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| Industry | Transport |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1891 |
| Defunct | 1980 |
| Fate | Acquired |
| Successor | Orient Overseas Container Line |
| Headquarters | Hartlepool,UK |
Key people | Christopher Furness Sir James Steel (Chairman) |
Furness Withy was a majorBritish transport business. It was listed on theLondon Stock Exchange.
The company was founded byChristopher Furness andHenry Withy (1852–1922) in 1891 inHartlepool.[1] This was achieved by the amalgamation of theFurness Line ofsteamers with the business ofEdward Withy and Co., iron and steelshipbuilders and repairers, of WestHartlepool, which was founded byEdward Withy (1844-1927), Henry Withy's brother.[2] An early acquisition in 1900 was a controlling interest inRichardsons Westgarth & Company, a marineengineering business.[2]
Furness, Withy started with 18 vessels and over the subsequent years it owned in excess of a thousand ships.[3] It bought the Prince line in 1916.[1] In 1917 theFurness Shipbuilding Co Ltd was established, atHaverton Hill,River Tees, initially for war production.[4] The Furness family sold its interests in the Company to a consortium led byFrederick Lewis, a Director in the business, in 1919.[1]
Also in 1919, Furness, Withy bought fromCanada Steamship Lines the Quebec Steam Ship Company, which ran scheduled services betweenNew York andBermuda. Furness, Withy renamed its acquisition theFurness Bermuda Line.[5] In 1928 Furness, Withy acquired the Red Cross Line.[6]
In 1965 Furness, Withy acquiredRoyal Mail Lines (formerlyRoyal Mail Steam Packet Company) in 1965.[7]
In 1965,British and Commonwealth Shipping, Furness Withy,P&O andThe Ocean Steamship Company establishedOverseas Containers Limited to exploitcontainerisation.[8]
In 1966 Furness, Withy terminated its Furness Bermuda Line operation.[5][9]
In 1968 Furness, Withy bought theHoulder Group, a company with offshoreoil interests.[10] Furness Withy boughtManchester Liners in 1970.[11]
The company was acquired by theOrient Overseas Container Line ofHong Kong in 1980.[3] In 1990 it was resold to theOetker Group, who at the time of purchase were the owners ofHamburg Süd.[3]
Furness Withy operated bothtramp andliner services. The latter includedtransatlanticRoyal Mail andpassenger routes, initially fromWest Hartlepool to Boston and New York, and later from Liverpool toSt John's, Newfoundland,Halifax, Nova Scotia and Boston. The Liverpool — Boston route was worked by a pair of sister ships, RMSNewfoundland and RMSNova Scotia. The firstNewfoundland andNova Scotia were built in 1925 and 1926 but were requisitioned in 1940 and 1941. Both were lost to enemy action:Nova Scotia as atroop ship in 1942;Newfoundland as ahospital ship in 1943.S.S. Fort Amherst[12] and her sister shipS.S. Fort Townshend[13] were built byBlythswood Shipbuilding[14] in 1936. They sailed between Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New York and the British West Indies. In 1952 S.S. Fort Amherst she was taken over by theRoyal Fleet Auxiliary after theexplosion of the RFA Bedenham and renamed RFA Amherst.[15] A secondNewfoundland andNova Scotia were built as replacements in 1947 and served until 1962, when Furness, Withy sold them to Dominion Navigation Co. A thirdNewfoundland andNova Scotia were built in 1964 and 1965, and were chartered toShaw, Savill & Albion Line in 1973.[16]
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