White Star Line
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| Partnership | |
| Industry | Shipping, transportation |
| Fate | merged with Cunard Line |
| Successor | Cunard White Star Line |
| Founded | 1845 in Liverpool, England |
| Defunct | 1934 |
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Area served
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Transatlantic |
| Parent | Ismay, Imrie and Co. |
| Website | www |
The Oceanic Steam Navigation Company or White Star Line of Boston Packers, more commonly known as just White Star Line, was a prominent British shipping company. Founded in 1845, the line operated a fleet of clipper ships that sailed between Britain and Australia. Today it is most famous for their innovative vessel Oceanic of 1870, and the Olympic class ocean liners, including the ill-fated RMS Titanic.
In 1934, White Star merged with its chief rival, Cunard Line, which operated as Cunard-White Star Line until 1950. Cunard Line then operated as a separate entity until 2005 and is now part of Carnival Corporation & plc. As a lasting reminder of the White Star Line, modern Cunard ships use the term White Star Service to describe the level of customer care expected of the company.
The first company bearing the name White Star Line was founded in Liverpool, England, by John Pilkington and Henry Wilson in 1845. It focused on the UK–Australia trade, which increased following the discovery of gold in Australia. The fleet initially consisted of the chartered sailing ships RMS Tayleur, Blue Jacket, White Star, Red Jacket, Ellen, Ben Nevis, Emma, Mermaid and Iowa. Tayleur, the largest ship of its day, wrecked on its maiden voyage to Australia at Lambay Island, near Ireland, a disaster that haunted the company for years.
In 1863, the company acquired its first steamship, Royal Standard.
The original White Star Line merged with two other small lines, The Black Ball Line and The Eagle Line, to form a conglomerate, the Liverpool, Melbourne and Oriental Steam Navigation Company Limited. This did not prosper and White Star broke away. White Star concentrated on Liverpool to New York services. Heavy investment in new ships was financed by borrowing, but the company's bank, the Royal Bank of Liverpool, failed in October 1867. White Star was left with an incredible debt of £527,000 (equivalent to £45,677,044 in 2015), and was forced into bankruptcy.
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Wikipedia