Last modified: 2010-12-03 by rob raeside
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image by Jarig Bakker, 20 November 2005
Edinburgh Tankers plc., Edinburgh - blue flag, white diamond, red "ET".
Source: Loughran
(1995)
Jarig Bakker, 20 November 2005
image by Jarig Bakker, 25 December 2005
Effluents Services Ltd., Macclesfield - horizontal green-white-green flag; in
center black "ESL".
Source:
Loughran (1995)
Jarig Bakker, 25 December 2005
Based on Sampson (1957)
Bristol - Jamaica and Central America
Houseflag: blue, with white diamond and E&F in blue.
Jarig Bakker, 13 October 2003
Elders & Fyffes, London: Larousse Commercial Illustré (1930) shows this flag
as blue with a white diamond bearing blue characters (without serifs) `E & F' in
the centre, the `&' being somewhat smaller than the letters. Sampson's (1957)
image has a slightly larger diamond.
Jan Mertens, 4 June 2004
Elders & Fyffes. Became Fyffes Group Ltd. in
1969.
Neale Rosanoski, 31 May 2005
Elder Dempster and Co.Ld., Liverpool. White swallow-tail with tapering edges,
a red St George's cross bearing a yellow royal crown in the centre. A 1953
artistic
impression can be seen here:
http://www.timetableimages.com/maritime/images/edl.htm.
Jan Mertens, 19 May 2004
Elder Dempster Lines Ltd. This UK company traded with West Africa (and other
places) and was based in Liverpool. The flag originated with the African Steam
Ship Co., the crown being granted under the Royal Charter under which it was
formed in 1852 and for whom Elder Dempster & Co. became agents and then
gradually took over by 1890 with Elder Dempster Shipping Co. Ltd. being
established in 1898. Some sources give a tapered version but this would seem
without basis.
Neale Rosanoski, 31 May 2005
based on image by Jorge Candeias
The company commodore had the flag shown on a white swallowtail
i.e. one flag upon another.
Neale Rosanoski, 31 May 2005
Based on Sampson (1957)
Stewart & Styring (1963) shows this as a
common pennant used for Ellerman, but the Ellerman & Papayanni Line flag (a blue
pennant flying under the pennant) has the lettering "P & Co". Helvetica with the
'o' half the size of the C and aligned with the top of the "C", lettering in
white, extending ~2/3 the length of the fly.
Ellerman and Papayanni - Formed in 1855, Papayanni Brothers joined the Ellerman
Group in 1901 and became Ellerman & Papayanni Line.
Phil Nelson, 12 October 2003
From
http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/ellerman6.htm
After 1973 all constituent Ellerman companies were combined into Ellerman City
Liners which in 1987 became Cunard-Ellerman.
Phil Nelson, 12 October 2003
Referred to as Ellerman Line, Liverpool, in Larousse Commercial
Illustré (1930). Larousse Commercial Illustré (1930) also shows Ellerman Lines
City Line Ltd., Glasgow: a small(er drawn) red flag with white letters (no
serifs) SS. Letters about one half of flag height. An elongated pennant of the
Ellerman Line above, and by one fourth longer than, this flag. The pennant's
height is half the flag's.
Jan Mertens, 16 May 2004
Ellermans Group. The variety shown by sources as to the proportions of the
various flags of the Group is large. The only accurate measurements available
appear to be those from the National Maritime Museum which detail the
combinations for Ellerman & Bucknall Steamship Co. Ltd., Ellerman & Papayanni
Lines Ltd. and Ellerman's Wilson Line Ltd.
The plain blue pennant bearing the white "JRE" is that of Ellerman Lines Ltd.
but Sampson along with Talbot-Booth 1936-1944, Brown 1943-1951 and Harnack
1938-1949 show it for Ellerman & Papayanni. Although the two are shown as
separate companies based London and Liverpool respectively it seems that most of
the fleet may have been based under the latter and perhaps they were inclined to
usually fly just the single flag of the group whereas other taken over companies
with their own fleets had more reason to want to display their origin. By itself
this pennant may have been more triangular in the ratio of 2:3 which sources
show or it may have been longer in line with the pennants shown above the
original houseflags of the various group members.
