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British shipping companies (Pr)

Last modified: 2021-05-29 by rob raeside
Keywords: shipping lines |
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Premier Steam Fishing Co., Ltd.

[Premier Steam Fishing Co., Ltd. houseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 4 May 2021

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of Premier Steam Fishing Co., Ltd. (#1769, p. 121), a Grimsby-based fishing company, as blue with a white "P" in the center.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#86
Ivan Sache, 4 May 2021


J. Prendiville & Co.

[J. Prendiville & Co. houseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 29 April 2021

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of J. Prendiville & Co. (#1214, p. 94) as green, charged in the center with a 12-rayed yellow sun.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#59
Ivan Sache, 29 April 2021


Prentice Service & Henderson

(Crown S.S. Co., Ltd.)

[Prentice Service & Hendersonhouseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 3 May 2021

George Service was a Glasgow shipowner who was first chairman of the Student International Club, founded in 1922. He left £1,000 to the club in his will, and its premises at 11 University Gardens were named for him. George Service House has been occupied by HATII since 1997.
Born in Glasgow, Service studied at the University in the early 1880s before working for the shipping company, City Line. He joined Prentice & Clapperton which became known as Prentice Service & Henderson after he became a partner in 1890. Service spent much of his life in Cove, where he was a councillor for many years, and he was Provost of Cove and Kilcreggan in 1917. He was Glasgow's Dean of Guild, 1930-1932. Service was also a patron of the artist Francis Cadell (1883-1937).

The Shipping Magnate and Isotopes
http://www.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk/news/isotope.html

The Crown Line fleet of Prentice, Service & Henderson was taken over in 1918 by Thomas & James Harrison.
Prentice, Service & Henderson appear to be still registered in Liverpool as ship agents.

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of Prentice, Service & Henderson (Crown Steamship Co., Ltd.) (#1652, p. 115) as white with three red crowns placed along the descending diagonal of the flag.
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#80
Ivan Sache, 3 May 2021


W. Price & Co.

[W. Price & Co. houseflag] image located by Ivan Sache, 21 April 2021

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of W. Price & Co. (#124, p. 42), a Liverpool-based company, as blue, charged in the center with a white oval inscribing the red letters "WP&C°", cantonned by four white winged devices.

https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#7
Ivan Sache, 21 April 2021


Prince Line

(J.L. Knott)

[Port Line Ltd houseflag] image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 11 February 2008
[Click on image for a photograph of an actual flag, located by Jan Mertens, 24 December 2005: the representation here should not have the "ICH DIEN" included.]

Source: http://www.travellersintime.net/catalogue.php?action=section_search&section=flags 

Red swallow-tailed pennon with the Prince of Wales' ostrich feathers in white.
James Dignan, 17 October 2003

Founded 1884. The first ships were Saxon Prince and Highland Prince. Incorporated 1885 as Prince Lines out of Newcastle. Sold to Furness, Withy & Co in 1916 after Sir James Knott, the owner, had his three sons killed during World War I. In 1917, Furness, Withy created a subsidiary to the company, Rio-Cape Line Ltd. Rio-Cape was merged back into Prince Line in 1954. By the 1960s the company was leasing ships on an as needed basis, although it would venture into container ships in the 1970s before the company was amalgamated with Manchester Lines. Furness, Withy was sold to C.Y. Tung and later to Hamburg Süd. Today it exists in name only as part of Hamburg Sud's entity Shaw Savill Holdings Ltd.
Phil Nelson, 18 October 2003

Posted as insolvent on 19 May 2004 (The Times).
Ron Lahav, 20 May 2004

Is it right that a shipping company was permitted to use as the sole item on its house flag the personal emblem of the heir to the throne?
Colin Dobson, 11 February 2008

The three feather badge of the Prince of Wales includes the motto "ich dien", but the three feather emblem on the Prince Line house flag did not, so I guess it can be argued that it is not the personal emblem of the heir to the throne.
David Prothero, 11 February 2008

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the same house flag (#789, p. 74).
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/39/
Ivan Sache, 27 April 2021


Princess Cruises Ltd.

