Revised display 13 November 2002
TEESSHIPS
SPRINGBOK LINE

The Article

Few shipping companies can have been in existence for many years but engaged in operating a major shipping line of six ships, with its own distinctive system of nomenclature, for less than two years, indeed little more than l8 months as events transpired, yet such a one was the Springbok Shipping Co. Ltd. And what a story there is to tell!

Most shipping lines have a complicated ancestry and that for the Springbok Shipping Co. Ltd. is no exception. The direct line of descent to the Springbok concern began in 1850 when two sailing ship masters, Samuel Bullard and David King, formed a company to operate a number of sailing ships in the Mediterranean trade. In the early 1860s sailings extended from London to Port Natal (Durban) in South Africa. By sailing direct to Durban and by-passing the Cape of Good Hope, the Natal Direct Line, ultimately contracted simply to the Natal Line, as Bullard, King & Co., became commonly known, came into being. They moved into steam with the PONGOLA in 1879. Four years, and several ships later, they introduced a series of four new ships which began their familiar system of nomenclature, applying Zulu names commencing with UM**, one which they perpetuated for the rest of the company’s life-time.

Meanwhile, on 15 September 1857, the diminutive DANE sailed from Southampton to South Africa on the inaugural mail sailing to the Cape on behalf of the Union Steam Ship Co. Ltd. This had been formed only in 1853 initially as the Southampton Steam Shipping Company but, within months, changing to the Union Steam Collier Company. Competition to the Union Line monopoly arose in 1872 when Donald Currie put new ships of his Castle Line, founded 1862, onto the Cape run. Competition between the two companies was fierce until the turn of the century when, on 8 March 1900, the two amalgamated to become the familiar Union-Castle Mail Steamship Co. Ltd.

Another step towards the eventual appearance of the Springbok fleet took place in 1878 when Charles William Cayzer who, only a year previously had become, briefly, a partner of Liverpool-based ship store merchants Rudstad and Cayzer, was joined by a friend, Captain William Irvine, to form the ship-owning firm of Cayzer, Irvine and Company - this, of course, originated the Clan Line.

Some links in the chain began to join together in 1919, a year when Bullard, King & Co. Ltd. became a limited liability company and also became a subsidiary of Union-Castle. Another 30 years went by before, in response to promptings from the South African government, Union-Castle reputedly formed a dormant subsidiary company styled Springbok Shipping Company in December 1949.

The nature of South African commerce was by then already beginning to change as, on 21 June 1946, the South African Marine Corporation Ltd., more commonly abbreviated to Safmarine, had been established as the South African partner of States Marine Corporation, an American shipping group. The next year they bought three VICTORY ships and it was the CONSTANTIA which made the inaugural voyage to Durban, sailing from New York on 1 August 1947. Britain, however, was South Africa’s major trading partner of the time but all the members of the Europe-South and East Africa Conference were either British or European shipping lines. This changed during a meeting of delegates in Cape Town in December 1949 when Safmarine was admitted to the Conference. Their VERGELEGEN had the honour of making their first sailing southbound from Britain, leaving Birkenhead on 25 May 1950.

A major catalyst in this history was an announcement made on 3 October 1955 that the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Co. Ltd. and The Clan Line Steamers Ltd. were to join forces. The share-holdings in the two companies were to be acquired by a holding company which was to be formed with a capital of £11,483,000. The then current issued share capital for the two companies was stated as approximately £8.2 million for Union-Castle and £2.7m for Clan. The holding company became styled the British & Commonwealth Shipping Co. Ltd., and the merger took effect on 1 January 1956. Subsequently, within this B&C umbrella, Bullard King and the Houston Line (a Clan subsidiary) began operating a joint service from the United Kingdom and the continent to South and East-South Africa as from 1 August 1957.

In the spring of 1958 came the important development that Sir Nicholas Cayzer, Chairman of the British & Commonwealth Shipping Co. Ltd. proposed the establishment of a ‘new’ shipping company in South Africa, to be called the Springbok Shipping Co. Ltd. This was reported as ‘established’ (perhaps, more accurately ‘activated’) early in 1959, at which stage it was said the then seven ships of the Natal Line of Steamers, owned by Bullard King, were to be transferred to the new company and registered at Cape Town, the new concern being a British & Commonwealth subsidiary. During December 1959 came an announcement that Bullard, King & Co. Ltd. had changed their name to the Springbok Line Ltd., and they and the Houston Line then took over the former joint service to South and South-East Africa. The transition finalised only a month later, in January 1960, when Springbok Shipping Co. Ltd. itself became functional from an office base in Cape Town.

