Manchester Liners
Encyclopedia
Manchester Liners was a cargo and passenger shipping company, founded in 1898, based in Manchester
, England. The line pioneered the regular passage of ocean-going vessels along the Manchester Ship Canal. Its main sphere of operation was the transatlantic shipping trade, but the company also operated services to the Mediterranean. All of the line's vessels were registered in the Port of Manchester, and many were lost to enemy action during the First and Second World Wars.
A successful switch from traditional to container ship
ping in 1968 was relatively short-lived, as the subsequent introduction elsewhere of much larger container ships meant that the company's vessels, which were restricted to a maximum length of 530 feet (161.5 m) imposed by the ship canal's lock chambers, could no longer compete economically. The line ceased operations in 1985.
in 1894 made it possible for large ocean-going ships to sail directly into the heart of Manchester
. However, because of opposition from cartel
s of ship-owners based at Liverpool
and other ports in the United Kingdom, shipping lines were slow to introduce direct services to the new Port of Manchester
, which found it difficult to compete against the established ports. New trading routes from Manchester to West Africa
and Mediterranean ports were countered by the established shipping conferences sharply reducing their own charges and by inducing their customers to sign binding contracts. In some cases, after achieving their aims, the cartels re-imposed their old charges. To help counter these 'sharp practices', Sir Christopher Furness, of Furness Withy & Company, proposed in 1897 that a Manchester-based shipping line should be formed, to encourage the use of the Manchester Ship Canal and docks. The public prospectus for Manchester Liners Ltd (ML) was issued on 10 May 1898, with an authorised share capital of £1 million. Furness' company became the largest shareholder, and he was appointed chairman. Other directors included representatives from the Ship Canal company and Salford Borough Council
. Robert Burdon Stoker
, a director of Furness Withy, was appointed as ML's first managing director.
Manchester Liners decided from the outset to make Manchester–Canada their prime route, with a secondary route to the southern United States cotton
ports of New Orleans and Galveston
. Other lesser, sometimes seasonal routes, were added later.
Two 1890-built 3,000 gross registered ton (grt) ships were bought for £60,000 in May 1898, and renamed Manchester Enterprise and Manchester Trader. The Trader made the shipping line's first voyage, setting out from Avonmouth
for Montreal
on 26 May, before docking in Manchester with a cargo of grain.
The two secondhand vessels were joined in January 1899 by the newly built Manchester City of 7,696 grt, constructed by Raylton Dixon & Co
of Middlesbrough
. This steamship carried 1170 LT of coal, burned at 70 LT per day, giving a speed of 12 knots (6.5 m/s), fast for her day. She was a refrigerated vessel, designed to carry frozen meat and live cattle, and was claimed to be one of the largest meat-carrying ships then afloat. She made a successful maiden voyage from Canada and up the new canal to Manchester, taking two days and stopping overnight at Irlam
to give the crew a rest. The Manchester Guardian reported on 16 January 1899 that "there were many shakings of the head, not only in Liverpool, at the audacity of the attempt" and that "the canal pilots, on reaching Irlam, looked as if they had not been in bed for a week, as their eyes were bleared with exhaustion". The City discharged 450 cattle and 150 sheep at Manchester Corporation's Foreign Animals Wharf near the Mode Wheel locks in Salford. With an overall length of 467 feet (142.3 m), she was by far the largest vessel to have ventured up the waterway, and her successful navigation disproved the claim of Liverpool owners that only ships of 350 feet (106.7 m) or less could safely reach Manchester. The vessel continued to Manchester docks for further unloading, where she was met by the Lord Mayor, accompanied by a band and a festive crowd. This successful voyage did much to encourage other shipowners to use the new port. On her first voyage to Halifax, Nova Scotia in March 1899, the City took nine days and sixteen hours; and arrived before the mail boat, which had left the Mersey
twelve hours ahead of her.
The ML fleet was joined by two new smaller 5,600 grt vessels, the Manchester Port and Manchester Merchant during 1899 and 1900, and further new vessels followed quickly thereafter. The basic sailing pattern to Canada was St John, New Brunswick, year-round and to Montreal
when the St Lawrence River was ice-free.
Between 1899 and 1902, four Manchester ships and their crews were requisition
ed by the United Kingdom government to transport troops, horses, and supplies to South Africa during the Boer War
and its aftermath. Collecting points for horses and mules included Galveston and New Orleans (USA) and Buenos Aires
and Montevideo
in South America. Manchester Port made its second voyage to the Cape in 1900, then continued to Australia to bring troops to the conflict. On the first voyage after her return to ML, in January 1903, the first Manchester Merchant was lost while on passage from New Orleans to Manchester. A serious fire developed in her cotton cargo, and she was scuttled in Dingle Bay
on the west coast of Ireland to douse the flames, but subsequently broke up in bad weather.
By 1904 the line was operating fourteen steamships of between four and seven thousand tons, several built by the associated Furness Withy
shipyards. Services to ports in eastern Canada were supplemented by regular sailings to Boston
, Philadelphia, and the southern US cotton ports of New Orleans and Galveston. Between 1904 and 1908 ML deployed three vessels including the Manchester City to the River Plate
route, serving other UK ports as well Manchester. The main return cargo was frozen and chilled meat, and the City set a record for the largest meat consignment up to that time. Lord Furness, as he had become, died in 1912 and was succeeded as ML's chairman by R. B. Stoker until his death in 1919. ML's fleet was maintained at 14 vessels during the last few years before the First World War. Eleven of their ships were deployed on the Canadian routes, carrying mainly manufactured goods outwards and meat and grain inbound.
, returning with war and other supplies. In August 1914, the Manchester Miller (1903) and Manchester Civilian (1913) were requisitioned as supply ships and sent with coal to the Falkland Islands
to refuel the battlecruiser
s HMS Inflexible and HMS Invincible. As the Civilian was coaling the cruisers, the German vessels approached and the British warships cast off immediately to engage them. In the ensuing battle Admiral Von Spee
's battleship
s Scharnhost and Gneisenau, plus escorting cruisers, were sunk. The Civilian was later equipped with minesweeping gear. She returned in 1916 carrying supplies and equipment from Canada to the troops in France.
All vessels were fitted with defensive guns at the bow and stern. In June 1917 Manchester Port (1904) beat off a submarine attack with gunfire near Cape Wrath
. Manchester Commerce (1899), outward-bound for Quebec City
was sunk off northwest Ireland on 26 October 1914, with the loss of 14 crew, becoming the first merchant ship to be sunk by a mine. On 4 June 1917 the second Manchester Trader, en route from Souda Bay
in Crete to Algiers
, was engaged in a running battle with U-boat
U 65 before she was captured and sunk near Pantellaria island, with the loss of one crewmember. The master, Captain F. D. Struss, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross
, and went on to complete 40 years service with the line after surviving another sinking in the Second World War. A further nine ships were sunk by U-boats, seven of the losses occurring in 1917.
