Swayne & Hoyt

Swayne & Hoyt was an American steamship company based in San Francisco, California, and in operation from the 1890s to 1940.
During its tenure, the company witnessed the opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 and the massive shipbuilding program of World War I orchestrated by the United States Shipping Board which peaked in 1918 and 1919.

History

In 1850 the ship brokerage firm of Hughes and Hunter was established in San Francisco. In 1865 it became Hughes & McDaniel and, in 1871, Hughes, McDaniel and Edson. In 1873 McDaniel dropped out, in 1879 Hughes dropped out. The company continued as C. A. Edson & Co. Robert H. Swayne and John C. Hoyt, former employees, took over business in 1887.
Swayne & Hoyt was engaged in trade with Japan by 1896, when the company was recorded as protesting duties assessed on ceramic goods it had imported in February 1896.
Swayne & Hoyt was incorporated in August 1896 as a warehouse, commission and mercantile business in the state of California with principal area of business in San Francisco, with a capital stock of $100,000 of which $25,000 had been actually subscribed.
On February 27, 1897, the S&H warehouse was the scene of the "biggest opium seizure in California".
In 1926, the company was operating the American-Australian-Orient Line which sailed to Australia, New Zealand, and Asian ports. Also in the mid-1920s, Swayne & Hoyt was engaged in trade between Pacific ports and the east coast of South America.
By the late 1930s, Swayne & Hoyt was engaged in intercoastal shipping between U.S. ports on the Gulf of Mexico and on ports on the Pacific coast via the Panama Canal. Swayne & Hoyt v. United States challenged the legality of an order of the Secretary of Commerce to cease offering 6-month contracts to clients at a reduced rate if the clients only use the same shipping company for all their shipping during that period. The case was dismissed on the ground that Section 16 of the Shipping Act of 1916 forbids preferential treatment of any kind and that the arrangement violates unrestricted competition and furthers the establishment of a monopoly. The court conceded though that the arrangement had benefits to both the suing shipowners and their clients.
Robert H. Swayne died 8 August 1936.
The business closed officially on April 30, 1940, also the date of the last traditional annual company dinner party. Final employment figures were 500 seagoing personnel and 220 in the home and branch offices.

1890s	1900s	1910s	1920s	1930s	1940s	1950s
16	87	393	2,331	1,480	102	1

Fleet

Pacific Coast Trade

new schooner Forest Home from C. A. Hooper & Co for $52,000 in September 1900
the steam schooner W. H. Kruger was built in Grays Harbor in 1899 for the Truckee Lumber Co., engine installed in San Francisco, carrying capacity of 400,000 ft of lumber. Launched circa January 1, 1900. She received a 42nhp 2-cylinder engine from the Fulton Iron Works. Lloyd's has O.C. Haslett as owner in 1902 and S&H in 1903.
the barkentine Gardiner City, built in 1880 was with the Simpson Lumber Co. in 1901 and with S&H in 1903, according to LLoyd's.
the German ship Ebenezer for $30,000 in September 1900
the steam schooner Albion River launched March 29, 1902 in Everett, Washington The Albion River was built in Everett in 1902 for the Albion River SS Co. and managed by Swayne & Hoyt. The Albion River was a total loss after running aground at Bodega Head on April 3, 1903, but the machinery was saved and put into a new S&H steamer building at the time at Eureka.
the steam schooner Redondo arrived on August 30, 1902, 73 days after sailing from New York. To be converted to oil burner. Built by Craig Shipbuilding Company in Toledo.
the British-flag steamer Victoria and she also ran onto a beach in April, on April 9, 1903, and was subsequently sold for scrap.
steam schooner Albion built at Grays Harbor, arrived 8 May 1902 after maiden voyage from Port Hadlock
4-masted schooner Annie E. Smale built by Kruse Shipbuilding Co. of Coos Bay arrived March 19, 1903 from maiden voyage. Wrecked at Point Reyes on July 9, 1910.
schooner Pomo, launched 7 October 1903 at the Bendixsen shipyard for S&H, to be fitted out as a steamer. Replacement for the Albion River.
steamer W. H. Kruger was S&H property when she towed the Pomo to San Francisco.
on March 28, 1903, the Swayne & Hot fleet consisted of 5 steamers and 4 sailing vessels.
steamer Casco launched September 1906 by Kruse in Coos Bay and fitted out with machinery in San Francisco.

