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| 1900 |
Dollar Steamship Company, also known as Dollar Line, is formally incorporated on August
15. |
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Robert Dollar |
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Click on image for more information about our logos. |
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| 1902 |
Captain
Dollar sails to the Far
East as a passenger aboard
Pacific Mail's elegant
steamer China
(a sister ship of the Colorado
and Great
Republic) to investigate
foreign markets for his
lumber. After establishing
demand for his lumber, he
begins acquiring ships to
transport it to Asia. |
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Pacific
Mail launches two steel-hulled
steamers, the Korea and
the Siberia , for
use in its trans-Pacific
service. With the addition
of the Manchuria and the
Mongolia
in 1904, (renamed the Presidents
Johnson and Fillmore, respectively,
in 1930) the company had
the largest, fastest passenger-freight
ships in the Pacific. |
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| 1904 |
| Construction begins on the Panama Canal. |
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Click on image for larger version. |
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The Korea. Click on image for larger version. |
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| 1909 |
Captain
Dollar makes a deal with
China's only iron
mining and production company
to import pig iron into
the U.S., a contract that
withstands the Chinese Revolution
of 1912. |
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| 1911 |
Dollar ships bring the first cargo of Philippine mahogany to the West Coast. |
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The first diesel-driven ships are built. |
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| 1912 |
To
prevent monopolies
in the transportation
of goods from coast
to coast in the U.S.
from forming, the
Panama Canal Act forbids
the use of the canal
to any shipping company
owned by a railroad.
Because Pacific Mail
is controlled by the
Southern Pacific Railroad,
the company will not
be able to use the
Panama Canal. |
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Titanic
sinks on August 24.
The subsequent campaign
for passenger safety results
in the Safety of Life at
Sea Convention. |
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| 1914 |
| World War I begins on August 4, and demand for vessels far exceeds supply. |
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| Learn How World War I, the Great War, shaped the 20th century. |
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Panama Canal opens on August 15. |
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Pacific Mail offers direct service to Manila. |
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The
Dollar name is now an institution
in Asia's financial
capitals. Captain Dollar's
word alone is enough "collateral"
to begin the construction
of ships in China costing
$30 million. |
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The Panama Canal in 1914. Click on image for larger version. |
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Dollar
Line reports record profits
after Captain Dollar sells
vessels at inflated prices
during worldwide vessel
shortage. |
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World War I infantry in France. Click on image for larger version. |
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1915
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La
Follette Seaman's
Act results in higher operating
costs for shipping companies
whose vessels are registered
in the U.S. Pacific Mail
is hit hard. |
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Pacific
Mail faces rising costs
and is restricted from using
the Panama Canal. Its future
is in question. The Southern
Pacific Railroad, Pacific
Mail's parent company,
decides to cease all shipping
operations and begins to
sell off Pacific Mail's
fleet. The company's
plight is the subject of
front-page news in the U.S.
for weeks. |
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| 1916 |
Grace
Line takes control of Pacific
Mail after acquiring most
of the company's fleet.
As a subsidiary of Grace
Line, Pacific Mail begins
an expansion program. |
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Shipping
Act of 1916 begins regulation
of ocean transportation
and creates the Shipping
Board. |
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| 1917 |
Pacific Mail extends its Manila service to include Calcutta and Colombo. |
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Shipping
Board establishes Emergency
Fleet Corporation and requisitions
all but two of Pacific Mail’s
vessels for war service. |
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| 1918 |
World War I ends on November 11. |
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Captain
Dollar invests
heavily in real estate
in China, including controlling
interest in the China Import
and Export Company and terminal
facilities on the Shanghai
waterfront. |
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| 1920 |
Pacific
Mail attains its largest
size, counting more than
46 steamers in its extensive
fleet. But the company lacks
the strong, decisive management
of earlier decades. |
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Captain
Dollar instructs his sons
to purchase stock in Dollar
Line’s competitors
in order to gain controlling
interest. |
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One of Dollar Line’s offices in Asia. Click on image to see a larger version. |
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| 1923 |
The President Harrison. Click on image for larger version. |
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The
tradition of naming
ships after U.S. "presidents"
begins when Captain
Dollar purchases seven
president ships from
the U.S. government.
They are the Presidents
Adams, Garfield, Harrison,
Hayes, Monroe, Polk,
and Van Buren. |
Click on image to see another page from this Dollar Line brochure. |
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| 1924 |
Dollar
Line inaugurates its round-the-world
service with the departure
of the President Harrison
on January 5. |
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| 1925 |
Dollar
family acquires the Pacific
Mail name, house flag, and
goodwill from Grace Line. |
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| 1926 |
Dollar
family's strategy
of purchasing competitor's
stock results in their company's
near-monopoly on U.S. shipping
in the Pacific Coast. |
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Realizing
the importance of trans-Pacific
trade in the 20th century,
Captain Dollar publishes
a booklet titled, "Have
You Investigated the Oriental
Market for Your Product?"
to encourage others to invest
in Asia. |
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Dollar
Line purchases five 535
class vessels to expand
its round-the-world passenger-freight
service. |
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Dollar
Line's round-the-world
service carries 45,231
passengers and produces
a gross revenue of
$6 million in a single
year. |
Click on image for larger version. |
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| 1928 |
Merchant
Marine Act of 1928 establishes
generous subsidies for carrying
mail and requires the use
of new ships to do so. Dollar
Line signs a lucrative mail
contract and borrows money
to build new ships. |
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| 1929 |
U.S.
stock market crashes
on October 29,
ushering in the Great
Depression.
