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Pacific Far East Line (PFEL)
IndustryMaritime transport
Founded1943
FounderThomas E. Cuffe
Defunct1978
Fatebankrupt in 1978
HeadquartersSan Francisco, California (141 Battery Street)
Area served
Far East and Worldwide
ServicesCargo and Passengers Liners

Pacific Far East Line, also called PFEL in short, was a passenger and cargo shipping line founded in 1943 by Thomas E. Cuffe, in San Francisco, California.[1] At the beginning he started by chartering foreign ships to run the lines in tramp trade. Later scheduled cargo services were added to the line. During World War II the South Atlantic steamship line was active with charter shipping with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration.

After World War II Pacific Far East Line purchased some of the low-cost surplus ships. All purchased ships were given names ending with the word "Bear". Pacific Far East Line flag was blue with a golden bear and below the letters PFEL, and Pacific Far East Line ads called PFEL routes "Routes of the Bear". During wartime, the South Atlantic steamship line operated Victory ships and Liberty ships. Chairman Thomas E. Cuffe died in 1959. Pacific Far East Line operated some Lighter aboard ship (LASH ships).

In 1977 The US Maritime Subsidy Board approved the application of Pacific Far East Line, Inc. (PFEL) for being granted a construction-differential subsidy (CDS) for financing the reconstruction of four LASH barge carriers into full container ships at Bethlehem Steel's San Francisco shipyard at a cost of U$5 millions each. The four ships were the Thomas E. Cuffe, Golden Bear, Japan Bear, and the Pacific Bear, all built in 1971 and 1972 at Avondale Shipyards, Inc., New Orleans, La. However, as containerization expanded, Pacific Far East Line failed to upgrade sufficiently rapidly its fleet to container ships and modernize as other shipping lines did in the 1970s. With the Vietnam War over Pacific Far East Line lost revenues and eventually went bankrupt and closed in 1978, all ships being sold or scrapped due to age.[2][3][4]

Coastwise Line

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Coastwise Line was owned-managed by Pacific Far East Line out of San Francisco, with Headquarters at 315 California Street. Coastwise Line was founded by Hector Hunt in 1938 in Portland, Oregon. The ships of Coastwise Line flew a white and blue flag with "CL" on it. During World War II, Coastwise Line was active in chartering ships. In 1960, the company closed. Coastwise Line's main ports included New York City, New Orleans, Galveston, Havana, and others. They also operated ferry lines across San Francisco Bay and riverboats between San Francisco and Sacramento. Additionally, Coastwise Line had port facilities for transferring equipment across the Sacramento River between Port Costa and Benicia, California. Main route was moving Northwest timber. Coastwise Line operated the Alaska service which ran between the Pacific Coast and British Columbia to/from Alaska. Coastwise Line operated the Columbia River service that ran between Portland, Oregon to/from Long Beach, California.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

Lykes Coastwise Line

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Lykes-Coastwise Line was a partnership founded in 1934 in Florida, with routes on the east coast, the agreement ended in 1946. Lykes-Coastwise Line also operated charter ships during World War II.[13][14]

Pacific Far East Line Routes

[edit]
1976 envelope used in canoe mail with PFEL logo
  • US homes ports were: Los Angeles and San Francisco.
  • Main foreign ports were: Japan, Yokohama, Kobe, Osaka, Okinawa, Korea, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Guam, Philippines, Manila, Philippine Islands, and Thailand. Also ports in Manchuria. Some ports in the U.S.S.R. in Asia[15]

Ships

[edit]
World War II Victory ship
World War II Liberty ship
SS Mariposa ship cancellation used in 1976

Some ships charted or owned by Pacific Far East Line and Coastwise Line:

Coastwise Line Ships

[edit]

Lykes Coastwise Line ships

[edit]
  • Empire Flamingo [38]
  • Empire Falcon[38]
  • SS Joel Chandler Harris[39]
  • SS Abbot L. Mills[31]
  • Empire Ortolan[40]

PFEL LASH carrier

[edit]

Two C4-S-1t LASH carrier were built by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation in San Francisco:

  • SS China Bear 1962 LASH carrier, scrapped 1986
  • SS Philippine Bear 1962 LASH carrier, scrapped 1986 [41]

The C4-S-1 class, also known as the Mariner class, where the largest of the C4 ships, 37 were built.[42][43]

