House Flags of U.S. Shipping Companies: M

McCormick Steamship Co.

  by Joe McMillan

McCormick Steamship Co., San Francisco (1903-1940)
Not to be confused with the better-known Moore & McCormack, this line was a subsidiary of the Charles R. McCormick Lumber Company. In common with other major lumber barons, Charles McCormick saw operating his own shipping line as the key to the profitability of the lumber business. By 1916 he was serving all the major ports on the U.S. Pacific coast. He formally incorporated McCormick steamship in 1921 and continued growing until, in 1925, he moved to buy out the larger and older Pope and Talbot lumber company. The sale went through, but McCormick had tried to grow too fast--by 1928 he was operating a fleet of 45 vessels--and was unable to meet the payments on his debt to the former owners of P&T. So they repossessed not only the former P&T properties but McCormick Steamship as well. Pope and Talbot continued to operate the shipping line under its former name until 1939, when it became the Pope and Tal