Last modified: 2006-02-18 by rob raeside
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from Stewart and Styring's Flags, Funnels and Hull Colors 1963. This company is based in London.
Phil Nelson, 11 April 2000
image by Jarig Bakker, 20 November 2005
Falmouth Oil Services Ltd., Falmouth - white flag, red drop outlined blue, with
black & white bottom, between blue "FL".
Source: Loughran (1995)
Jarig Bakker, 20 November 2005
image by Jarig Bakker, 10 October 2005
Farstad UK, Ltd., Aberdeen - blue flag, white "F".
Source:
Loughran (1995)
Jarig Bakker, 10 October 2005
The flag is white with a red cross and a
blue rectangle superimposed on the cross.
Ivan Sache, 17 March 2004
The origin of the Federal Steam Navigation Company's house flag dates back to
1824 when the "Sir Edward Paget", one of Money Wigram's clippers, was anchored
off Spithead flying the St. George's Cross at the Main. That was, and still is,
the flag flown by an Admiral, and so a naval pinnace was sent by an H.M. frigate
to investigate. There being no Admiral on board, the Master was censured and
ordered to haul down his flag, but, thinking that his masthead looked bare, he
rehoisted the flag after a blue pocket handkerchief had been sewn on the middle
of the cross. These markings were adopted as the Company's house flag and were
also painted on each side of the funnel, which was otherwise red with a black
top.
Source:
http://www.rakaia.co.uk/downloads/nzscl-house-flags.pdf
Jan Mertens, 11 December 2004
Federal Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. The origins are given somewhat loosely by
various sources but the original flag appears to be that of Wigram & Green who
were the owners of the "Sir Edward Paget" in 1824. This firm split in 1843 and
Wigram took the flag with him to Money, Wigram & Sons whilst the successors of
Richard Green, Frederick Green & Co. used a version by placing the blue panel
behind the cross. Money Wigram & Sons came under the control of Allan Hughes of
Allport & Hughes, their loading brokers, in 1882 and he acquired their remaining
assets in 1884 after they sold off their ships. Allport & Hughes amalgamated in
1895 into Birt, Potter & Hughes who were financially and managerially involved
in the formation of the Federal Steam Navigation Co. in that year. According to
Talbot-Booth the flag was given to Federal in 1896, presumably by Hughes. The
legend of how the flag originated has another slightly different version of the
occasion with one of the officers said to have climbed to the masthead, cutting
off the tail of his blue coat and attaching it to the centre of the cross.
Neale Rosanoski, 23 June 2005
James Fisher & Sons plc. A coastal shipping company dating from 1847 and
still operating. Griffin 1895 shows a red flag with a white "F" and then from Lloyds 1904 onwards sources show the addition of a white
panel with a blue "F" placed on it although Harnack
differs by showing
Ivan's version, though with a black "F" pre WW2 with post WW2 sources
from Stewart 1953 onwards showing Ivan's version of white with a red
border and a blue "F" although Brown has a wider border [or a bigger
white panel on red, it depends on one's preference I suppose as to how
such designs are described]. Some sources have shown the letter as
black and these include the later editions of Brown in 1982 and 1995
and this colour fits in with the funnels which nearly all sources show
as having a black "F" on a white funnel band.
Neale Rosanoski, 23 June 2005
image by Jarig Bakker, 29 January 2006
James Fisher & Sons, p.l.c., Barrow-in-Furness - white flag bordered red;
black "F".
Source:
Loughran (1995)
Jarig Bakker, 29 January 2006
In recent times there
has been a total change, which can be made out on some ship photos,
with a dark blue field with the logo [see
the company website at
http://www.james-fisher.co.uk/] appearing thereon to form the flag. The only description I have of the bird is that
it is a "seabird".
Neale Rosanoski, 23 June 2005
This is a UK firm nominally, but active in Canary Islands shipping (http://www.focscontainer.com/).