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The President Hoover. Click on image for larger version. |
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Dollar Line begins
construction of six new
ships for its government
mail contract. However,
because of the Great Depression,
only two vessels are built -
the Presidents
Hoover and Coolidge. |
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| 1931 |
The
Presidents
Hoover and Coolidge
are placed into service.
As a sign of the hard economic
times, the two luxurious
ocean liners carry less
than half the number of
passengers they could accommodate
on their maiden voyages. |
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| 1932 |
Captain
Robert Dollar dies on May 16
at age 88. His son, Robert
Stanley, succeeds him. |
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The President Hoover after running aground. |
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| 1936 |
Merchant
Marine Act of 1936 creates
the U.S. Maritime Commission.
The commission, whose first
chairman is Joseph P. Kennedy,
oversees subsidies to offset
construction and manning
cost on U.S.-flag vessels. |
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| 1937 |
Click on image for more information about our logos. |
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The Hoover runs aground off the coast of Taiwan and is declared a total loss. |
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| 1938 |
Dollar
Line fleet is worth $11
million, but the company's
liability is $17 million.
Interest on the debt is
accumulating at a rate of
$80,000 per month. |
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Despite
the efforts of Robert Dollar's
son, R. Stanley, the U.S.
Maritime Commission judges
Dollar Line to be unsound.
The government assumes control
of Dollar Line in August
and renames the company
American President Lines. |
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R. Stanley Dollar |
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| 1939 |
World
War II begins on September 1st.
U.S.-flag vessels are prevented
from entering European ports
by the Neutrality Act. |
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| 1940 |
U.S.
government builds 16 new
ships for American President
Lines, including the President
Jackson, a C-3
class vessel. |
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| 1941 |
U.S. enters World War II. |
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| 1942 |
War
Shipping Administration
is created on February 7.
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The Jeremiah O'Brien,
a Liberty ship. |
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American
President Lines acts
as an agent for the
War
Shipping Administration,
overseeing vessel
manning, equipping,
overhaul and repair,
handling of cargo
and passengers, and
fueling. Along with
hundreds of Liberty
and Victory ships,
the company’s
fleet is used for
the war effort. |
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Get
more information about World
War II. |
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| 1944 |
War
Shipping Administration
begins using containers
to ship vital supplies more
quickly and efficiently
than traditional break-bulk
methods allow. |
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U.S.
government builds 16 additional
ships for American President
Lines, including the President
Buchanan, a Victory class
vessel. |
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| 1945 |
World War II ends on August 15. |
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American
President Lines' assets
are estimated at $40 million.
R. Stanley Dollar initiates
the Dollar Case in order
to force the government
to return the company to
his family. The case continues
for the next seven years. |
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American
President Lines' ships
are once again providing
service on routes like the
company's round-the-world
service. |
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| 1947 |
The Presidents Cleveland
and Wilson. |
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With
the launching of the Presidents
Cleveland
and Wilson, American President
Lines reestablishes its
preeminence in the passenger
trade. Designed to carry
550 passengers and a crew
of 352, the ships were advertised
as "your American
hotel abroad." |
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1950
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| The Korean War begins on June 25. |
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| 1952 |
The
company builds 11
new ships between
1952 and 1954, including
the President Roosevelt,
a C-4
class vessel. |
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The C-4 class President Roosevelt. |
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A
settlement is reached in
the Dollar Case. American
oilman Ralph K. Davies and
his group of investors purchase
American President Lines
from the U.S. government
for $18 million. |
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| 1953 |
The Korean War ends on July 27. |
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Click on image for more information about our logos. |
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| 1956 |
An
around-the-world voyage
in first class on one of
the American President Lines
sleek passenger
ships costs $2,470.
Demand is so high that tourist-class
cabins are converted in
order to accommodate more
first-class passengers. |
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Other
shipping lines begin to
offer containerized transportation
on selected routes. |
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The
television hit "The
Gale Storm Show"
runs from 1956 to
1960. The first of
the Love Boat genre,
the show features
Gale Storm as the
social director aboard
the SS Ocean Queen.
The fictitious ship
is, in fact, the President
Cleveland. |
Click on image for larger version. |
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| 1958 |
To
assess the world's
readiness for containerization,
Davies sends a fact-finding
team to 26 major ports in
1958. The report was positive,
and Davies begins to integrate
the container into APL's
operations. |
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Pan-Am
Airlines offers trans-Atlantic
service using jet aircraft.
By the mid-1960s, air travel
results in a sharp decline
in passenger traffic. |
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| 1959 |
Cuban Revolution occurs on January 1st. |
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The first LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) vessel is launched. |
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