Waterman Steamship Company

Waterman Steamship Corporation is an American deep sea ocean carrier, specializing in liner services and time charter contracts. It is owned by International Shipholding Corporation, based in Mobile, Alabama.

Waterman was founded in 1919 in Mobile, Alabama by John Barnett Waterman, T.M. Stevens, W.D. Bellingrath and C.W. Hempstead following their departure from the British-owned Elder Dempster Steamship Company. Waterman and associates started with just one ship, the Eastern Sun leased from the U.S. Shipping Board for service to Liverpool and Manchester.

In 1955, McLean Industries, Inc. purchased the stock of Waterman Steamship Corporation from the stockholders. From its single-ship beginnings, Waterman had amassed a fleet of 125 ships, owned and operated its own shipbuilding and repair yards, owned or controlled three other shipping companies and employed thousands of workers.

The former Waterman Steamship Corporation building on Saint Joseph Street remains a prominent building in the downtown Mobile skyline. It is now occupied by Wells Fargo Bank. It opened in 1950 and is famous for its extensive murals in the lobby and a large rotating globe. The globe can now be seen on display at the Mitchell Center at the University of South Alabama.

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