Shaw, Savill & Albion Line


Shaw, Savill & Albion Line was the trading name of Shaw, Savill and Albion Steamship Company, a British shipping company that operated ships between Great Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

History

The company was created in 1882 by the amalgamation of Shaw, Savill and Company and Albion Line.
At the annual shareholders' meeting of the company on 12 April 1892, profits for the year of £35,270 16s 2d were announced.
In 1928, White Star Line bought 18 Shaw, Savill and Albion ships. In 1932 Shaw, Savill and Albion took over Aberdeen Line, and in 1933 Furness, Withy Co., Ltd. acquired control of Shaw, Savill and Albion. In 1934 White Star merged with Cunard Line and gave up its routes to Australia and New Zealand, selling assets including the liners and to Shaw, Savill and Albion.
In 1936, Shaw, Savill and Albion announced plans to sell Ionic. She was scrapped in 1936 or 1937 in Osaka, Japan. In 1939 the company introduced a new flagship, the . Her unique initials stood for "Quadruple Screw Motor Vessel". She was joined in 1955 by a new flagship, the . The replaced Dominion Monarch in 1962. As the scheduled liner trade declined, the company laid up the Southern Cross in 1972, initially in the Port of Southampton, and after 6 months she sailed to the River Fal for further lay up until being sold to Greek interests in 1973; after a major transformation she reappeared as the Calypso. With the company losing money and the oil crisis of 1973 having a major effect on the company a decision was made to withdraw the Northern Star and the Ocean Monarch from service in 1975, with both ships being sold to Taiwanese breakers. The Northern Star was only 13 years old when she was scrapped; with a long history of mechanical problems, there was no potential purchaser of the vessel.
As noted, in E. M. C. Barraclough's book Flags of the World , a variation of the flag used by the United Tribes of New Zealand was used by the Shaw, Savill & Albion Line as its company flag.