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(Source: J.H. Isherwood, Sea Breezes, 1977)
We would like to thank Sea Breezes for permission to reproduce these articles |
Lamport & Holt liners
"Vandyck", "Vauban" and "Vestris" of 1911-12
THE Lamport and Holt company, rather sparsely dealt with, it seems, in shipping histories, began ship owning in 1845 and ran more or less world-wide tramping services until in 1865 they formed the Liverpool, Brazil and River Plate Steam Navigation Company and concentrated on the South American trade, where they were among the pioneers in the carriage of frozen meat and also in the coffee trade to New York.
In 1902 they began their passenger and cargo service between New York and Brazil and River Plate ports with the beautiful little clipper-bowed Tennyson and Bryon, bought from Furness, Withy. They were of about 3,900 gross tons and ran for them until about 1916.
From 1906 or so onwards the ‘V’ class ships helped out the smaller pair. The Velasquez, Verdi and Veronese were ships of about 7,000 tons, cargo ships with some passenger accommodation, the Verdi in fact carrying about 50 first-class and all of them with emigrant accommodation in the ‘tween decks.
In 1907 the Voltaire of 10,000 tons catered for 60 first and a large number of third-class. Basically a cargo steamer, flush decked, she had a long deckhouse amidships, boat deck above, in which the first-class rooms were fitted. The next ship however the Vasari, was very different, a full-scale passenger liner intended for a wealthy American clientele and fitted in the scale of a first-class Atlantic liner. She had accommodation for 200 first, 90 second and 200 third class.
It seems strange that she was ordered as a "lone ship" really, for the New York service, since the Voltaire was hardly a suitable running mate. However she was the prototype for three slightly enlarged and improved liners the company ordered in 1910, intended for a new fast passenger service between Liverpool and South American ports. These three were the Vandyck, Vauban and Vestris, all from Workman, Clark and Co. Ltd. of Belfast.
The Vandyck was the first and opened the new service in 1911. She differed very slightly from the other two. The Vauban was launched on January 20, 1912 and ran her trials in April, while the Vestris joined the others in the autumn.
Gross tonnage of the Vauban was 10,660, net 6,699, and she had a dead- weight capacity (rather variously stated) of about 8,400 tons and a displacement of 16,980 tons on a load draft of 26 ft. 8 in. Overall length was 511 ft. and registered dimensions were 495.5 x 60.8 x 28.7 ft. There were three overall decks, the upper one a shelter deck, and an orlop deck in Nos. 1 and 2 holds. Above the shelter deck were a forecastle and a long bridge deck, with promenade and boat decks above.
There were five hatchways, three forward and two aft, with nine main bulkheads. The wheelhouse was at the fore ~nd of the boat deck, with "cabs" in the wings, but there was also a "flying bridge" set a bit further aft above the wheelhouse.
Twin screws were driven by quadruple- expansion engines with cylinders 23, 32½, 46½, , and 66½ ins. in diameter and a stroke of 48 ins. There were three double- ended cylindrical boilers in the boiler room, burning coal and working at 215 lbs per sq. in., also a single-ended auxiliary boiler. Bunkers held about 3,000 tons of coal. This machinery gave the ship a speed of 15 knots.
Passenger accommodation was arranged for 280 first-class, 130 second and 200 third-class, and these numbers seem to have been more or less steady throughout the ship's life.
The Vestris was a practically identical sister except that she had a special claim to fame as she was built on what was known as the "Isherwood" system with web frames and longitudinal framing, the first passenger liner, so far as I know, to be built on this system. The Vandyck was almost a sister of the later pair, with identical dimensions and machinery. The visible difference was that her bridge deck was not extended to join up with the poop deck. Instead, she had an extra hatch- way and pair of derrick posts on the after end of the bridge deck, and slightly shorter promenade and boat decks, with only five boats on each side.
Vandyck seen here at Liverpool
All three were beautiful ships, their pleasing lines and nice proportions I enhanced by their Lamport and Holt colouring, blue, white and black funnel and all-white masts and derricks, a cheerful and "fresh"-looking colour scheme. The drawing shows the Vauban as first completed. Later, probably post-war, the white strake of paint on forecastle and bridge deck was, in all of them, carried down to shelter deck level, while the boat equipment was rearranged, with only five boats aside on the boat deck under luffing type davits.
The new service, Liverpool to South, America, was opened by the Vandyck in 1911, emigrants were embarked in Vigo, Leixoes and Lisbon, and the ship went on to Brazilian and River Plate ports. The Vauban and Vestris joined the next year.
But the service never really got fully under way. By 1911 the Lamport and' Holt Line became a public company and came under R.M.S.P. control. The Royal Mail company were just completing their five "D" class, intermediate ships to run from Liverpool on exactly the same route, and were also awaiting the completion of their Andes, Alcantara and Almanzora for the accelerated Southampton service.
While waiting, they chartered the Vandyck for a couple of voyages and the Vauban for nearly a year, renaming her Alcala in April 1913, in Royal Mail colours, and handing her back towards the end of the year. The "D"s were slightly larger than the "V’s” and with these five in commission and the new service completely disrupted by the charterings prospects for the Lamport and Holt service were so poor that they withdrew.
