Counties Ship Management
Encyclopedia
Counties Ship Management Co. Ltd. (CSM) was an ocean-going merchant shipping company based in the United Kingdom
. During the Second World War
CSM merchant ships made a substantial contribution to supplying the British war effort, at a cost of 13 ships lost and 163 officers and men killed.
island of Kasos
moved to London, England and started work in a shipping office. In 1921 he and his cousin Minas Rethymnis founded the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking
business in London. R&K was nominally a ship management company, but through a network of family and business relationships this was increasingly intertwined with actual ownership by members of the Kulukundis and related families.
criminal prosecution of Lord Kylsant
, director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
(RMSP), in 1931 led to the liquidation of that company in 1932. RMSP was restructured as Royal Mail Lines and companies connected with it also had to restructure. One of these was Elder Dempster Lines
, whose fleet included 24 First World War
standard cargo ships that it had to sell quickly and at low cost in order to survive. R&K and its Greek associates bought many of the Elder Dempster ships, and with Greek banks and British shipping companies created a new company called Tramp Ship Development Co Ltd to facilitate this.
R&K also started owning ships in its own right. At first they were registered in Greece, but from 1934 some R&K ships were registered in the UK. R&K gave the ships a "house" image by giving each one a name beginning with "Mount". Their funnels were black with a white band above a blue band, and a five-pointed red star straddling the boundary between the two bands. The white and blue bands denoted R&K's Greek heritage. Other shipping companies had previously used a red star as a badge, notably Robert Kermit Red Star Line
(1818–67) and Red Star Line
(1871 onwards).
which it bought from Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
in 1934, renamed Mount Pentelikon and registered in Piraeus
.
R&K bought old second-hand vessels and established a nominally separate British company to own each ship. Surrey Steamship Co. Ltd. was created to own Box Hill, which Hawthorn Leslie at Hebburn
on the River Tyne
had built in 1920 as the . Sussex Steamship Co. Ltd. was created to own Bury Hill, which had been built by Richardson, Duck and Company
at Thornaby-on-Tees
in 1917 as the . They were followed in 1935 by the First World War standard cargo ship Hampton Hill which had been built in 1919 as War Jasper. Acquisitions in 1936 included two more First World War standard ships: the Campden Hill and the Muneric. Other 1936 acquisitions included Inverleith which had been built as a tanker
but converted to a dry cargo ship
.
R&K also bought new ships. William Hamilton & Co
built for R&K in 1938, who created Atlanticos Steam Ship Co to own her and registered her in Piraeus
, Greece. On 9 October 1939 she ran aground on Ower Bank in the North Sea
off Norfolk
, England. The Cromer Lifeboat HF Bailey rescued all hands but one later died of his injuries.
Between 1936 and 1939 CSM companies bought ten second hand dry cargo steamships. Some were old. African Prince
was a First World War B type standard merchant ship built in 1917 and became Pentridge Hill under CSM's Dorset Steamship Company in 1936. had been built in 1918 and became Dover Hill under CSM in 1936. Others were more modern, such as the 4,318 ton Peebles which had been built by William Doxford & Sons
in Sunderland in 1930 and launched as .
CSM continued to create single-ship companies for some of its new acquisitions. Brockley Hill Steamship Co Ltd. was created in 1939 to buy the 5,297 ton Penteli, which had been built by Caird & Co. in Greenock
in 1919 as the War Burman. Ernels Shipping Co Ltd. seems to have been created in 1939 to buy the 7,178 ton , which had been built for Canadian National Steamships
by Halifax Shipyards in Nova Scotia
in 1922 and was renamed Argos Hill. Other CSM companies were expanded to own more than one ship.
The majority of CSM's early ships were resold at a profit by 1939. Pentridge Hill, for example, was sold to Sir Wm. Reardon Smith & Sons
who renamed her Botlea. Exceptions included Sussex Steamships Co's 4,542 ton Bury Hill
which was wrecked off the coast of West Africa in 1936 and Pearlstone which reverted to her owners in 1938. The remaining few ships continued with CSM into the Second World War.
Ship-naming policies varied between the CSM companies. Many had entirely English names, but Akri Hill (built in 1924) referred to the family's Greek background. Argos Hill sounds half-Greek but is in fact a hill in Mayfield, East Sussex, England. All Tower Steamship Co. ship names began with "Tower", such as Tower Bridge and Tower Field. Michael E and Marietta E (see below) were Kulukundis family names.
and his cousin Basil Mavroleon
to manage the CSM fleet. From 1940 onwards CSM in turn was controlled by the Ministry of War Transport.