Coinciding with this period of activity, in April 1959 Safmarine lost their connection with States Marine of America who were forced to withdraw from the partnership and sever all overseas connections in order to qualify for building and operating subsidies, including a contribution towards the running costs of the nuclear-powered SAVANNAH.

It must be noted, in particular, that the titles of Springbok Line and Springbok Shipping were not synonymous with each other; it is clear they were both separate and distinct company titles created within the B&C Group. All vestige of previous connections with Bullard King were not obliterated as their funnel colours of buff with a black top and chocolate brown band continued, upon which Springbok Shipping superimposed the attractive emblem of a rampant springbok located within a white diamond with a dark border, the base of which was shaded a lighter colour to signify the ground. Even now there may well still be a remnant of a connection with Bullard King as, certainly as late as 1986, Safmarine held the franchise for Bullard King cargo bookings.

Unfortunately, South African levels of trade dropped significantly during the year of 1960 and it soon became clear there were insufficient cargoes to sustain two similarly sized shipping companies; Safmarine themselves having expanded their own fleet with new-buildings during the 1950s. It became known by the middle of 1961 that negotiations were in progress between the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Ltd. (who held a controlling interest in the South African Marine Corporation Ltd.) and the British & Commonwealth Shipping Co. Ltd. with a view to consolidation from 1 July 1961 of the services of Safmarine with those of Springbok Shipping Co. Ltd. Control of the resultant combine was to be in South African hands, although B&C retained a substantial share in what would become an enlarged Safmarine organisation.

The metamorphosis from Bullard, King & Co. Ltd., through Springbok Line Ltd., then Springbok Shipping Co. Ltd., and onto South African Marine Corporation Ltd., as the situation developed from the formation of the British & Commonwealth Shipping Co. Ltd., required close scrutiny to determine the probable sequence of events. Within this, a balance had to be struck between the public pronouncements made at various stages, and the actual circumstances as they subsequently unfolded. In some cases, judgement had to be made between partially conflicting records and reports. Therefore, it is well worth seeking to clarify the exact chronology of this matter, by reviewing the sequence of events between 1956 and 1961 and beyond.

When B&C was formed from 1 January 1956, Bullard, King & Co. Ltd. had 4 ships - UMGENI (of 1938); UMTALI (1936); UMTATA (1944); and UMZINTO (1942). Very soon the UMZINTO was sold to Costa Rican owners. Now within the B&C Group, the CLAN ANGUS that same year transferred from Clan Line to become the UMKUZI. This was followed by two further transfers from Clan Line, the CLAN ALPINE became the UMVOTI during 1957; and in 1958 it was the turn of the CLAN ALLAN to be renamed the next UMTALI (1942). In the meantime, the old UMGENI (1938) and the old UMTALI (1936) had been sold to Elder Dempster and renamed, being handed over to them on 26 April 1957.

Thus, by the beginning of 1959, the fleet consisted of UMKUZI, UMTALI (1942), UMTATA, and UMVOTI. During that year things became complicated for, while still trading as Bullard King, came the announcement of the ‘establishment’ of the Springbok company. The seven ships of the Natal Line were the above four vessels, plus three further transfers within the B&C Group in the early part of the year, two being from Clan Line; the CLAN MACRAE becoming the new UMGENI (1942), and the CLAN ROBERTSON reintroducing the name of UMZINTO (1954). From the associated Clan Line Company, Scottish Shire Line Ltd., managed by Turnbull, Martin & Co. Ltd., came the LANARKSHIRE as the UMGAZI.

However, later that year the UMKUZI, UMVOTI, and UMTALI were returned to Clan Line and resumed their careers under their previous names, all three being renamed between late September and early November during respective visits to the River Tees. In the opposite direction, the CLAN SHAW and CLAN SINCLAIR both moved from Clan Line to Bullard King, being recorded in ownership by the latter, but without changing names.

In December 1959 the six ships which, therefore, transferred into new ownership by the London-based Springbok Line Ltd., without immediately changing name, although their eventual new names had been designated by that time, were CLAN SHAW, CLAN SINCLAIR, UMGAZI, UMGENI (1942), UMTATA and UMZINTO (1954). These were the ships which actually progressed from the Springbok Line Ltd. to the Springbok Shipping Co. Ltd., South Africa, in January 1960 and subsequently renamed by them. The CLAN SHAW reappeared as the STEENBOK; CLAN SINCLAIR as BOSBOK; UMGAZI as GRYSBOK; UMGENI as GEMSBOK; UMTATA as KLIPBOK; and UMZINTO as ROOIBOK.

By 1 July 1961 and sale to the South African Marine Corporation Ltd., the KLIPBOK had just been sold and destined for the scrapyard, but the five other ships moved on to Safmarine for the final phase of their respective careers. So it was, as these ships were renamed during the second half of 1961, it seemed from the most readily available reference sources, that the Springbok Shipping Co. Ltd., and Springbok Line Ltd., like Bullard, King & Co. Ltd. before them, had faded into oblivion following an all too brief excursion into ship-owning.