They lost no time however in finding more profitable employment for their ships and transferred them to the New York - South America route, joining up With the Vasari. At this time they were far superior to any other passenger ships on the run and their regular fortnightly service was soon enormously popular.
When war broke out the service was temporarily suspended for a few weeks but the Vandyck sailed from New York in September and on October 18, homeward bound, was captured by the German cruiser Karlsruhe. The Germans behaved with the greatest courtesy and consideration - in fact their officers came over to the Vandyck for a social evening with the passengers - and all passengers and crew, with their baggage, were painstakingly ferried across to the German supply ship Asuncion before the Vandyck was sunk by explosive charges.
I have no record of the doings of the other "V"s during the war except that the New York service terminated in 1917. Presumably it was continued until the three ships were taken under the liner requisition scheme when they probably ran from South America to the U.K. with their valuable refrigerated spaces full. They may also have done some trooping.
All three resumed service in 1919, though it was irregular. The Vauban and Vestris made some Cunard voyages from Liverpool to New York, then down to the River Plate and Brazil and across again to Liverpool, a triangular route. In 1922 both made a voyage for Royal Mail on their Hamburg-New York service run by the "0" ships. By the end of 1923 however the regular fortnightly service from New York to the Plate was once more in full swing and the earlier ships had been joined by a new Vandyck and Voltaire, a really beautiful pair of over 13,000 gross tons. With their arrival the Vasari was disposed of. She went to Hull owners and with her passenger accommodation removed became a depot ship for trawlers in Icelandic waters.
At the same time on the New York run serious competition had arisen in the shape of the American Munson Line. This company had obtained from the United States Shipping Board four of their "535s", improved their accommodation and renamed them Pan America, Southern Cross, Western World and American Legion, and put them on the same route as the "V"s. They carried 260 first-class and 170 third. Built as transports, their accommodation was not up to that in the "V"s, but they were rather larger ships, faster, and heavily subsidised, and made serious inroads into Lamport and Holt profits.
After about five years disaster struck the British company. The Vestris left New York for Barbados, Rio and the River Plate on November 10, 1928. On the 11th, with 128 passengers and 197 crew on board, she encountered heavy weather eventually reaching gale force and by the evening had developed a list to starboard and was steering badly with the gale on the port quarter. She was hove to and later struck by two particularly heavy seas.
The list increased and by Monday morning had risen to 30 deg. Wireless messages requiring ships to stand by were sent out, and eventually the SOS signal. Finally the ship had to be abandoned, capsizing and sinking shortly afterwards. The survivors in her boats were rescued next morning by the U.S. battleship Wyoming, the Myriam, a French tanker, and the liners American Shipper and Berlin (N.D.L.).
A total of 112 lives were lost including the captain, and the loss of this number and of such a ship shocked the U.S. East coast and the shipping world in general. As always with any marine disaster, dramatic and unfounded rumours abounded, but the loss certainly brought no credit on either the British or American management which seems, after years of successful running, to have become somewhat "slap-happy".
The Court of Inquiry, held at the Institute of Civil Engineers, Westminster, lasted for over a month and the evidence was said to be unsatisfactory, contradictory and inconsistent. A certain amount of dirty washing, both British and American, was aired. The findings were that the ship was overloaded (though not apparently according to U.S. regulations at the time), and that the loss was due to her having insufficient stability, to the shift of the cargo, stowed haphazardly, and probably of the coal also, to serious leakage through a "half- door", to failure to batten down the shelter deck coaling hatches and failure of the ash-ejector closing appliance.
An unfortunate aspect of the loss was that of the 213 persons saved 153 were members of the crew, but this was due to the dilemma in which the captain and officers found themselves. The tradition was "women and children first" and this was carried out. The first boats away had to be those on the high side - with the increasing list they would soon have been unable to be launched at all.
But the high side was also the weather side and thus losses here were higher through boats being smashed against the ship's hull. The various causes of the disaster might, individually, it seems, have been dealt with satisfactorily, but coming altogether as they did the ship and her crew were overwhelmed in spite of the tremendous efforts of both deck and engine room personnel.
The bad publicity resulting from the loss of the Vestrls, falling profits and the increasing slump proved too much for the company and in the autumn of 1930 the New York to River Plate passenger service was discontinued. An almost similar service however was undertaken in 1929 by the Furness, Withy group with their four new "Compass" Princes.
In September 1930 the Vauban was laid up in Southampton, in January 1932 to be sold to breakers for what seems the absurd sum of £8,500. The Vandyck and Voltaife, after a long period of idleness, were given all white hulls, and a thin black line at shelter deck level and put on to cruising, where they proved highly successful until the war. Both became war losses and so ended the famous ”V” class series, a sad end to a fine group of ships. The company itself survived the downfall of the great Kylsant shipping empire and in 1944 became a part of the Vestey group, allied to the Blue Star Line and the Booth Line, between which there was much inter-change of ships. But Lamport and Holt still retains its identity, with its houseflag and blue, white and black funnel.