British Government support enabled CSM to acquire new ships instead of second hand ones. Six were completed for CSM in 1940. Kingston Hill, Lulworth Hill, Marietta E and Richmond Hill (II) were new steamships while Putney Hill and Tower Grange were new motor ships. By 1943 all except Richmond Hill had been lost, along with the pre-war second-hand steamships Dover Hill, Mill Hill and Brockley Hill (I).
Three more new steamships were completed for CSM in 1941: Pentridge Hill (II) and the catapult armed merchantmen
(CAM ships) Michael E and Primrose Hill (I). Only Pentridge Hill survived the War.
In 1942 William Doxford & Sons
in Sunderland built two motor ships for Putney Hill Steamships: Coombe Hill and Tower Hill (II). Both survived the War. CSM made no more acquisitions until 1946.
, starting with Surrey Steamships Co's 5,677 ton Box Hill
which struck a mine on 31 December 1939.
The 4,318 ton Mill Hill
was built in 1930 and acquired by CSM in 1936. On 16 August 1940 a U-boat torpedoed her in the North Atlantic. She was laden with pig iron and scrap steel, and quickly sank with the loss of all hands.
The 7,628 ton Kingston Hill
was built in December 1940. She was damaged by Luftwaffe
bombing in February 1941 but was repaired. She was torpedoed and sunk in June 1941.
The 5,216 ton Putney Hill
was completed in 1940. In June 1942 a U-boat sank her with one torpedo and fired 53 rounds from its deck gun.
The 5,226 ton Tower Grange
was completed in 1940. She was torpedoed and sunk in November 1942.
The 5,297 ton Brockley Hill
was built in 1918. In 1939 CSM set up a one-ship company, Brockley Hill Steamship Co Ltd, to buy her. On 29 June 1941 U-651 torpedoed and sank her. All hands were rescued by another British cargo steamer in the same convoy.
The 4,241 ton Tower Field ran aground and broke in two in 1941. She was salvaged and rebuilt, and the MoWT took her over as . on 5 March 1943 she was torpedoed and sunk.
The 7,628 ton Lulworth Hill
was completed in 1940. She was torpedoed by an Italian submarine in March 1943. 14 men had survived the sinking but after 50 days adrift in a liferaft only two were rescued alive.
Two of CSM's 7,628 ton cargo steamers were equipped as CAM ship
s, each having a catapult
on her bow to launch a Hawker Sea Hurricane. SS Michael E was the UK's first CAM ship, completed in May 1941. She was torpedoed and sunk on her maiden voyage
on 2 June 1941. Primrose Hill
was completed in September 1941. In October 1942 a German submarine sank her with torpedo and shellfire.
The 7,628 ton Marietta E
was completed in June 1940. In March 1943 she was torpedoed and sunk in the Indian Ocean off the coast of South Africa.
The 5,818 ton SS Clan Macvicar had been completed in 1918. CSM had acquired her in 1936 and renamed her Dover Hill
. In February 1943 she was at anchor in northern Russia when a 500 Kg bomb crashed through her decks and buried itself in coal in her bunkers without exploding. Volunteers from her crew took two days and nights to dig 22 feet (6.7 m) down into the coal to reach the bomb, which a Soviet bomb disposal specialist then defused. All 19 volunteers were afterwards decorated for bravery. Dover Hill was salvaged and taken over by the Ministry of War Transport. On 9 June 1944 during the Normandy landings she was scuttled
as a Corn Cob block ship for a Gooseberry Harbour.
CSM's final wartime loss was the 7,178 ton refrigerated steamer Argos Hill. She was built in 1922 as . Ernels Shipping Co of London bought her in 1939, renamed her Argos Hill and placed her under CSM management. She was damaged in an air raid on Convoy OA 178
on 4 July 1940 but survived and remained in service until after the surrender of Germany. She was destroyed by fire on 7 August 1945 just a week before the surrender of Japan
.
By the end of hostilities CSM had lost 13 ships totalling 81,111 tons, with the deaths of 163 officers and men.
that had been built by Short Brothers
in February 1945. CSM renamed her Dover Hill, after the earlier ship that had survived an unexploded bomb and then been scuttled in the Normandy landings. CSM sold her in 1951 to new owners who renamed her Basil. She changed owners and names several more times before being scrapped in Istanbul
in 1968.