ML acquired seven ships between 1916 and 1918, four of which were sunk in 1917. Manchester Engineer acquired secondhand in 1917 had a short but eventful career with ML. On 18 June, when bound for Archangel
, she was chased by a U-boat but escaped when her naval escort arrived. On 16 August when sailing from the Tyne to St Nazaire with coal, she was torpedoed five miles off Flamborough Head
and sank. Manchester Division achieved fame on her maiden voyage from West Hartlepool to join a westbound Atlantic convoy at Plymouth when she rammed and sank a German submarine off Flamborough Head
in October 1918. At the end of the war in November 1918, ML had twelve surviving vessels on strength.
In 1921–22, ML's fleet was augmented by two second-hand vessels. Sailings were resumed to New Orleans, and the Baltimore service was extended to Norfolk, Virginia
. Some ships including the Manchester Civilian and Manchester Spinner became regular carriers in the coal trade from Sydney, Nova Scotia
. The Civilian made several round trips from the USA to Japan in 1923, carrying relief supplies after the Japanese earthquake
. ML took delivery of the 7,930 tons steam turbine Manchester Regiment in 1922, constructed on the Tees by the Furness Shipbuilding Company. This 12.5 knots (6.8 m/s) ship with a crew of 65 was the largest operated to date, carrying 512 cattle, plus hold cargo and was equipped with large derrick
s to assist in heavy goods handling. The Regiment's record from the Mersey Bar to Quebec was seven days nine hours. In 1925 her captain won the gold-headed cane traditionally awarded each Spring to the master of the first ship to break through the St Lawrence ice to reach Montreal, a feat repeated later by several other ML captains. ML's old head office in Deansgate
, Manchester became inadequate and was replaced in August 1922 by a purpose-built five-storey modern building located in St Ann's Square next to the Royal Exchange
.
The line acquired two new vessels in 1925, but later that year its fortunes were adversely affected by competition from subsidised American firms on the North Atlantic routes; ML disposed of seven ships between late 1925 and 1930, reducing its fleet to ten vessels. The Regiment steamed 160 miles through a gale in 1929 to reach the sinking Glasgow steamer Volumnia. A lifeboat
was launched to rescue the crew of forty-five. On return home, King George V
awarded the Regiment's lifeboat crew the Silver Medal for Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea
and Manchester's Lord Mayor presented a silver salver from the Board of Trade
to Captain Linton. In 1933, amid the Great Depression
, several ships were laid up; the Manchester Merchant of 1904 was disposed of for breaking up and the Manchester Civilian was sold to Greek owners. The public sailing programme for the 1933 summer season listed six ships as allocated to the weekly "Fast Freight Service" to Quebec and Montreal. The six steamers were advertised as being "fitted with fan or forced ventilation and all have cold storage accommodation". Most vessels were also able to carry up to twelve passengers. After a ten-year gap, three new vessels were commissioned between 1935 and 1938 as trade started to recover, maintaining the fleet at ten ships. The trio were equipped with automatic stokers for their coal-fired boilers and had greatly improved accommodation for the passengers and the crew.
, but early in the conflict lost Manchester Regiment in December 1939, when outbound with general cargo for St John, New Brunswick. She was proceeding without lights when she was run down by the Pacific Steam Navigation
's Oropesa, which had been detached from an eastbound convoy. While the ML fleet continued to be deployed on the North Atlantic routes during the war, the company's vessels also undertook a wide variety of roles elsewhere during the conflict. Manchester City became a minelayer
, then a naval auxiliary ship, working in the Far East. Manchester Progress was one of the last ships to leave Rangoon in 1941 before the Japanese conquest of Burma. Manchester Commerce (1925) was deployed on Mediterranean convoy
s in 1942/43 and next year transported mules from South Africa to India for the Burma Campaign
. Manchester Trader (1941) was fitted with extra crew quarters for use as a commodore
ship on Atlantic convoys. Except for two supply runs to Bone, Algeria, she remained in the Atlantic theatre and served ML until 1963. Manchester Brigade, having survived the first World War, was sunk on 26 September 1940 after being torpedoed by U-boat
137 when bound for Montreal in convoy off Malin Head
, to the north of Ireland; 58 crew were lost.
Manchester Merchant, completed in May 1940, quickly became involved in "Operation Fish", transporting Britain's gold reserves to Canada, making two voyages with bullion valued in total at £4.5 million. In late 1942 she was deployed on "Operation Torch
" as a supply ship to North Africa. On 25 February 1943, she was torpedoed by "U 628" while part of an outbound Atlantic convoy; 36 of the crew of 65 including gunners were lost, but Captain Struss again survived, and received the OBE. Manchester Division (1918) bound for Table Bay
was directed to assist the Blue Star Line's Dunedin Star which had beached on Namibia
's rugged coast. The Division stood by in heavy swell for three days, rescuing 40 passengers and crew, before taking them to Cape Town
. Manchester Citizen (1925) was also sunk by a U-boat, whilst on passage to Lagos on 9 July 1943 after surviving several supply runs for the Eighth Army
. The last vessel to be "lost", albeit deliberately, was Manchester Spinner (1918), which had taken military supplies to India in 1942. On 7 June 1944, shortly after D-Day
, manned by a volunteer crew, she led a line of Mulberry Harbour
blockship
s and was sunk off Juno Beach
Normandy to act as a breakwater, whilst troop reinforcements and stores were landed on the beaches. Her superstructure was then armed with anti-aircraft guns.
, and to navigate the St Lawrence with its aid. In the same year the company carried Manchester's Lord Mayor and party to Canada on a goodwill and trade mission. Manchester Exporter was sold in 1947 and replaced by the newly built larger Manchester Regiment. Two further 7,000 ton 14 knots (7.6 m/s) ships were commissioned in 1952, which meant that the Manchester Division, veteran of both wars, could be sold for scrapping after a record 35 years service with the line. In 1952, Robert B. Stoker, grandson of the second chairman, became the third generation of his family to be appointed an executive director of ML. He had joined the line in 1932 and in turn became chairman in 1968.
ML contracted Cammell Laird
of Birkenhead
to build two smaller vessels of 1,800 tons. Commissioned in 1952, they were named the Manchester Pioneer and Explorer. They were joined by the secondhand 1,400-ton Manchester Prospector. The trio were the first of a size able to pass through the restricted-size canals and locks leading directly to Toronto and the other Great Lakes
ports as far as Detroit, Michigan. This initiative, the first by a British line, and taken well ahead of the 1959 completion of the Saint Lawrence Seaway
, gave the line a head start in the direct trade to the Midwest
ports. During the winter months, when thick ice prevented navigation on the lakes, the trio were employed elsewhere, sometimes on charter to other lines.
