Los Angeles Steamship Company

The Los Angeles Steamship Company or LASSCO was a passenger and freight shipping company based in Los Angeles, California.

History

The company, incorporated on May 27, 1920, with a capital stock of $5,000,000 and Fred L. Baker of the Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company acting as president.[1] The early history of the company is that of the establishment of the Los Angeles - San Francisco route.

In 1921, LASSCO added service to Hawaii in competition with the San Francisco-based Matson Navigation Company using two former North German Lloyd ocean liners that had been in U.S. Navy service during World War I. Despite the sinking of one of the former German liners on her maiden voyage for the company, business in the booming 1920s thrived, and the company continued to add ships and services. In 1922, the City of Los Angeles, a renamed and refitted liner, was one of the largest American ships sailing in Pacific waters.[2] The worsening economic conditions in the United States, and the burning of another ship in Hawaii, caused financial problems for the company. After beginning talks in 1930, the Los Angeles Steamship Company was taken over by Matson Navigation on January 1, 1931, but continued to operate as a subsidiary. The merger was announced on October 30, 1930, the new combined operation was in control of 31 ships sailing the Pacific.[3]

In August 1933, the California Steamship Company was formed as a subsidiary of LASSCO, to operate a coastal service between San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego with the SS Corrales, SS Timberman and SS Coquina.[4] The subsidiary only lasted till April 1935 and only ran with the Corrales.[5]

Matson called for redemption on July 1, 1935 the entire $4,900,000 of mortgage bonds issued in 1931 as part of the LASSCO merger (due 1936-1940) to curtail interest payments.[6]

LASSCO ceased operations in 1937.

Los Angeles - San Francisco overnight (1921-)

The SS Yale (1906) and SS Harvard, sister ships launched in December 1906 and January 1907 and both triple-screw steamers capable of a speed in excess of 20 knots, were to make up the fleet, expected to arrive in July 1920 from the Atlantic coast.[7] After arrival in Los Angeles both ships were to undergo a $1,000,000 repair and alteration program.[8] On August 24 the merger with the Los Angeles Pacific Navigation Company was announced and the size of the fleet was increased to 6.[9] A new $100,000 terminal next to Shed 1, Pier A was built for the daily service between San Pedro and San Francisco. The terminal was reachable by Pacific Electric rail from 6th & Main Station in downtown Los Angeles.[10] Eventually there was $8,000,000 spent on Yale and Harvard by the time they were ready for their first journey,[11]

Los Angeles - Hawaii (1922-)

The United States Shipping Board announced on December 1, 1921 that the SS Huron (later named the City of Honolulu) and SS Aeolus (1899) (City of Los Angeles), former German ships seized in World War I would be allocated to a direct steamship service between Los Angeles and Honolulu.[27]

The SS City of Honolulu (1896) caught fire on October 12, 1922 while on her maiden voyage for the line and sank October 17.

The next SS City of Honolulu (1900), in service since her maiden voyage on June 4, 1927, caught fire in Honolulu on May 25, 1930 and never again entered service before the ship was sent to Japan to be scrapped in 1933.

Fleet

This is a list of passenger ships of the Los Angeles Steamship Company:

• sister ships SS Harvard (1920-1931) and SS Yale (1906) (1920-)
• SS Waimea (1923-1932)
• purchased from the Inter-Island Steam Navigation Company (trading among the Hawaiian Islands) in March 1923
• 210ft long, 12 knots, 900 tons cargo capacity
• replaced in the island trade with the SS Haleakala (1923)[28]
• SS Calawaii (ex USAT Sherman 1899–1922, ex S.S. Mobile of Atlantic Transport Line 1892–1898, Scrapped 1933 at Osaka, Japan)
• SS City of Honolulu (I), sunk in 1922
• SS City of Honolulu (II), burned in 1930
• SS City of Los Angeles (1899)

External links