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William H. Flayhart
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The American Line: Pioneers of Ocean Travel Hardcover – January 1, 2001

by William H. Flayhart (Author), William Flayhart (Author)
5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 4 ratings
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This book presents the largely unknown early history (1870-1900) of the American Steamship Company--an extremely colorful and eventful time replete with disasters and triumphs.

The story of the development of the American Merchant Marine remains one of the most glorious chapters in the early history of the United States. Up until the Civil War the American sailing ships carried the Stars and Stripes around the world with honor to the nation and profit to their owners. The war and the concurrent change from sail to steam brought disaster to American shipping. By 1870 there were no American passenger liners on the North Atlantic, a sad blow to national pride. The American Steamship Line, born in 1873 as a necessary response to the failings of the American Merchant Marine during the Civil War, quickly became the only American transatlantic line competing with Europe. Begun in part as an investment by the Pennsylvania Railroad, it operated out of Philadelphia and eventually reinstated America's position as a competitive and prestigious force in transatlantic crossings.
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  1. Print length
    404 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 2001
  5. Dimensions
    8.9 x 1.5 x 10.4 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0393047105
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0393047103
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Flayhart is professor of history, political science, and philosophy at Delaware State University, and is the author of, among other books, The American Line, QE2, and Majesty at Sea with John H. Shaum Jr. He lives in Dover, Delaware.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition (January 1, 2001)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 404 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393047105
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393047103
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 4.01 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.9 x 1.5 x 10.4 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    5.0 5.0 out of 5 stars 4 ratings

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William H. Flayhart

William H. Flayhart

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Customer reviews

5 out of 5 stars
4 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Man of Steel
5.0 out of 5 stars A very fine history!
Reviewed in the United States on September 15, 2013
Verified Purchase
This book is a very fine history of the American Line with a lot of good information on the associated Red Star Line. As might be expected it concentrates heavily on the early years of steam navigation from the late 19th century through the early 20th century. This book is a history of the line and not of the individual ships; although some individual ship data is presented it is not in an easy to locate table form, but appears in the text at points where new ships are described. The illustrations are many and good; a very large number of them are reproductions of postcards produced as advertising tools for the lines. The relationship between the American and Red Star Lines and the Pennsylvania Railroad is covered in considerable detail.
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Nick
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Reviewed in the United States on January 8, 2014
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A very interesting read on the history of this U.S. steamship company. My grandmother was on the S.S. Paris in 1894 with her Granny "and Servant" so it was interesting to learn about the ship they sailed to Southhampton, England from New York and to New York by train from Philadelphia.
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Jojo
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2015
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Customer loved it!
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Top reviews from other countries

Ralph Cook
5.0 out of 5 stars Detailed and entertaining account of the line and major ships: superb quality production.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 15, 2020
Verified Purchase
First of all I was struck by the excellent production standards of this book: it features high quality art paper which enables fine reproduction both of photographs and of the many excellent period colour illustrations. Mr Flayhart does not disappoint with his narrative history since he shows a talent for description of events in the sort of finite detail that creates a vivid ‘picture’ in ones imagination, although perhaps he sometimes goes rather too far, as when rolling out the names of the numerous dignitaries at board meetings and ship launchings.

The history of the American and Red Star lines became very intertwined. Initially the American line started business with four ships all built by William Cramp & Sons, running from Philadelphia to Liverpool, whilst Red Star used less expensive chartered tonnage from British builders and focused on the Antwerp service. Both lines were underpinned by the mighty Pennsylvania Railroad and by the imagination of Clement Acton Griscom. The operations came together with the ‘new’ American line (International Navigation Company) as organised in 1893, its tonnage largely comprising ships of the Inman Line that had already been absorbed. Philadelphia ultimately could not compete with New York, but the Philadelphia local authorities were generally uncooperative and effectively drove much shipping away to the rival port.

The author is clearly a true American patriot and the greater part of the second half of the book details the careers of the companies four express steamers, especially the American built St Louis and St Paul. These two 11,600 ton liners were constructed by Cramps in order to secure a government mail subsidy. They were fine ships in most respects but only barely achieved the required 20 knot speed and in reality were rather over shadowed by Cunards mare powerful Campania and Lucania: their complex quadruple expansion engines were perhaps ambitious for the shipyard at that time. There is a fine account of thes four US express liners when used as cruisers and transports during the Spanish American war. All four were well handled and performed very creditably for a navy seriously lacking in fast cruisers of its own. Unfortunately this encouraged the used of liners as cruisers later, in the Great War, and against more formidable opposition ((including torpedoes) they soon proved to be far too vulnerable. In those days there were numerous maritime accidents and disasters and about half a dozen are covered in the book, amongst them being the Grounding of St Paul in 1895 and the dramatic rescue of Veendams’ crew in 1898. These are all very well described by Mr Flayhart.

Finally there is fascinating and very detailed coverage of the ambitious International Mercantile Marine- the best account of this that I have read. Its founder, steel magnate J. Piermont Morgan, was largely coaxed into it by Clement Griscom, but Morgan himself was already obsessed with the White Star line, becoming more so after he failed to acquire Cunard. Bruce Ismay of White Star effectively usurped Griscoms’ position and the laters American Line was decidedly overshadowed, eventually fading from the scene by1923. Mr Flayhart describes the initial, apparent success of the IMM as a ‘Piric victory’ and he ends the book there, whilst noting Griscoms passing in 1912, soon after the fateful loss of Titanic.

Given the complex nature of fleet organization it would have been useful to have had a data section including tabular details of the ships and the routes on which they ran. That would have been more useful than the 27 pages of ‘notes’, both references and comment- these are annoying and far too numerous to be referred to whilst one reads the narrative. Overall though, this is a very fine book - a fascinating tale and a good read even for those not previously obsessed with ocean steam ships. It can now be obtained for just a few pounds and is well worth acquiring.
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