British Tramp Shipping, 1750-1914
British Tramp Shipping, 1750-1914

Author: Robin Craig

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Published: 2017-10-18

Total Pages: 416

ISBN-13: 1786949113

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This study explores the history of tramp-shipping in the United Kingdom, between 1750 and 1914. It defines ‘tramp’ as steamships exclusively hulled with iron or steel. The purpose of the journal is to keep the history of tramp-shipping from fading into obscurity, as the author believes the tramp steamer does not invoke sentimentality nor provide enough glamour to sustain the same level of maritime interest enjoyed by sailing ships or ocean liners. The study is split into four major sections, the first concerning tramp-shipping, ownership, and capital formation; the second concerning trade, specifically copper ore and African guano; the third studies tramp seamen - particularly sea masters; and the final and largest section considers individual tramp-shipping regions, further subdivided by region - Wales, the Northwest, the West Country, the Northeast, the Southeast, and Canada. The volume is punctuated with statistics, tables, charts, glossaries, and concludes with a bibliography of author Robin Craig’s further maritime writing.

A History of British Tramp Shipping, 1870-1914 (Volume 1)
A History of British Tramp Shipping, 1870-1914 (Volume 1)

Author: Gordon H. Boyce

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Published: 2024-03-25

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1802075550

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Celebrated in the novels of Joseph Conrad and vintage films, tramp ships - the precursor of bulk carriers - are not well understood today. Yet, these vessels transported in bulk essential minerals and ores, grains, timber, and other commodities and played a vital role in creating the modern global economy. While the histories of some individual tramp firms have been written, this book uses personal correspondence and surviving company records to chart the development of the entire industry - the largest in the world- during a period of transformational technical change. Who were the bold, risk-takers who founded tramp firms? How did they mobilise the resources needed to enter this dynamic sector, build immense companies, and accumulate vast fortunes? Why did others fail? This study reveals how executives learned ‘the art’ of managing tramps and developed strategic networking skills. Tramp shipping resonates with many of today’s high-growth industries: it was an information intensive, high stress operation that required rapid - sometimes instinctive - decision-making within a turbulent market. Building business networks was supported by a distinctive culture that streamlined communication. This innovative study places information, knowledge, learning, culture, and communication at the centre of the analysis in order to transport readers into the minds of those fascinating entrepreneurs who helped build the modern world.

The Vital Spark
The Vital Spark

Author: John Armstrong

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Published: 2017-10-18

Total Pages: 370

ISBN-13: 1786948966

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This book collects seventeen previously published essays by John Armstrong concerning the British coastal trade. Armstrong is a leading maritime historian and the essays provided here offer a thorough exploration of the British coastal trade, his specialisation, during the period of industrialisation and technological development that would lead to modern shipping. The purpose is to demonstrate the whether or not the coastal trade was the main carrier of internal trade and a pioneer of the technical developments that modernised the shipping industry. Each essay makes an original contribution to the field and covers a broad range of topics, including the fluctuating importance of the coastal trade and size of the coastal fleet over time; the relationship between coastal shipping, canals, and railways; a comparison between the coastal liner and coastal tramp trade; the significance of the river Thames in enabling trade; coastal trade economics; maritime freight rates; the early twentieth century shipping depression; competition between coastal liner companies; and a detailed study of the role of the government in coastal shipping. The book also contains case studies of the London coal trade; coastal trade through the River Dee port; and the Liverpool-Hull trade route. It contains a foreword, introduction, and bibliography of Armstrong’s writings. There is no overall conclusion, except the assertion that coastal shipping plays a tremendous role in British maritime history, and a call for further research into the field.

The Evolution and Significance of the Powered Bulk Carrier
The Evolution and Significance of the Powered Bulk Carrier

Author: Roy Fenton

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Published: 2023-04-03

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 1837646554

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The book is the first to detail the 170-year evolution of the powered bulk carriers which continue to have a major role in the world’s trades and economies. Their design and technological development is traced from the screw colliers of the 1850s which revolutionised the British coastal coal trade. The same engineering principles were applied to produce ocean-going steam and later motor tramps. By the end of the 19th century, the capabilities and economies of these ‘black freighters’ had captured from the sailing ship much of the world’s trade in bulk commodities. In the second half of the 20th century, the tramps in turn evolved into multi-purpose, dry bulk carriers. These workhorses of the sea transport commodities including metallic ores, grain, coal, timber and other minerals. Quantities of up to 400,000 tons are carried in the largest, specialised ore carriers. In a parallel development, applying the same technical principles produced smaller yet efficient steam and later motor coasters which came to dominate short sea shipping. The book concludes with a discussion of how the economies of transportation provided by bulk carriers have had profound effects on industrialisation, globalisation and the world’s economy, and discusses the environmental impact of these ships.

Trade, Migration and Urban Networks in Port Cities, c. 1640-1940
Trade, Migration and Urban Networks in Port Cities, c. 1640-1940

Author: Adrian Jarvis

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Published: 2017-10-18

Total Pages: 180

ISBN-13: 1786948974

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This study offers an exploration of the role of merchants throughout maritime history through the analysis of maritime trade networks. It attempts to fill in the gaps in the historiography to determine the range of activities that maritime merchants undertook. It is comprised of nine chapters: one introductory, and eight exploring aspects of merchant history across Europe during the period 1640 to 1940. Several major themes recur throughout these studies: the necessity of port networks; the extension of trade networks through merchant migration and in-migration; the assimilation of merchants into port communities; and the impact of urban governance and trade associations on merchant activity. It concludes by claiming merchants across Europe had a more common with one another when approaching risk management than has previously been assumed, and that the at the core of the merchant’s risk management strategy the question of who they could trust with their trade is a universally unifying factor. It suggests that further research on the demographics of ports is the necessary next step in merchant historiography.

