Ellerman Lines
Encyclopedia
Ellerman Lines was a cargo and passenger shipping company that operated from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. It was founded in the late nineteenth century, and continued to expand with the acquisition of smaller shipping lines until it became one of the largest shipping firms in the world. Setbacks occurred through heavy losses to their merchant fleet during the First and Second World Wars but were overcome in each case.
The company suffered from competition and modernising trends in the shipping industry that occurred during the second half of the twentieth century. Its shipping assets were subsequently sold off to larger companies until the name was dropped in 2004, and Ellerman finally ceased its long association with shipping.
in 1892, by the businessmen John Ellerman
, Christopher Furness and Henry O'Hagan, who purchased the assets from the Liverpool
based shipping firm Frederick Leyland and Co Ltd. The company started with an initial capital
of £800,000 to buy the fleet of 22 vessels from the executors of Frederick Leyland
, the former head of Frederick Leyland and Co. Ellerman was initially the managing director, and Furness the chairman, but Ellerman had taken on the role of chairman himself by 1893.
The company expanded in 1900 with the acquisition of 20 ships from the West India and Pacific Steamship Company. The firm was then reorganised as Frederick Leyland (1900), and operated with a capital of £2,800,000. In 1901, the company was bought by J. P. Morgan
's International Marine Mercantile Company, though Ellerman remained as chairman, and owner of 20 ships. He later acquired the Papayanni Steamship Company and eight of their ships. He used these assets to form the London, Liverpool and Ocean Shipping Company, based at Moorgate
, in London
.
The London, Liverpool and Ocean Shipping Company then went on to acquire 50 percent of George Smith and Sons' City Line, Glasgow
, and 50 percent of the Hall Line Ltd in 1903. Its capital was further increased, and the name was changed to Ellerman Lines. The company had its head offices in Liverpool and Glasgow
, with a subsidiary office in London. Further acquisitions followed in 1908, when the company bought Bucknall Steamship Lines who operated on numerous routes between the United Kingdom, South Africa
, the near East
and North America
. The Ellerman group of companies now occupied a dominating position in the Mediterranean and Near East. By 1914, the Ellerman group controlled four subsidiary companies, Ellerman City Line, Ellerman and Bucknall (Steamships) Company, Ellerman and Papayanni Lines, and Hall Line.
, munitions carriers, or for conversion into Armed merchantmen
to augment the Royal Navy
. Ellerman continued to operate a skeletal service with their remaining ships, and in 1916 the Wilson Line
of Hull
was purchased by Ellerman personally, bringing sixty-seven short-sea vessels into service with the company.
Ellerman Lines sought to restore a pre-war level of service after the end of the war. This entailed the purchasing of several German liners as well as placing orders for new ships. Before long the old networks of passenger and cargo services had been restored. John Ellerman died a baronet
with a fortune of £37 million in 1933.
By 1939 and the outbreak of the Second World War the fleet had been successfully rebuilt and expanded, to the extent that the Ellerman groups owned a total 105 ships with a combined capacity of 920,000 tons. This made Ellerman's one of the biggest fleets in the world. Their ships were divided into four classes; mixed cargo and passenger ships; cargo ships with limited passenger accommodation; pure cargo ships; and short sea traders for service in the Mediterranean. Many of these ships were subsequently requisition by the government, whilst others were kept as cargo vessels to transport supplies to the United Kingdom. Losses during the war were heavy, particularly to Germany's U-boat
fleet. Forty-one ships were sunk by submarines, seven by air attacks, three by mines and one by a surface raider. In total, the Ellerman Group lost 60 ships out of its fleet of 105.
s that carried no more than a dozen passengers in considerable comfort. Crew accommodation was likewise improved. The focus was on re-building their international trade routes and to this end they purchased outright 12 cargo ships from the Government which they had managed during the war. By 1952, 25 of these new style 12-passenger ships had entered service, making for a total of 45 new vessels since the war, and with a further 14 for use on the Portuguese
trade routes and Mediterranean services. By 1953, Ellerman's fleet had been almost completely rebuilt, consisting of a total of 94 ships with a carrying capacity of 900,000 tons.
, setting up their own shipping companies. The nature of shipping was also changing, with the advent of containerisation. In 1966 Ellerman Lines joined the Associated Container Transportation (ACT) Group consortium and started the successful containerisation of its Mediterranean services. By the early 1970s the Ellerman group had expanded its commercial interests into other areas, including hotels, brewing
and printing. In 1973 it merged all its shipping companies into one division. Ten years later its profitability had plummeted and it was making heavy losses. The whole business was then sold to the Barclay brothers
. In 1985 the shipping business was purchased by its management, then sold to the Trafalgar House
conglomerate, who merged it with their ownership of the Cunard Line
to form Cunard-Ellerman in 1987. In 1991 they passed it to the Andrew Weir Shipping Group, who sold it to Hamburg Süd
in 2003. During 2004 the name was dropped and Ellerman Lines ceased to exist.
collier SS Corchester on 19 February 1956) (sank after collision with the Runnel Stone
on 8 October 1923)
The company suffered from competition and modernising trends in the shipping industry that occurred during the second half of the twentieth century. Its shipping assets were subsequently sold off to larger companies until the name was dropped in 2004, and Ellerman finally ceased its long association with shipping.