As stated by Phil, Ellerman & Papayanni officially flew another blue pennant below bearing the white letters "P&Co". As given by the National Maritime Museum the upper pennant was 711mm x 1803 whilst the lower pennant was 1143 mm x 1905 mm. Sources all seem show a normal display of letters for the old Papayanni flag but that of the NMM has the lower case letters enhanced. Talbot-Booth in 1949 states that the flag was a blue rectangle with a white "P" but this is unsupported.
The Ellerman Lines City Line Ltd. referred to by Jan continued to be
known as the City Line Ltd. after Ellermans took a 50% holding in
1901. Others to retain their name according to Lloyds were the Hall
Line Ltd. and Westcott Laurence Lines Ltd. with all three using the
format of flying the Ellerman pennant superior.
Neale Rosanoski, 31 May 2005
by Ivan Sache, 4 December 2005
This cigarette card shows an image of
the flag (from
http://www.gdfcartophily.co.uk/item.php/IID/285246010).
Jan Mertens, 1 August 2005
Based on Sampson (1957)
James Dignan, 12 October 2003
Blue Pennant with JRE in white over a blue flag with red E&B in three white
diamonds (the Bucknell Line had the same flag with red BSL in three white
diamonds).
Jarig Bakker, 12 October 2003
From
http://www.archives.gla.ac.uk/collects/catalog/ascols-e.html:
Ellerman & Bucknall (Steamships) Co Ltd; (established in 1740 as Henry Bucknall
& Sons, name changed to Henry Bucknall & Co by 1880, Bucknall Nephews
established 1890s, incorporated as Bucknall Steamship Lines Ltd in 1900, name
changed as given in 1914).
Phil Nelson, 12 October 2003
Ellerman & Bucknall Steamship Co. The fleet commodore swallowtailed both their
flag and the Ellerman pennant [see E62 attached] with the proportions presumably
being in line with those given for the houseflags by the NMM at 660mm x 1752 for
the pennant and 1143mm x 1778 for the flag.
Neale Rosanoski, 31 May 2005
Based on Sampson (1957)
James Dignan, 12 October 2003
From
http://www.steamships.org/lib
Founded in the early years of the nineteenth century, the Wilson Line became the
largest privately owned steamship fleet in the world. Based in Hull, its main
trade was to and from Scandinavia and the Baltic States although the Wilson Line
also carried cargoes to the USA, the Mediterranean and India. Emigrants were an
important part of the company's business. Large numbers of Norwegians, Swedes
and Jewish refugees of the Tsarist pogroms were brought into Hull, transported
overland to Liverpool and shipped to America. In the 1890s Wilson Line ships
carried more cargo to the USA than the ships of any other line.
By 1919, losses from the fleet were such that the line was put up for sale.
Bought by Ellerman, the name changed slightly but the old ways continued.
Ellerman's Wilson Line remained independent of the rest of the Ellerman empire.
Rebuilding the fleet was a priority but trading conditions were difficult - with
too many ships chasing the available cargo. The Second World War saw a reduction
in fleet size from thirty-five to just nine and another rebuilding programme got
under way in 1945. The once-lucrative American trade ceased in 1961 and the
Wilson Line began the use of roll-on, roll-off ferries for its Gothenburg
service in 1966.
In 1983, then entire Ellerman Group was put up for sale. By 1987, the company
was in the hands of Trafalgar House and called Cunard-Ellerman. In 1991 P&O
purchased the Ellerman Group container business and sold the remaining four
ships. Every trace of Wilsons, once the largest independent steamship company in
the world, had now vanished.
