Blue Funnel Line History and Ephemera

The Blue Funnel Line offered regular First-Class Passenger and Cargo Services From the UK to South Africa, Malaya, China, Japan, Australia, Java, and America. They also provided regular service of fast cargo vessels, with limited accommodation for first-class passengers at significantly reduced rates between several ports served including Glasgow, Hamburg, Bremen, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, and New York. Blue Funnel Line was Owned and Operated by Alfred Holt & Co., Liverpool.

Documents of the Blue Funnel Line

• 1910s Brochure: Blue Funnel Line to Australia - Undated Brochure Features photographs of the TSS Ulysses (IV) and the TSS Nestor (III) of the Blue Funnel Line, Alfred Holt & Co. Liverpool
• 1935 Print Advertisement for Blue Funnel Line Worldwide Passenger and Freight Services.

The Blue Funnel Line, so called because its ships have a blue funnel with a black top, is more properly known as the Ocean Steamship Company, and maintains a cargo service between Great Britain and the East, while a further series of steamers extend the service to British Columbia, to the Dutch East Indies, and Australia. Many of the vessels are fitted for accommodation of saloon passengers, and among the largest of these are the Aeneas, Ascanius, each over 10,000 tons. The Suez Canal is used for the passage to the East.

1910s Illustration of the Blue Funnel Line Steamships SS Ulysses and SS Nestor