Tankers in Trouble
Tankers in Trouble

Author: Stig Tenold

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Published: 2017-10-18

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 1786949040

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This book analyses the causes and effects of the shipping market crisis in the 1970s and 1980s - the most severe of the twentieth century. It approaches the subject from three viewpoints. The first is the tanker sector, where the crisis began, spread, and caused the most damage. The second is from a national perspective - focusing on the impact on Norwegian shipping and shipowners. The third, narrowed further in scope, analyses the crisis from the business perspective of four individual tanker owners - taking into account their business strategies and eventual fates. The aim of the journal is to add to the knowledge of recent maritime history by examining the transformation of the industry during a period of rapid change. One distinct conclusion is that shipowners, to their detriment, assumed that the demand for tankers would continue to increase as it had consistently done so throughout the century thus far. The overall conclusion is that shipping is a cyclical industry, and that the oversupply of ships produced during the 1970s took its toll toward the end of the century. By 2004 and 2005, however, the industry began to bounce back, offering hope for the future. The book consists of an introductory chapter, seven chapters of analysis, a concluding chapter, select bibliography, and three appendices tabling Norwegian tanker statistics.

Making Global and Local Connections
Making Global and Local Connections

Author: Tapio Bergholm

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Published: 2017-10-18

Total Pages: 212

ISBN-13: 1786949016

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This book provides a series of case studies concerning ports and port communities from around the world, in attempt to determine the impact of globalisation on the port industry and the link between local and global port conditions. It also presents the case for the absolute necessity of ports and port systems to trade and industry on a global scale. The book is comprised of ten essays, the first six of which concern local issues in a rapid globalising industry. The second section contains the remaining four essays, which consider port systems from national perspectives.

Scott Lithgow
Scott Lithgow

Author: Lewis Johnman

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Published: 2017-10-18

Total Pages: 382

ISBN-13: 1786949059

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This work studies the history of two major Scottish shipbuilding firms based on the River Clyde - Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company and Lithgows Limited. It traces each firm’s origin, success, decline, and collapse, and places the events into the historical context of maritime Britain. The aim is to enhance the academic understanding of the cause and effect of the decline of the British shipbuilding industry, delving beyond the factors of poor industrial relations, international market conditions, and entrepreneurial failure in search of further answers. As a private company, Lithgows Limited provides useful insights into company management outside of state control. The authors base their analysis on the catalogued volumes of Scotts and Lithgows records, though due to the large number of gaps in the data, they also conducted interviews with major players in each company from the post-war period. Public, business, and banking records also provide supplementary material. The book is separated into eight chapters, plus a concluding ninth, an appendix listing ships built by Scott Lithgow Limited between 1970-1987, and a select bibliography.

Crossing the Bar
Crossing the Bar

Author: Anthony Slaven

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Published: 2017-10-18

Total Pages: 270

ISBN-13: 1786948842

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This book is a collection of sixty interviews with key figures in British shipbuilding, ship repair, and marine engine-building industries across the United Kingdom, plus government and civil service members in the sector from the 1960s to the 1980s. The aim of the project is to understand the economic, social, and political environment of the shipping industry from the perspective of those who worked in it. The interviews place the twentieth century decline of British shipbuilding into a firm context. The topics covered include international competition (a recurring, pertinent theme); labour difficulties; industry modernisation; the attitude of shipowners; the strong belief in traditional methods which kept many of those in the industry from recognising the cheaper, faster, and better quality work taking place overseas and leaving Britain behind; ship production and production control; the postwar boom; shipyard overcrowding; the decline of the domestic industry in favour of the international; marketing weaknesses; trade disputes and trade unions; and nationalisation and privatisation concerns. Opinions and viewpoints often conflict, particularly between the perspectives of those working within the industry and the civil servants working outside of it, but the interviews are presented as a unit, and the reader is encouraged to draw their own conclusion. The result is a unique historical archive that offers a multitude of firsthand perspectives on the British shipping decline, open to interpretation by historians and future researchers. It includes a preface, introduction, and select bibliography. The interviews are grouped together by location and role.

The Rescue of the Third Class on the Titanic
The Rescue of the Third Class on the Titanic

Author: David Gleicher

Publisher: Liverpool University Press

Published: 2017-10-18

Total Pages: 318

ISBN-13: 1786949032

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This work seeks to understand why a disproportionately large number of third class passengers, particularly women and children, died during the sinking of the Titanic in relation to the first and second classes. It examines the gender, class, social, and cultural factors that influenced this disparity. It aims to uncover both why and how five hundred and thirty one third class passengers died on the night of April 14th 1912. A key area of focus is the difficult relationship between the ship’s authorities and the men of the third class, and the extent to which this determined the fate of passengers during the rescue efforts. The introduction asks ‘Who were the third class passengers?’ and uses ethnic and economic backgrounds to suggest the third class belonged to the ‘Old Immigration’ wave of migrants, rather than the contemporary ‘New Immigration’ of the first and second. The first chapter concerns the exclusion of third class narratives in the ‘popular story’ of the Titanic. Chapters two through seven determine the whereabouts of the third class during every stage of evacuation, and flags the discrepancies in testimonies from both the British and American inquiries. Chapter eight provides a conclusion, which claims the ‘popular story’ includes a great many falsehoods with regard to the third class - including their treatment by crew, their behaviours, and their survival rates. The first appendix tables nationalities into regions; the second outlines the twenty routes to the lifeboats, as testified by one of the Titanic design architects; and the third provides deck plans for every level of the ship.