Manchester Progress, 5,620 grt, opened a regular mid-summer service to Churchill, Manitoba
on Hudson Bay
in 1954, during the short ice-free season, bringing back grain shipped to the port by rail from the Canadian Prairies
. Captain F. Struss, survivor of sinkings in both wars, retired in March 1954 after forty years service, the last ML Commodore who had gained his master's ticket in sail. That same year the Great Lakes service was extended to Chicago, and ML's pre-1914 service to the southern US ports of Charleston, Savannah, and Jacksonville was resumed.
A USAF
RB-36 "Peacemaker" ten-engined strategic bomber suffered engine fires on 5 August 1954, while en route from Travis AFB California to RAF Lakenheath
Suffolk. The crew of twenty-three were ordered to bail out 450 miles (724.2 km) west of Ireland at 03:40. The Manchester Shipper, inbound from Montreal, and the outbound Manchester Pioneer, diverted to the scene and despite bad weather were able to rescue the four surviving crew. The USAF's HQ Third Air Force sent messages commending the ship masters and crews efforts under adverse circumstances.
ML's first two motor vessels, with engines and accommodation located aft, were commissioned in April 1956. The Manchester Vanguard and Venture, 1,662 grt, were designed for the Great Lakes service. Two larger motor vessels, the Manchester Faith and Fame, 4,460 grt, were commissioned in April 1959, and the Faith quickly became the first commercial vessel to transit the newly opened St Lawrence Seaway with its larger locks.
Two ML vessels were involved in a successful mid-Atlantic rescue of airliner passengers on 23 September 1962. A Flying Tiger Line
Lockheed Super Constellation was en route from McGuire AFB New Jersey to Frankfurt Airport
with 76 persons aboard. Two out of four engines failed and the airliner changed course for Shannon Airport
Ireland. After a further hour, a third engine failed and Captain John Murray made a successful ditching in darkness 560 nautical miles (1,037.1 km) west of Shannon. All occupants evacuated the aircraft before it sank. The larger Manchester Progress acted as a radio relay ship, while Manchester Faith picked up 48 survivors. The other 28 persons on board the aircraft were lost when their rafts sank in heavy seas.
Manchester Liners House, the company's new headquarters in Salford Docks was officially opened on 12 December 1969 by the High Commissioner for Canada. The design was advanced for its day and it remains basically unchanged today except for re-glazing. The unusual curved facade of the ten-storey building was designed to echo the bridge shape of the Manchester Miller. Later re-named Furness House, it was built on the former Manchester Ship Canal railway sidings between Nos. 8 and 9 Docks.
By the late 1960s rising shore costs, dock workers strikes, restrictive practices on both sides of the Atlantic, and subsidised competition from American shipping lines, persuaded Manchester Liners to switch its future fleet to container ships only. An example of the delaying effect of the strikes in the Canadian ports, with consequent impact on operating costs, was an extended ninety-day return voyage to Quebec City
in early 1967 by the new Manchester Progress.
Initially, three new ships were ordered from Smiths Dock Company
in Middlesbrough, the first of which, Manchester Challenge, was delivered in 1968, becoming the first British-built and operated cellular container ship. The Challenge and her two sisters Manchester Courage and Concorde were followed from the Tees in 1971 by the Crusade. UK manufacturers supplied 10,000 containers
. The four ships each had the capacity to carry five hundred 20 feet (6.1 m) containers, all of them below deck. A new regular container route started in November 1968, with a twice-weekly service to Montreal, where the containers were transferred to smaller vessels which could navigate to the ports of the Great Lakes. The four new powerful (16,000 hp) 19.5 knots (10.6 m/s) vessels were constructed to a standard exceeding Lloyds
class 1 ice-stiffening, with additional aft protection over the rudder to permit reversing through ice.
On her second voyage in early 1969, Manchester Challenge lived up to her name by entering the heavily iced Montreal harbour, discharging, reloading and departing only two days late. Another thirty-seven conventional vessels were stuck at the port for a month. The quartet's ice-breaking capability often resulted them in leading a convoy of other vessels into Montreal during the winter months. The four ships of 12,039 gross tons were of the maximum size able to navigate the Manchester Ship Canal.
To obtain the greatest operational efficiency, ML constructed two dedicated container terminals with their own gantry cranes, spreaders etc. The Manchester terminal was built on an open site next to the western end of No. 9 Dock. A second container berth was added in 1972. The other terminal was created at Montreal, with similar equipment, where the containers were trans-shipped to a dedicated liner train operated by Canadian National Railways, which carried them onwards to Toronto and further destinations.
ML inaugurated a container service to the Mediterranean in 1971 using smaller ships. Initial destinations included Malta, Cyprus and Israel. Later in the decade, the countries served were extended to include Italy, Greece, Lebanon and Syria. To further improve service to shippers, two large road hauliers were acquired in 1971 and 1972, enabling a "door-to-door" container operation to be introduced. Facilities for container storage and repair were also acquired. Following its successful pioneering of the UK container trade, ML was given the Queen's Award for Export
in 1971, the first to be given to a shipping company; every ship in the fleet flew the award flag.
In 1974 ML carried 783000 LT out of the total 2900000 LT of dry cargo handled on the ship canal (27%). During the same year, ML acquired Manchester Dry Docks Ltd, which operated three large and one small dry docks on the canal adjacent to MLs berths in Salford Docks. These facilities assisted greatly in keeping the fleet fully operational. Manchester Challenge completed her 100th round voyage to Montreal in 1975 having carried 95,000 containers weighing 1440000 LT a distance of 554000 miles (891,574.4 km) – the equivalent of a round trip to the moon. During 1976 MLs Manchester to Canada route had three sailings per week.
from the beginning, and they became a subsidiary in 1970. Furness Withy was itself taken over in 1980 by the C. Y. Tung Group of Hong Kong. Robert B. Stoker retired in 1979 as Chairman of Manchester Liners after 47 years service with the company.
Severe competition following the building of excess container shipping capacity by many companies badly affected ML's trade and profitability. The company's vessels were by then smaller than average in the industry, leading to higher operating costs per unit of cargo carried. Their operations were further severely affected during the mid-1970s by both official and unofficial strikes by dock workers. The service to Canada ended in 1979, and by the early 1980s only five "Manchester" ships remained – the 30,000 ton container vessel Manchester Challenge and four 1,600–4,000 ton vessels: Manchester Crown, Manchester Trader, Manchester Faith and Manchester City. The line had by then ceased using the Port of Manchester, and the four smaller vessels were operating to the Mediterranean out of Ellesmere Port
, 33 miles (53.1 km) closer to the sea on the lower reaches of the ship canal.