Also in 1946 the MoWT placed the Empire Ship under CSM management. In 1948 the MoWT sold her to Putney Hill Steamships who renamed her SS Putney Hill after the sunk in 1942.
In 1947 Dorset Steamships acquired the Empire ship
Empire Mandarin, which the Shipbuilding Corporation Ltd. in Newcastle-upon-Tyne had completed in 1942. Dorset Steamships renamed her Lulworth Hill, replacing an earlier ship of the same name.
In about 1947-48 CSM companies bought seven Liberty ship
s from the UK Government. None remained under CSM control for very long.
In 1948 seven oil tankers
joined the fleet. The Cardium, a 1931-built 8,300 ton motor tanker bought from Anglo-Saxon Petroleum
, was renamed Hawthorn Hill but the other six tankers were not renamed.
In 1950 the CSM fleet was radically expanded with 34 Canadian "Fort and Park" ships
.
Ltd. They intended it to be a tanker company but in 1949-50 it took over ten dry cargo ships from three R&K companies: Dorset Steamship Co Ltd, Putney Hill Steamships Co Ltd and Tower Steamship Co Ltd. In order to give the merged fleets a single "house" identity, in 1950 LOF renamed all of its ships, giving each one a name beginning with "London".
Dorset Steamships' freighter Lulworth Hill (II) became London Builder.
Richmond Hill, built in 1940 by Bartram & Sons in Sunderland for Putney Hill Steamships became the London Craftsman. The Pentridge Hill, built in 1941 by Bartram & Sons for Dorset Steamships, became the London Dealer.
The freighters Coombe Hill and Tower Hill (II) became LOF's London Artisan and London Banker respectively.
Another Dorset Steamships' vessel, Charmouth Hill, which became LOF's London Mariner in 1950, had been completed in Hartlepool
in 1943 as the Empire Peak. Tower Steamships' Tower Grange, which became LOF's London Trader, had been completed by the Shipbuilding Corporation Ltd. in 1945 as the Empire Morley.
Putney Hill Steamships' Putney Hill
(II) was transferred to LOF but confusingly was at first renamed Castle Hill. In 1950 LOF renamed her again as London Statesman. In 1951 LOF sold her to Panama
nian owners who renamed her Morella.
Two Liberty ship
s were transferred to LOF. , built in 1943, had become the Mill Hill with CSM, and unlike other transferred ships retained her CSM name with LOF. LOF sold her in 1951 and her subsequent owners renamed her Educator. , which CSM had renamed Primrose Hill (II), was also built in 1943. When transferred to LOF she became London Vendor. LOF sold her in 1952 and she was subsequently renamed several more times. She was scrapped at Onomichi, Japan in 1968.
. However, during the 1950s LOF became the Kulukundis family's main shipping company and the CSM fleet was reduced in size. Dover Hill (II) was sold in 1951. CSM's last wartime standard cargo ship was Denmark Hill, which had been built as the "Fort" ship Fort Mattagami and was sold for scrap in 1968.
In 1966 CSM took over a modern dry cargo ship. The Clarkspey had been built in 1960, but had been bareboat chartered to Port Line who renamed her Port Campbell. When her charter expired CSM bought her and renamed her Kings Reach. CSM sold her in 1970.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. During the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
CSM merchant ships made a substantial contribution to supplying the British war effort, at a cost of 13 ships lost and 163 officers and men killed.
Founding of Rethymnis & Kulukundis
In 1920 Manuel Kulukundis (1898–1988) from the AegeanAegean Sea
The Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
island of Kasos
Kasos
Kasos is a Greek island municipality in the Dodecanese. It is the southernmost island in the Aegean Sea, and is part of the Karpathos peripheral unit. As of 2001, its population was 990. The island has been called in , .-Geography:...
moved to London, England and started work in a shipping office. In 1921 he and his cousin Minas Rethymnis founded the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking
Shipbroking
Shipbroking is a financial service, which forms part of the global shipping industry. Shipbrokers are specialist intermediaries/negotiators between shipowners and charterers who use ships to transport cargo, or between buyers and sellers of ships.Some brokerage firms have developed into large...
business in London. R&K was nominally a ship management company, but through a network of family and business relationships this was increasingly intertwined with actual ownership by members of the Kulukundis and related families.
Royal Mail Case
The Royal Mail CaseRoyal 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 as if the company was profitable and to entice potential...
criminal prosecution of Lord Kylsant
Owen Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant
Owen Cosby Philipps, 1st Baron Kylsant was a British businessman and politician, later jailed for producing a document with intent to deceive.-Background:...
