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American Line

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
American Line
IndustryShipping
Founded1871; 153 years ago (1871) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Defunct1932
FateAbsorbed into United States Lines
Headquarters
Philadelphia

The American Line was a shipping company that operated independently from 1871 until 1932, when it was absorbed into the United States Lines.

The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania-based company was the largest American shipping company during its existence, rivaled only by Baltimore-based Atlantic Transport Lines, although all American oceanic shipping concerns were dwarfed by British companies such as the White Star Line and Cunard Line and German ones such as HAPAG.

History

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The American Line began as part of the Pennsylvania Railroad, although the railroad got out of the shipping business soon afterward. Its first president was Herman Joseph Lombaert (1816–1885), a PRR vice-president who resigned from the railroad when the shipping company became independent.

The company's most prominent president was Clement Griscom, who led the company from 1888 to 1902 and worked as a company executive for its entire existence. The company became much larger when it bought out the Inman Line in 1886.

In 1902, Griscom decided to merge his company with several other lines to become the International Navigation Co., soon renamed the International Mercantile Marine Company. In the IMM, the American Line generally handled traffic between the United States ports of Philadelphia and New York City and the British ports of Liverpool and Southampton. Sister company Red Star Line handled traffic between America and the European continent, primarily through Antwerp, Belgium.

American Line 1870s advertisement

When the IMM trust failed in 1932, the American pieces of the combine were once again solely under the American flag, this time in the guise of United States Lines.

Ships

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American Line advertisement unknown year

References

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General references

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  • Flayhart, William Henry III (2000). The American Line 1871-1902 (New York, W.W. Norton & Co.), ISBN 0-393-04710-5
  • "International Navigation Company / Red Star Line". The Ship List. 6 February 2010. Archived from the original on February 6, 2010.
  • "City of Paris (British Passenger Liner, 1889)". Archived from the original on February 18, 2009.
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