| General,
Company History |
Year |
Vessel,
Maritime History |
The
Korean War begins on June 25.
|
1950
|
 |
| The
C-4 class President Roosevelt. |
The company builds 11 new ships between 1952 and 1954, including the President
Taylor, a C-4 class vessel.
|
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.
|
1952
|
| The
Korean War ends on July 27. |
1953
|
|
| Click image for more information about our logos. |
|
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.
|
1956
|
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.
|
Other
shipping lines begin to offer containerized transportation on selected routes.
|
|
 |
Click image for larger version.
|
|
|
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. |
1958
|
|
Pan-Am Airlines offers
trans-Atlantic service using jet aircraft. By the mid-1960s, air travel results
in a sharp decline in passenger traffic. |
|
Cuban
Revolution occurs on January 1st.
|
1959
|
The
first LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) vessel is launched.
|
APL
begins the shift to containerization. For the container to succeed, ships must
be modified. Likewise, ports and inland transportation systems around the world
have to be upgraded to meet a new standard. Industry leaders, as well as customers,
are skeptical.
 |
| One
of the first containers
to be used for international trade.
|
|
1961
|
The
Presidents Lincoln and Tyler, which are Searacer class vessels capable
of carrying containers and traditional break-bulk cargo, are launched.
 |
The
Tyler in San Francisco bay.
Click on image to see a larger version.
|
|
Vietnam
War begins on March 8.
 |
| Master
Mariner class
President Harrison (Third)
|
|
1965
|
APL
launches Master Mariner class vessels, all of which will be converted to containerships
by 1973.
 |
| Ralph
K. Davies
|
Five Seamaster class vessels
are put into service. Like the Master Mariners, they will also be converted into
containerships in 1973.
|
1967
|
23%
of all cargo transported by APL in the Pacific moves in containers.
|
1969
|
58%
of all cargo transported by APL in the Pacific moves in containers.
|
1971
|
APL
launches three C-8 class vessels, which will be converted to containerships in
1978.
|
Ralph
K. Davies dies on September 19 at age 73.
|
|
U.S.
involvement in Vietnam ends. Rising oil prices due to the Arab oil embargo result
in sharp cost increases for transportation providers.
|
1973
|
The President Wilson completes her last round-the-world voyage. Her retirement
marks the end of the trans-Pacific passenger service that APL and its forebears
have offered since 1867.
|
 |
| The President Jefferson |
|
1974
|
Four
new Pacesetter class vessels, including the President
Jefferson, are built between 1973 and 1974. They are the first fully containerized
ships launched by APL.
|
W.
Bruce Seaton becomes president and chief operation officer of APL in August. Seaton
recruits specialists from all surface transportation modes to take the concept
of containerization a step further.
|
1977
|
 |
| W.
Bruce Seaton |
APL’s round-the-world
cargo service comes to an end. The company focuses on the growing trans-Pacific
market.
|
Seaton’s interdisciplinary team begins work intermodalism,
a concept based on the seamless transfer of containerized shipments between the
three modes of surface transportation — ship, train, and truck.
|
1978
|
|
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