Phil Nelson, 13 October 2003
There is a difference between the burgee used as the houseflag of Ellerman &
Papayanni Lines and the pennants used on top of the houseflags of the other
Ellerman companies:
a. the houseflag of Ellerman & Papayanni Lines is as you sent it (216x324)
b. the pennants: 108x360 (approximately)
The new houseflag of Ellerman & Papayanni Lines has two equally high and wide
pennants (108x360 (approximately)
1. blue with white letters JRE
2. blue with white letters P&Co (o uppercase)
Jarig Bakker, 13 October 2003
image located by Jan Mertens, 22 November 2005
Only the tiniest of splits is shown by the on-line 1912 Lloyds Flags & Funnels:
www.mysticseaport.org, i.e. ‘Thos. Wilson, Sons & Co., Ltd Hull’ (no. 1660).
Perhaps the thinly split pennant was the predecessor of the swallowtail?
Jan Mertens, 22 November 2005
According to Loughran (1979) this company started life as Thomas Wilson, Sons &
Co., Ltd., in Hull. It became part of the Ellerman Group as the Ellerman's
Wilson Line, Ltd., of Hull, at about the time of the First World War. During the
19th c. its houseflag seems to have been a normal pennant, but by the turn of
the century it appears as a burgee, which is its present form, with, of course,
the blue Ellerman pennant above.
Loughran has two images:
1. a triangular burgee, white with a red disk, for "Thos. Wilson (&c)
2. a tapered swallowtail, idem, with the Ellerman burgee on top
Your message indicates to me that the take-over took place on or a bit before
1916, and that at first the Ellerman burgee was not flown above it.
Jarig Bakker, 22 November 2005
Ellerman's Wilson Line. Although this tapered swallowtail version is shown by all the regular sources the NMM flag differs by being a normal rectangular swallowtail [see E259 attached] with their proportions being 600mm x 1778 for the pennant and 1168mm x 1828 for the swallowtail i.e. in the three cases where actual measurements are available the Ellerman pennant differs in each case but basically but be considered in the ratio of 1:3 compared with the houseflag at 2:3 and with the hoist of the pennant being half that of the houseflag.
images by Rob
Raeside
In 1973 the company was restructured with Ellerman City Liners being
formed to look after most of the Group's shipping interests. This led
to the adoption of a new flag in 12/1974 according to Loughran (1979)
which was based on an advertising logo which originated from the
company funnel markings which were buff with a black top separated by
a broad white band. The flag resulting was blue with 3 horizontal
oblong panels [possibly representing containers] one above the other,
the upper being closer to the fly, the central closer to the hoist and
the lower central, the sides of these panels being angled per bend
sinister. The Loughran version, also shown in Brown 1982, has an upper
panel of black, a central of white with a black frame and a lower of
yellow, all three being edged white in a joining border and the
central white panel bearing the angled black legend "ELLERMAN". I also have a provided drawing of the time supposedly
taken from the actual flags and which is reasonably close in design,
showing the panels not being connected, the upper being dark blue
edged white, the central white with the legend being dark blue, and
the lower orange edged white [black and dark blue being close
together, buff of the funnel perhaps being shown by a yellow/orange]. Then in Brown 1995 another version is shown under
the title of Ellerman Lines where the colours of the panels, which are
all separated, are shown as red edged white, white with the blue
legend, and blue edged white. These may be
variations as they searched for the best combination or a result of
interpretations of sightings.
Neale Rosanoski, 31 May 2005
image located by Jan Mertens, 20 December 2007
This image further illustrates the use of these flags. It comes from a recent update of the
Maritime Timetable
Images - a
White Wilson pennant with tiny split (but larger than shown by Lloyd’s 1912)
with blue JRE pennant above. Both have the same length.
Source: company brochure detailing sailings June-September 1927, to and from
Hull mostly.
Jan Mertens, 20 December 2007
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 19 May 2010
From a postcard collection: 12.4.3: Wilson
Line
Postcard #12, 4th row, 3rd flag of the
collection reads "Wilson Line"
and shows two pennants on the same line, their hoist top and bottom tips
touching, each ~1:3, the upper one plain dark blue and the bottom one white with
a red disc on its middle.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 19 May 2010
image by Jarig Bakker, 15 February 2006
Embiricos Shipping Agency Ltd., London - blue flag, white "E".
Source: Loughran (1995)
Jarig Bakker, 15 February 2006
British Shipping lines: continued