The company lost four
ships during 1917 the first being the Port Nicholson which
was mined off Dunkirk on 15th January. Three weeks later the
Port Adelaide was torpedoed off Fastnet, the Port Curtis was
lost in the August followed by the Port Kembla on 18th September.
The Port Victor was torpedoed in the October but managed to
limp into harbour. In the March of 1917 the entire fleet had
been taken over under the Liner Requisition Scheme. Most of
the ships continued to operate on the 'meat run' but several
were deployed shipping carcasses from the nearer River Plate
ports so as to increase the number of annual voyages. This
upset the farmers in Australia and New Zealand as they still
had produce to export and they vociferously made their views
known.
In 1918 the losses continued, both as a result of enemy action
and through collisions. On 9th April the Port Campbell was
torpedoed and the Port Hardy suffered the same fate off Cape
Spartel on 6th July. The Port Phillip was lost on 16th October
when she was in collision with one of the US navy's huge colliers
and the Port Hunter was rammed and sunk by the tug Covington
on 2nd November off Vineyard Haven in Massachusetts. However,
the first new ship to carry the 'Port' name, the Port Darwin,
was delivered during the year.
During 1919 the fleet remained
under Government control with the Port Melbourne and Port
Sydney being used as troopships. War losses had to be replaced
and the company ordered a class of thirteen sister ships to
be completed over a six year period. They were identical with
the exception that the first three had counter sterns whereas
the remaining ten were given the new style cruiser stern and
the final ship, the Port Wellington, was slightly smaller.
The first seven ships were equipped with steam turbines but
after experiencing warping and shedding of the turbine blades
the final six revert to triple expansion. All in all though,
the class gave years of excellent service. As the company
was an autonomous subsidiary of Cunard it maintained its own
identity, transfers between companies were never made and
ship specifications retained the 'Port' line look. The general
public never suspected any connection with Cunard except for
the similarity of the funnel.
For some time talks had been going on between Port Line, Shaw,
Saville & Albion, and the New Zealand Shipping Company
aimed at regularising the New Zealand trade along the conference
lines and in 1922 the 'Benmacow' agreement was signed. The
name 'Benmacow' was made up from the names of the three directors
handling the negotiations, Benson, MacMillan and Cowen. Blue
Star Line joined the 'conference' at a later date.
In 1925 the Port Dunedin and her sister the Port Hobart were
the first motor ships to join the fleet and they were so successful
that oil engines became the standard for subsequent new buildings.
Also around this time there were developments in the carriage
of frozen produce. When the first cargoes of frozen apples
arrived in England the bulk of the cargo turned out to be
rotten. The only edible apples had been stowed adjacent to
the refrigerated chamber doors - the further away the worse
the problem. Through prudent examination it was established
that fruit breathes and the apples had, in effect, been suffocated.
The problem was solved by introducing forced draught, variable
temperature air conditioned holds, a practice which is still
utilised today throughout the world. In the case of the carriage
of 'chilled beef', however, the opposite holds good as it
only arrives in good condition of 'suffocated' in carbon dioxide
gas.
Cunard was invited to takeover
Pierpoint Morgan's International Mercantile Marine in 1926
but Chairman Sir Thomas Royden, after some deliberation, declined
to involve the group further in the Atlantic. His background
had been based on the Australian & New Zealand trade and
he preferred to strengthen trading ties with the newly established
British Commonwealth which, until that year, had been referred
to as the British Empire. Had his interests lay in the Atlantic
mercantile history may have been vastly different.
The 'Great Depression' during
1930-32 curtailed world trade and hundreds of ships were laid
up but food remained a necessity and Port Line was fortunate.
Although, many voyages to the Antipodes had to be undertaken
in ballast only the Port Melbourne and the Port Napier were
laid up and the company actually managed to remain profitable.
From 1927 to 1932 the company had a contract with Dorman,
Long & Co. to carry a substantial proportion of the steel
works for the Sydney Harbour Bridge which was under construction.
The girders were loaded into the ship's bottom in Middlesbrough
from where she sailed for London where she was topped up with
general cargo. In Sydney, after the general cargo was unloaded
the ship proceeded to a special wharf below the bridge where
the girders were unloaded. The Sydney Harbour Bridge opened
on 19th March 1932.
In September 1932 the Commonwealth & Dominion moved into
the newly completed Cunard House at 88 Leadenhall St., London
sharing the ground floor with Cunard while the remaining 92,000
square feet of office space was sub-let. Cunard's Head Office,
however, remained at Liverpool's Pier Head.
In 1932 the Montreal, Australia
& New Zealand Line (M.A.N.Z) was incorporated to take
over the loss making Canadian National Steamship Line's Australasian
service. This enterprise had been started when the Canadian
Government were saddled with 70 standard war time built ships
which nobody wanted to buy. The new company, formed by Port
Line, Ellerman & Bucknall and the New Zealand Shipping
Co. with each partner having a third interest, paid $320,000
and inherited ten ships which they promptly sold. The houseflag
of the Indra Line with a maple leaf in the centre was adopted
and Port Line contributed new tonnage with the Port Montreal,
the Port Halifax and the Port Saint John.
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