After a century and a quarter of independent operation Royal Mail Lines became a part of the Furness Withy Group during the 1960s and its identity continued to erode into the 1970s.

The 1960s is therefore regarded as the company’s swan song decade, and the ships of that time are the ones most remembered by former staff – afloat and ashore – and the passengers and shipwatchers of four decades ago. If you remember them, this page is for you. It lists all of the ships in the Royal Mail Lines fleet during that decade, including brief descriptions of their careers.

 

Operations

 

Services in the 1960s concentrated on the Americas. A mail, passenger and refrigerated cargo service operated to Brazil and the River Plate, via Vigo, Lisbon and Las Palmas, while the ‘D’ ships concentrated mainly on the River Plate meat trade but later made some voyages to the North American Pacific coast for fruit cargoes. General cargo services to the east coast of South America at times concentrated on Brazil, while other ships included the River Plate and some travelled further south to Punta Arenas.

The West Indies service covered various Caribbean islands, as the company had done since its inception. Some homeward cargoes – notably sulphur – were loaded at United States Gulf ports.


 

The Spanish Main service voyaged via Puerto Rico to Caribbean rim ports like Barranquilla, Cartagena, La Guaira and Puerto Cabello. The ‘Loch’ ships operated a joint service with Holland-America Line to the North Pacific coast – through the Panama Canal and north to ports such as San Francisco, Seattle and Vancouver. For most of their careers, the ‘D’, ‘E’ and ‘Loch’ ships accommodated 12 passengers.

A Central America service operated in the 1960s using mainly chartered tonnage and some of the smaller vessels of the Pacific Steam Nav Co. The Andes was at this time a full-time cruise liner, mainly visiting the Mediterranean and West Indies, plus a mid-summer cruise to northern Europe and Scandinavia and a long winter cruise which would visit anywhere that was warm and sunny.

Happy reminiscing!

Heading Picture Ebro (IV) being brought to her berth in London's Royal Docks during the 1960s. The picture typifies the days when breakbulk freighters were enjoying their swan song.