The first group of the new
class of vessels, the Chimborazo, the Cuzco, the Garonne and
the Lusitania, arrived for the Liverpool - Valparaiso - Callao
through service in 1871. In the following year a mail subsidy
of £10,000 was granted to enable a weekly service to
Callao and the company's share capital was increased to £3,000,000.
At the same time the White Star Line attempted to enter the
same market when, on 5th October, 1872, their Republic sailed
for Valparaiso and Callao. PSNC's new steamer Tacora was lost
near Montevideo during her maiden voyage while racing against
the Republic.
On 8th January 1873 the Sorata (1) commenced the first weekly
sailing and operating under a new mail contract. At the age
of 75, William Wheelwright died on 26th September, 1873, during
a visit to London where he was planning to reside and by the
end of that year the imposing trans-Atlantic fleet was complete
and, if the coastal fleet was included, PSNC was the largest
steamship company in the world. A fitting tribute to its founder,
William Wheelwright.
However, serious problems were
just around the corner as the company had over-stretched itself
and both passenger income and freight fell short of expectations.
To add to the problem both White Star Line and the Ryde Line
had ships operating the route and the Compagnie Général
Transatlantique was operating a service to Chile. Ryde Line
was operating a four ship service between Antwerp - Montevideo
- Buenos Aires and Valparaiso on the strength of a Belgian
Government contract but after a few voyages it failed. Adding
to the problems, a local company, Compania Sud Americana de
Vapores, was founded with a base at Valparaiso. Their ships
were distinguished by having a red funnel with a black top,
a livery which is still used today.
By 1874 the problems encountered by the company were serious
as there was simply not enough trade to support a weekly service
from Liverpool. Although Ryde and White Star had withdrawn,
their effect on the trade was minimal. To ease the situation
the directors decided to reduce the Atlantic sailings to once
every fortnight and, at the same time, increase the passage
time by reducing speed by one knot in order to save fuel.
During the same year the relatively new Tacna was lost following
an explosion and the Limena and Oroya (1) were sold to the
Peruvian Government. To make the company self sufficient in
South America a dry dock was built in Glasgow, dismantled
and shipped to Callao where it was re-assembled. This provided
a facility for the company's coastal fleet to be overhauled
locally.
The reduction in service left
the company with surplus ships and no fewer than eleven of
the deep sea fleet were laid up in Birkenhead. In an attempt
to find alternative employment for the vessels the company
sought and obtained permission to amend the Royal Charter
allowing them to deploy the surplus ships on routes other
than to South America. Two of the laid up ships, the Puno
and the Corcovado went to the Royal Mail Line.
In February 1877 the directors
of PSNC were approached by Anderson, Anderson & Co., and
F. Green & Co. with a proposal to establish a jointly
operated steamship company to trade to Australia in competition
with P&O. The aim was to operate a monthly service out
via Cape Town returning via the Suez Canal. The Orient Steam
Navigation Company was incorporated and, pending the delivery
of its own newly built ships, four PSNC ships were chartered
with Orient having the option to purchase if the venture turned
out to be a success. The new service was inaugurated with
the Chimborazo, the Cuzco (1), the Garonne and the Lusitania,
four sister ships all built in 1871. The first voyage was
undertaken by the Lusitania which sailed from Plymouth for
Melbourne on 28th June 1877, arriving on 8th August knocking
10 days off the previous record passage time. Around the same
time the Magellan (1), the Araucania and the Cordillera commenced
a short lived service from Liverpool to Buenos Aires with
a call at Bordeaux.
The new service to Australia became so popular that Anderson,
Anderson & Co. eventually exercised their option to purchase
the ships which, having become well established, retained
their original names. Demand was such that the service was
increased to provide fortnightly sailings.
During 1879 the Mendoza joined the fleet and was the first
liner ever to be equipped with electric lighting. In February
of the same year war broke out between Bolivia, Peru and Chile.
Peru and Bolivia had signed a defensive alliance in 1873 and
in 1878 Bolivia imposed an export tax on nitrates. In an act
of retaliation Chilean troops occupied the Bolivian nitrate
port at Antofagasta and declared war on Peru on 5th April
1879. The war lasted for four years, which seriously interrupted
PSNC's trade and had internal repercussions as management
at local level tended, quite naturally, to take sides. This
was contrary to Head Office instructions as the company has
always maintained strict neutrality in political matters.
As a point of interest, the incumbent Chairman of PSNC was
always appointed Honorary Consul for Chile in Liverpool regardless
of which political party was in power in the country.
In April 1879 the company signed
an agreement with its Australian route partners to operate
a fortnightly service under the Orient Steam Navigation Co.
banner with PSNC adding six more ships to the fleet making
a total of ten in all. The John Elder commenced the first
sailing under the new name in the May followed by the Iberia,
the Aconcagua, the Sorata, the Liguria and the Cotopaxi. The
final member of the fleet was the Orient, the first ship built
for the Orient Line. From then on all mail passenger ships
of both PSNC and Orient Line were prefixed with 'Or', a tradition
which continued until 1931 when the Reina del Pacifico was
delivered.
Despite the war the company
acquired six new ships in 1881 among them being the Osorno
and the tender Morro (2), the company's first twin screwed
ships. In the following year James G. Robinson replaced Lawrence
R. Bailey as Chairman and the Iberia was requisitioned for
troopship duties for the Arabi Pasha Egyptian Campaign. In
1885 the Lusitania and the Britannia were requisitioned for
possible use as Armed Merchant Cruisers during the 'Russian
Scare' when their troops invaded Afghanistan on 30th March.
War was averted when the troops later withdrew.
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