Sprague Energy, formerly Charles H. Sprague Company, C. H. Sprague and Son, is a

Northeastern United States The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...

energy supplier. Charles H. Sprague Company was founded in 1870 in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

by Charles H. Sprague. Charles H. Sprague Company delivered

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

cities from

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

. In 1905 Sprague expanded and opened the Penobscot Coal and Wharf Company in Searsport, Maine. This became the main supplier of US coal to Europe, particularly during World War II. Post World War II Sprague added residual

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...

products. In 1959 Sprague opened a refinery. In the 1960s Sprague sold coal operations to Westmoreland Coal Company. In 1970 the Sprague family sold the company to

Royal Dutch Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...

Asiatic Petroleum Company Asiatic Petroleum Company (APC) was a joint venture between the Shell and Royal Dutch oil companies founded in 1903. It operated in Asia in the early twentieth century. The corporate headquarters were on The Bund in Shanghai, China. The division ...

, who sold it two years later to the

Axel Johnson Group The Axel Johnson Group is a Swedish family-owned company run by the fourth and fifth generation of family owners. It traces its origins to the trading company A. Johnson & Co, founded in 1873. The group consists of four legally and financially in ...

of Stockholm, Sweden. Sprague entered in a partnership with Westmoreland Coal Company in 1982. Starting in 1990s and today Sprague Energy is active in

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

delivery system in Northeastern. Sprague moved its headquarters from Boston to

Portsmouth, New Hampshire Portsmouth is a city in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. At the 2020 census it had a population of 21,956. A historic seaport and popular summer tourist destination on the Piscataqua River bordering the state of Maine, Portsmou ...

. In 2005 Sprague purchased the Merrill Marine Terminal Services in

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropol ...

. In 2007 Sprague Kildair Service Ltd, Montreal export cargo company. In 2013 Sprague went public as Sprague Resources LP (SRLP). In 2017, Sprague purchased Coen Energy, an Energy company in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. In May 2021 Axel Johnson sold their controlling stake in Sprague for a total of $290m to Hartree Partners, LP, a privately held energy and commodities firm founded in 1997. In June 2022 Hartree bought out the remaining shareholders at $19/share.

Sprague Steamship Company

Sprague Steamship Company was founded by Charles H. Sprague Company as the Boston shipping company to support

World War I 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 ...

. During

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 ...

Sprague Steamship Company operated coal ships to supply coal to

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

and the allied nations of the United States. Sprague Steamship Company ship crossed the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

during the

Battle of the Atlantic The Battle of the Atlantic, the longest continuous military campaign in World War II, ran from 1939 to the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, covering a major part of the naval history of World War II. At its core was the Allied naval blockade ...

with a fleet of 27 ships. The Sprague Steamship Company operated out of eleven US terminals. In 1942 Sprague was selected to manage the World War II coal shipment program. Sprague Steamship Company also chartered ships from 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 C ...

to meet the demand. In 1913 Sprague purchased schooners from the bankrupt C. S. Glidden & Company. During World War I, Sprague Steamship Company was a major supplier of coal to America's European allies. Post World War I Sprague Steamship Company continued service to South America.

Sprague Steamship Company ships

*SS Celestial *SS Wideawake *SS Black Point sank May 5, 1945 by U-853 off

Point Judith, Rhode Island Point Judith is a village and a small Cape (geography), cape, on the coast of Narragansett, Rhode Island, on the western side of Narragansett Bay where it opens out onto Rhode Island Sound. It is the location for the year-round ferry service that ...

, the last U-boat victim of the War.

World War II ships

Liberty ship of World War II **

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 operated by Sprague Steamship Company: *SS Augustine Heard *SS Lynn Victory *

SS Daniel Webster SS ''Daniel Webster'' ( MC contract 211) was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. Named after Daniel Webster, an American statesman, the ship was laid down by South Portland Shipbuilding Corporation in South Portland ...

*SS Bon Air Seam *SS Benjamin Schlesinger *SS Augustine Heard *SS Charles W. Eliot *SS John Trumbull * SS Filipp Mazzei * SS Dwight W. Morrow

External links

Liberty Ships built by the United States Maritime Commission in World War II

References

{{Authority control 1870 establishments in Massachusetts Energy companies established in 1870 Companies based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire Energy companies of the United States

Sprague Steamship Company

Sprague Steamship Company ships

World War II ships

See also

External links

References