[Princess Cruises Ltd. houseflag] image by Jarig Bakker, 10 October 2005

Princess Cruises Ltd., London - white, several blue and green waves.
Source: Loughran (1995)
Jarig Bakker
, 10 October 2005

The logo is a "princess" with wavy blue and green hair.
Albert S. Kirsch, 10 October 2005

[Princess Cruises Ltd. houseflag] from Loughran (1979), located by Neale Rosanoski, 21 July 2008

[Princess Cruises Ltd. houseflag] image by Neale Rosanoski, 21 July 2008

Princess Cruises was at the beginning an American company being formed by Stanley MacDonald in 1965, based Los Angeles, and with the "Princess logo" on funnels dating from 1968. In 1974 the company was acquired by P&O Steam Navigation Co. and was operated by them as a division coming under P&O Lines Ltd. of London, hence the UK connection. According to Lloyds it was again set up as a separate company as Princess Lines Inc. of Los Angeles in 1994. In 2000 P&O demerged its cruise interests into a new company, P&O Princess Cruises Ltd. which ended in a merger with Carnival Corporation in 2003 where it became Carnival plc. of London with amongst the brand name companies taken over being Princess Cruises Inc. which is now based in Santa Clarita CA though they also now operate out of Hamilton, Bermuda as Princess Cruises Lines Ltd. There has been more than one flag with Loughran (1979) showing white with the head [complete with eye] and tresses, which are in light blue and green, pointing to the hoist and in the base the black legend "PRINCESS CRUISES" and this may be the original colours prior to the P&O takeover. In 1999 I took a photo of the flag being flown by the "Sky Princess" which featured purple instead of blue, the whole design being large with no eye [logo can be seen on http://www.princess.com ] and in correspondence with Louis Loughran he stated that this was the original flag, possibly meaning under P&O ownership seeing that it varies from that in his book, but in 1997 he had seen ships in Vancouver with the flag bearing the logo all in blue. The P&O archivist of the time told him that the blue markings had prevailed for several years but without being able to give a date and in this case it would seem that it was probably a case of using up some old stock. Not having seen one of their ships since I do not know whether the all blue version is still around.
Neale Rosanoski, 21 July 2008


Giles W. Pritchard-Gordon (Shipowning) Ltd.

[Giles W. Pritchard-Gordon (Shipowning) Ltd. houseflag] image by Jarig Bakker, 20 September 2005

Giles W. Pritchard-Gordon (Shipowning) Ltd., London - 7 horizontal stripes of red and white, proportioned c. 1:1:1:2:1:1:1; over all white diamond bordered blue, blue "GPG".
Source: Loughran (1995)
Jarig Bakker, 20 September 2005


William Purdy

[William Purdy houseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 24 April 2021

When the UK fishing fleet was composed entirely of sailed powered boats, it was the custom to hire tugs to take them in and out of harbour.
In November, 1877, North Shields tug-owner, William Purdy, fitted trawl gear to the paddle tug "Messenger". He came to be acknowledged locally as the first to introduce steam trawling on the Tyne. His fleet of steam trawlers, which lasted into the 1960s, included a boat named after himself.

http://www.tynetugs.co.uk/Owner-Purdy.html
Tyne Tugs and Tug Builders

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of
William Purdy (#460, p. 58) as white with a red border, charged in the center with a red "P".
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#23
Ivan Sache, 24 April 2021


Purvis Shipping Co., Ltd

[Purvis Shipping Co., Ltd houseflag] image by Phil Nelson, 7 April 2000

from Stewart and Styring's Flags, Funnels and Hull Colors 1963

[Purvis Shipping Co., Ltd houseflag] Eugene Ipavec, 8 August 2006

Purvis Shipping Co. Ltd. According to Brown 1951 there was an earlier flag being a pennant of 6 black and red vertical bands with the black bearing the white letters "PSC" in descending scale.
Neale Rosanoski, 24 May 2004


Putford Enterprises Ltd.

[Putford Enterprises Ltd. houseflag] image by Jarig Bakker, 3 October 2005

Putford Enterprises Ltd., Lowestoft - white swallowtail bordered orange, except at the hoist; on white black "P".
Loughran (1995)
Jarig Bakker, 3 October 2005


Pyman Bros., Ltd

[Pyman Bros. Ltd. houseflag] image by Eugene Ipavec, 23 July 2006

A red flag with blue disk charged with white "P", shown in Talbot-Booth (1937) "Ships and the Sea", 1937, #94 (British Empire). T-B shows a swallowtail with the disk at c. 1/3 flag length. The company was based in London.
Jarig Bakker, 23 July 2006


Pyman, Watson & Co., Ltd.

[Pyman, Watson & Co., Ltd. houseflag] image by Ivan Sache, 30 April 2021

George Pyman’s son John William Pyman set up Pyman, Watson & Co in Cardiff in 1874. Pyman, Watson & Co, Cardiff went into liquidation in 1964.

http://www.mariners-list.com/site_pages.php?section=Shipping+Companies&category=English&page_name=George+Pyman+
Mariners L

Lloyd's Book of House Flags and Funnels (1912) shows the house flag of Pyman, Watson & Co., Ltd. (#1351, p. 101), as blue with the white letters "P W & C°".
https://research.mysticseaport.org/item/l011061/l011061-c008/#66
Ivan Sache, 30 April 2021


British Shipping lines: continued