Perhaps, somewhat surprisingly, this was not the end of this story. There are strong indications (which the author and others prefer) that, having acquired both the company and its remaining five ships, Safmarine decided to continue operating the fleet under the ownership style of the Springbok Shipping Co. Ltd., albeit applying their own colour scheme, and that this continued until 1975 when they disposed of the last of these ships. Certainly, by 1965, the Springbok title reappeared in its own right in other records, with management undertaken by the South African Marine Corporation Ltd. There was yet a further resurrection of this combination in 1976 for the 1966-built S.A. WELTEVREDEN, which continued when renamed SAFOCEAN WELTEVREDEN the following year, and remained until this vessel, having reverted to her original name during 1981, was sold to Maltese owners in 1982.

In mid-1961, at or around the same time as the Springbok fleet was sold, two further Clan Line ships were also sold direct to Safmarine; the CLAN ROSS and CLAN STEWART. These two were with Safmarine only briefly; early in 1962 they reverted to Clan Line ownership while, confusingly, taking Union-Castle names! For completeness, the 14 ships operating for Safmarine by the end of 1961, each bearing the prefixes ‘SOUTH AFRICAN’ were SOUTH AFRICAN FARMER (ex GRYSBOK); ** FINANCIER (ex GEMSBOK); ** MERCHANT; ** PIONEER; ** SCIENTIST (ex CLAN ROSS-61); ** SCULPTOR (ex CLAN STEWART-61); ** SEAFARER (ex STEENBOK); ** SHIPPER (ex ROOIBOK); ** STATESMAN (ex BOSBOK); ** TRADER; ** TRANSPORTER; ** VANGUARD; ** VENTURE; and ** VICTORY.

The Springbok company title, under whatever styling, seemingly, lay dormant for the first ten years of its life. It may be that, even now, having reverted to a similar unused state, the Springbok name, symbolising both the antelope and the country from which it comes, remains ready to leap back into action at any time. Perhaps, it may still re-emerge to celebrate its half century in 1999!

However, at least for the time being, the book seems to be firmly closed on the Springbok story, but many happy memories remain of the time when, in the latter part of 1960, as a schoolboy just turned 15 years of age, the author first took an interest in the merchant ships which frequented the waters of his native River Tees. The Zulu names of the Bullard King Natal Line had already passed into history but, inside a period of six months, he had recorded sightings within the confines of Middlesbrough Dock of all six vessels then operated by Springbok and, soon afterwards, was to see some of them return bearing Safmarine names and colours. Thereby, the transient nature of the Springbok naming system evoked a fascination for this seemingly short-lived enterprise which he has retained to the present day. This has enabled him, he believes, to fully unravel this intricate story behind these six ships from a now nostalgic period over 35 years ago.

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Sources and Acknowledgements

A LEAP BACK IN TIME - SPRINGBOK SHIPPING CO. LTD.

Articles in Ships Monthly: "Bullard King’s Natal Direct Line" - Captain C.J. Harris (August 1986); "Castles to the Cape" - Henry Damant (October 1977); "Safmarine’s Golden Jubilee" - Brian Ingpen (June and July 1996).

Articles in Sea Breezes: "Fortunes of the Clan Line" (May and June 1963); "The Wreck of the S.A. Seafarer" - Robin Thompson (March 1987).

Articles in Marine News: "Clan Shaw to Ayrshire" - Roy Fenton (December 1973); contemporaneous news of events during the late 1940s through into the early 1960s, the tracing of which was considerably assisted by indexes for the period concerned compiled by Cliff Parsons.

"The Empire Ships" (Second Edition); 

"The Cape Run" - W.H. Mitchell and L.A. Sawyer.

"South African Merchant Ships" - Brian Ingpen

"Gathering of the Clans" - Norman L. Middlemiss

"Blue Star" (World Ship Society history) - Tony Atkinson and Kevin O’Donoghue.

"The Elder Dempster Fleet History 1852-1985" - James E. Cowden and John O.C. Duffy.

Roy Fenton, Harold Appleyard, and Mike Ridgard for assistance with research.

Above all I am indebted to James Layton whose article on "The Umtata, Umtali and Umgeni of 1935-38" in his long-running series on "Ships of the Tees" in the November 1985 issue of Tees Packet, journal of the Teesside Branch of the World Ship Society, provided background information on Bullard King which gave the author the initial impetus to collate his own researches into the Springbok Line into an outline article in that same Tees Packet - even though it has taken him 12 years to undertake and complete the much greater research necessary for Ships in Focus Record!

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