In 1981, ML jointly with the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company
and the Dart Container Line, instituted a weekly containership service from Felixstowe, Suffolk
, to Montreal. MLs contribution to the service was the large Manchester Challenge. The last of Manchester Liners' ships was sold in 1985, and in 1988 the services formerly operated by the company were taken over by the Orient Overseas Container Line
, successor to the Tung Group.
From the earliest days, the line's colours were: funnels – dark red with black top and thin black band; hulls – black with white boot topping. During the Second World War, ships were painted in battleship grey and the names were deleted for security, except when in friendly ports. From the 1960s onwards, some ships' hulls were painted light grey and others red.
The line's flag colours were a red oval, placed horizontally, with white "ML" lettering in the centre, imposed on an overall white background.
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England. The line pioneered the regular passage of ocean-going vessels along the Manchester Ship Canal. Its main sphere of operation was the transatlantic shipping trade, but the company also operated services to the Mediterranean. All of the line's vessels were registered in the Port of Manchester, and many were lost to enemy action during the First and Second World Wars.
A successful switch from traditional to container ship
Container ship
Container ships are cargo ships that carry all of their load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. They form a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport.-History:...
ping in 1968 was relatively short-lived, as the subsequent introduction elsewhere of much larger container ships meant that the company's vessels, which were restricted to a maximum length of 530 feet (161.5 m) imposed by the ship canal's lock chambers, could no longer compete economically. The line ceased operations in 1985.
Early history
The opening of the Manchester Ship CanalManchester Ship Canal
The Manchester Ship Canal is a river navigation 36 miles long in the North West of England. Starting at the Mersey Estuary near Liverpool, it generally follows the original routes of the rivers Mersey and Irwell through the historic counties of Cheshire and Lancashire. Several sets of locks lift...
in 1894 made it possible for large ocean-going ships to sail directly into the heart of Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
. However, because of opposition from cartel
Cartel
A cartel is a formal agreement among competing firms. It is a formal organization of producers and manufacturers that agree to fix prices, marketing, and production. Cartels usually occur in an oligopolistic industry, where there is a small number of sellers and usually involve homogeneous products...
s of ship-owners based at 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...
and other ports in the United Kingdom, shipping lines were slow to introduce direct services to the new Port of Manchester
Port of Manchester
The Port of Manchester in North West England was created as a customs port on 1 January 1894, four months before the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal. It extended along the whole length of the canal, from Eastham in the west to Manchester in the east, absorbing the Port of Runcorn, which...
, which found it difficult to compete against the established ports. New trading routes from Manchester to West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
and Mediterranean ports were countered by the established shipping conferences sharply reducing their own charges and by inducing their customers to sign binding contracts. In some cases, after achieving their aims, the cartels re-imposed their old charges. To help counter these 'sharp practices', Sir Christopher Furness, of Furness Withy & Company, proposed in 1897 that a Manchester-based shipping line should be formed, to encourage the use of the Manchester Ship Canal and docks. The public prospectus for Manchester Liners Ltd (ML) was issued on 10 May 1898, with an authorised share capital of £1 million. Furness' company became the largest shareholder, and he was appointed chairman. Other directors included representatives from the Ship Canal company and Salford Borough Council
County Borough of Salford
Salford was, from 1844 to 1974, a local government district in the northwest of England, coterminate with Salford. It was granted city status in 1926.-Free Borough and Police Commissioners:...
. Robert Burdon Stoker
Robert Burdon Stoker
Robert Burdon Stoker was a British shipping magnate and Conservative politician.-Shipping career:Stoker was born in north-east England and aged 17 was given his first ship, a 500-ton coaster, by his father. He entered a Liverpool sailing ship firm, involved in the American and Canadian trades, and...
, a director of Furness Withy, was appointed as ML's first managing director.
Initial operations 1898–1914
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
ports of New Orleans and Galveston
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
. Other lesser, sometimes seasonal routes, were added later.
Two 1890-built 3,000 gross registered ton (grt) ships were bought for £60,000 in May 1898, and renamed Manchester Enterprise and Manchester Trader. The Trader made the shipping line's first voyage, setting out from Avonmouth
Avonmouth Docks
The Avonmouth Docks are part of the Port of Bristol, in England. They are situated on the northern side of the mouth of the River Avon, opposite the Royal Portbury Dock on the southern side, where the river joins the Severn estuary, within Avonmouth....
for Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
on 26 May, before docking in Manchester with a cargo of grain.
The two secondhand vessels were joined in January 1899 by the newly built Manchester City of 7,696 grt, constructed by Raylton Dixon & Co
Sir Raylton Dixon
Sir Raylton Dixon , was a shipbuilder at Middlesbrough on the River Tees. He was one of the seven children of Jeremiah Dixon and Mary Frank of Cockfield, County Durham who were married on 21 July 1833 in St. Cuthberts, Darlington...
of Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough is a large town situated on the south bank of the River Tees in north east England, that sits within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire...
. This steamship carried 1170 LT of coal, burned at 70 LT per day, giving a speed of 12 knots (6.5 m/s), fast for her day. She was a refrigerated vessel, designed to carry frozen meat and live cattle, and was claimed to be one of the largest meat-carrying ships then afloat. She made a successful maiden voyage from Canada and up the new canal to Manchester, taking two days and stopping overnight at Irlam
Irlam
Irlam is a suburban town and unparished area within the City of Salford in Greater Manchester, England. At the 2001 census it had a population of 18,504. The town lies on flat ground on the south side of the M62 motorway and the north bank of the Manchester Ship Canal, and is west-southwest of...
to give the crew a rest. The Manchester Guardian reported on 16 January 1899 that "there were many shakings of the head, not only in Liverpool, at the audacity of the attempt" and that "the canal pilots, on reaching Irlam, looked as if they had not been in bed for a week, as their eyes were bleared with exhaustion". The City discharged 450 cattle and 150 sheep at Manchester Corporation's Foreign Animals Wharf near the Mode Wheel locks in Salford. With an overall length of 467 feet (142.3 m), she was by far the largest vessel to have ventured up the waterway, and her successful navigation disproved the claim of Liverpool owners that only ships of 350 feet (106.7 m) or less could safely reach Manchester. The vessel continued to Manchester docks for further unloading, where she was met by the Lord Mayor, accompanied by a band and a festive crowd. This successful voyage did much to encourage other shipowners to use the new port. On her first voyage to Halifax, Nova Scotia in March 1899, the City took nine days and sixteen hours; and arrived before the mail boat, which had left the Mersey
River Mersey
The River Mersey is a river in North West England. It is around long, stretching from Stockport, Greater Manchester, and ending at Liverpool Bay, Merseyside. For centuries, it formed part of the ancient county divide between Lancashire and Cheshire....
twelve hours ahead of her.