, director of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by 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....
(RMSP), in 1931 led to the liquidation of that company in 1932. RMSP was restructured as Royal Mail Lines and companies connected with it also had to restructure. One of these was Elder Dempster Lines
Elder Dempster Lines
Elder Dempster Lines was a British shipping company which operated from 1932 to 2000, although its origins stretch back into the mid-19th century.-History:Elder Dempster and Company started trading as the African Steamship Company in 1852...
, whose fleet included 24 First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
standard cargo ships that it had to sell quickly and at low cost in order to survive. R&K and its Greek associates bought many of the Elder Dempster ships, and with Greek banks and British shipping companies created a new company called Tramp Ship Development Co Ltd to facilitate this.
R&K also started owning ships in its own right. At first they were registered in Greece, but from 1934 some R&K ships were registered in the UK. R&K gave the ships a "house" image by giving each one a name beginning with "Mount". Their funnels were black with a white band above a blue band, and a five-pointed red star straddling the boundary between the two bands. The white and blue bands denoted R&K's Greek heritage. Other shipping companies had previously used a red star as a badge, notably Robert Kermit Red Star Line
Robert Kermit Red Star Line
In 1818 the Red Star Line was founded by Byrnes, Trimble & Co. from New York....
(1818–67) and Red Star Line
Red Star Line
The Red Star Line was an ocean passenger line founded in 1871 as a joint venture between the International Navigation Company of Philadelphia, which also ran the American Line, and the Société Anonyme de Navigation Belgo-Américaine of Antwerp, Belgium...
(1871 onwards).
Growth of Rethymnis & Kulukundis
Kulukundis had a Greek ship-owning company, Kulukundis Shipping Co SA, whose ships were managed by R&K. Its ships included the SS IllnoisSS Empire Conveyor
Empire Conveyor was a 5,911 GRT cargo ship that was built in 1917 as Farnworth by Richardson, Duck and Company, Thornaby-on-Tees, England. After a sale in 1924 she was renamed Illinois. In 1926, she was sold to France, and in 1934 to Greece and was renamed Mount Pentelikon...
which it bought from Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
Compagnie Générale Transatlantique
The Compagnie Générale Transatlantique , typically known overseas as the French Line, was a shipping company established during 1861 as an attempt to revive the French merchant marine, the poor state of which was indicated during the Crimean War of 1856...
in 1934, renamed Mount Pentelikon and registered in Piraeus
Piraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
.
R&K bought old second-hand vessels and established a nominally separate British company to own each ship. Surrey Steamship Co. Ltd. was created to own Box Hill, which Hawthorn Leslie at Hebburn
Hebburn
Hebburn is a small town situated on the south bank of the River Tyne in North East England, sandwiched between the towns of Jarrow and Bill Quay...
on the River Tyne
River Tyne
The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...
had built in 1920 as the . Sussex Steamship Co. Ltd. was created to own Bury Hill, which had been built by Richardson, Duck and Company
Richardson, Duck and Company
Richardson, Duck and Company was a shipbuilding company in Thornaby-on-Tees, England that traded between 1855 and 1925.-History:The yard was founded as the South Stockton Iron Ship Building Co in 1852. Its premises were the former yard of engine builders Fossick of Stockton and its first vessel was...
at Thornaby-on-Tees
Thornaby-on-Tees
Thornaby-on-Tees is a town and civil parish within the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, in the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England. It is on the south bank of the River Tees, three miles southeast of Stockton-on-Tees, and four miles southwest of Middlesbrough town centre and has a...
in 1917 as the . They were followed in 1935 by the First World War standard cargo ship Hampton Hill which had been built in 1919 as War Jasper. Acquisitions in 1936 included two more First World War standard ships: the Campden Hill and the Muneric. Other 1936 acquisitions included Inverleith which had been built as a tanker
Tanker (ship)
A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...
but converted to a dry cargo ship
Bulk carrier
A bulk carrier, bulk freighter, or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo, such as grains, coal, ore, and cement in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, economic forces have fueled the development of these ships,...
.
R&K also bought new ships. William Hamilton & Co
William Hamilton and Company
William Hamilton and Company was a British shipyard located in Port Glasgow, Scotland. The company was purchased by Lithgow Ltd., later to become Scott Lithgow which was nationalised into British Shipbuilders in 1977....
built for R&K in 1938, who created Atlanticos Steam Ship Co to own her and registered her in Piraeus
Piraeus
Piraeus is a city in the region of Attica, Greece. Piraeus is located within the Athens Urban Area, 12 km southwest from its city center , and lies along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf....
