Clan Line

The Clan Line was a passenger and cargo shipping company that operated in one incarnation or another from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century.

History

Foundation and early years

The company that would become the Clan Line was first founded as C. W. Cayzer & Company in Liverpool in 1877 by Charles Cayzer (see Cayzer baronets). It was set up to operate passenger routes between Britain and Bombay, India via the Suez Canal. The next year, Captain William Irvine joined the company and it was renamed Cayzer, Irvine & Company.

In 1881 the company was joined by an influential Glasgow businessman and his firm of Thomas Dunlop & Sons, and the Clan Line Association of Steamers was established. The company opened a new head office at 109 Hope Street, Glasgow. Cayzer, Irvine built and managed ships for the association and Cayzer himself retained ownership of the original six Clan ships. At the same time, they expanded their operations to South Africa. In 1890 the company became The Clan Line of Steamers Limited with Cayzer holding the majority interest. The company again expanded its operations with the purchase of the Persian Gulf Steam Ship Company in 1894, bringing four more ships into the company. They used these new assets to expand their routes into the Persian Gulf and to North America, and to begin to carry cargo.

The company was incorporated in 1907 as Cayzer, Irvine & Company, Limited, with the Cayzer family retaining control. Charles Cayzer died in 1916, with his sons continuing to run the company. In 1918 they acquired and incorporated the assets of the Scottish Shire Line. Despite suffering losses in the First World War, the company had recovered by the 1930s to become the largest cargo carrying concern in the world.

The Clan Line at war and after

Clan Line saw a large number of its ships either requisitioned by the British government, or otherwise used to ship vital supplies to Britain during the First and Second World Wars. Their ubiquitousness led to them being called the 'Scots Navy' (due to their officers' sleeve rings being identical to those of the Royal Navy) and they were often in dangerous environments, at risk from mines, air attacks or German U-boats.

During the Second World War, for example, three of the Line's Cameron class steamers were requisitioned in 1942 by the Royal Navy whilst still under construction at Greenock Dockyard and commissioned as HMSAthene (aircraft transporter), HMSEngadine (aircraft transporter) and HMSBonaventure (submarine depot ship for X-craft). The Clan Line lost a total of 30 ships in the 1939-45 war.

After the end of the war, the Clan Line commissioned six vessels of the Clan MacLaren class (commonly known as the MacL's) to replace war losses and resume a level of pre-war services. Construction started in 1946 and all six had entered service by 1949. Meanwhile, the immediate shortage was alleviated by the acquisition of a number of wartime standard construction ships, such as the American Liberty ships. Most of these would continue to serve with the Clan Line fleet until 1962, by which time the first vessels of the Clan MacIver class were entering service. Meanwhile, management attempted to further alleviate the shortfall with the purchase of the Thompson Steam Shipping Co. in 1952 and the conversion to motor ships throughout the 1950s.

Post war restructuring

In 1956, under the impetus of Nicholas Cayzer the Clan Line joined with the Union-Castle Line, King Line and Bullard King & Company to form British & Commonwealth Shipping Limited. A number of transfers then took place between the component companies. They formed the Springbok Shipping Company in 1959 to take over the operations of their South African services, and several of the Clan Lines' ships were transferred to it. In 1961 the Springbok Shipping Company became part of Safmarine.

Shipping

The ships of the Clan Line were usually distinguishable by their names, the vast majority of which had the prefix 'Clan'. Their funnel markings were black with two red bands divided by narrow black band, and they flew the house flag, which was a rectangular red flag bearing a white diamond with a red rampant lion in the centre.

Ships of the Clan Line

Legacy

It was one of the shipping companies commemorated by the Merchant Navy class of Southern Railway locomotives. Locomotive number 35028 built in 1948 carries the name "Clan Line" and is currently maintained in fully operational condition for hauling excursion trains on the UK's national railway system.

House flags

• House flag until the 1910s.
• House flag used from 1910s to the end of the company's existence.
• Commodore's flag used to distinguish the Flagship.
• Flag of Clan Sutherland (1951), preserved in Royal Museums Greenwich.

Clan Line company used on its ships a general flag with a red lion on a white rhombus on a red background and second flag with a rhombus and lion on tartan belonging to the clan after which the ship was named. Tartan flags were used until the mid-1960s and were flown at the bow.

See also

• Loch Line
• Caledonia Investments

Sources

• Bax, John. . Merchant Navy Officers. Archived from on 3 May 2009.
• Swiggum, Susan; Kohli, Marjorie (6 March 2007). . TheShipsList.
• . National Maritime Museum.
• Coombe, Ian. . Merchant Navy Nostalgia.

External links

• . The Ocean Liner Virtual Museum. The AJN Transport Britain Collection. 2005. Archived from on 28 September 2010.
• – company homepage
• Nicholson, Nigel; Björnberg, Åsa (2006). (PDF). Archived from (PDF) on 28 May 2010. – JP Morgan & London Business School case study
• . Cayzer Family Archive.