Predecessors and early years
The company was incorporatedIncorporation (business)
Incorporation is the forming of a new corporation . The corporation may be a business, a non-profit organisation, sports club, or a government of a new city or town...
in 1892, by the businessmen John Ellerman
John Ellerman
Sir John Reeves Ellerman, 1st Baronet, CH was an English shipowner and investor. He was one of the most successful entrepreneurs in modern British history, and the only Briton of his generation whose wealth rivalled the leading plutocrats of America's gilded age...
, Christopher Furness and Henry O'Hagan, who purchased the assets from the Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
based shipping firm Frederick Leyland and Co Ltd. The company started with an initial capital
Capital (economics)
In economics, capital, capital goods, or real capital refers to already-produced durable goods used in production of goods or services. The capital goods are not significantly consumed, though they may depreciate in the production process...
of £800,000 to buy the fleet of 22 vessels from the executors of Frederick Leyland
Frederick Richards Leyland
Frederick Richards Leyland was a Liverpool shipowner and art collector.-Career:Leyland served as an apprentice in the firm of John Bibby, Sons & Co, where he rose to become a partner. In 1867 he took on the tenancy of Speke Hall, Liverpool and in 1869 bought a house in London at 49 Princes Gate...
, the former head of Frederick Leyland and Co. Ellerman was initially the managing director, and Furness the chairman, but Ellerman had taken on the role of chairman himself by 1893.
The company expanded in 1900 with the acquisition of 20 ships from the West India and Pacific Steamship Company. The firm was then reorganised as Frederick Leyland (1900), and operated with a capital of £2,800,000. In 1901, the company was bought by J. P. Morgan
J. P. Morgan
John Pierpont Morgan was an American financier, banker and art collector who dominated corporate finance and industrial consolidation during his time. In 1892 Morgan arranged the merger of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company to form General Electric...
's International Marine Mercantile Company, though Ellerman remained as chairman, and owner of 20 ships. He later acquired the Papayanni Steamship Company and eight of their ships. He used these assets to form the London, Liverpool and Ocean Shipping Company, based at Moorgate
Moorgate
Moorgate was a postern in the London Wall originally built by the Romans. It was turned into a gate in the 15th century. Though the gate was demolished in 1762, the name survives as a major street in the City of London...
, in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
The London, Liverpool and Ocean Shipping Company then went on to acquire 50 percent of George Smith and Sons' City Line, Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, and 50 percent of the Hall Line Ltd in 1903. Its capital was further increased, and the name was changed to Ellerman Lines. The company had its head offices in Liverpool and Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
, with a subsidiary office in London. Further acquisitions followed in 1908, when the company bought Bucknall Steamship Lines who operated on numerous routes between the United Kingdom, South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
, the near East
Near East
The Near East is a geographical term that covers different countries for geographers, archeologists, and historians, on the one hand, and for political scientists, economists, and journalists, on the other...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. The Ellerman group of companies now occupied a dominating position in the Mediterranean and Near East. By 1914, the Ellerman group controlled four subsidiary companies, Ellerman City Line, Ellerman and Bucknall (Steamships) Company, Ellerman and Papayanni Lines, and Hall Line.
Wartime service
Ellerman's position as a major shipping firm meant that a large portion of its fleet was requisitioned by the British Government on the outbreak of the First World War, for use as troop carriersTroopship
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...
, munitions carriers, or for conversion into Armed merchantmen
Armed merchantmen
Armed merchantman is a term that has come to mean a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in long distance and high value...
to augment the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. Ellerman continued to operate a skeletal service with their remaining ships, and in 1916 the Wilson Line
Thomas Wilson Sons & Co.
Thomas Wilson Sons & Co. was founded in 1822 as a joint venture by merchants Thomas Wilson, his partner John Beckinton and two unrelated men both surnamed Hudson. None came from shipping backgrounds but were quick to see the opportunity of becoming involved in the industry. They acquired their...
of Hull
Kingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
was purchased by Ellerman personally, bringing sixty-seven short-sea vessels into service with the company.
"Heavy losses were suffered by the various companies controlled by Sir John Ellerman. In all, 103 ocean vessels, with a total cargo capacity of 600,000 to 750,000 tons, were destroyed. These included the liner City of Athens mined off Cape Town in Aug. 1917. The City of Winchester was the first merchant vessel to be destroyed during the war, being captured by the German cruiser KonigsbergSMS KönigsbergSMS Königsberg was the lead ship of her class of light cruisers built by the Imperial German Navy. She was laid down in early 1905, launched in December 1905, and completed by June 1906. Her sisters included , , and . The ship was armed with a main battery of ten guns and had a top speed of...
