Harrison
Line (T & J Harrisons Co. Ltd)
(Est. 1853) |
|
RETURN TO THE LOBBY
THE OCEAN LINER VIRTUAL MUSEUM |
The
Harrison Line dates back to 1853 when the brothers
Thomas and James Harrison took control of the shipping and shipbroking
interests of George Brown and Harrison. Prior to
1853 the business was mainly concerned with
handling cargoes of brandy and wines brought by French schooners to
Liverpool,
mainly from Charente, although Oporto and Cadiz were occasionally ports
of
loading. A milestone was reached, however, in 1857 by the purchase of
its first
iron ship, which bore the name Philosopher. She was built by Thomas
Vernon, of
Liverpool, and was of 1,329 tons. This
particular vessel is of great interest, not only
because she heralded the passing of the wooden ship, but because she
was the
first to bear the name of a trade or profession, which has
characterised the
vessels of the Harrison fleet ever since. She traded to India
throughout her
whole career, which ended when she was totally wrecked on September 26,
1879,
the day after leaving Calcutta. From the
year 1860 onwards, the firm extended their
trade beyond the Continent, and the countries of Brazil, India and the
West
Indies were being served with regular sailings by sailing vessels and
steamers:
It was in 1860 that the steamer Cognac and her sister Gladiator were
built
specially to cater for the expanding trade in brandy shipments from
France to
this country. In this
period, the firm had 25 vessels consisting of
iron and wooden brigs, barques and steamships, with a total of over
21,000
tons, a tonnage exceeded today by that of a single ship such as latest
bulk
carriers. 1n 1888
Thomas Harrison died, and the death of his
brother James followed in 1891, but the family business was continued
by
Frederick James and Heath, the sons of James, and Thomas Fenwick, the
son of
Thomas. 1n the
1860s, Mr. John William Hughes was admitted a
partner, and the Hughes family have since played a large part in the
development and progress of the firm until the present day. In 1889,
in order to improve their business with
Calcutta, and have access to the Indian tea trade, and berthing rights
under
conference agreements, Harrisons bought the Star Line from Rathbone
Bros. and
Company for the sum of £135;000. The steamers concerned were the Mira
(1875),
Vesta (1881), Pallas (1888), Orion (1889), and one on order at the
time, the
Capella, delivered in 1890. It is interesting to note that these
vessels
retained their original names, and were not given the "trades and
professions"
that were then characterising the fleet. In 1911,
the fleet was increased by the purchase of the
Aberdeen Direct Line, managed by John T. Rennie Son and Company. The year
1913 saw the delivery of the passenger and
cargo vessel Ingoma of 5,686 tons, built by D. and W. Henderson and Co.
Ltd.,
Glasgow, to join the fleet of the Harrison-Rennie Line, on the South
African
service. For this purpose, she was painted in Rennie colours, buff
funnel, grey
hull, but at the conclusion of the First World War, the Inanda, Intaha
and
Ingoma were switched to the London- West Indies service, and the Rennie
Line as
such ceased to exist. With the
cessation of hostilities, a big re-building
programme was undertaken, and an experiment was made in turbine
propulsion in
the steamers Dramatist, Diplomat and Huntsman, the latter two being the
last
vessels in the fleet to be fitted with four masts. However, this type
of
machinery, not proving economical, was not repeated in subsequent
steamers. In 1920 to
allow for a further development in the West
Indies and Guiana trade from Glasgow and London, two fleets were
purchased,
eight ships from the Crown Line, managed by Prentice, Service and
Henderson,
Glasgow and five from Scrutton, Sons and Company, of London. In 1935,
the fleet was augmented by the acquisition of
four vessels from Furness, Withy and Co. Ltd., the Royal Prince,
Imperial
Prince, British Prince and London Merchant, which were renamed in
order,
Collegian, Craftsman, Statesman and Politician. These sister ships of
8,000
gross tons were turbine- driven, with a speed of 14 knots, and were all
built
between 1922-3 for the Furness North Atlantic service. On being taken
over by
Harrisons they were placed on the South African run in conjunction with
the
joint Ellerman-Clan service. At this
time the fleet was rapidly expanding, and
seven ships from the Leyland Line were also purchased in 1935, and
placed on
the West Indies and Mexico services. They were all shelter- deck
vessels,
strongly constructed for the North Atlantic trade, and quite out of
character
with usual Harrison practice, they retained their original names
throughout
their service. When war
broke out in September 1939, Harrisons had a
fleet of 45 ships, but were to lose 29 before hostilities ended in
1945. The
first casualty suffered was the capture on October 10, 1939 of the
Huntsman.