Type C7 Ship

PFEL Ro-Ro Ship

[edit]
  • Atlantic Bear was a Roll-on/roll-off ship built in 1976 by Sun Shipyards for the Pacific Far East Line, at 17,300 DWT for $30 million, in 1984 she was renamed Atlantic Spirit in 1989 Kaimoku in 1998 El Yunque.[44]

PFEL Type C7 Ships

[edit]

Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point Shipyard constructed two C7-S-88a container ships for Pacific Far East Line (PFEL).[45] The two new ships were launched as SS Australia Bear and SS New Zealand Bear. Australia Bear was completed in 1973, but before New Zealand Bear had been fully outfitted both ships were sold in 1974 to Sea-Land Service, Inc. and renamed Sea-Land Consumer and Sea-Land Producer as Sealand's SL18P class.[46] Sea-Land was bought by the CSX Corporation in 1986, and both ships were renamed in 2000. The domestic U.S. liner operations of Sea-Land were sold in 2003 and subsequently operated under the name Horizon Lines.[47] Their service life came in a full circle when Matson, who had initially designed the ships decades earlier, acquired Horizon Lines in 2015. The vessels would serve their new owners a few more years as Matson Consumer and Matson Producer. They were scrapped in 2018 and 2019 respectively.

MA Hull # MA Design Original Name Shipyard Hull # GT DWT Delivery IMO Later Names Fate
253 C7-S-88a Australia Bear 4639 23,763 26,600 1973 IMO 7224306 Sea-Land Consumer, CSX Consumer, Horizon Consumer, Matson Consumer Scrapped 2018[48]
254 C7-S-88a New Zealand Bear 4640 23,763 26,600 1974 IMO 7366312 Sea-Land Producer, CSX Producer, Horizon Producer, Matson Producer Scrapped 2019[49]

PFEL C8-S-81b ships

[edit]
Design C8

In the late 1960s, shipbuilding engineer Jerome L. Goldman designed the first LASH ships, Type C8-class ship, the Acadia Forest and the Atlantic Forest. Avondale shipyard start construction in 1969 of the second LASH ships the C8-S-81b. The ten C8-S-81b LASH ships were of identical design and built from 1970 to 1973. The 11 ships were used by two shipping lines Prudential Grace Line in New York and Pacific Far East Line in San Francisco. The price for each ship was $21.3 million.[50]

  • C8 Barge Carrier ship names:
    • Thomas E. Cuffe, Golden Bear, Pacific Bear, Japan Bear, and China Bear [51]

World War II

[edit]

Coastwise Line fleet of ships were used to help the World War II effort. During World War II Coastwise Line operated Merchant navy ships for the United States Shipping Board. During World War II Coastwise Line was active with charter shipping with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration. Coastwise Line operated Liberty ships and Victory ships for the merchant navy. The ship was run by its Coastwise Line crew and the US Navy supplied United States Navy Armed Guards to man the deck guns and radio.[52][53][54]

    • World War 2 ships:[55]
  • SS Coast Trader June 7, 1942 torpedoed
  • SS Coast Farmer July 20, 1942 torpedoed
  • SS Augustus Thomas Oct. 24, 1944 bombed
  • SS Rufus King July 7, 1942 stranded, broke in two
  • SS Samuel Heintzelman July 1, 1943 sank by surface raider in Indian Ocean
  • SS Peter Sylvester Feb. 6, 1945 torpedoed
  • SS Abbot L. Mills [31]
  • SS Rider Victory [27]
  • SS Ames Victory [22]
  • SS Anchorage Victory [22]
  • SS Anniston Victory [22]
  • SS Harry Leon Wilson [32]
  • SS Jacob H. Gallinger [37]
  • SS Villanova Victory [23]
  • SS Yugoslavia Victory [23]
  • SS Boise Victory [18]
  • SS Princeton Victory [16]
  • SS Benjamin Bonneville [56]
  • SS Owensboro Victory [26]
  • SS Elizabeth Blackwell [33]
  • SS Simmons Victory [24]
  • SS Charles M. Russell [34]

