Compagnie di navigazione - Gran Bretagna: libri e guide illustrate di storia

British India Steam Navigation Co Lines of the 1950's and 1960's

The British India Steam Navigation Company Limited, dating from 1862, was one of Britain's largest and most important shipping firms and has been owned by the even larger P&O since 1914. BI, as it was commonly called, created and maintained a great network of sea-going services - to Africa, India and the Middle East, and to the more distant Far East.

BI passenger ships in particular were important for the steady, uninterrupted flow of representatives and citizens of the Crown - from the likes of High Commissioners in first class to Indian workers in deck class. These were links in an age now gone completely.

William H. Miller, author of over eighty maritime books, reviews the final fleet, the last great era, in the 1950s and 1960s, of the British India Steam Navigation Company's passenger ships.

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Ellerman Lines - Remembering a Great British Shipping Company

Ellerman Lines was formed by John Reeves Ellerman at the end of the nineteenth century. Ellerman left home at age 14, and at 24 he established J. Ellerman & Co. in London; by 1893, he had been appointed chair of a shipping company. Following the acquisition of various companies, Ellerman Lines Ltd was formed on 22 January 1902, becoming one of the greatest shipping lines in the world.

Services were offered to the Mediterranean, India, South America and East and South Africa as the Ellerman group grew and grew. Ellerman Lines traded successfully throughout war and peace, heavily involved in the war effort, until the third quarter of the century, when many countries gained their independence from Britain and 1960s containerisation saw this once great shipping line close for good.

Using many previously unpublished photographs illustrating the different types of vessels owned by Ellerman Lines, experienced maritime author Ian Collard turns his attention to the company's history, from its establishment in 1886 until the shipping business was bought by its management in 1985.
It was then sold to the Trafalgar House conglomerate, which merged it with its ownership of the Cunard Line to form Cunard-Ellerman in 1987. In 1991 it passed to the Andrew Weir Shipping Group and in 2003 the Mediterranean, Middle East, African, Indian and Pakistan services were acquired by Hamburg Süd and the Ellerman brand was replaced by them exactly two years later.

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The Pacific Steam Navigation Company - Fleet List & History

Fondata nel 1838 a Liverpool, la Pacific Steam Navigation Company fu la prima compagnia a operare con navi a vapore nel Pacifico e si dedicava principalmente al commercio tra il Regno Unito e le coste del Pacifico del Sud America. Tra le sue navi più famose si annoverano la Reina del Pacifico e la Reina del Mar.

Nonostante una serie di primati di rilievo, il nome Pacific Steam Navigation Company scomparve nel 1984, nell'ambito della razionalizzazione del gruppo Furness Withy. Nel 1990, la stessa Furness Withy fu venduta ad Hamburg Süd, un'altra compagnia che operava sulle rotte del Sud Atlantico e del Pacifico.

Molti a Liverpool e in tutto il Sud e Centro America, da Panama alla Terra del Fuoco, conservano un affettuoso ricordo della Pacific Steam Navigation Company, e questa storia e l'elenco della flotta rievocheranno i ricordi di quelle navi della compagnia, sia d'alto mare che costiere, che un tempo operavano sulla rotta sudamericana.

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Union Castle Liners - from Great Britain to Africa 1946-1977

Era una delle rotte di linea britanniche più importanti in assoluto: il collegamento espresso da Southampton al Capo di Buona Speranza. Trasportando passeggeri e merci, inclusa l'importantissima posta, era sinonimo di viaggi: "ogni giovedì alle 4", quando uno dei grandi transatlantici della Union Castle salpava alla volta di Città del Capo e oltre.

Alla fine degli anni '50, tra queste navi postali figuravano l'Arundel Castle, il Carnarvon Castle, il Winchester Castle, l'Athlone Castle, lo Stirling Castle, il Capetown Castle e due navi di successo del dopoguerra, l'Edinburgh Castle e il Pretoria Castle. Tre nuovi transatlantici arrivarono nel 1959, le ultime grandi navi costruite per la Union-Castle: il Pendennis Castle, il Windsor Castle e il Transvaal Castle.

La rotta non si limitava al Capo di Buona Speranza: la Union-Castle offriva infatti anche un servizio lungo la costa orientale dell'Africa e una rotta circumafricana. Nel 1977, con la perdita del contratto per il trasporto postale e dei passeggeri a favore degli aerei a reazione e del trasporto merci tramite navi portacontainer, il servizio cessò nell'ottobre dello stesso anno e la Union-Castle cessò di esistere.

William H. Miller racconta la storia delle navi della Union Castle nel dopoguerra.

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