, Greece. On 9 October 1939 she ran aground on Ower Bank in the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
off Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, England. The Cromer Lifeboat HF Bailey rescued all hands but one later died of his injuries.
Counties Ship Management
In 1934 R&K created Counties Ship Management Ltd (CSM) to manage ships owned by both its own companies and others. CSM ships had a buff funnel with a black top, and a red letter "C" inside a red circle on the buff part.Between 1936 and 1939 CSM companies bought ten second hand dry cargo steamships. Some were old. African Prince
SS Lambridge
SS Lambridge was a British cargo ship built in 1917 and scuttled in 1945.The Ayrshire Dockyard Company Ltd. built her to the UK Shipping Controller's standard "B" type cargo ship design. She was launched in 1917 as SS Glennevis for the Western Steam Ship Company of Glasgow. In 1922 she was sold to...
was a First World War B type standard merchant ship built in 1917 and became Pentridge Hill under CSM's Dorset Steamship Company in 1936. had been built in 1918 and became Dover Hill under CSM in 1936. Others were more modern, such as the 4,318 ton Peebles which had been built by William Doxford & Sons
William Doxford & Sons
William Doxford & Sons Ltd, often referred to simply as Doxford, was a British shipbuilding company.-History:The Company was established by William Doxford in 1840. From 1870 it was based in Pallion, Sunderland, on the River Wear in Northeast England. The Company was managed by William Doxford's...
in Sunderland in 1930 and launched as .
CSM continued to create single-ship companies for some of its new acquisitions. Brockley Hill Steamship Co Ltd. was created in 1939 to buy the 5,297 ton Penteli, which had been built by Caird & Co. in Greenock
Greenock
Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...
in 1919 as the War Burman. Ernels Shipping Co Ltd. seems to have been created in 1939 to buy the 7,178 ton , which had been built for Canadian National Steamships
Canadian National Railway
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. CN's slogan is "North America's Railroad"....
by Halifax Shipyards in Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
in 1922 and was renamed Argos Hill. Other CSM companies were expanded to own more than one ship.
The majority of CSM's early ships were resold at a profit by 1939. Pentridge Hill, for example, was sold to Sir Wm. Reardon Smith & Sons
William Reardon Smith
Sir William Reardon Smith, 1st Baronet was a British shipowner.Reardon Smith was born in Appledore, Devon, and educated at the Wesleyan School there. He went to sea and obtained his master mariner's ticket before going into the shipping business...
who renamed her Botlea. Exceptions included Sussex Steamships Co's 4,542 ton Bury Hill
SS Pensylvanie
SS Pensylvanie was a cargo ship built in England for the Compagnie Générale Transatlantique during the First World War. CGT sold her in 1934 and she was wrecked in 1936....
which was wrecked off the coast of West Africa in 1936 and Pearlstone which reverted to her owners in 1938. The remaining few ships continued with CSM into the Second World War.
Ship-naming policies varied between the CSM companies. Many had entirely English names, but Akri Hill (built in 1924) referred to the family's Greek background. Argos Hill sounds half-Greek but is in fact a hill in Mayfield, East Sussex, England. All Tower Steamship Co. ship names began with "Tower", such as Tower Bridge and Tower Field. Michael E and Marietta E (see below) were Kulukundis family names.
CSM's Second World War fleet
In 1940 several Kulukundis brothers moved to the safety of the USA, leaving John KulukundisEddie Kulukundis
Sir Eddie Kulukundis OBE is a member of a Greek shipping family whose professional career has spanned shipping and the theatre....
and his cousin Basil Mavroleon
Mavroleon family
The Mavroleon family is a Greek family of shipping magnates with strong United Kingdom connections. They also own a large amount of land in Greece...
to manage the CSM fleet. From 1940 onwards CSM in turn was controlled by the Ministry of War Transport.
British Government support enabled CSM to acquire new ships instead of second hand ones. Six were completed for CSM in 1940. Kingston Hill, Lulworth Hill, Marietta E and Richmond Hill (II) were new steamships while Putney Hill and Tower Grange were new motor ships. By 1943 all except Richmond Hill had been lost, along with the pre-war second-hand steamships Dover Hill, Mill Hill and Brockley Hill (I).
Three more new steamships were completed for CSM in 1941: Pentridge Hill (II) and the catapult armed merchantmen
CAM ship
CAM ships were World War II-era British merchant ships used in convoys as an emergency stop-gap until sufficient escort carriers became available. CAM is an acronym for catapult aircraft merchantman. A CAM ship was equipped with a rocket-propelled catapult launching a single Hawker Sea Hurricane,...
