United American Lines, the common name of the American Shipping and Commercial Corporation, was a shipping company founded by
W. Averell Harriman
William Averell Harriman (November 15, 1891July 26, 1986), better known as Averell Harriman, was an American Democratic politician, businessman, and diplomat. The son of railroad baron E. H. Harriman, he served as Secretary of Commerce un ...
in 1920. Intended as a way for Harriman to make his mark in the business world outside of his father, railroad magnate
E. H. Harriman, the company was financed by the younger Harriman's mother,
Mary Williamson Harriman
Mary Williamson Averell Harriman (July 22, 1851 – November 7, 1932) was an American philanthropist and the wife of railroad executive E. H. Harriman. Born in New York to a successful family, Averell married Harriman in 1879. Averell's father i ...
. Entering into the shipping world with little experience, Harriman's United American Lines entered into agreements with
Hamburg America Line (german: Hamburg Amerikanische Packetfahrt Actien Gesellschaft or
HAPAG), which was determined to recover after the financial disaster that befell the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
company as a result of
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 ...
.
After the brief and unsuccessful attempt at transatlantic service by the
United States Mail Steamship Company
The United States Mail Steamship Company – also called the United States Mail Line, or the U.S. Mail Line – was a passenger steamship line formed in 1920 by the United States Shipping Board (USSB) to run the USSB's fleet of ex-German ocean l ...
(U.S. Mail Line) ended, Harriman's United American Line was temporarily assigned control over the former U.S. Mail Line ships in 1921.
His inexperience taken advantage of by
HAPAG and the almost complete end of immigration to the United States drained millions of dollars from the company and led Harriman to sell the company to
HAPAG in 1926.
Passenger fleet
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* ''
Resolute''
References
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External links
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Transport companies established in 1920
Defunct shipping companies of the United States
1920 establishments in New York (state)
Transport companies disestablished in 1926
1926 disestablishments in New York (state)
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