Inter-coastal and Foreign Trade

The referenced recollection of Lloyd Swayne is not accurate.

built by Craig Shipbuilding Company Long Beach
* some kind of shared Swayne & Hoyt ownership, Craig ownership or otherwise close association presumably applies to these long-term charters
* Alvarado, owned by the Pacific Transport Co., managed by S&H, based in San Francisco 1920 till 1922
* Eldorado, owned by the Western Transport Co., managed by S&H, based in San Francisco
4 ships of 3,500dwt
* Iris, 3,500dwt former tender sold by the government for $96,100 to S&H in July 1920
* built by Albina Engine & Machine Works
** all originally owned by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company in the early 20s
** sold by to Hammond Lumber in 1923, these 2 Points are a false positive
*** Point Adams, Astoria
*** Point Bonita, San Pedro
** bought from the Pacific Mail Line in October 1924, after having been on the Pacific Gulf route for some time as a charter. sold to McCormick SS Co. in 1929
*** Point Judith, Charles L. Wheeler, Jr.
*** Point Lobos, Ernest H. Meyer
7 ships of 5,500dwt
* all built by the Submarine Boat Corporation
* names changed again by the Coastwise Line in March 1937
* bought from the USSB in 1926 by Swayne&Hoyt
** Bound Brook, Point Bonita, Coast Banker
** Continental Bridge, Point Fermin, Florida
** Holyoke Bridge, Point Reyes, '
** East Chicago, Point Sur, Coast Shipper
* bought from the USSB by Swayne&Hoyt
** Federal Bridge, Point Montara, Coast Merchant
* bought from the USSB by Gulf Pacific Line
** Neshobee, Point Gorda, Coast Miller
** Riverside Bridge, Point Arena, '
2 ships of 5,000dwt built by Mobile S.B. Co, renamed in January 1929, after recently bought from the USSB and while being reconditioned in Mobile. Sold in January 1931 to McCormick
* Minooka, Point San Pablo
* Houston, Point San Pedro
13 ships of 7,500dwt
* built by Todd Tacoma
** Ossining, Point Lobos from USSB for $100,000 in April 1932
** Remus, Point Judith
** Red Hook, Commercial Traveler, Nelson Traveller, Point Estero
** Hoboken, Commercial Spirit, Charles Nelson, Point Vincente
** Pallas, S.A. Perkins, Point Clear
* built by Todd Seattle
** Point Bonita
* Redwood Line ships
** built by Downey, bought by S&H from the Finkbine-Guild Transportation Co.
*** Osakis, Manhattan Island, Point Brava
*** Dio, Point Caleta
*** Abron, Point Chico
*** Sabotawan, Point Palmas
*** Dochet, Point Salinas
** built by Todd Seattle
*** Delight, Point Ancha
*

In December 1939 five ships were sold to the Ocean Dominion Steamship Corporation of New York : Point Brava, Point Caleta, Point Chico, Point Palmas, Point Salinas, i.e. all the Downey-built ships. The reason given by The Log was lack of freight on the line.
In February 1940 the Point Bonita, Point Arena, Point Judith and Point Clear, Point Ancha, Point Lobos were sold to the Greek steamship operator A. G. Pappadakis.

Pacific Coast Tramp Trade

Departure	Arrival	From	To	Cargo	Notes
21 Nov 00	never	Port Gamble	Valparaiso	873,049 ft lumber worth $8740	caught fire, arrived at Callao 19 Mar 01
	12 Jul 01	Callao	San Francisco		repaired at Callao
19 Dec 01	19 Jan 02	Hakodate	San Francisco
17 Sep 02	31 Mar 03	Hakodate	San Francisco	sulphur, 300 tons general	300t general loaded at Yokohama arrives in bad shape in Honolulu 14 Feb
	24 Apr 03	San Francisco	Portland
	9 Dec 03	Hakodate	San Francisco	1,200 tons brimstone

Lines

Albion River Steamship Company

was incorporated May 31, 1902 by Robert H. Swayne, who also incorporated the Albion & Southeastern Railroad on May 8, 1902, and had bought on April 1, 1902, the Albion River Railroad from the Albion River Lumber Co. for $67,500. The goal was a transport service from Bonneville to Albion and from thereon by ship to San Francisco.

