The Company at War

Abstract

The Company entered the war in a sound financial position, with an ageing though still largely robust fleet, and an ageing though still largely robust management. As far as the Blue Funnel ships were concerned, fleet development had been virtually stagnant since the last pre-depression orders, Memnon and Ajax, were delivered in 1931. The only exceptions were the little Gorgon (1933) and Charon (1936), built for the Singapore-West-Australian trade. The major building programme had belonged to Glen. Of the eight Glenearn class vessels ordered under the programme initiated in 1936, only three had been delivered by the outbreak of the war, but others soon followed under the spur of national emergency, four more being launched before the end of 1939 and the last one, the Glenartney, was completed in 1940. These were fast, powerful ships, and not surprisingly, four were requisitioned by the Royal Navy within the first few months of war to be converted into Fleet supply ships under the White Ensign. The Breconshire became one of the best known of the heroic ships which sustained Malta during the seige of 1942.

It was the London staff that most delighted me. Without Blue Funnel background they were as keen and self sacrificing as the Liverpool men and their courage was something to marvel at.

(C. Cameron Taylor, Straits Steamship Co., 1945)