The ML fleet was joined by two new smaller 5,600 grt vessels, the Manchester Port and Manchester Merchant during 1899 and 1900, and further new vessels followed quickly thereafter. The basic sailing pattern to Canada was St John, New Brunswick, year-round and to Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
when the St Lawrence River was ice-free.
Between 1899 and 1902, four Manchester ships and their crews were requisition
Requisition
A requisition is a request for something, especially a formal written request on a pre-printed form.An online requisition is an electronic document, which can be originated by the requester and then using the company workflow or hierarchy rules, can be submitted to the subsequent levels, until it...
ed by the United Kingdom government to transport troops, horses, and supplies to South Africa during the Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
and its aftermath. Collecting points for horses and mules included Galveston and New Orleans (USA) and Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
and Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
in South America. Manchester Port made its second voyage to the Cape in 1900, then continued to Australia to bring troops to the conflict. On the first voyage after her return to ML, in January 1903, the first Manchester Merchant was lost while on passage from New Orleans to Manchester. A serious fire developed in her cotton cargo, and she was scuttled in Dingle Bay
Dingle Bay
Dingle Bay is a bay located in County Kerry, western Ireland. The bay runs approximately from northeast to southwest into the Atlantic Ocean and is approximately wide at the head, and wide at the entrance. It is flanked on the north by the Dingle Peninsula, and on the south by the Iveragh...
on the west coast of Ireland to douse the flames, but subsequently broke up in bad weather.
By 1904 the line was operating fourteen steamships of between four and seven thousand tons, several built by the associated Furness Withy
Furness Withy
Furness Withy was a major British transport business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange.-History:The Company was founded by Christopher Furness and Henry Withy in 1891 in Hartlepool. This was achieved by the amalgamation of the Furness Line of steamers with the business of Edward Withy and...
shipyards. Services to ports in eastern Canada were supplemented by regular sailings to Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, Philadelphia, and the southern US cotton ports of New Orleans and Galveston. Between 1904 and 1908 ML deployed three vessels including the Manchester City to the River Plate
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
route, serving other UK ports as well Manchester. The main return cargo was frozen and chilled meat, and the City set a record for the largest meat consignment up to that time. Lord Furness, as he had become, died in 1912 and was succeeded as ML's chairman by R. B. Stoker until his death in 1919. ML's fleet was maintained at 14 vessels during the last few years before the First World War. Eleven of their ships were deployed on the Canadian routes, carrying mainly manufactured goods outwards and meat and grain inbound.
Operations during the First World War
At the start of the war in July 1914, ML had a fleet of fifteen ships. Most of the fleet continued to operate services to ports in eastern Canada and to USA including BaltimoreBaltimore
Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, returning with war and other supplies. In August 1914, the Manchester Miller (1903) and Manchester Civilian (1913) were requisitioned as supply ships and sent with coal to the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
to refuel the battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
s HMS Inflexible and HMS Invincible. As the Civilian was coaling the cruisers, the German vessels approached and the British warships cast off immediately to engage them. In the ensuing battle Admiral Von Spee
Maximilian von Spee
Vice Admiral Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee was a German admiral. Although he was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the counts von Spee belonged to the prominent families of the Rhenish nobility. He joined the Kaiserliche Marine in 1878. In 1887–88 he commanded the Kamerun ports, in German West...
's battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s Scharnhost and Gneisenau, plus escorting cruisers, were sunk. The Civilian was later equipped with minesweeping gear. She returned in 1916 carrying supplies and equipment from Canada to the troops in France.
All vessels were fitted with defensive guns at the bow and stern. In June 1917 Manchester Port (1904) beat off a submarine attack with gunfire near Cape Wrath
Cape Wrath
Cape Wrath is a cape in Sutherland, Highland, in northern Scotland. It is the most northwesterly point on the island of Great Britain. The land between the Kyle of Durness and the lighthouse that is situated right at the tip, is known as the Parph, two hundred and seven square kilometers of...
. Manchester Commerce (1899), outward-bound for Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
was sunk off northwest Ireland on 26 October 1914, with the loss of 14 crew, becoming the first merchant ship to be sunk by a mine. On 4 June 1917 the second Manchester Trader, en route from Souda Bay
Souda Bay
Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour on the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akrotiri peninsula and Cape Drapano, and runs west to east...
in Crete to Algiers
Algiers
' is the capital and largest city of Algeria. According to the 1998 census, the population of the city proper was 1,519,570 and that of the urban agglomeration was 2,135,630. In 2009, the population was about 3,500,000...
, was engaged in a running battle with 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...
U 65 before she was captured and sunk near Pantellaria island, with the loss of one crewmember. The master, Captain F. D. Struss, was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross
Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)
The Distinguished Service Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers, and other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and British Merchant Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.The DSC, which may be awarded posthumously, is...
, and went on to complete 40 years service with the line after surviving another sinking in the Second World War. A further nine ships were sunk by U-boats, seven of the losses occurring in 1917.
ML acquired seven ships between 1916 and 1918, four of which were sunk in 1917. Manchester Engineer acquired secondhand in 1917 had a short but eventful career with ML. On 18 June, when bound for Archangel
Arkhangelsk
Arkhangelsk , formerly known as Archangel in English, is a city and the administrative center of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It lies on both banks of the Northern Dvina River near its exit into the White Sea in the north of European Russia. The city spreads for over along the banks of the river...
, she was chased by a U-boat but escaped when her naval escort arrived. On 16 August when sailing from the Tyne to St Nazaire with coal, she was torpedoed five miles off Flamborough Head
Flamborough Head
Flamborough Head is a promontory of on the Yorkshire coast of England, between the Filey and Bridlington bays of the North Sea. It is a chalk headland, and the resistance it offers to coastal erosion may be contrasted with the low coast of Holderness to the south...
and sank. Manchester Division achieved fame on her maiden voyage from West Hartlepool to join a westbound Atlantic convoy at Plymouth when she rammed and sank a German submarine off Flamborough Head
Flamborough Head
Flamborough Head is a promontory of on the Yorkshire coast of England, between the Filey and Bridlington bays of the North Sea. It is a chalk headland, and the resistance it offers to coastal erosion may be contrasted with the low coast of Holderness to the south...
in October 1918. At the end of the war in November 1918, ML had twelve surviving vessels on strength.
Peacetime operations 1919–1939
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....
. Some ships including the Manchester Civilian and Manchester Spinner became regular carriers in the coal trade from Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney is a Canadian urban community in the province of Nova Scotia. It is situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island and is administratively part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality....
. The Civilian made several round trips from the USA to Japan in 1923, carrying relief supplies after the Japanese earthquake
1923 Great Kanto earthquake
The struck the Kantō plain on the Japanese main island of Honshū at 11:58:44 am JST on September 1, 1923. Varied accounts hold that the duration of the earthquake was between 4 and 10 minutes...