Pacific Argentine Brazil Line (1920-)

Established in 1920, first announced in May, to be on a monthly schedule, through the Magellan Strait and return through the Panama Canal or this route in reverse. Initially four newly launched ships, the Pallas and by Todd Tacoma, the West Notus and West Norranus by Southwestern Shipbuilding in San Pedro, all owned by the USSB, all going on their maiden voyage for the Line.
Seattle - San Francisco - San Pedro - Magellan Strait - Buenos Aires - Montevideo - Santos - Panama Canal - San Pedro - San Francisco - Seattle
Swayne & Hoyt was classified as a Class 8 manager and/or operator by the USSB in 1920, with 32,600dwt. Barber SS Lines was the largest at that time, Class No. 2 with 344,187dwt and there was a total of 42 Class 8 operators managing 1,437,336dwt worth of USSB-owned ships.

Ship	Departs SF	Arr. Buenos Aires	P.Canal A->P	P.Canal P->A
Pallas	27 Jun 20		25 Sep	-
West Norranus	10 Jul 20	-	-	-
West Notus	29 Jul 20	23 Sep	-	-
Rotarian	8 Aug 20	22 Sep	22 Nov	-
Pallas				24 Nov 20
West Notus			10 Jan 21	-
Rotarian			7 Apr 21	-
West Notus			2 May 21	-
Rotarian			16 Jun 21	-
Pallas			29 Jul 21	-
West Notus			30 Sep 21	-
Pallas			24 Oct 21	-
Rotarian				18 Nov 21
West Notus			18 Dec 21	-
West Katan				12 Jan 22
Rotarian			9 Feb 22	-
West Notus				17 Feb 22
West Katan			18 Apr 22	-
West Notus			9 May 22	-
West Gambo			16 Jun 22	-

At the end of 1922 the composition of the ships was changed, three combined Passenger / Cargo liners with refrigerated cargo holds were allocated by the USSB:, and, which were to operate alongside 2 cargo ships.

Pacific Caribbean Gulf Line (1920-1926)

Establishment of the line was first announced on July 13, 1920, by Charles Brown of S&H. First ship was to be the Eldorado sailing from New Orleans in August, followed by the Alvarado in September. The Iris was added to serve the route on September 11, after finishing repairs in Long Beach.
The Colombian ports of Cartagena and Barranquilla were also served on a regular basis, Cuba and other West Indian ports were considered opportunities from the start, if the business conditions allowed. Round-trip time was on the order of two and a half months.
A perennial advertisement in Traffic World started appearing in August 1920, listing approximate departure dates of named ships. The J.H.W. Steele Company acted as agents in Gulf ports.
The Alvarado was delayed due to lack of freight. The New Orleans Chamber of Commerce was urging shippers to make use of the new service. Alvarado departed New Orleans on October 13 for Cartagena and crossed the Panama Canal on October 28. Swayne & Hoyt announced in November that despite rumors the new service would be made permanent.

