Swayne & Hoyt Lines

Swayne & Hoyt was engaged in trade with Japan by 1896, when the company was recorded as protesting duties assessed on ceramic goods it had imported in February 1896.[2]

In the years after World War I, Swayne & Hoyt was engaged in the tramp trade with leased United States Shipping Board (USSB) ships but later evolved into a scheduled cargo line.[3]

In 1926, the company was operating the American-Australian-Orient Line which sailed to Australia, New Zealand, and Asian ports.[4] Also in the mid-1920s, Swayne & Hoyt was engaged in trade between Pacific ports and the east coast of South America.[5]

By the late 1930s, Swayne & Hoyt was engaged in intercoastal shipping between U.S. ports on the Gulf of Mexico and on ports on the Pacific coast via the Panama Canal.[6] Swayne & Hoyt v. United States challenged the legality of an order of the Secretary of Commerce to cease offering 6-month contracts to clients at a reduced rate if the clients only use the same shipping company for all their shipping during that period. The case was dismissed on the ground that Section 16 of the Shipping Act of 1916 forbids preferential treatment of any kind and that the arrangement violates unrestricted competition and furthers the establishment of a monopoly. The court conceded though that the arrangement had benefits to both the suing shipowners and their clients.

In June 1932, The Log, reported that Tirey L. Ford, Jr., Executive Vice-President of Swayne & Hoyt, Ltd., visited Puget Sound in connection with a proposed "rebuilding of the Swayne & Hoyt Gulf Pacific Mail Line ships Point Ancha and Ossining, which would operate under mail contract between Pacific Coast ports and ports of South America, the West Indies, and the Gulf."[7]

Robert H. Swayne died 8 August 1936.[8]

On February 26, 1940, the Pacific Shipper said that Tirey L. Ford, Vice President of Swayne & Hoyt, announced that the company would retire from business after 90 years leading steamship companies.[9]

Ships that were owned by Swayne & Hoyt.

• Redondo
• 4 ships of 3,500dwt[1]^: 4
  • built by Albina Engine & Machine Works
  • all originally owned by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company in the early 20s
    • sold by (unspecified) to Hammond Lumber in 1923, [10][11] these 2 Points are a false positive
      • Point Adams¹⁸, Astoria²³
      • Point Bonita¹⁸, San Pedro²⁵
    • sold by Swayne & Hoyt to McCormick SS Co. in 1929[12]
      • Point Judith¹⁸, Charles L. Wheeler, Jr.²⁹
      • Point Lobos¹⁸, Ernest H. Meyer²⁹
• 7 ships of 5,500dwt[1]^: 5
  • all built by the Submarine Boat Corporation
  • bought from the USSB in 1926 by Swayne&Hoyt[13][14][lower-alpha 1]
    • Bound Brook¹⁹, Point Bonita²⁶
    • Continental Bridge¹⁹, Point Fermin²⁶
    • Holyoke Bridge²⁰, Point Reyes²⁶
    • East Chicago²⁰, Point Sur²⁶
  • bought from the USSB (FY27) by Swayne&Hoyt [15]
    • Federal Bridge¹⁹, Point Montara²⁷
  • bought from the USSB (FY28) by Gulf Pacific Line[16]
    • Neshobee²⁰, Point Gorda²⁹
    • Riverside Bridge²⁰, Point Arena²⁹
• 13 ships of 7,500dwt[1]^: 5
  • built by Todd Tacoma
    • Point Lobos (Ossining)
    • Point Judith (Remus)
    • Point Estero (Red Hook)
    • Point Vincente (Hoboken)
    • Point Clear (Pallas)
    • Point Ancha (Delight)
    • Point Bonita (Sacramento)
  • built by Downey
    • Point Brava (Manhatten or Osakis)
    • Point Caleta (Dio)
    • Point Chico (Abron)
    • Point Palmas (Sabotawan)
    • Point Salinas (Dochet)
  • (one missing)

In February 1940 the Point Bonita, Point Arena, Point Judith (then located in the Gulf) and Point Clear, Point Ancha, Point Lobos (then on the West Coast) were sold to the Greek steamship operator A. G. Pappadakis.[17]