(CAM ships) Michael E and Primrose Hill (I). Only Pentridge Hill survived the War.
In 1942 William Doxford & Sons
William Doxford & Sons
William Doxford & Sons Ltd, often referred to simply as Doxford, was a British shipbuilding company.-History:The Company was established by William Doxford in 1840. From 1870 it was based in Pallion, Sunderland, on the River Wear in Northeast England. The Company was managed by William Doxford's...
in Sunderland built two motor ships for Putney Hill Steamships: Coombe Hill and Tower Hill (II). Both survived the War. CSM made no more acquisitions until 1946.
War losses
CSM sustained heavy war losses in the Second World WarWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, starting with Surrey Steamships Co's 5,677 ton Box Hill
SS Glentworth
SS Glentworth was a cargo ship built by Hawthorn Leslie & Co. in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England in 1920 for R.S. Dalgliesh's Dalgliesh Steam Shipping Co. Ltd., also of Newcastle-upon-Tyne...
which struck a mine on 31 December 1939.
The 4,318 ton Mill Hill
SS Gracechurch
SS Gracechurch was built by William Doxford & Sons at Pallion on Wearside in 1930. She was owned by Gracechurch Shipping Co of Newcastle and managed by James, Muers & Co of Cardiff....
was built in 1930 and acquired by CSM in 1936. On 16 August 1940 a U-boat torpedoed her in the North Atlantic. She was laden with pig iron and scrap steel, and quickly sank with the loss of all hands.
The 7,628 ton Kingston Hill
SS Kingston Hill
SS Kingston Hill was a cargo ship completed by William Hamilton & Co in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde in December 1940 She was managed by Counties Ship Management Co Ltd of London , an offshoot of the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking company....
was built in December 1940. She was damaged by Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
bombing in February 1941 but was repaired. She was torpedoed and sunk in June 1941.
The 5,216 ton Putney Hill
MV Putney Hill
MV Putney Hill was a cargo ship completed by William Doxford & Sons Ltd in Sunderland in 1940. She was owned by Putney Hill Steamships Co Ltd and managed by Counties Ship Management Co Ltd of London , both of which were offshoots of the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking company.-Sinking:Putney...
was completed in 1940. In June 1942 a U-boat sank her with one torpedo and fired 53 rounds from its deck gun.
The 5,226 ton Tower Grange
MV Tower Grange
MV Tower Grange was a cargo ship completed by William Doxford & Sons Ltd in Sunderland in 1940. She was owned by Tower Steamships Co Ltd and managed by Counties Ship Management Co Ltd of London , both of which were offshoots of the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking company.-Sinking:In 1942 Tower...
was completed in 1940. She was torpedoed and sunk in November 1942.
The 5,297 ton Brockley Hill
SS Burgondier
SS Burgondier was a 5,297 ton cargo steamship built to a First World War standard design by Caird & Co at Greenock on the Firth of Clyde. She changed owners and names several times, becoming the Azul, David Dawson, Penteli and finally Brockley Hill...
was built in 1918. In 1939 CSM set up a one-ship company, Brockley Hill Steamship Co Ltd, to buy her. On 29 June 1941 U-651 torpedoed and sank her. All hands were rescued by another British cargo steamer in the same convoy.
The 4,241 ton Tower Field ran aground and broke in two in 1941. She was salvaged and rebuilt, and the MoWT took her over as . on 5 March 1943 she was torpedoed and sunk.
The 7,628 ton Lulworth Hill
SS Lulworth Hill
SS Lulworth Hill was a cargo ship completed by William Hamilton & Co in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde in 1940. She was owned by Dorset Steamships Co Ltd and managed by Counties Ship Management Co Ltd of London , both of which were offshoots of the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking...
was completed in 1940. She was torpedoed by an Italian submarine in March 1943. 14 men had survived the sinking but after 50 days adrift in a liferaft only two were rescued alive.