Ship	From	1920	To		From	1920	To
Iris	San Francisco	8 Nov	New York		New Orleans	30 Dec	San Francisco
Alvarado	San Francisco	13 Dec	Habana		New Orleans	24 Jan	San Francisco
Ship	From	1921	To		From	1921	To
Eastern Sword	Seattle	29 Jan	New Orleans	-	-	-	-
Eldorado	San Francisco	6 Feb	New Orleans		New Orleans	16 Mar	Los Angeles
Lake Gunni					New Orleans	6 May	Los Angeles
Alvarado	Seattle	24 Mar	Porto Rico		New Orleans	24 May	San Francisco
Eldorado	Aberdeen	19 May	New Orleans		New Orleans	4 Jul	Los Angeles
Lake Hector					New Orleans	16 Aug	Seattle
Iris	San Francisco	19 Aug	New Orleans		New Orleans	22 Sep	San Francisco
Eldorado	San Francisco	31 Aug	New Orleans		New Orleans	23 Oct	Seattle
Lake Hector	Anacortes	7 Oct	New Orleans	-	-	-	-
Alvarado	San Francisco	20 Oct	Vera Cruz		New Orleans	28 Nov	San Francisco
Ship	From	1922	To		From	1922	To
Eldorado	San Francisco	26 Dec	New Orleans		New Orleans	5 Feb	San Francisco
Eldorado	San Francisco	2 Apr	New Orleans		New Orleans	21 May	Seattle

Gulf Pacific Line (1926-)

The successor to the Pacific-Caribbean-Gulf Line, effective September 1, 1926.
Effective November 1, 1930 the Redwood Line with 6 ships and the Gulf-Pacific Line with 7 ships merged with stocks on ships exchanged on a tonnage basis. Gulf Pacific was operating 9 ships at the time on the line. The transfer was applied to ships sailing from Puget Sound, after November 1.

Name	From	1930	To	From	1930	To
Dio	Seattle	11 Jul	New Orleans	New Orleans	8 Aug	Tacoma
Sabotawan	Seattle	16 Jul	Mobile	Houston	17 Aug	Seattle
Dochet	Portland	29 July	New Orleans	New Orleans	30 Aug	Tacoma
Delight	Seattle	16 Aug	New Orleans	Houston	13 Sep	Los Angeles
Manhattan Island	Portland	27 Aug	New Orleans	New Orleans	29 Sep	Seattle
Abron	Longview, Wa.	14 Sep	Mobile	Houston	12 Oct	Tacoma
Dio	Seattle	27 Sep	Mobile	Houston	2 Nov	Seattle
Sabotawan	Seattle	5 Oct	New Orleans	New Orleans	16 Nov	Seattle
Delight	Eureka	26 Oct	Mobile	Lake Charles	1 Dec	Tacoma
Dochet	Seattle	2 Nov	New Orleans	Houston	13 Dec	Seattle
M. Island	Seattle	23 Nov	New Orleans	Houston	2 Jan	Seattle

Name	From	1930	To		From	1930	To
Point San Pablo	Portland	25 Jun	New Orleans		New Orleans	2 Aug	Seattle
Point Fermin	Seattle	12 Jul	New Orleans		Corpus Christi	16 Aug	San Francisco
Point Montara	Vancouver, B.C.	22 Jul	New Orleans		Tampa	2 Sep	Vancouver, B.C.
Point Sur	Portland	2 Aug	New Orleans		New Orleans	14 Sep	San Francisco
Point Arena	San Francisco	16 Aug	New Orleans		New Orleans	28 Sep	San Francisco
Point Reyes	Portland	3 Sep	New Orleans		Corpus Christi	12 Oct	Vancouver, B.C.
Point Gorda	Seattle	10 Sep	New Orleans		Corpus Christi	25 Oct	Seattle
Point San Pablo	Vancouver, B.C.	28 Sep	New Orleans		New Orleans	8 Nov	Vancouver, B.C.
Point Fermin	Portland	10 Oct	New Orleans		Corpus Christi	22 Nov	Seattle
Point Montara	Portland	30 Oct	New Orleans		Tampa	6 Dec	Seattle
Point Sur	San Francisco	8 Nov	New Orleans		Corpus Christi	20 Dec	Tacoma
Name	From	1930	To		From	1931	To
Point Arena	Portland	25 Nov	New Orleans		Corpus Christi	6 Jan	Seattle
Point Reyes	Portland	8 Dec	New Orleans		Houston	23 Jan	Vancouver
Abron	Seattle	14 Dec	New Orleans		Houston	15 Jan	Seattle
Point Gorda	Portland	22 Dec	New Orleans		Corpus Christi	9 Feb	Seattle
Dio	Seattle	31 Dec	New Orleans		New Orleans	1 Feb	Seattle
Name	From	1931	To		From	1931	To
Point Bonita	Vancouver, B.C.	13 Jan	New Orleans		Corpus Christi	26 Feb	Seattle
Point Fermin	Seattle	16 Jan	New Orleans	-	-	-	-
Delight	Seattle	24 Jan	New Orleans		New Orleans	21 Feb	Seattle
Dochet	Puget Sound	5 Feb	Mobile		Houston	12 Mar	Vancouver, B.C.
Point Montara	Portland	5 Feb	New Orleans		Tampa	15 Mar	Seattle

