THE C. AND D. LINE

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 110, 30 July 1927, Page 2

THE C. AND D. LINE

COMPANY WITH JSO^ YEARS’ HISTORY NOW A BRANCH OF FAMOUS CUNARD LINE RED funnels with black tops, grey hulls with white super structures are the distinctive features of well-known steamers which regularly arrive in New Zealand waters Always looking trim and smart when they arrive in port this line of steamers belongs to a British Company, which, in the first instance, carried on ship-building. The Commonwealth and Dominion Line, which, until a few years ago was a unit by itself, is now a subsidiary branch of the most famous shipowners, the Cunard Company, which obtained control of the C. and D. Line in 1916.

About 150 years ago the great-grand-father of Sir Thomas Royden. the present chairman of the Cunard Line, in conjunction with a Mr. Bland, a timber merchant, started a shipbuilding yard on the site of the existing Bruns»wick Dock, Liverpool. The yard became quite a successful concern, and the work was continued by Mr. Royden’s son. and then his grandson, the late Sir Thomas Bland Royden, until 1893. Many fine ships were built in it, including some which Messrs. Royden constructed to their own account, and sailed under their own flag. A story is told of one vessel built for a Welsh owner who, at the commencement of each voyage, issued a bible to every member of the crew, accompanied by a letter commending the desirability of reading a chapter a day. In 1885, the first Royden steamers, the Indra and Indrani were built. The former, afterwards, was chartered by Messrs. Tvser and Co. to carry wool. In 1889 the Indramayo was built, and three years later she was insulated.

and sailed for the Tyser Line on a commission basis. She is still running for Messrs. Houlder Bros., under the name of Thorpe Grange. The late Sir Thomas, realising the difficulties of shipbuilding on the Mersey, owing to the steel producing districts being so far away, eventually sold the yard to the Mersey Docks and Harbour Board in 1893, and became a shipowner only. The chief business of the Indra Line was the United States and China, Japan Line, a service maintained by ten vessels between New York and the Far East. The goodwill and stea piers of this service were sold in 1915 to the Blue Funnel Line. Three steamers were kept in the Australasian service running under the Tyser Line. They were the Indralema, Indrabarah and Indrapura, and were eventually transferred to the Commonwealth and Dominion Line, when the amalgama. on came about in 1913. The Indrapura (Port Adelaide) was sunk during the* war; the Indrabarah (Port Elliot) was lost in 1924 on the New Zealand coast, and the Indralema was sold. THE ALLIANCE LINE Tlie founder of the Tyser Line was Mr. G. D. Tyser, grandfather of Mr. W. P. Tyser, the present chairman of the C. and D. Line and a director of the Cunard Company, who ran .a few sailing ships in conjunction with a Mr. Haviside. About 1883, Messrs. Tyser and Co., with three other ship brokers, started the Alliance Line to Australia, but the “Ring,” as it was called, prevented them from loading to Australia for two years. In 1855, however, in conjunction with Mr. J. 11. Wackerbarth, they started the Merchant Line of sailing ships, and in 1886, they accepted meat contracts, which led to the formation of the Colonial Union Line, with Messrs. Tyser and Co as managing directors. The first board consisted of Messrs. W. H. Tyser and G. W. Tyser, Mr. Henry Benham. of Messrs. H. Clarkson and Co., Mr.- W. Wright (Messrs. Wright Bros.), Mr. Richard Shaw Messrs. Shaw, Bushby and Co. (now Shaw,. Adams and Co.), Sir Thomas •Parkyns and subsequently Sir E. Montague Nelson. The first steamers chartered by the company were the BalmQral Castle (Kilgour’s), Baylev (Barton’s) and Ashley Brook (Pollexfens') Later they chartered the Balcarres Brook, Maori King, Celtic King, Star of Victoria and Star of England. The meat contracts brought the line into the New Zealand trade, but they had to fight several difficulties in the Australian Conference. In the conference was a line called the Colonial Line, comprising Messrs. J. H. Flint, Alex. Howden and Co., Gellatly, Hankey and Co., Sewell and Co., and J. B. Westray and Co. On the death of Mr. Flint, who worked the line, Messrs. Tyser and Co. took his place. Eventually Messrs. Tyser and Co. ceased to load outward in the New Zealand trade, and in return for this arrangement they were given the brokership of the New Zealand Shipping Company’s ships and steamers, and subsequently they were offered the entire management of the New Zealand Shipping Company, but this they declined. In 1893 they re-ehtered the Conference with twelve dispatches per annum and a limit of 12,000 tons of cargo per annum for New Zealand. At this time an arrangement was made with Messrs. Ostermeyer, Dewez and Van Rompaey, the result of which was an agreement to charter steamers for their wool purchases in Australia on | joint account. Following the Indra some of Ritson’s Branch boats were chartered for this purpose and at on| time, five of them were on a single charter party. THE TYSER LINE The Tyser Line was formed in 1889. Their first steamer, the Hawke’s Bay, came out in 1891. She had a clipper bow and was 4,584 tons gross, fn 1907, notice was served on the other partners in the Colonial Union Line that unless they built steamers the partnership would be terminated. Ultimately Messrs. Tyser and Co. became the sole owners of the Colonial Union Line. About 1890 the Tyser Line was interested in the Falkland Island trade. They chartered and fitted out with refrigerating machinery the sailing ship Hengist, of about 1,500 tons. Experienced butchers were sent out to do the slaughtering and the mutton was frozen aboard, but it was top big and coarse and could not compete with the New Zealand meat. Between 1890 and 1895 the Hengist made six voyages and shipped altogether about 100,000 carcasses. She . was subsequently wrecked in the Straits of Magellan. This trade was eventually abandoned. After the American and Australian Line was formed, the Tyser Line saw great possibilities in this trade, and the Queen Margaret was chartered for three-an-a-half years. There was keen competition between them and the American and Australian Line, at the end of which the rivals came together. Later on two German companies, the and Hansa Line,