The flag is quartered blue and white, letters FO in the top quarters, CS in the
lower ones (white letters on blue, blue on white).
Some information (extracted from the site):
"In September 2000 Oldenburg-Portugiesische Dampfschiffs-Rhederei GmbH & Co.KG (OPDR)
of Hamburg acquired 100% of the shares of FOCS Canary Container Service, S.L.,
Tenerife from Fred. Olsen and Co, Oslo. The company subsequently switched its
registration and headquarters to the United Kingdom and 'FOCS Container Service
Ltd.' was formed in April 2003. The company maintained key personnel and the
full agency network of the Fred. Olsen service, providing unrivalled experience
and knowledge of the Canary Island market. FOCS offers a weekly fixed day
service from the UK and the North Continent to/from the Canary Islands utilising
OPDR vessels under a slot charter agreement. More recently the company has
started to extend its service to adjacent areas."
Jan Mertens, 18 December 2003
image by Jarig Bakker, 25 December 2005
Forth Tugs Ltd., Grangemouth - quartered red and blue; black diamond charged
with a white lighthouse.
Source:
Loughran (1995)
Jarig Bakker, 25 December 2005
from Stewart and Styring's Flags, Funnels and Hull Colors 1963
William France, Fenwick & Co. Ltd. Formed 1901 by a merger with the flag being
that of one of the parties, Fenwick, Stobbart & Co. Ltd., previously to 1893
being Fenwick & Co., with the flag applying at that point as confirmed by Reed
1891. According to Loughran (1979)
a slightly different version showing a cross of a lighter blue was used in the
Goole-Yorkshire coal trade as the company itself diversified into deep sea
tramping before folding in 1975. There are a couple of variations shown with
Reed 1912 showing the red letters "WF" on the panel and Harnack who shows a
white cross. The latter is probably a printing error but the Reed image, which
is unsupported, refers to another of the merging parties, William France & Co.
They originally had a blue flag with the white letters "WF" but in 1895 adopted
a blue flag with a white cross which, according to
Loughran (1979), was surmounted by
a blue circle defined black and bearing the white letters "WF" [see image below]
with Griffin 1895 differing by showing a white circle defined blue bearing the
red letters "WF".
Neale Rosanoski, 16 February 2004
The webpage at
http://www.gaicka.co.uk/Chris/fulwellssco.htm serves as an introduction to a
small and little-known shipping company, Fullwell Steamship Co. Ltd. (E.T.
Dinsdale & Co.) The Sunderland-based firm is mentioned as a shipowner/broker
in various Lloyds Lists between 1920 and 1928 but most information can be
gleaned from a posthumous resume of Ernest Dinsdale, written by his widow, and
accessible (clickable) at
http://www.gaicka.co.uk/Chris/ETD_Resume.jpg. At the end of 1920 E.T.
Dinsdale resigned as Manager of James Lythgoe and Co. (Sunderland), became a
shipbroker and founded Fullwell Steamship the next year. According to Mrs
Dinsdale, the firm would eventually operate four steamers (the site gives
detailed evidence of one). From 1925 on, business became difficult because of
"unprecedented depreciation" in shipping and by 1928 the firm had to be wound up
but Mr Dinsdale remained in the shipping business for a number of years as an
employee.
The house flag was divided horizontally white-black-white, a large red initial
'D' over all (in the sense that only small white segments appear within the
initial).
Jan Mertens, 5 January 2005
Larousse Commercial Illustré (1930) shows Furness Withy & Co.Ld., London: blue
with large white letter F (no serifs) in the centre, the height of which is
about two thirds of the flag.
