White Star Line

The White Star Line was a British shipping line founded in 1845 in the Liverpool-Australia service, in 1868 it would be renamed the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company (OSNC) now operating via North America, throughout its history it would be one of the most important shipping companies in the British Empire until its merger with the rival Cunard Line in 1934.

This shipping company is best known for being the owner of the famous ocean liner RMS Titanic, famous for having sunk in the Atlantic Ocean after colliding with an iceberg, also for having owned the HMHS Britannic, which sank in the Aegean Sea in Greece during WWI, and the RMS Olympic. the only Olympic-class ocean liner to have survived until her scrapping at Rosyth, Scotland along with the Mauretania in 1935.  

 History 

Origins


The Company was founded in 1845 for transport between uuithe British Isles and Australia. by John Pilkington and Henry Wilson,. due to the start of the Australian Gold Rush in 1851,  they would operate only three Clippers ships, the Red Jacket, Blue Jacket and Tayleur which would serve on the Liverpool-Australia service, the Tayleur would sink off the coast of Ireland during her maiden voyage in 1854, the company would go bankrupt in 1868 with an incredible debt of £527,000 (£57,000,000 in 2019 prices).


The company would be bought by the investor and founder of the National Line, Thomas Henry Ismay, who would buy it for just £1,000 (£102,900, at 2019 prices) and which would rename the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, even though the trade name would be would keep White Star Line. To this day, only one white star line ship, the Cherbourg French passenger tender Nomadic, has not been scrapped. 

 Biobliography 










 References 

 Further readings 

 The ship's list
 History of the White Star Line 
 Red duster page on the White Star Line
 Brief company overview 
 Info on the original financing deal 
 Oldham, Wilton J., The Ismay Line: The White Star Line, and the Ismay family story, The Journal of Commerce, Liverpool, 1961
 "A Nice Quiet Life" by Alfred H Burlinson, an engineer who served on the Olympic, the Megantic, and Britanic 

 Other websites 

 White Star Line at Titanic-Titanic.com
 Final Demise of White Star Line Vessels 
 Brief history of the White Star Line – from TDTSC MN
 White Star Line discussion forum at TDTSC
 White Star Line Historical Documents, Brochures, Menus, Passenger Lists etc.  GG Archives
 White Star Line History website
 Cunard-White Star Line on Chris' Cunard page

Category:British transport companies
Category:1845 establishments in England
Category:1934 disestablishments in Europe
Category:Defunct shipping companies