. ML took delivery of the 7,930 tons steam turbine Manchester Regiment in 1922, constructed on the Tees by the Furness Shipbuilding Company. This 12.5 knots (6.8 m/s) ship with a crew of 65 was the largest operated to date, carrying 512 cattle, plus hold cargo and was equipped with large derrick
Derrick
A derrick is a lifting device composed of one tower, or guyed mast such as a pole which is hinged freely at the bottom. It is controlled by lines powered by some means such as man-hauling or motors, so that the pole can move in all four directions. A line runs up it and over its top with a hook on...
s to assist in heavy goods handling. The Regiment's record from the Mersey Bar to Quebec was seven days nine hours. In 1925 her captain won the gold-headed cane traditionally awarded each Spring to the master of the first ship to break through the St Lawrence ice to reach Montreal, a feat repeated later by several other ML captains. ML's old head office in Deansgate
Deansgate
Deansgate is a main road through the city centre of Manchester, England. It runs roughly north–south in a near straight route through the western part of the city centre and is the longest road in the city centre at over one mile long....
, Manchester became inadequate and was replaced in August 1922 by a purpose-built five-storey modern building located in St Ann's Square next to the Royal Exchange
Royal Exchange, Manchester
The Royal Exchange is a grade II listed Victorian building in Manchester, England. It is located in the city centre on the land bounded by St Ann’s Square, Exchange Street, Market Street, Cross Street and Old Bank Street...
.
The line acquired two new vessels in 1925, but later that year its fortunes were adversely affected by competition from subsidised American firms on the North Atlantic routes; ML disposed of seven ships between late 1925 and 1930, reducing its fleet to ten vessels. The Regiment steamed 160 miles through a gale in 1929 to reach the sinking Glasgow steamer Volumnia. A lifeboat
Lifeboat (shipboard)
A lifeboat is a small, rigid or inflatable watercraft carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard ship. In the military, a lifeboat may be referred to as a whaleboat, dinghy, or gig. The ship's tenders of cruise ships often double as lifeboats. Recreational sailors sometimes...
was launched to rescue the crew of forty-five. On return home, King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
awarded the Regiment's lifeboat crew the Silver Medal for Gallantry in Saving Life at Sea
Sea Gallantry Medal
The Sea Gallantry Medal , is an award for civil gallantry at sea in Great Britain and the Commonwealth. The Merchant Shipping Act 1854 permitted the issue of this award and SGMs were first struck in 1855...
and Manchester's Lord Mayor presented a silver salver from the Board of Trade
Board of Trade
The Board of Trade is a committee of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom, originating as a committee of inquiry in the 17th century and evolving gradually into a government department with a diverse range of functions...
to Captain Linton. In 1933, amid the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, several ships were laid up; the Manchester Merchant of 1904 was disposed of for breaking up and the Manchester Civilian was sold to Greek owners. The public sailing programme for the 1933 summer season listed six ships as allocated to the weekly "Fast Freight Service" to Quebec and Montreal. The six steamers were advertised as being "fitted with fan or forced ventilation and all have cold storage accommodation". Most vessels were also able to carry up to twelve passengers. After a ten-year gap, three new vessels were commissioned between 1935 and 1938 as trade started to recover, maintaining the fleet at ten ships. The trio were equipped with automatic stokers for their coal-fired boilers and had greatly improved accommodation for the passengers and the crew.
Operations during the Second World War
ML had ten vessels at the start of World War IIWorld 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...
, but early in the conflict lost Manchester Regiment in December 1939, when outbound with general cargo for St John, New Brunswick. She was proceeding without lights when she was run down by the Pacific Steam Navigation
Pacific Steam Navigation Company
The Pacific Steam Navigation Company was a commercial shipping company that operated in the Pacific coast of South America, and was the first to use steam ships for commercial traffic in the Pacific Ocean.-History:...
's Oropesa, which had been detached from an eastbound convoy. While the ML fleet continued to be deployed on the North Atlantic routes during the war, the company's vessels also undertook a wide variety of roles elsewhere during the conflict. Manchester City became a minelayer
Minelayer
Minelaying is the act of deploying explosive mines. Historically this has been carried out by ships, submarines and aircraft. Additionally, since World War I the term minelayer refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines...
, then a naval auxiliary ship, working in the Far East. Manchester Progress was one of the last ships to leave Rangoon in 1941 before the Japanese conquest of Burma. Manchester Commerce (1925) was deployed on Mediterranean convoy
Convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...
s in 1942/43 and next year transported mules from South Africa to India for the Burma Campaign
Burma Campaign
The Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was fought primarily between British Commonwealth, Chinese and United States forces against the forces of the Empire of Japan, Thailand, and the Indian National Army. British Commonwealth land forces were drawn primarily from...
. Manchester Trader (1941) was fitted with extra crew quarters for use as a commodore
Convoy commodore
A Convoy Commodore was the title of a civilian put in charge of the good order of the merchant ships in the British convoys used during World War II. Usually the convoy commodore was a retired naval officer or a senior merchant captain drawn from the RNVR...
ship on Atlantic convoys. Except for two supply runs to Bone, Algeria, she remained in the Atlantic theatre and served ML until 1963. Manchester Brigade, having survived the first World War, was sunk on 26 September 1940 after being torpedoed by 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...
137 when bound for Montreal in convoy off Malin Head
Malin Head
Malin Head , on the Inishowen Peninsula, County Donegal, is usually given as the most northerly headland of the mainland of Ireland . In fact, the most northerly point is actually a headland named Banba's Crown on the Inishowen Peninsula about 2 km to the northeast...
, to the north of Ireland; 58 crew were lost.
Manchester Merchant, completed in May 1940, quickly became involved in "Operation Fish", transporting Britain's gold reserves to Canada, making two voyages with bullion valued in total at £4.5 million. In late 1942 she was deployed on "Operation Torch
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
" as a supply ship to North Africa. On 25 February 1943, she was torpedoed by "U 628" while part of an outbound Atlantic convoy; 36 of the crew of 65 including gunners were lost, but Captain Struss again survived, and received the OBE. Manchester Division (1918) bound for Table Bay
Table Bay
Table Bay is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named because it is dominated by the flat-topped Table Mountain.Bartolomeu Dias was the first European to explore this...
was directed to assist the Blue Star Line's Dunedin Star which had beached on Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
's rugged coast. The Division stood by in heavy swell for three days, rescuing 40 passengers and crew, before taking them to Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
. Manchester Citizen (1925) was also sunk by a U-boat, whilst on passage to Lagos on 9 July 1943 after surviving several supply runs for the Eighth Army
Eighth Army (United Kingdom)
The Eighth Army was one of the best-known formations of the British Army during World War II, fighting in the North African and Italian campaigns....