Jan Mertens, 16 May 2004
based on image by Graham Bartram
Furness Lines. The Furness Withy Group became one of the UK's largest and
originated with Thomas Furness & Co. who operated as ships chandlers etc. In
1872 brother Christopher joined the company which became shipowners in 1878 but
as Thomas was not interested in shipping they split in 1882 with Christopher
taking over the shipping under his own name. The original flag was the Union
Flag defaced by a white square at the cross fess-point which was edged and bore
an "F". Bonsor gives the edging and letter as blue whereas Reed 1891 shows them
as black. Talbot-Booth varies slightly again
describing the panel as being a white rectangle bearing a black "F". Bonsor
appears to indicate that the blue flag with a white "F" also dates from around
1878 but I would image that it was more likely to have dated from the split
between the brothers. It is shown by a photo in Bonsor for the "Newcastle City"
built 1883.
Neale Rosanoski, 23 June 2005
by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.
From the website of the National
Maritime Museum, "the house flag, Furness-Houlder Argentine Lines Ltd: A
blue pennant bearing a black disc in the centre with two red stripes. A letter
'F' appears in the top left-hand corner. Below is a red pennant with a white
cross in the centre. The pennants are made of a wool and synthetic fibre
bunting. They have cotton hoists and are machine sewn. A rope and toggle is
attached.
Jarig Bakker, 12 August 2004
Larousse Commercial Illustré (1930) shows Furness Houlder Argentine Lines,
London: two pennants above each other, the upper one blue with white letter F in
the hoist, the lower one red with a white Maltese cross in the hoist.
A predecessor: red flag with white Maltese cross in on-line 1912 Lloyd's Flags &
Funnels, No. 757 for Houlder Bros & Co., Ltd., London':
See:
http://www.mysticseaport.org/library/initiative/Impage.cfm?PageNum=39&bibid=11061&ChapterId=8
Jan Mertens, 16 May 2004
Furness-Houlder Argentine Lines Ltd. was a joint venture with Houlder Bros. & Co. Ltd. formed in 1914/1915, Furness, Withy having taken an interest in Houlders in 1911 making it 100% in 1968 which appears to have seen the end of the venture. The pennants are based on the flags of the two constituent companies and as Jan points out the upper pennant originally just had the plain white "F".
The group contained several major companies such as Shaw Savill, Royal Mail,
Pacific Steam Navigation, Houlder Brothers, Prince Line and Manchester Liners
which originally kept their own flags whereas lesser companies adopted that of
Furness, Withy. At the beginning of the 1970s fleet numbers took a downturn and
in 1977 they formed a General Shipping Division to manage all subsidiaries which
effectively finished the operations of these in all but names for ship
registration purposes.
Neale Rosanoski, 23 June 2005
by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.
From the website of the National
Maritime Museum, "the house flag of Furness Withy & Co. Ltd., London. A pale
blue swallow-tailed pennant. In the upper hoist is a white letter 'F' and the
centre of the pennant bears a black disc with two red horizontal stripes of
irregular width. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting with a
linen hoist. It is machine sewn. A rope and toggle is attached.
Jarig Bakker, 12 August 2004
Furness, Withy & Co. Ltd. was formed in 1891 merging the interests of
Christopher Furness which included the shipbuilders Edward Withy & Co. and the
flag continued in use until 1949 (Talbot-Booth) when the Tapered swallowtail
with the circle and white "F" in the canton was adopted.
Neale Rosanoski, 23 June 2005
by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.
From the website of the National Maritime Museum, "the house flag of Fyffes Group Ltd, London. A blue swallowed-tailed burgee bearing a yellow triangle against the hoist with the name 'Fyffes' in white letters on a navy blue oval. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn. A rope and toggle is attached. 'Fyffes 9 x 6' is inscribed on the hoist."
This is associated with the huge conglomerate around the
United Fruit Company (US).
Jarig Bakker, 12 August 2004
Fyffes Group. Changed name 1969 from Elders & Fyffes
Ltd. with the previous flag being shown under that name. Its association
with the
United Fruit Company (now Chiquita
Brands) ended in 1986 when it was acquired by Fruit Importers of Ireland with
the flag still flying though they now seem to be charterers rather than owners.
Neale Rosanoski, 23 June 2005