ABSTRACT
I The success of the British shipping industry until the outbreak of the First World War depended to a considerable extent upon a group of liner companies formed in the middle decades of the nineteenth century. While some of the early formations, such as P&O and Royal Mail, were built around generous state subsidisation, the majority began as small, family-based organisations carrying a limited range of cargo on a single route. The slow improvement in the profitability of the steamship broadened the base of the industry, bringing a new generation of tramp owners into the bulk-carrying trades, but the established liner companies remained the leaders of the British mercantile marine. When other nations began to contest the sea lanes towards the end of the century, it was these companies which first bore the weight of competition.
