Canada Steamship Lines and Ellermen Lines

[Guest]

Wish CSL would go back to the old stack, never was a big fan of the new one.

[Guest]

The only reason I thought that there may have been some connection between Ellerman and CSL was the identical stack markings. I have attached an image I have found online that is indicative of the Ellerman stack markings with these appearing to go quite a ways back into the early 1900s in some black and white images. Other than the stack there appears to be no other livery similarities. Was just wondering if the stack markings were just coincidental, which appears to be the case, or were there some other ties between the two companies.

[William Lafferty]

I thought I read that CSL bought 3 Ellerman vessels in the early 60s?

In September 1972 Montréal shipping agent McLean-Kennedy and Ellerman & Bucknall began a new Lake Ontario service to India, Pakistan, Ceylon, and South Africa dubbed the Canadian City Line using three E & B vessels: City of City of Glasgow renamed City of Ottawa, City of Eastbourne renamed City of Toronto, and City of Sydney renamed City of Montreal. The three vessels were sold with the culmination of the service in 1978. I still find no connection between Ellerman and CSL.

[Jared]

I thought I read that CSL bought 3 Ellerman vessels in the early 60s?

[William Lafferty]

Canada Steamship Lines, Ltd.,never had any direct relationship with Ellerman, although it certainly did with a primary competitor of Ellerman, Furness, Withy & Company, Ltd. Ellerman and Canada Steamship did not share the same livery, anyway. Ellerman Lines, Ltd.; Ellerman & Papanni Lines; Ellerman Hall Line, Ltd.; Ellerman City Line, Ltd.' and Ellerman Westcott & Laurance Line, Ltd. all had funnels with a black smokeband and buff funnel separated by a white band. These various fleets had separate house flags but each was flown beneath Ellerman's blue pennant emblazoned with JRE in white. Ellerman's Wilson Line had a red funnel with a black smokeband and used its own house flag with Ellerman's pennant. Wasn't CSL funnel livery inherited from Northern Navigation Co., Ltd., in the takeover engineered by Playfair and Furness?

[Guest]

Was there ever any connection between Canada Steamship Lines and the Ellerman Lines of Great Britain? I only ask because the stack markings between the two fleets appear to be identical and was wondering since one of the fleets was Canadian and the other British that there may have been some ownership ties between the two or amongst the principal owners of the two firms.