Royal Mail Steam Packet Company

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Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
Industry Shipping
Fate Liquidated
Successor(s) Royal Mail Lines Ltd
Founded 1839
Founder(s) James Macqueen
Defunct 1932
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Key people Lord Kylsant
Royal Mail Lines Ltd
Industry Shipping, cruise line
Fate Acquired
Predecessor(s) Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
Successor(s) Furness, Withy & Co.
Founded 1932
Defunct 1965
RMS Asturias in a 1930 poster by Kenneth Shoesmith, who created a number of images advertising Royal Mail Lines ships

The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by a Scot, James MacQueen. After good and bad times it became the largest shipping group in the world in 1927 when it took over the White Star Line.[1]

A poster stamp issued by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company to promote their service from Canada to the British West Indies.
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.

History

Queen Victoria granted the initial Royal Charter of Incorporation of "The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company" on 26 September 1839.[2] 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 vessels 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. 14 new steam vessels were built for the purpose, being Thames, Medway, Trent 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 vessels were known as the West Indies Mail Steamers.[3]

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.[2]

In the decade before the First World War the RMSP modernised its fleet, introducing a series of new liners of more than 15,000 tons on its Southampton – Buenos Aires route. Each had a name beginning with the letter "A", so collectively they were called the "A-liners" or the "A-class". The first was RMS Aragon in 1905, followed by sister ships including RMS Amazon, RMS Avon and RMS Araguaya in 1906, SS Alcantara in 1913 and SS Almanzora in 1915.

After the First World War RMSP introduced a pair of new 22,200 GRT liners, RMS Asturias in 1925 and RMS Alcantara in 1926. But the company ran into financial trouble, and the British government investigated its affairs in 1930, resulting in the Royal Mail Case. Chairman Lord Kylsant was jailed in 1931 for misrepresenting the state of the company to shareholders.[1] 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. The Royal Mail Lines Ltd (RML) was created in 1932 and took over the ships of RMSPC and other companies of the former group.[4] The line's motto was Per Mare Ubique (everywhere by sea).

The new company's operations were concentrated on the west coast of South America, the West Indies and Caribbean, and the Pacific coast of North America; the SouthamptonLisbonBrazilUruguayArgentina route was operated from 1850 to 1980. RML was also a leading cruise ship operator.

In 1965 RML was bought by Furness, Withy & Co.,[1] and rapidly lost its identity. In the 1970s parts of the Furness Withy Group, including RML, were sold on to Hong Kong shipowner C.Y. Tung, and later sold on to former River Plate rival Hamburg Süd; by the 1990s Royal Mail Lines was no more than the name of a Hamburg-Süd refrigerated cargo service from South America to Europe.

List of RMSP Company vessels

This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Ship Date Commissioned Gross Tonnage Propulsion Material
Actaeon 1842650 Paddle Wood
Avon 18422,069 Paddle Wood
City of Glasgow 18421,700 Paddle Wood
Clyde 18421,841 Paddle Wood
Dee 18421,849 Paddle Wood
Forth 18421,900 Paddle Wood
Isis 18421,900 Paddle Wood
Larne 1842300 Schooner Wood
Lee 1842250 Schooner Wood
Liffey 1842350 Schooner Wood
Medina 18421,800 Paddle Wood
Medway 18421,895 Paddle Wood
Severn 18421,886 Paddle Wood
Solway 18421,700 Paddle Wood
Tay 18421,858 Paddle Wood
Teviot 18421,744 Paddle Wood
Thames 18421,889 Paddle Wood
Trent 18421,856 Paddle Wood
Tweed 18421,800 Paddle Wood
Reindeer 1845600 Paddle Wood
Conway 1846895 Paddle Wood
Eagle 1846630 Paddle Wood
Great Western18471,775 Paddle Wood
Derwent 1849794 Paddle Wood
Esk 1849232 Screw Wood
Amazon 18512,256 Paddle Wood
Demerara 18512,318 Paddle Wood
Oronico 18512,901 Paddle Wood
Prince1851446 Paddle Iron
La Plata18522,826 Paddle Wood
Magdalena18522,943 Paddle Wood
Parana18523,070 Paddle Wood
Camilla1853539 Paddle Wood
Atrato18533,184 Paddle Iron
RMS Rhone18652,738 Screw Iron

Table source: A Link of Empire[2]

See also

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Royal Mail Steam Packet Company". Shipping Lines. Plimsoll.org. Retrieved 17 April 2012. 
  2. Dodd, George (1867). Railways steamers and telegraphs: a glance at their recent progress and present state. London: W&R Chambers. pp. 159–161. 
  3. "The Royal Mail Story". Users.on.net. Retrieved 17 April 2012. 

Sources and further reading

  • Anonymous (1910). A Link of Empire; or, 70 years of British Shipping: Souvenir of the 70th year of incorporation of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. London: Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. 
  • Bushell, T.A. (1958) [1939]. Royal Mail: a Centenary History of the Royal Mail Line 1839–1939. London: Trade and Travel Publications Ltd. 

External links

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