Two of CSM's 7,628 ton cargo steamers were equipped as CAM ship
CAM ship
CAM ships were World War II-era British merchant ships used in convoys as an emergency stop-gap until sufficient escort carriers became available. CAM is an acronym for catapult aircraft merchantman. A CAM ship was equipped with a rocket-propelled catapult launching a single Hawker Sea Hurricane,...
s, each having a catapult
Aircraft catapult
An aircraft catapult is a device used to launch aircraft from ships—in particular aircraft carriers—as a form of assisted take off. It consists of a track built into the flight deck, below which is a large piston or shuttle that is attached through the track to the nose gear of the aircraft, or in...
on her bow to launch a Hawker Sea Hurricane. SS Michael E was the UK's first CAM ship, completed in May 1941. She was torpedoed and sunk on her maiden voyage
Maiden voyage
The maiden voyage of a ship, aircraft or other craft is the first journey made by the craft after shakedown. A number of traditions and superstitions are associated with it....
on 2 June 1941. Primrose Hill
SS Primrose Hill
SS Primrose Hill was completed by William Hamilton & Co in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde in September 1941. She was a CAM ship, armed with a catapult on her bow to launch a Hawker Sea Hurricane....
was completed in September 1941. In October 1942 a German submarine sank her with torpedo and shellfire.
The 7,628 ton Marietta E
SS Marietta E
SS Marietta E was completed by William Hamilton & Co in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde in June 1940. She was managed by Counties Ship Management Ltd of London, an offshoot of the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking company...
was completed in June 1940. In March 1943 she was torpedoed and sunk in the Indian Ocean off the coast of South Africa.
The 5,818 ton SS Clan Macvicar had been completed in 1918. CSM had acquired her in 1936 and renamed her Dover Hill
SS Dover Hill
SS Dover Hill was a steam-powered cargo ship built to a First World War standard design by Northumberland Shipbuilding Co in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. She was launched on 17 December 1917 as Maenwen but after completion she entered service with Clan Line who named her Clan Macvicar...
. In February 1943 she was at anchor in northern Russia when a 500 Kg bomb crashed through her decks and buried itself in coal in her bunkers without exploding. Volunteers from her crew took two days and nights to dig 22 feet (6.7 m) down into the coal to reach the bomb, which a Soviet bomb disposal specialist then defused. All 19 volunteers were afterwards decorated for bravery. Dover Hill was salvaged and taken over by the Ministry of War Transport. On 9 June 1944 during the Normandy landings she was scuttled
Scuttling
Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull.This can be achieved in several ways—valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...
as a Corn Cob block ship for a Gooseberry Harbour.
CSM's final wartime loss was the 7,178 ton refrigerated steamer Argos Hill. She was built in 1922 as . Ernels Shipping Co of London bought her in 1939, renamed her Argos Hill and placed her under CSM management. She was damaged in an air raid on Convoy OA 178
Convoy OA 178
Convoy OA 178 was an Atlantic convoy that sailed in July 1940 from the Thames Estuary via the English Channel, prior to dispersal to various trans-Atlantic destinations.-Departure and escort:...
on 4 July 1940 but survived and remained in service until after the surrender of Germany. She was destroyed by fire on 7 August 1945 just a week before the surrender of Japan
Surrender of Japan
The surrender of Japan in 1945 brought hostilities of World War II to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy was incapable of conducting operations and an Allied invasion of Japan was imminent...
.
By the end of hostilities CSM had lost 13 ships totalling 81,111 tons, with the deaths of 163 officers and men.
Post-war development
In 1946 a CSM company bought Empire Nairobi, a standard Empire shipEmpire ship
The Empire ships were a series of ships in the service of the British Government. Their names were all prefixed with "Empire". Mostly they were used during World War II by the Ministry of War Transport , who owned the ships but contracted out their management to various shipping lines. Some ships...
that had been built by Short Brothers
Short Brothers of Sunderland
Short Brothers Limited was a British shipbuilding company formed in 1850 and based at Pallion, Sunderland since 1869. The company closed in 1964 when it failed to invest to build bigger ships.-19th century:...
in February 1945. CSM renamed her Dover Hill, after the earlier ship that had survived an unexploded bomb and then been scuttled in the Normandy landings. CSM sold her in 1951 to new owners who renamed her Basil. She changed owners and names several more times before being scrapped in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
in 1968.
Also in 1946 the MoWT placed the Empire Ship under CSM management. In 1948 the MoWT sold her to Putney Hill Steamships who renamed her SS Putney Hill after the sunk in 1942.
In 1947 Dorset Steamships acquired the Empire ship
Empire ship
The Empire ships were a series of ships in the service of the British Government. Their names were all prefixed with "Empire". Mostly they were used during World War II by the Ministry of War Transport , who owned the ships but contracted out their management to various shipping lines. Some ships...
