White Star Line

  

The White Star Line was founded in 1845 by John Pilkington and Henry Wilson in Liverpool. The company chartered sailing ships primarily engaged on Australian routes to take advantage of the newly found goldfields.

White Star Line
Blue Jacket

The company purchased it's first steamship Royal Standard in 1863. A year later the White Star Line merged with the Black Ball Line and the Eagle Line to form the Liverpool Melbourne Ocean Steam Navigation Company. The venture was not a success, the company going bankrupt in 1867.

The house flag and goodwill was purchased by Mr Henry Thomas Ismay a director of the National Line, who formed a new company, the Oceanic Steam Navigation Co. Ismay identified there were opportunities on the trans-Atlantic routes, particularly for high class passenger services.

Henry Thomas Ismay

In 1869 Thomas Ismay was joined by a good friend William Imrie who had inherited a small shipping company. They formed Ismay Imrie & Co, a subsidiary of the the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company.

William Imrie

 Ismay had been approached by a Liverpool financier, Gustav Schwabe, who offered to finance  his ships provided they were built by his nephews shipbuilding company, Harland and Wolf in Belfast.

The White Star Lines first trans-Atlantic ship was the Oceanic. Built by Harland & Wolf, it was launched on 27th August 1870, sailing from Liverpool on her maiden in March 1871.


White Star Line
RMS Oceanic

The White Star Line expanded with six ships, it's Oceanic Class. Other ships followed, including the Britannic and Germanic. All built at Harland and Wolf.

In 1892 William Ismay retired from Ismay Imrie & Co. He retained the chairmanship of the White Star Line which then consisted of eighteen ships.  The company built a headquarters on Albion Street Liverpool, construction started in 1896, opening in 1898.

White Star Line HQ
30 Albion Street Liverpool

In 1899 the White Star Line ship the Oceanic entered service. It would be the largest ship in the world till 1901.

White Star Line
RMS Oceanic

William Ismay died in November 1899 and his son Joseph Bruce Ismay took over the chairmanship of the White Star Line.

Joseph Bruce Ismay

Bruce Ismay looked to build four ocean liners to surpass the then premier ship of the White Star Line the Oceanic. The big four, the RMS Celtic, Cedric, Baltic and Adriatic were designed to be the largest and most luxurious ships afloat, surpassing the Oceanic.

White Star Line
Big Four

White Star Line
RMS Cedric Liverpool 1901

In 1902, Bruce Ismay sold the White Star Line to JP Morgan Bank. The bank had formed a holding company,  the International Mercantile Marine Company, with which they hoped to dominate Atlantic shipping by absorbing several American and British lines. White Star Line became one of the operating companies and in 1904 Bruce Ismay became president of IMM.

International Mercantile Marine Company
Share Certificate

The White Star Lines competitors, Cunard, had built two ships, the Lusitania and the Mauretania. Both ships were launched in 1906. Lusitania made her maiden voyage in September 1907. The Mauretania made her maiden voyage  in November 1907, capturing the Blue Riband (fastest crossing of the Atlantic) on her return journey in December.

In 1907 Bruce Ismay met with Lord William Peerie of Harland and Wolf to discuss the White Star's response to Cunard's new ships. Ismay's intention was not to compete on speed, but to build the most luxurious ships to attract wealthy and prosperous passengers. This would be augmented by a large steerage class accommodation.

The three ships would be named Olympic, Titanic and Gigantic.

The first to be built and in operation would be the Olympic and Titanic.