Better known as the Blue Funnel line because of the distinctive appearance of their ships, Alfred Holt & Company is one of the most famous British shipping companies. Although the company is still active their operation is now concerned with land based business. The ships are gone. In 1988 only two vessels still carried the "blue funnel" and I believe these have since been sold. But for over one hundred years anyone traveling to any of the major ports of the world could not have failed to see a Blue Funneler. They were ubiquitous, and instantly recognizable with their oversize straight stack with little or no rake and the unique color, a light blue with black top.

The Holt family entered the shipping business in 1852 with the purchase of a steam collier, the DUMBARTON YOUTH. The story goes that they found a stock of light blue paint aboard this vessel and decided to brighten her up by painting the funnel. All ships owned by A. Holt and his successors have carried this scheme. Initially Holt and his partners employed the DUMBARTON YOUTH in the coastal trades, but soon operations extended to France, more ships were acquired, and by 1855 routes extended as far afield as the West Indies. This service was sold in 1865 and became the West Indies & Pacific Steamship Co. which was eventually absorbed by the Leyland Line in 1900.

In the dissolution of the first company Alfred Holt retained on his own account one vessel, the CLEATOR. For the first six months of 1865 CLEATOR made profitable voyages, first to the Bay of Biscay, later to Archangel and two trips to Brazil. A new company was formed, The Ocean Steamship Company, and three new ships were ordered for the China trade The route was by way of the Cape and. unlike others before them who had tried and failed, the company was a success. In 1866 Alfred Holt and his brother Philip were named directors. The sailing to the Far Fast of the first of the new ships (AGAMEMNON) early in 1866 established the Blue Funnel connection with the Orient, a trade that they came to dominate. This also established another tradition, the naming of new ships for characters from ancient Greek history and Mythology. However, when ships were purchased from other firms quite often their original names were retained in Blue Funnel service.

Expansion was steady with new ships ordered and smaller shipping companies purchased. After gold was discovered in Australia this was added as a destination and more ships ordered. By the time Alfred Holt died in 1911 the company he established operated 62 ships. When the First World War erupted there were 64 ships active in the fleet and two more on order. (Due to the war these were not built).

By this point the style of the Blue Funnel cargo liners was well established. The first drawing shows a vessel that is very typical. The TYNDAREUS was one of three similar vessels ordered in 1912. She was built by Scotts of Greenock (long associated with this firm as they were the builders of the first three ships for Alfred Holt in 1865-66). Carrying a combination of kingposts and goalpost masts, she was designed for the Pacific trade. The two hatches forward of the bridge were over normal length to accommodate logs. Both large holds were subdivided, a feature which may have later saved the ship and her crew. On 6th February 1917 the TYNDAREUS struck a mine off Cape Agulhas. The mines were laid in January by the German raider WOLF. The ship was carrying troops at the time. She took on water forward and soon the forecastle was almost under. Boats were launched and the soldiers were rowed to the nearby hospital ship OXFORDSHIRE and to another Blue Funnel vessel, the EUMAEUS, which happened upon the scene. Still afloat, the TYNDAREUS was towed slowly astern into Cape Town where repairs were made.

TYNDAREUS also served as a troop ship during the Second World War, coming through unscathed. In 1949 she was converted to the Pilgrim trade, cartying the faithful to Mecca. Cargo space was eliminated and converted with accommodations for 2000 people. She served on until 1960 when it became clear that without extensive repairs she would not pass her 1961 certification. In September 1960 she went to Singapore, sold for scrap after having served for 44 years.

The second plan shows the other typical standard type of Blue Funnel ship. One of a class of seven sister ships, (actually part of a group of eleven similar ships, the others differed in having diesel powerplants she had a particularly interesting fate. The AUTOMEDON was built in 1922 by Palmer's Company, Newcastle. For most of her career she operated in the Indian Ocean in the China trade. She was on another such voyage (Liverpool via Freetown and Durban to Penang) when or 11 November 1940 she encountered the German raider ATLANTIS midway between Nicobar and Ceylon. The raider shelled the bridge to silence her wireless and sent a landing party to board her. The AUTOMEDON was carrying a locked and weighted pouch in her safe that contained highly sensitive documents. The master, who was responsible for disposing of this material was killed on the bridge. In addition to codes, ciphers, sailing orders, etc., the German boarding party found the pouch intact when they opened the ships safe. Realizing its importance Capt. Rogge detached a captured vessel (the OLE' JACOB) which docked in Kobe, Japan. The material was turned over to the German consul to forward to Berlin. The Germans immediately shared its content with the Japanese. The pouch contained a wealth of intelligence material, the most important being a top secret War Cabinet defense appraisal intended for the Commander of British Forces in the Far East. In simple terms the report stated that the Royal Navy could not commit major fleet units to the defense of the Far East. They were on their own.

It is perhaps presumptuous to suggest that the receiving of this report directly precipitated the attack on Pearl Harbor, however it would be correct to state that from the Japanese point of view a major objection to a war in the Pacific had been removed. Now the Imperial Navy knew they had only one enemy to face in the Pacific. The Royal Navy was not coming. Shortly thereafter Admiral Yamamoto first proposed the preemptive strike on the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. The loss of the AUTOMEDON must therefore be ranked as one of the great intelligence disasters of the war. The mystery remains as to why such sensitive material was sent by freighter when much faster and safer means were available for delivery to its destination.

This ship class seems to have been particularly unlucky. Five of the seven sisters were lost during the war, one by shell fire from an Italian submarine, one sunk by a Japanese cruiser, and the other two torpedoed by U-Boats. Of the overall group of eleven vessels, only three survived the war.

Colors - Blue Funnel Line. Hull - black. Upper works - white. Vents - white or black (varied). Derricks & kingposts - buff Winches - black. hatch covers - brown. Funnel - light blue - black top. Decks - unpainted wood.

Blue Funnel Line	Tyndareus	Automedon

This article originally appeared in Plastic Ship Modeler 1997/2 and is reprinted here with the permission of the author and editor.

Copyright © SMML 2003