joined the Tyser Line and a j weekly service known as the Tvser Line was inaugurated. THE AMALGAMATION At the time of the formation of th*. Commonwealth and Dominion Line thl fleet of the Tyser Line consisted of Hawke’s Bay (Port Napier). MaWi Dl . Marere, Muritai (Port Victor), Xere hana, Niwaru Whakarua * "rp or l Chalmers) and Mimiro (Port Hack ing). The amalgamation which establish** the Commonwealth and Dominion Lin*, had been talked of for a number of years before it actually took place in 1913. The insurance business of Tyser and Co. was not taken over, but*the whole of the Tyser Line, including its office in Napier. New Zealand, with the shipping section of their London and Sydney office staffs was transferred. Messrs. J. P. Corry’s staff was taken over with five steamers (“Star ships) and also the staff of Messrs.

Milburn’s London office and their steamers. Anglo-Australasian Steam Navigation Company (“Port” shipst. In the case of Messrs. Royden only one representative and three steamers ("Indra” Line) were concerned in the amalgamation. The transfer of the various steamers meant also the transfer of the various officers, engineers and crew. It is perhaps just as well to mention here Captain Richard Todd’s long connection with the company’s activities on these coasts. Captain Richard Todd, who was born at Dundee in 1845, was appointed Marine Superintendent of the Colonial Union Shipping Company in 1887. In 18S9 the name of the company was altered to the Tyser Line, Captain Todd remaining with the company as Marine Superintendent. In 1893 he was appointed Colonial Superintendent of the line, which in 1913 had its name changed to Commonwealth and Dominion Line. With this last change being made, in addition to being Colonial Superintendent, he became a director in the company. The New Zealand head office had always been at Napier but. on the death of Captain Todd in 1916, It was transferred to Wellington. WAR LOSSES The amalgamation had hardly got into working order when the great war broke out. Before war was declared, one of the steamers, the Muritai, was requisitioned by the Admiralty, and subsequently joined the battlecruiser squadron as a store ship. The whole of the fleet was ultimately re-

quisitioned by the Ministry of Shipping, and seven of them were lost by enemy action. The Marere was torpedoed in the Mediterranean; the Port Nicholson was mined off Dunkirk; the Port Curtis was torpedoed after a gallant fight; the Port Kembla became a mine victim; and the Port Campbell. Port Hardy and Port Adelaide were also torpedoed. Two other steamers were lost as a result of collisions. They were the Port Hunter and Port PhilhPIn 1916 the Cunard Company pwchased the shares of the Common* wealth and Dominion Line, and took over their 27 steamers of an aggregate capacity of 205,281 tons dead weight They are engaged in the refrigerated and general cargo trade between _tne United Kingdom, Australia and Zealand, and between New York, Australia and New Zealand. During the last two years the Commonwealth and Dominion Line, order to keep abreast of the times, gone extensively in for fast ships, and have the following of this class in commission: Port Pun ' din, Port Hobart, Port Fremantle,, Pori Huon, and Port Gisborne, which together with various steamers maKe up post-war fleet of 17 ships.