. The last vessel to be "lost", albeit deliberately, was Manchester Spinner (1918), which had taken military supplies to India in 1942. On 7 June 1944, shortly after D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
, manned by a volunteer crew, she led a line of Mulberry Harbour
Mulberry harbour
A Mulberry harbour was a British type of temporary harbour developed in World War II to offload cargo on the beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy....
blockship
Blockship
A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used.It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of HMS Hood at Portland Harbour; or it may be brought by enemy raiders and used to...
s and was sunk off Juno Beach
Juno Beach
Juno or Juno Beach was one of five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during the Second World War. The sector spanned from Saint-Aubin, a village just east of the British Gold sector, to Courseulles, just west of the British Sword sector...
Normandy to act as a breakwater, whilst troop reinforcements and stores were landed on the beaches. Her superstructure was then armed with anti-aircraft guns.
Peacetime operations 1945–1968
At the war's end, ML had a fleet of eight vessels built between 1918 and 1943, and these continued to operate the traditional service to eastern Canada for a further two years before new vessels could be acquired. In 1946 the Manchester Shipper became the first merchant ship to be fitted with radarRadar
Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...
, and to navigate the St Lawrence with its aid. In the same year the company carried Manchester's Lord Mayor and party to Canada on a goodwill and trade mission. Manchester Exporter was sold in 1947 and replaced by the newly built larger Manchester Regiment. Two further 7,000 ton 14 knots (7.6 m/s) ships were commissioned in 1952, which meant that the Manchester Division, veteran of both wars, could be sold for scrapping after a record 35 years service with the line. In 1952, Robert B. Stoker, grandson of the second chairman, became the third generation of his family to be appointed an executive director of ML. He had joined the line in 1932 and in turn became chairman in 1968.
ML contracted Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...
of Birkenhead
Birkenhead
Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...
to build two smaller vessels of 1,800 tons. Commissioned in 1952, they were named the Manchester Pioneer and Explorer. They were joined by the secondhand 1,400-ton Manchester Prospector. The trio were the first of a size able to pass through the restricted-size canals and locks leading directly to Toronto and the other Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
ports as far as Detroit, Michigan. This initiative, the first by a British line, and taken well ahead of the 1959 completion of the Saint Lawrence Seaway
Saint Lawrence Seaway
The Saint Lawrence Seaway , , is the common name for a system of locks, canals and channels that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the North American Great Lakes, as far as Lake Superior. Legally it extends from Montreal to Lake Erie, including the Welland Canal...
, gave the line a head start in the direct trade to the Midwest
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States is one of the four U.S. geographic regions defined by the United States Census Bureau, providing an official definition of the American Midwest....
ports. During the winter months, when thick ice prevented navigation on the lakes, the trio were employed elsewhere, sometimes on charter to other lines.
Manchester Progress, 5,620 grt, opened a regular mid-summer service to Churchill, Manitoba
Churchill, Manitoba
Churchill is a town on the shore of Hudson Bay in Manitoba, Canada. It is most famous for the many polar bears that move toward the shore from inland in the autumn, leading to the nickname "Polar Bear Capital of the World" that has helped its growing tourism industry.-History:A variety of nomadic...
on Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay
Hudson Bay , sometimes called Hudson's Bay, is a large body of saltwater in northeastern Canada. It drains a very large area, about , that includes parts of Ontario, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Alberta, most of Manitoba, southeastern Nunavut, as well as parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota,...
in 1954, during the short ice-free season, bringing back grain shipped to the port by rail from the Canadian Prairies
Canadian Prairies
The Canadian Prairies is a region of Canada, specifically in western Canada, which may correspond to several different definitions, natural or political. Notably, the Prairie provinces or simply the Prairies comprise the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as they are largely covered...
. Captain F. Struss, survivor of sinkings in both wars, retired in March 1954 after forty years service, the last ML Commodore who had gained his master's ticket in sail. That same year the Great Lakes service was extended to Chicago, and ML's pre-1914 service to the southern US ports of Charleston, Savannah, and Jacksonville was resumed.
A USAF
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
RB-36 "Peacemaker" ten-engined strategic bomber suffered engine fires on 5 August 1954, while en route from Travis AFB California to RAF Lakenheath
RAF Lakenheath
RAF Lakenheath, is a Royal Air Force military airbase near Lakenheath in Suffolk, England. Although an RAF station, it hosts United States Air Force units and personnel...
Suffolk. The crew of twenty-three were ordered to bail out 450 miles (724.2 km) west of Ireland at 03:40. The Manchester Shipper, inbound from Montreal, and the outbound Manchester Pioneer, diverted to the scene and despite bad weather were able to rescue the four surviving crew. The USAF's HQ Third Air Force sent messages commending the ship masters and crews efforts under adverse circumstances.
ML's first two motor vessels, with engines and accommodation located aft, were commissioned in April 1956. The Manchester Vanguard and Venture, 1,662 grt, were designed for the Great Lakes service. Two larger motor vessels, the Manchester Faith and Fame, 4,460 grt, were commissioned in April 1959, and the Faith quickly became the first commercial vessel to transit the newly opened St Lawrence Seaway with its larger locks.
Two ML vessels were involved in a successful mid-Atlantic rescue of airliner passengers on 23 September 1962. A Flying Tiger Line
Flying Tiger Line
Flying Tiger Line, also known as Flying Tigers, was the first scheduled cargo airline in the United States and a major military charter operator during the Cold War era for both cargo and personnel .- History :...
Lockheed Super Constellation was en route from McGuire AFB New Jersey to Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport may refer to:Airports of Frankfurt, Germany:*Frankfurt Airport , the largest airport in Germany*Frankfurt Egelsbach Airport, a general aviation airport*Frankfurt-Hahn Airport , a converted U.S...
with 76 persons aboard. Two out of four engines failed and the airliner changed course for Shannon Airport
Shannon Airport
Shannon Airport, is one of the Republic of Ireland's three primary airports along with Dublin and Cork. In 2010 around 1,750,000 passengers passed through the airport, making it the third busiest airport in the Republic of Ireland after Dublin and Cork, and the fifth busiest airport on the island...
Ireland. After a further hour, a third engine failed and Captain John Murray made a successful ditching in darkness 560 nautical miles (1,037.1 km) west of Shannon. All occupants evacuated the aircraft before it sank. The larger Manchester Progress acted as a radio relay ship, while Manchester Faith picked up 48 survivors. The other 28 persons on board the aircraft were lost when their rafts sank in heavy seas.
Switch to containers 1968–1978
By the late 1960s rising shore costs, dock workers strikes, restrictive practices on both sides of the Atlantic, and subsidised competition from American shipping lines, persuaded Manchester Liners to switch its future fleet to container ships only. An example of the delaying effect of the strikes in the Canadian ports, with consequent impact on operating costs, was an extended ninety-day return voyage to Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
in early 1967 by the new Manchester Progress.
