|
P&O was founded in 1822 by a partnership
between ‘Brodie Mc Ghie Willcox’ a
London shipbroker and a Shetland born former
navy clerk ‘Arthur Anderson’ who
had worked in Willcox's office from 1815. They
built up their business by linking Britain and
the Iberian Peninsular with sailing ships owned
by themselves and steamers they managed for
other companies. During the Spanish civil war
1833 - 1839, Willcox and Anderson ran guns and
chartered steamers as warships to both sides in
the conflict. Their merger with a Dublin ship
owner ‘Captain Richard Bourne’ in
1935 led to them running a regular service
between London, Portugal and Spain under the
name Peninsular Steam Navigation Company. After
signing a contract for carrying mail by sea
August 22nd 1837, they began investing in new
ships to expand their fleet. This lines name
was changed to Peninsular & Orient Steam
Navigation Company (P&O) after they began
running a regular service to Singapore and Hong
Kong in 1845. By 1852, they had expanded that
service to Sydney/Australia, this establishing
their three great imperial routes to India, the
Far East and Australia.
Before the Suez Canal had been completed in
1869, P&O passengers and cargo had to cross
Egypt in horse drawn carriages or camels. This
crossing was made more comfortable and faster
in the 1850s after P&O built a railway
across Egypt. Although P&O had grown
steadily throughout the 1800s, they expanded
more rapidly in the early 1900s by taking over
other companies. This led to them acquiring a
fleet of almost 500 ships by the mid 1920s.
P&O played a vital role in the two world
wars by using their ships to supply Britain
with ammunition and food. They lost 85 ships
during the First World War and 182 ships in
World War Two.
P&O has invested heavily in cargo ships
since World War Two building up one of the
largest fleets in the world. They now have a
fleet that consists of almost every type of
cargo ship ever built. P&O expanded their
passenger ship services in the 1950s after the
Australian Government began encouraging
European citizens to immigrate to Australia.
With the emergence of Jet aircraft and the
falling numbers of immigrants bringing that
service to an end in the early 1970s, P&O
began investing heavily in their cruise
fleet.
|
