The
Pacific Steam Navigation
Company (PSNCo) was formed by an American, William Wheelwright, to
operate
steamship services along the Pacific coast of South
America. Having failed to raise money in the USA, he succeeded in London and was
granted a Royal Charter of
Incorporation in 1839. Services started in 1840 with two wooden
paddlesteamers, Chile
and Peru.
The company built up a large fleet of coastal steamers, and 1867 it was
decided
to introduce a through service from Liverpool
via the Straits of Magellan. Five screw steamers were ordered to
operate this
service. Rather than wait for delivery of these, PSNCo inaugurated the
new
venture in 1868, using their paddler Pacific, built for coastal
services
in 1865. The ships ordered in 1867 began arriving in 1869, operating
between
Liverpool and Valparaiso.
In 1870, the PSNCo decided to extend services to Callao, and a further four steamers
were
ordered. In 1872, a mail subsidy of £10000 per annum was granted and
the PSNCo
began operating a weekly service from Liverpool.
The calls at this time included Bordeaux
(later
Pauillac), Lisbon, Sao Vincente (Cape Verde Islands),
Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo
and Punta Arenas.
The PSNCo
was the largest
steamship company in the world in 1873, but their success was
short-lived. Due
to a combination of circumstances, including political unrest, and
competition
from other shipping lines (White Star amongst them), PSNCo found
themselves in
financial difficulties and many ships were laid, service speeds were
reduced,
and departures became fortnightly again. Two ships were sold to Royal
Mail
Lines, and four others were chartered (and later sold) to the Orient
Line for a
new steamship service from London to Australia via the Suez
Canal. Conditions in the PSNCo original trade area
continued to
deteriorate, and Chile
went
to war with Peru
and Bolivia
in
1879. The Orient Line venture had been so successful, that sailings
were
increased from monthly to fortnightly, and the extra ships required
again came
from the PSNCo, which then entered into a joint venture with Orient
Line,
marketed as Orient-Pacific Line. The best PSNCo vessels were now all
deployed
on the Australian route. The Or- prefix was introduced for the
Australian ships, in line with Orient practice, though it was
subsequently used
on ships for the South American routes too.
In 1904,
the South Atlantic
route was Liverpool, La Pallice (La Rochelle), Corunna, Vigo, Lisbon,
Recife,
Salvador, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Port Stanley
(Falklands),
Punta Arenas, Coronel, Talcahuano and Valparaiso. By 1906, brighter
prospects
in their original trading area allowed PSNCo to sell their Australian
interests
to Royal Mail Lines, along with the four PSNCo vessels used, and the
Australian
service became known as Orient-Royal Mail Line. The new partners did
not get
along, and Royal Mail Lines pulled out of the partnership with Orient
Line in
1909. By 1910 it was apparent that traffic patterns to South America
were
changing with the opening of new railways, and construction of the Panama Canal (opened 1915). Collaboration was
necessary
with PSNCo's main competitor, Royal Mail Lines, and the larger company
acquired
PSNCo in 1910 buff funnels replacing the previous black. The swapping
of ships
between the two fleets became frequent. New laws in Chile
forced the end of the coastal
service in the 1920s.
The
collapse and break-up of
the Royal Mail Lines empire in 1932 briefly restored the PSNCo
independence,
since Royal Mail Lines reacquired the shares in 1938. In 1931, PSNCo
had
received the superb motorship Reina del Pacifico, which reduced the
round trip
time to Valparaiso
by 18 days to 60. By the depression of the 1930s, five round trips by
Reina del
Pacifico, and a combined seven by Orbita and Orduna, were sufficient to
carry
all passengers. After World War 2, the steamers were dropped without
replacement. In 1956, Reina del Pacifico was joined by the new steamer
Reina
del Mar, although they only ran concurrently for 2 years. In 1964,
Reina del
Mar was converted to a cruise ship under Union-Castle management, and
the era
of Pacific Steam passenger services came to an end.
Furness Withy took over the
Royal Mail / PSNC group in 1965 and ships were frequently switched
between
different companies within the group. By 1984 the name of Pacific Steam
Navigation Co disappeared into Furness Withy Shipping.
Thus the Pacific
Steam Navigation Co. became another well known British shipping company
to disappear due to mergers and
consolidation in the shipping industry and globalisation. It is truly
the end of a glorious era.
Hamburg Sud Group
www.hamburgsud.com
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