The Point Ancha, sailing September 20, 1932 marked the beginning of a new passenger and freight service between Pacific Coast ports and Baranquillo, Kingston, Tampico, Cartagena, Curaçao, Vera Cruz, Port-au-Prince and Manzanillo.

Water Carrier Agreements

Agreements approved by the Department of Commerce or the Shipping Board.

No.	Est.	Cancel	With	Cargo	Type	A	B	trans	Notes
		Sep 33	Christenson-Hammond Line, McCormick SS Co, Nelson SS Co	canned fish	from-to	San Diego	Gulf	Los Angeles
532-C		Apr 34	National Navigation Lines	inedible tallow	from-to	Gulf	Guaymas	San Francisco
656-1-C		Oct 33	Erikson Nav Co		from-to	Gulf	Mare Island Navy Yard	San Francisco
673-C		Apr 34	National Navigation Lines	general	between	Gulf	west coast of Mexico	San Francisco
681-C		Apr 34	National Navigation Lines	crinkled paper bag liners	from-to	Gulf	Mazatlan, Topologampo	San Francisco
921-2-C		Oct 33	McCormick SS Co, Nelson SS Co, Pacific SS Lines		from-to	Gulf	Portland, Astoria, Seattle, Tacoma	San Francisco
1426-1-C, 1856-C		Oct 33	Los Angeles SS Co	canned fish	from-to	San Diego	Gulf	Los Angeles
1506-C		Oct 33	Oceanic and Oriental Nav Co		from-to	Gulf	Orient	San Francisco	GP
1507-C		Oct 33	Blue Funnel Line, Osaka Shosen Kaisha, States SS Co, Tacoma Oriental SS Co		from-to	Gulf	Orient	Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, Tacoma, Seattle
1668-C		Oct 33	Christenson-Hammond Line		from-to	Gulf	Hoquiam, Aberdeen	San Francisco
	Aug 31		Tampa Interocean SS Co	cork	from-to	Spain	Pacific	New Orleans	SB
2440	Sep 33		Oceanic SS Co., Oceanic and Oriental Nav. Co.		from-to	Australia, New Zealand	Gulf	Los Angeles, San Francisco
2468	Sep 33		Dollar SS Lines		from-to	Philippines, China, Japan	Gulf	Los Angeles, San Francisco
2464, 2465	Sep 33		Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha		from-to	China, Japan	Gulf	Seattle
2545	Oct 33		Sacramento Nav Co, California Nav Co		from-to	Gulf	Sacramento, Stockton	San Francisco
2625	Feb 34		,,,	general	between	San Diego	Gulf	Los Angeles
2718	Mar 34		Kawasaki Kisen Kubushiki Kaisha	general	from-to	China, Japan	Gulf	Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles
2583	Mar 34		Wilh. Wilhelmsen, Aktiebolaget Svenska Amerika Mexiko Linien	coffee	from-to	Vera Cruz	Pacific	New Orleans
2984	May 34		,,	general	between	Gulf	Hawaii	San Francisco, Los Angeles
3658	Dec 34		Lykes SS Co	canned grapefruit, canned pineapple, coconuts	from-to	Puerto Rico	Pacific	Houston, Galveston, Beaumont, Lake Charles

Pacific Australia Line

Las Vegas, Vinita, West Cahokia, West Islip, Hollywood, all owned by the USSB.

Agency

For the Calmar Line in Seattle, Portland, Oakland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, from at least Jan 1931 to at least Dec 1933.