Initially, three new ships were ordered from Smiths Dock Company
Smiths Dock Company
Smiths Dock Company, Limited, often referred to simply as Smiths Dock, was a British shipbuilding company.-History:The company was originally established by Thomas Smith who bought William Rowe's shipyard at St. Peter's in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1810 and traded as William Smith & Co. The company...
in Middlesbrough, the first of which, Manchester Challenge, was delivered in 1968, becoming the first British-built and operated cellular container ship. The Challenge and her two sisters Manchester Courage and Concorde were followed from the Tees in 1971 by the Crusade. UK manufacturers supplied 10,000 containers
Containerization
Containerization is a system of freight transport based on a range of steel intermodal containers...
. The four ships each had the capacity to carry five hundred 20 feet (6.1 m) containers, all of them below deck. A new regular container route started in November 1968, with a twice-weekly service to Montreal, where the containers were transferred to smaller vessels which could navigate to the ports of the Great Lakes. The four new powerful (16,000 hp) 19.5 knots (10.6 m/s) vessels were constructed to a standard exceeding Lloyds
Lloyd's Register
The Lloyd's Register Group is a maritime classification society and independent risk management organisation providing risk assessment and mitigation services and management systems certification. Historically, as Lloyd's Register of Shipping, it was a specifically maritime organisation...
class 1 ice-stiffening, with additional aft protection over the rudder to permit reversing through ice.
On her second voyage in early 1969, Manchester Challenge lived up to her name by entering the heavily iced Montreal harbour, discharging, reloading and departing only two days late. Another thirty-seven conventional vessels were stuck at the port for a month. The quartet's ice-breaking capability often resulted them in leading a convoy of other vessels into Montreal during the winter months. The four ships of 12,039 gross tons were of the maximum size able to navigate the Manchester Ship Canal.
To obtain the greatest operational efficiency, ML constructed two dedicated container terminals with their own gantry cranes, spreaders etc. The Manchester terminal was built on an open site next to the western end of No. 9 Dock. A second container berth was added in 1972. The other terminal was created at Montreal, with similar equipment, where the containers were trans-shipped to a dedicated liner train operated by Canadian National Railways, which carried them onwards to Toronto and further destinations.
ML inaugurated a container service to the Mediterranean in 1971 using smaller ships. Initial destinations included Malta, Cyprus and Israel. Later in the decade, the countries served were extended to include Italy, Greece, Lebanon and Syria. To further improve service to shippers, two large road hauliers were acquired in 1971 and 1972, enabling a "door-to-door" container operation to be introduced. Facilities for container storage and repair were also acquired. Following its successful pioneering of the UK container trade, ML was given the Queen's Award for Export
Queen's Awards for Enterprise
The Queen's Awards for Enterprise is an awards programme for British businesses and other organizations who excel at international trade, innovation or sustainable development. They are the highest official UK awards for British businesses...
in 1971, the first to be given to a shipping company; every ship in the fleet flew the award flag.
In 1974 ML carried 783000 LT out of the total 2900000 LT of dry cargo handled on the ship canal (27%). During the same year, ML acquired Manchester Dry Docks Ltd, which operated three large and one small dry docks on the canal adjacent to MLs berths in Salford Docks. These facilities assisted greatly in keeping the fleet fully operational. Manchester Challenge completed her 100th round voyage to Montreal in 1975 having carried 95,000 containers weighing 1440000 LT a distance of 554000 miles (891,574.4 km) – the equivalent of a round trip to the moon. During 1976 MLs Manchester to Canada route had three sailings per week.
Decline and closure
Manchester Liners had been partly owned by Furness WithyFurness Withy
Furness Withy was a major British transport business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange.-History:The Company was founded by Christopher Furness and Henry Withy in 1891 in Hartlepool. This was achieved by the amalgamation of the Furness Line of steamers with the business of Edward Withy and...
from the beginning, and they became a subsidiary in 1970. Furness Withy was itself taken over in 1980 by the C. Y. Tung Group of Hong Kong. Robert B. Stoker retired in 1979 as Chairman of Manchester Liners after 47 years service with the company.
Severe competition following the building of excess container shipping capacity by many companies badly affected ML's trade and profitability. The company's vessels were by then smaller than average in the industry, leading to higher operating costs per unit of cargo carried. Their operations were further severely affected during the mid-1970s by both official and unofficial strikes by dock workers. The service to Canada ended in 1979, and by the early 1980s only five "Manchester" ships remained – the 30,000 ton container vessel Manchester Challenge and four 1,600–4,000 ton vessels: Manchester Crown, Manchester Trader, Manchester Faith and Manchester City. The line had by then ceased using the Port of Manchester, and the four smaller vessels were operating to the Mediterranean out of Ellesmere Port
Ellesmere Port
Ellesmere Port is a large industrial town and port in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is situated on the south border of the Wirral Peninsula on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal, which in turn gives access to the River...
, 33 miles (53.1 km) closer to the sea on the lower reaches of the ship canal.
In 1981, ML jointly with the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company
CP Ships
CP Ships was a large Canadian container shipping company, prior to being taken over by Hapag Lloyd in late 2005. CP Ships had its head office in the City of Westminster in London and later in the City Place Gatwick development on the property of London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex.The...
and the Dart Container Line, instituted a weekly containership service from Felixstowe, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, to Montreal. MLs contribution to the service was the large Manchester Challenge. The last of Manchester Liners' ships was sold in 1985, and in 1988 the services formerly operated by the company were taken over by the Orient Overseas Container Line
Orient Overseas Container Line
Orient Overseas Container Line is a Hong Kong-based container shipping and logistics service company.OOCL is one of the world's largest shipping and logistics companies with more than 280 offices in 55 countries around the world, providing 78 services covering international trading markets with a...
, successor to the Tung Group.
Ship naming policy, house and flag colours
The company's ship-naming policy throughout its 87-year period of operations was to use its home port's name plus a suffix word, often a trade or occupation. The most frequently used name was Manchester Trader, applied to six different vessels between 1898 and cessation of operations in 1985. Some names used appropriately during the First World War, such as Manchester Hero, Manchester Brigade and Manchester Division were not reused after the disposal or loss of those vessels. Some vessels operated short-term or on charter retained their original names and did not receive the Manchester prefix.From the earliest days, the line's colours were: funnels – dark red with black top and thin black band; hulls – black with white boot topping. During the Second World War, ships were painted in battleship grey and the names were deleted for security, except when in friendly ports. From the 1960s onwards, some ships' hulls were painted light grey and others red.
The line's flag colours were a red oval, placed horizontally, with white "ML" lettering in the centre, imposed on an overall white background.