Empire Mandarin, which the Shipbuilding Corporation Ltd. in Newcastle-upon-Tyne had completed in 1942. Dorset Steamships renamed her Lulworth Hill, replacing an earlier ship of the same name.
In about 1947-48 CSM companies bought seven Liberty ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
s from the UK Government. None remained under CSM control for very long.
In 1948 seven oil tankers
Tanker (ship)
A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...
joined the fleet. The Cardium, a 1931-built 8,300 ton motor tanker bought from Anglo-Saxon Petroleum
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
, was renamed Hawthorn Hill but the other six tankers were not renamed.
In 1950 the CSM fleet was radically expanded with 34 Canadian "Fort and Park" ships
Park ship
Park Ships were merchant steamships constructed for Canada’s Merchant Navy during World War II. Park ships were the Canadian equivalent of the American Liberty Ships and the British Fort ships. All three shared a similar design by J.L...
.
London & Overseas Freighters
In 1948 the cousins founded a new company, London & Overseas FreightersLondon & Overseas Freighters
London & Overseas Freighters Ltd. was an ocean-going merchant shipping company that for most of its history was based in the United Kingdom.-Counties Ship Management:...
Ltd. They intended it to be a tanker company but in 1949-50 it took over ten dry cargo ships from three R&K companies: Dorset Steamship Co Ltd, Putney Hill Steamships Co Ltd and Tower Steamship Co Ltd. In order to give the merged fleets a single "house" identity, in 1950 LOF renamed all of its ships, giving each one a name beginning with "London".
Dorset Steamships' freighter Lulworth Hill (II) became London Builder.
Richmond Hill, built in 1940 by Bartram & Sons in Sunderland for Putney Hill Steamships became the London Craftsman. The Pentridge Hill, built in 1941 by Bartram & Sons for Dorset Steamships, became the London Dealer.
The freighters Coombe Hill and Tower Hill (II) became LOF's London Artisan and London Banker respectively.
Another Dorset Steamships' vessel, Charmouth Hill, which became LOF's London Mariner in 1950, had been completed in Hartlepool
Hartlepool
Hartlepool is a town and port in North East England.It was founded in the 7th century AD, around the Northumbrian monastery of Hartlepool Abbey. The village grew during the Middle Ages and developed a harbour which served as the official port of the County Palatine of Durham. A railway link from...
in 1943 as the Empire Peak. Tower Steamships' Tower Grange, which became LOF's London Trader, had been completed by the Shipbuilding Corporation Ltd. in 1945 as the Empire Morley.
Putney Hill Steamships' Putney Hill
SS Empire Celia
Empire Celia was a 7,025 GRT cargo ship built in 1943 by C Connell & Co Ltd, Glasgow for the Ministry of War Transport . In 1948, she was sold into merchant service and renamed Putney Hill. Further name changes were Castle Hill in 1949 and London Statesman in 1950...
(II) was transferred to LOF but confusingly was at first renamed Castle Hill. In 1950 LOF renamed her again as London Statesman. In 1951 LOF sold her to Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
nian owners who renamed her Morella.
Two Liberty ship
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were cargo ships built in the United States during World War II. Though British in conception, they were adapted by the U.S. as they were cheap and quick to build, and came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output. Based on vessels ordered by Britain to replace ships torpedoed by...
s were transferred to LOF. , built in 1943, had become the Mill Hill with CSM, and unlike other transferred ships retained her CSM name with LOF. LOF sold her in 1951 and her subsequent owners renamed her Educator. , which CSM had renamed Primrose Hill (II), was also built in 1943. When transferred to LOF she became London Vendor. LOF sold her in 1952 and she was subsequently renamed several more times. She was scrapped at Onomichi, Japan in 1968.
CSM after 1950
In 1950 the CSM fleet was radically expanded with 34 Canadian "Fort and Park" shipsPark ship
Park Ships were merchant steamships constructed for Canada’s Merchant Navy during World War II. Park ships were the Canadian equivalent of the American Liberty Ships and the British Fort ships. All three shared a similar design by J.L...
. However, during the 1950s LOF became the Kulukundis family's main shipping company and the CSM fleet was reduced in size. Dover Hill (II) was sold in 1951. CSM's last wartime standard cargo ship was Denmark Hill, which had been built as the "Fort" ship Fort Mattagami and was sold for scrap in 1968.
In 1966 CSM took over a modern dry cargo ship. The Clarkspey had been built in 1960, but had been bareboat chartered to Port Line who renamed her Port Campbell. When her charter expired CSM bought her and renamed her Kings Reach. CSM sold her in 1970.