To meet the crisis a 10 percent
pay cut was imposed on all employees and there was no payment
of dividends on preferred shares from 1932 to 1935. But in
1935 the Chairman saw 'a glimmer of light ahead' and in the
next year salaries were restored to their former levels and
dividends were paid. As the economy revived so did the fortunes
of P&O and the company had the courage to expand the fleet
with the addition of five new passenger liners the names of
which began with the prefix 'Strath'. The arrival of the new
liners also heralded a change of livery to the now familiar
white hulls with yellow funnels and masts. Other changes saw
the company's main operating routes shift from India to Australia,
'Second Class' being referred to as 'Tourist Class' and Australian
passengers encouraging the introduction of deck games. In
1937 P&O celebrated its centenary with enthusiasm and
optimism.
At the outbreak of the Second
World War the group operated over two million tons of shipping
but over half of this, 182 ships in all, was lost during the
hostilities. 1940 saw the company being re-incorporated as
P&O-Orient Line but with both companies maintaining a
degree of autonomy until 1960. In fact most of the companies
which comprised the P&O Group continued to maintain separate
identities, identities which kept them in touch with their
origins. P&O operated passenger and cargo-liner services
to India, the Far East and Australia. The Orient Line operated
passenger services to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific
coast of North America. The New Zealand Shipping Company and
the Federal Steam Navigation Company operated refrigerated
cargo services. The Nourse line operated between the Indies
and India while the BI Line traded between ports which bordered
the Indian Ocean. The Hain Shipping Company concentrated on
worldwide dry-cargo tramping whilst, closer to home, the General
Steam Navigation Company operated smaller cargo ships on routes
to the Baltic and Mediterranean.
The Strathaird
(Oil by Derek Smoothey 1986)
(P&O Lines)
The Strathnaver
(Painting by Peter Wood)
(P&O Lines)
The Rt. Hon. Lord Craigmyle
Chairman 1932-1938
Oil by Sir Oswald Birley(P&O Lines)
After the war a tanker operation
was added to its cargo and passenger services, the latter
deploying fewer but larger and faster ships. Without the mail
contracts there was no longer a need to replace all the war
losses and a steep postwar rise in shipbuilding costs acted
as a break on any rapid expansion plans. Two notable additions
were the 27,995 tons Himalaya completed in 1949 and the 45,000
ton Canberra delivered in 1961, the latter only being recently
been taken out of service. The Canberra was built for line
voyages but when the jumbo jet killed off the traditional
passenger services in the early 70's she reverted to cruising
and became very popular in that role.
P&O supposedly "invented"
cruising and Arthur Anderson even wrote about the concept
before the company was ever formed. But it was not until 1904
that the company organised a modern style cruise programme
with excursions arranged by Thomas Cook, for First Class passengers
only. However, cruising became very popular between the wars
and when the mail contracts were terminated in 1945 and alternative
sources of revenue became necessary the need arose to examine
the potential of this leisure activity. Furthermore, when
the line voyages lost their popularity because of the aeroplane
P&O had to look seriously towards the leisure industry
for the alternative deployment of their ships. Consequently,
in 1974, passenger classes were abolished and the company
purchased the Los Angeles based Princess Cruises and embarked
on a programme of acquiring and building purpose built cruise
ships. Today they are one of the largest cruise operators
in the world.
Whilst P&O is thought of
mainly as a cruise ship and cross channel ferry operator,
in reality, much of its post war investment went into cargo
operations. After the war the shipping industry went through
a rapid change and P&O quickly became involved with conventional
cargo liners, bulk carriers, liquefied gas carriers, tankers
and the newly emerging container carrier. In 1965 P&O
was part of a consortium of British shipping companies which
formed Overseas Containers Ltd for the purpose of operating
the new container ships and later became the sole owner of
the company. By the mid 1970's P&O was involved in almost
every aspect of merchant shipping and had pioneered the biggest
changes in that industry for 150 years but the company was
also expanding into other transport operations such as door-to-door
road haulage and roll-on/roll-off ferries.
The Arcadia
(P&O Lines)
The Spirit of London
(P&O Lines)
Sir William Crawford Currie, GBE
Chairman 1938-1960
Oil by Robert Swann after
Edward Haliday (P&O Lines)
In 1969 the prolonged closure
of the Suez Canal forced P&O to consider its position
regarding its service to Indian. As the ships were forced
to go via the Cape of Good Hope, adding some 5000 miles to
the voyage, the company decided to discontinue its services
to the sub-continent; services which had been maintained for
127 years.
The 1970's saw the start of
P&O's diversification into commercial activities which
were totally unrelated to the maritime and transport businesses.
In 1974 the company acquired the Bovis construction and house
building services group and then, in 1985, merged with the
Sterling Guarantee Trust, a leading industrial services and
property group. SGT, formerly known as Town & City Properties,
originated as a rubber estate company which re-invested its
profits in property during the mid 1950's. However, in the
early 1970's the company experienced financial difficulties
and, as a result, arranged a 'reverse takeover' with Sterling
Guarantee Trust Ltd. Headed by Jeffrey Sterling and Bruce
McPhail the company was nursed back to health and marked the
success by renaming it Sterling Guarantee Trust plc.
Jeffrey Sterling, who
was later knighted and then given a peerage, became the Chairman
of P&O in 1983. Two years later the merger with SGT expanded
the group to include the development division of Town and
City Properties with its investments in the USA and the Arndale
shopping complexes. SGT also included the tool manufacturer
and distributor Buck & Hickman and Butlers Warehousing
who merged with P&O European Transport Services to become
P&O Distribution. Other enterprises joining the group
as a result of the merger included the Earls Court Exhibition
Centre with its ancilliary specialist services, the industrial
and commercial security company Sterling Guards and Sutcliffe
Catering which provides contract catering for companies and
local authorities.
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