton or Falmouth. Fourteen new steam ships were built for the purpose: ''Thames'', ''Medway'', , and ''Isis'' (built at Northfleet); ''Severn'' and ''Avon'' (built at Bristol); ''Tweed'', ''Clyde'', ''Teviot'', ''Dee'', and ''Solway'' (built at Greenock); ''Tay'' (built at Dumbarton); ''Forth'' (built at Leith); and ''Medina'', (built at Cowes). In reference to their destination, these ships were known as the West Indies Mail Steamers.
The West Indian Mail Service was established by the sailing of the first Royal Mail Steam Packet, PS ''Thames'' from Falmouth on 1 January 1841. A Supplemental Royal Charter was granted on 30 August 1851 extending the sphere of the Company's operations. In 1864, the mail service to the British Honduras was established. A further Supplemental Royal Charter was granted extending the sphere of the Company's operations on 7 March 1882.
[
Philipps modernised RMSP's fleet in the decade before 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 ...
. He started in June 1903 by ordering three refrigerated cargo ships: ''Parana'', ''Pardo'' and , to bring frozen meat to Europe from ports on the River Plate. All three were built in Belfast; two by Harland & Wolff
Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...
. That October, Philipps ordered three smaller cargo ships for RMSP's Caribbean service, ''Conway'', ''Caroni'' and ''Catalina'', from Armstrong Whitworth
Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, Armstrong Whitworth built armaments, ships, locomotives, automobiles and ...
on Tyneside
Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt.
The population of Tyneside as publishe ...
. Then in November he impressed upon his fellow-Directors the need for new and larger ocean liners for the mail contract between Britain and the River Plate.
This led to the introduction of a series of larger liners ranging from to on RMSP's Southampton – Buenos Aires route. Each had a name beginning with the letter "A", so collectively they were called the "A-liners" or the "A-series". The first was RMS ''Aragon'' in 1905, followed by sister ships , and in 1906, and in 1908. A few years later the final four "A-liners" were built: in 1912, ''Andes
The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...
'' and in 1913 and in 1915. Earlier members of the series, from ''Aragon'' to ''Asturias'', had twin screws, each driven by a four-cylinder quadruple-expansion steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tra ...
. The final four members of the series, from ''Arlanza'' to ''Almanzora'', were significantly larger than the earlier five. They had triple screws, with the middle one driven by a low pressure Parsons
Parsons may refer to:
Places
In the United States:
* Parsons, Kansas, a city
* Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community
* Parsons, Tennessee, a city
* Parsons, West Virginia, a town
* Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingt ...
steam turbine.
After the First World War RMSP faced not only existing foreign competition but a new UK challenger. Lord Vestey's Blue Star Line
The Blue Star Line was a British passenger and cargo shipping company formed in 1911, being in operation until 1998.
Formation
Blue Star Line was formed as an initiative by the Vestey Brothers, a Liverpool-based butchers company, who had f ...
had joined the South American route and won a large share of the frozen meat trade. Then in 1926–27 Blue Star introduced its new "luxury five" ships '' Almeda'', ''Andalucia
Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...
'', '' Arandora'', '' Avelona'' and '' Avila'' to both increase refrigerated cargo capacity and enter the passenger trade. At the same time RMSP introduced a pair of new liners, in 1926 and in 1927, which at that stage were the largest motor ship
A motor ship or motor vessel is a ship propelled by an internal combustion engine, usually a diesel engine. The names of motor ships are often prefixed with MS, M/S, MV or M/V.
Engines for motorships were developed during the 1890s, and by th ...
s in the World. Although these were the biggest and most luxurious UK ships on the route, RMSP Chairman Lord Kylsant called Blue Star's quintet ''"very keen competition"''.
Reconstitution as Royal Mail Lines
The company ran into financial trouble, and the UK Government investigated its affairs in 1930, resulting in the Royal Mail Case
The Royal Mail Case or ''R v Kylsant & Otrs'' was a noted English criminal case in 1931. The director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, Lord Kylsant, had falsified a trading prospectus with the aid of the company accountant to make it look ...
. In 1931 Lord Kylsant
Owen Cosby Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant (25 March 1863 – 5 June 1937) was a British businessman and politician, jailed in 1931 for producing a document with intent to deceive.
Background
Philipps was the third of five sons of the Reverend Sir J ...
was jailed for 12 months for misrepresenting the state of the company to shareholders.[ So much of Britain's shipping industry was involved in RMSPC that arrangements were made to guarantee the continuation of ship operations after it was liquidated. Royal Mail Lines Ltd (RML) was created in 1932 and took over the ships of RMSPC and other companies of the former group. The new company was chaired by Lord Essendon.
The new company's operations were concentrated on the west coast of ]South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
, the West Indies
The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...
and Caribbean, and the Pacific coast of North America; the Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
– Lisbon – Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
– Uruguay
Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...
– Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
route was operated from 1850 to 1980. RML was also a leading cruise ship
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...
operator.
RMS's largest ship was the turbine steamship . She was designed as an ocean liner but when launched in 1939 was immediately fitted out as a troopship
A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...
. She finally entered civilian liner service in 1948, was converted to full-time cruising in 1960 and was scrapped in 1971.
RMSP and RML lost a number of ships in their long history. One of the last was the turbine steamship , which was launched in 1948 and grounded and sank off Brazil on her maiden voyage in 1949.
In 1965 RML was bought by Furness, Withy & Co.,[ and rapidly lost its identity. In the 1970s parts of the Furness Withy Group, including RML, were sold on to Hong Kong shipowner CY Tung, and later sold on to former River Plate rival ]Hamburg Süd
Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft A/S & Co KG, widely known as Hamburg Süd, is a German container shipping company. Founded in 1871, Hamburg Süd is among the market leaders in the North–South trade. It also serves a ...
; by the 1990s ''Royal Mail Lines'' was no more than the name of a Hamburg-Süd refrigerated cargo service from South America to Europe.
Fleet
List of RMSP Company ships
For conciseness smaller ships such as schooners and lighters
A lighter is a portable device which creates a flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of items, such as cigarettes, gas lighter, fireworks, candles or campfires. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable liquid or ...
are omitted.[The steamer ''Dane'' was running to Cape Town in 1860: ''Morning Chronicle'', 30 November 1860 - Cape of Good Hope]
List of Royal Mail Lines ships
This list is of the additional ships acquired by RML in addition to those passed directly from RMSP.
See also
*See Royal Mail Case
The Royal Mail Case or ''R v Kylsant & Otrs'' was a noted English criminal case in 1931. The director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, Lord Kylsant, had falsified a trading prospectus with the aid of the company accountant to make it look ...
for more details on RML's financial situation.
References
Bibliography
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{{Authority control
1839 establishments in England
1932 establishments in England
British companies established in 1839
British companies established in 1932
Defunct cruise lines
Defunct shipping companies of the United Kingdom
Reefer shipping companies
Transport companies established in 1932
Transport companies established in 1839