{{Short description|Australian shipping company}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2017}} {{Infobox company | name = Commonwealth Line | logo = | image = SS Esperance Bay Aberdeen and Commonwealth Line.jpg | image_caption = The Bay-class [[SS Esperance Bay|''Esperance Bay'']] (launched 1921, later renamed ''Arawa'') | type = [[Government-owned corporation|Government-owned]] | owner = [[Australian federal government|Australian Federal Government]] | num_employees = | homepage = }}
The '''Commonwealth Line''' was a shipping company owned and operated by the [[Government of Australia|Australian federal government]] between 1916 and 1928. It was officially known as the Commonwealth Government Line of Steamers until 1923, and thereafter as the Australian Commonwealth Line of Steamers.
==History== The Commonwealth Line began as a pet project of Prime Minister [[Billy Hughes]]. While visiting England in mid-1916, Hughes purchased 15 [[tramp steamer]]s to transport Australian commodities (particular wool and wheat) to export markets. This was a risky venture, as the British government had the right to [[eminent domain|requisition]] some or all of the fleet for the war effort. However, Hughes managed to convince [[H. H. Asquith]] not to take any of the vessels, so long as no more were purchased before the end of the war.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fitzhardinge|first=Laurence|authorlink=Laurie Fitzhardinge|date=1979|title=William Morris Hughes: A Political Biography / Vol. 2: The Little Digger, 1914–1952|publisher=[[Angus & Robertson]]| pages=137–144|isbn=0207132453}}</ref> Back in Australia, another 23 ships came under the new company's control, which had been seized by the government from German and Austrian owners.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Commonwealth Line |url=http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/commonwealth.shtml |access-date=2023-05-29 |website=www.theshipslist.com}}</ref>
After the war's end, the Commonwealth Line built five large ocean liners to carry immigrants from England. By 1921, the company was making only a small profit each year and was often a target for industrial [[strike action|(labour)]] action. In 1923, Hughes was replaced as prime minister by [[Stanley Bruce]], who opposed the government's ownership of the line as a financial burden and an unfair competitor against private operators.<ref>Fitzhardinge, pp. 500–501</ref> The Bruce Government sold off the fleet over the next few years, culminating in a final sale to the [[White Star Line]] in 1928.<ref>{{Citation | author1=McDonell, R. (Ralph) | title=Build a fleet, lose a fleet | year=1976 | publication-date=1976 | publisher=Hawthorn Press | isbn=978-0-7256-0165-2 }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | author1=Brennan, Frank | title=The Australian Commonwealth Shipping Line | year=1978 | publication-date=1978 | publisher=Roebuck Society | isbn=978-0-909434-11-3 }}</ref> They were later on sold to the [[Aberdeen Line]], which renamed itself the Aberdeen & Commonwealth Line. On paper the fleet was valued at around £8 million, but the government received only £500,000 due to the buyer defaulting.<ref>[https://www.flotilla-australia.com/acl.htm AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT LINE of STEAMERS], Flotilla Australia.</ref>
In the final parliamentary vote to approve the sale, the entire [[Australian Labor Party|Labor Party]] voted against and were joined by only non-Labor members, [[Percy Stewart]] and [[William Watson (Australian politician)|William Watson]]. Billy Hughes absented himself from the vote. In the prior debate, he described the line as "my progeny, and whether it be unique or a monstrosity, I, like most parents, am still attached to the poor thing ... I am present at the obsequies of the Line, as I was at its birth".<ref>Fitzhardinge, pp. 556–557</ref>
==Ships== The fleet of ships that were operated included requisitioned sailing ships.<ref name=":0" />
In 1921–1922, the company built a fleet of five Bay-class [[ocean liner]]s, principally for the emigrant trade from the British Isles to Australia.<ref>"NEW STEAMSHIP SERVICE TO AUSTRALIA", ''Hull Daily Mail'', Saturday 22 October 1921, p. 2</ref>
* {{TSS|Moreton Bay||2}} * {{TSS|Esperance Bay||2}} * {{TSS|Hobsons Bay||2}} * {{HMS|Jervis Bay||2}} * {{TSS|Largs Bay||2}}
''Moreton Bay'' was the first to be launched, at the [[Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering|Barrow Shipyard]] on 21 April 1921.<ref>"To-day’s Launch. VISIT OF NEW SOUTH WALES PREMIER", ''Barrow News'', Saturday 23 April 1921, p. 16</ref>
==See also== * [[Australian National Line]], a similar government-owned corporation formed in 1956
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
[[Category:Australian companies established in 1916]] [[Category:1928 establishments in Australia]] [[Category:Defunct shipping companies of Australia]] [[Category:Former Commonwealth Government-owned companies of Australia]] [[Category:Government-owned transport companies]] [[Category:1928 disestablishments in Australia]] [[Category:Shipping companies of Australia]] [[Category:Government-owned companies of Australia]] [[Category:Maritime history of Australia]]