, while homeward bound from India with a very valuable cargo of produce. Another liner belonging to the Ellerman fleets was mined far from Europe. The City of Exeter, a fine passenger ship, struck a mine in the Indian Ocean, about 400 m. from BombayMumbaiMumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...
. Number 1 hold filled at once, and the master gave orders for the passengers and crew to leave the ship. Then the master and chief engineer returned and, at grave risk, made a thorough examination of the ship. They decided that, with the exercise of the greatest care, the crippled vessel could reach Bombay under her own steam. The passengers reembarked and the vessel safely arrived in port."
Ellerman Lines sought to restore a pre-war level of service after the end of the war. This entailed the purchasing of several German liners as well as placing orders for new ships. Before long the old networks of passenger and cargo services had been restored. John Ellerman died a baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
with a fortune of £37 million in 1933.
By 1939 and the outbreak of the Second World War the fleet had been successfully rebuilt and expanded, to the extent that the Ellerman groups owned a total 105 ships with a combined capacity of 920,000 tons. This made Ellerman's one of the biggest fleets in the world. Their ships were divided into four classes; mixed cargo and passenger ships; cargo ships with limited passenger accommodation; pure cargo ships; and short sea traders for service in the Mediterranean. Many of these ships were subsequently requisition by the government, whilst others were kept as cargo vessels to transport supplies to the United Kingdom. Losses during the war were heavy, particularly to Germany's U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
fleet. Forty-one ships were sunk by submarines, seven by air attacks, three by mines and one by a surface raider. In total, the Ellerman Group lost 60 ships out of its fleet of 105.
Post war recovery
As with the period after the losses of the First World War, a new building programme was undertaken. A new policy meant the building of fast steam cargo linerCargo liner
A Cargo liner is a type of merchant ship which carried general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the nineteenth century, and eventually gave way to container ships and other more specialized carriers in the latter half of the twentieth...
s that carried no more than a dozen passengers in considerable comfort. Crew accommodation was likewise improved. The focus was on re-building their international trade routes and to this end they purchased outright 12 cargo ships from the Government which they had managed during the war. By 1952, 25 of these new style 12-passenger ships had entered service, making for a total of 45 new vessels since the war, and with a further 14 for use on the Portuguese
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
trade routes and Mediterranean services. By 1953, Ellerman's fleet had been almost completely rebuilt, consisting of a total of 94 ships with a carrying capacity of 900,000 tons.
Eventual decline
Trading was however becoming more difficult with newly independent nations, such as IndiaIndia
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, setting up their own shipping companies. The nature of shipping was also changing, with the advent of containerisation. In 1966 Ellerman Lines joined the Associated Container Transportation (ACT) Group consortium and started the successful containerisation of its Mediterranean services. By the early 1970s the Ellerman group had expanded its commercial interests into other areas, including hotels, brewing
Brewing
Brewing is the production of beer through steeping a starch source in water and then fermenting with yeast. Brewing has taken place since around the 6th millennium BCE, and archeological evidence suggests that this technique was used in ancient Egypt...
and printing. In 1973 it merged all its shipping companies into one division. Ten years later its profitability had plummeted and it was making heavy losses. The whole business was then sold to the Barclay brothers
David and Frederick Barclay
Sir David Rowat Barclay and Sir Frederick Hugh Barclay are British businessmen. The identical twin brothers have very substantial business interests primarily in media, retail and property. The Sunday Times Rich List of 2007 estimated their wealth at £1.8 billion...
. In 1985 the shipping business was purchased by its management, then sold to the Trafalgar House
Trafalgar House (company)
Trafalgar House Public Limited Company was a British conglomerate with interests in property investment, property development, engineering, construction, shipping, hotels, energy and publishing...
conglomerate, who merged it with their ownership of the Cunard Line
Cunard Line
Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...
to form Cunard-Ellerman in 1987. In 1991 they passed it to the Andrew Weir Shipping Group, who sold it to Hamburg Süd
Hamburg Süd
Hamburg Süd is one of the key carriers on the North-South trade routes by ocean transportation. It is part of the Oetker Group, a family-owned German conglomerate.-History:...
in 2003. During 2004 the name was dropped and Ellerman Lines ceased to exist.
Ships of the Ellerman Line
(accidentally rammed and sank William Cory and SonCory Environmental
Cory Environmental is a large waste disposal company based in the United Kingdom. Cory operates in more than 30 locations throughout England, providing services in the collection, recycling and disposal of waste as well as municipal cleansing.-Operations:...
collier SS Corchester on 19 February 1956) (sank after collision with the Runnel Stone
Runnel Stone
The Runnel Stone is a hazardous rock pinnacle situated about a mile south of Gwennap Head, Cornwall, United Kingdom that used to show above the surface at low water until a steamship struck it in 1923.-Marks:...
on 8 October 1923)