One of the largest vessels in the fleet, she was on voyage from
Calcutta to
London, when she was intercepted by the German pocket battleship
Admiral Graf
Spee. The next loss occurred on December 2, 1939, when the steamer
Chancellor
was sunk in collision with the tanker Athelchief off Halifax. A loss
much
nearer home took place when the Counsellor sank after striking a
magnetic mine
off the Mersey Bar on March 9, 1940. With the
end of the war in 1945, Harrisons embarked on
the replacement of their heavy losses, and purchased between 1945-1949
10
American "Liberty" and six British-built "Empire" vessels.
These proved successful until the company's own building programme made
them
surplus to requirements. With the
building of specialised tonnage, the time
came to dispose of the older units, and the first of the post-war built
ships
to go was the turbine-driven Biographer of 1949, sold in 1964 to
Panamanian
operators. The
building of new tonnage continued and in 1968 two
vessels were designed primarily for the African trades. They were the
Magician
and Historian, ordered from the Pallion yard of The Doxford and
Sunderland
Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Ltd., Sunderland, vessels of 8,454
gross tons
with a speed of 18 knots, fitted with a Stulcken derrick of 150 tons
lifting
capacity. In keeping
with several other well- known liner
companies, Harrisons sought to diversify their trade by entering the
bulk-carrying business and ordered in Japan three large bulk carriers,
vessels
of 16,317 gross tons and 27,135 dead- weight, giving them the names
Wanderer,
Wayfarer and Warrior. Following
the success of these bulk carriers, all let
on voyage or long-term charter, two more of even larger tonnage were
ordered
from the Danish builders Burmeister and Wain, named Strategist and
Specialist. In the
1977 Harrisons joined the container revolution
on their Caribbean routes by becoming a partner in the Caribbean
Overseas Lines
(CAROL) consortium with Hapag Lloyd A.G. Hamburg, and Koninklijke
Nederlandsche
Stoomboot Maatschappij B. V. of Amsterdam. The new Caribbean service
serving in
Europe: Bremerhaven, Hamburg, Amsterdam, Antwerp, Tilbury, Le Havre and
Liverpool. In 1978 the group was joined by Compagnie Generale Maritime
(CGM)
which brought the group's sailings up to a weekly service. The South
African trade then also joined the container
revolution when Harrisons had the City of Durban built by A. G. Weser,
Germany.
This ship was jointly owned by Ellerman-Harrison Container Lines, of
which
Ellermans, having the larger stake was be the senior partner. The final
ship built for Harrisons was the Author,
completed in December 1980 that was sold
to Barclays Mercantile
Industrial Finance and renamed Benarmin and placed on a wet boat
charter to Ben
Line, Harrisons remained managers. During the
Falklands War in 1982 Harrison's Astronomer
was one of the container ships converted into an aircraft supply and
transporter by the Government. For this role she was refitted, to
include a
flight deck and became a helicopter base ship with the Royal Fleet
Auxiliary
and renamed Reliant. She continued in that role until being sold on for
further
trading to a Panamanian concern in 1986. In 1982
finance provided by Harrison's was used to
purchase the Hong Kong company of Blairdale Shipping Ltd from Charles
Connell
& Co, their two ships, both bulk carriers, were named Lamma Forest
and
Lantau Trader and remained with their then current ship managers
Denholm,
technical and operational management transferred to Harrison. In 1983 as
its fleet declined Harrison's made nearly a
third of its seagoing employees redundant, this was the first time its
history
that the company had to resort to such draconian measures, even during
its
worst year, 1931, it had sought to re-employ its men as and when trade
revived,
this time there was to be no way back for its former employees. Further
bad
news followed when the nine company consortium, South Africa Europe
Container
Service had to withdraw City of Durban and charter her to OCL, she
later
transferred to Associated Container Transportation becoming ACT 8. In 1984
Harrisons took over the management of Pisces
Pioneer and Pisces Planter, two new ships belonging to Crossfish Ltd of
Hong
Kong and the following year the company chartered out Adviser along
with its
crew to Cie General Maritime for its South Africa Gulf of Mexico
service the
ship being renamed CGM Provence. By 1987 the Charente Steamship Company
Ltd fleet
stood at only three ships with others either chartered in or being
managed, the
three were Author, Warrior and the chartered out Advisor, by 1988 the
sum total
stood at ten vessels with its office still located at Mersey Chambers,
Liverpool. In October
2000 Thos J. Harrison Ltd, on behalf of the
Charente Steamship Company, relinquished all rights and privileges in
the
management of the liner trades which were transferred to P&O
Nedlloyd and
the last vestige of the once great Harrison Line disappeared forever. Thus Harrison Line was another well known British shipping company that disappeared as a result of the container revolution and the changing shipping industry as a result of mergers and consolidation within the shipping industry and globalisation. It was truly the end of a glorious era as traditional shipping gave way to containerisation.
|