Munson Steamship Line

The Munson Steamship Line, frequently shortened to the Munson Line, was an American steamship company that operated in the Atlantic Ocean primarily between U.S. ports and ports in the Caribbean and South America. The line was founded in 1899 as a freight line, added passenger service in 1919, and went out of business in 1937.

History

The Munson Steamship Line was founded in 1899 by Walter D. Munson, who built a freight line from New York to Havana into a line that encompassed eastern Cuba, Mexico, and ports on the Gulf of Mexico and operated over 60 cargo ships, and becoming the largest ocean freight company on the Eastern Seaboard. Walter Munson was succeeded first by his son Carlos, and later by his other son, Frank Munson, shortly after the end of World War I.[1] The 3,477 GT Munamar, built by Maryland Steel in Baltimore,[2] became the first passenger liner and was employed on the eastern Cuba route.[1]

In 1904, the company's headquarters moved to the Beaver Building in lower Manhattan.[3]

A painting of Munwood in US Navy service in 1918–19

Munson acquired a British subsidiary, the Crossburn Steamship Company, with offices in Glasgow. When Britain entered the First World War in July 1914, Crossburn owned two UK-registered ships: Mundale, registered in Swansea, and the newly-built Munwood, registered in Glasgow. Both ships were transferred to the Munson Line's direct ownership and re-registered in New York.[4][5]

Frank Munson

Frank Munson, after securing former German steamships seized in the war, began New York–South America service with Moccasin (the former Prinz Joachim of the Hamburg America Line) in December 1919. Martha Washington, a former Austro-American Line steamship, and Huron, Aeolus and Callao, all former North German Lloyd steamships, were added to the service by the United States Shipping Board (USSB) soon after.[1]

In May 1921, the company moved to a new headquarters building, the Munson Building at 67 Wall Street and 85-97 Beaver Street.[6]

In July 1921, four Type 535 class ships—American Legion, Southern Cross, Pan America, and Western World—were assigned to the Munson Line by the USSB (and the former North German Lloyd ships were returned). In 1922, Martha Washington was returned to Italy after an act of Congress declared that she belonged to the Cosulich Line.[7] Munargo, built at New York Shipbuilding of Camden, New Jersey, was added to Caribbean service in 1921.[1]

In 1925, Munson Line bought outright the USSB ships. In 1931, Western World ran aground off the coast of Brazil, where she would remain for four months before finally arriving in New York for repairs. But the Great Depression dramatically reduced ocean traffic and the company slowly dwindled in size, laying up ships or scrapping them to save the costs of operating them.

In June 1934, Munson Steamship Line filed a petition for a reorganization under Section 77B of the Bankruptcy Act.[8]

By 1937, the United States Maritime Commission, a successor to the USSB, had taken over the remaining ships of the troubled line when it declared bankruptcy in 1937.[1]

Passenger steamships
Advertising in The Cuba Review, a periodical published by the Munson Line.

This is a list of passenger vessels used by the Munson Line for Caribbean and South American routes:[1]

Steamships owned and operated in 1929[9]

South American service:

Cuban and/or coastwise service:

Gulf–Plate service:

Intercoastal service:

New York–Brazil service:

New York–Nassau service:

Baltimore–Jacksonville, Miami and Havana service:

  • SS Munlisto
  • SS Munloyal

Gulf–Cuba etc. service:

  • SS Fritzoe (Panaman flag)
  • SS Mundixie
  • SS Mundolphin
  • SS Munorway (Norwegian flag)
  • SS Munplace

Steamships owned as of February 2, 1937[8]

General passenger and freight service between New York and various ports on the east coast of South America, with calls at Trinidad enroute northward:

General passenger and freight service between New York, Nassau, Miami and Havana:

Freight service between New Orleans and Progreso:

Carrying coal between ports on the Atlantic coast of the U.S.:

  • SS Muncove
  • SS Mundixie
  • SS Munmotor

Status unknown:

Not in operation:

Notes
  1. "Munson Steamship Line". Maritime Matters. Archived from the original on April 14, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2010.
  2. "Bethlehem Steel Company, Sparrows Point MD". ShipbuildingHistory.com. The Colton Company. Archived from the original on 2008-10-08. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
  3. Horsley, Carter. "Info & Ratings - Cocoa Exchange Review". CityRealty.com. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  4. "Luristan". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
  5. "Munwood". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved September 21, 2022.
  6. "Munson Building Opens.; Steamship Company Completes Project Begun a Year Ago". The New York Times. May 8, 1921. Retrieved July 11, 2014.
  7. The Austro-American Line was based in Trieste, a city in Austria-Hungary before the war; Trieste was made a part of Italy after the war, and the passenger line was reorganized as the Cosulich Line, an Italian company.
  8. Continued Operation of Merchant Marine Vessels on Essential Trade Routes: Hearings Before the Committee on Commerce, United States Senate, Seventy-Fifth Congress, Third Session, on S. 4134, A Bill to Provide for the Continued Operation of Merchant Vessels of the United States on Essential Trade Routes, June 6, 7, and 8, 1938. Washington: United States Government Printing Office. 1938. pp. 124–126.
  9. To Further Develop an American Merchant Marine: Hearings Before the Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representatives, Seventy-First Congress, Second Session, on H. R. 8361, A Bill to Further Develop an American Merchant Marine, to Assure Its Permanence in the Transportation of the Foreign Trade of the United States, and for Other Purposes, January 23, 27, 28, and 29, 1930. Washington: United States Government Printing Office. 1930. pp. 190–191.
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