See also

[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Liberty ships.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Victory ships.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "THOMAS E. CUFFE, HEADED SHIP LINE; Chairman of Pacific Far East Concern Dies -Got Propeller Club Award". The New York Times. December 23, 1959.
  2. ^ "Pacific Far East Line, Inc. in San Francisco, CA (Google Maps)". Virtual Globetrotting. March 3, 2015.
  3. ^ "Pacific Far East Line - Mariposa - Monterey". www.timetableimages.com.
  4. ^ "House Flags of U.S. Shipping Companies: P". www.crwflags.com.
  5. ^ "House Flags of U.S. Shipping Companies: C". www.crwflags.com.
  6. ^ The New York Times, Feb. 26, 1960
  7. ^ US Shipping
  8. ^ "Long Island Tankers Corp. v. S. S. Kaimana, 265 F. Supp. 723 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com.
  9. ^ The Marine News, Volume 42, July 1955
  10. ^ "Alaska Freight Lines, Inc. v. Weeks, 18 F.R.D. 64 (1955)". Caselaw Access Project. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  11. ^ Interstate Commerce Commission Reports: Decisions of the Interstate Commerce Commission of the United States. Valuation reports, Volume 45, 1934
  12. ^ The Liberty Ships of World War II, By Greg H. Williams
  13. ^ "LYKES-COASTWISE LINE INC". florida.intercreditreport.com.
  14. ^ "Muller v. Lyke Coastwise Line, Inc., 144 F. Supp. 135 | Casetext Search + Citator". casetext.com.
  15. ^ "Pacific Far East Line, Inc. v. the United States, 394 F.2d 990 (Ct. Cl. 1968)". Justia Law.
  16. ^ a b c d "vicshipsP". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  17. ^ "vicshipsK". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  18. ^ a b c "vicshipsB". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  19. ^ wrecksite.eu, Pacific Bear
  20. ^ "SS JAPAN BEAR | MARAD". www.maritime.dot.gov.
  21. ^ wrecksite.eu, SS Carlsholm
  22. ^ a b c d e "vicshipsA". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  23. ^ a b c d e "vicshipsT". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  24. ^ a b c d "vicshipS". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  25. ^ a b "vicshipsF". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  26. ^ a b "vicshipsN". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  27. ^ a b "vicshipsR". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  28. ^ a b "LibShipsL". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  29. ^ "vicshipsM". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  30. ^ "LibShipsM". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  31. ^ a b c d "LibshipsA". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  32. ^ a b c d e f g "LibShipsH". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  33. ^ a b c "LibShipsE". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  34. ^ a b c "LibShipsC". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  35. ^ "S.S. Mariposa II". greatships.net/mariposa2.
  36. ^ "LibShipsK". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  37. ^ a b c "LibShipsJ". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
  38. ^ a b "EmpireF".
  39. ^ "LibShipsJo".
  40. ^ "EmpireN".
  41. ^ "PHILIPPINE BEAR - IMO 7225714 - ShipSpotting.com - Ship Photos and Ship Tracker". www.shipspotting.com.
  42. ^ Pike, John. "C4-S-1a Mariner / APA-248 Paul Revere / AKA-112 Tulare". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  43. ^ "C4 Cargo Ships". shipbuildinghistory.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  44. ^ "Ro-Ro Ships Built in the U.S. since WWII". Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  45. ^ "Pacific Far East Line". House Flags of US Shipping Companies. Flags Of The World. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  46. ^ Cudahay 206 pp. 133-134, 266-267
  47. ^ "How We Ship - Vessels". Horizon Lines. Archived from the original on 26 March 2015. Retrieved 30 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  48. ^ "United States Flag Privately Owned Merchant Fleet - Summaryary of Changes" (PDF). Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  49. ^ "Weekly Vessel Scrapping Report: 2019 Week 35". Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  50. ^ Hans Jürgen Witthöft: Piggyback over the sea. The barge carrier family. Koehler's publishing company, Hamburg 1987, ISBN 3-7822-0275-9
  51. ^ "Ships Built unser MARAD Contracts". Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  52. ^ "Steamship Company Operators of American Flag Ships during World War II". www.usmm.org.
  53. ^ "Sea Lane Vigilantes". www.armed-guard.com.
  54. ^ World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merchant Marine, 2007-2014 Project Liberty Ship, Project Liberty Ship, P.O. Box 25846 Highlandtown Station, Baltimore, MD [1]
  55. ^ From Hell Hole to High Tech: Historical Highlights, Pacific Coast Marine Firemen, Oilers, Watertenders and Wipers Association Affiliated with the Seafarers' International Union AFL-CIO. Pacific Coast Marine Firemen, Oilers, Watertenders and Wipers Association, 1983 - Merchant mariners, page 40
  56. ^ "LibshipsB". www.mariners-l.co.uk.
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