The Fleets

Bolton Steam Shipping Co. Ltd, 1885-1917 1921-1982, London

Bolton Steam Shipping Co. Ltd originated from 1885 when Frederick Bolton formed a partnership with Louis T. Bartholomew as Frederic Bolton & Company and ordered a steamer from J.L. Thompson & Sons, Sunderland. She was delivered in June 1885 as the RAPHAEL (1) followed by the REMBRANDT (1) in August 1886 and the RUBENS (1) in July 1887 and the RUYSDAEL (1) in September 1888. The ships were used in the Tramping trades.
Two more tramp ships were delivered from J.L. Thompson & Sons, Sunderland, in 1893 and 1894, the ROMNEY (1) and ROSSETTI (1).

Henry Kenneth joined as a partner in 1887 but could not get on with Louis T. Bartholomew, so Frederick bought Kenneth out in 1897 and formed the Bolton Steam Shipping Company Ltd.

Another three tramp ships were delivered from J.L. Thompson & Sons, Sunderland in 1898, 1902 and 1904, REYNOLDS (1), RAMSAY (1) and RIBERA (1). The RAPHAEL (1), REMBRANDT (1), RUBENS (1) and RUYSDAEL (1) were sold to Chile in 1906 and a new tramp ship built by William Gray and Sons, West Hartlepool the RUBENS (2) joined the fleet.

In 1906 Fredericks' two sons Eric and Louis Hamilton, were made partner. In January a new RUYSDAEL (2) was delivered from William Gray and Sons, West Hartlepool.

By the beginning of World War I the company owned seven tramp ships.

In August 1914 the RUBENS (2) was captured at Hamburg. On 27th September 1914 the RIBERA (1) was captured by the German cruiser Emden in the Indian Ocean. The RUYSDAEL (2) was detained at a Finnish port, where she lay until November 1916, on arrival home she was sold to A.D. Axarlis, London and was torpedoed and sunk in September 1918. In 1915 a new RIBERA (2) was delivered from William Gray and Sons, West Hartlepool and ROMNEY (1), ROSSETTI (1) and REYNOLDS (1) were sold in 1915-1916.

Eric Bolton had been killed earlier in the war and the company went into voluntary liquidation on 12th September 1917. The RAMSAY (1) was sold to B.J. Sutherland at Newcastle and the RIBERA (2) to other British owners.
In February 1920 Frederick died and in November 1921 Louis Hamilton restarted the company with the purchase of two second-hand tramps from the Shipping Controller which were renamed RUBENS (3) and RIBERA (3) and another bought from the Well Line, renamed RUYSDAEL (3) (ex- BLACKWELL). A new ship was bought while building from Bartram & Sons at Sunderland and renamed RAMSAY (2).

In February 1927 a new REYNOLDS (2) was completed at R. Duncan's, Port Glasgow. She was followed by two sisters in May 1929 and March 1930, the ROMNEY (2) and RAMSAY (3).
The RUBENS (3), RUYSDAEL (3) and RAMSAY (2) were sold in 1927, 1929 and 1928 and the RIBERA (3) was laid up in 1930 and scrapped in 1931.

By the beginning of World War II the company owned three tramp ships.

On 9th June 1942 the RAMSAY (3) was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine in the Atlantic while in convoy ONS 100. On 31st October 1942 the REYNOLDS (2) was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine South of Madagascar.
Two sister ships the RIBERA (4) and REMBRANDT (2) were completed in 1940 and 1941 at the Lithgow’s yard at Port Glasgow. Two standard Ocean’s were managed for the Government.
The managed OCEAN VIGIL was purchased in 1946 and renamed RAMSAY (4), while a sister was purchased in 1947 and renamed RUYSDAEL (4) (ex- OCEAN WANDERER). The managed liberty SAMCEBU was also purchased in 1947 and renamed REYNOLDS (3).
The ROMNEY (2) was sold to Greece in 1949 and was replaced by the RAPHAEL (2) (ex- OCEAN VAGRANT). The EMPIRE MARTABAN was taken on a bare boat charter from 1946 till 1951 with an option to purchase which was taken up in 1951 but immediately resold to other London owners.
New ships were built in 1952 and 1953, the RAMSAY (5) and REYNOLDS (4).

Louis Hamilton died in 1953 and was succeeded by his son Frederick B. Bolton.

The ROMANIC joined the fleet in 1954 and was chartered to Shaw, Savill and Albion.

A new company the North Yorkshire Shipping Company Ltd was started in 1954 to transport ore for BISCO and orders were placed for four ore carriers ( REDCAR, RIBBLEHEAD, RIPON and RIEVAULX).
The RIBERA (4) and REMBRANDT (2) was sold in 1955 and 1957 to Greece. A new RUYSDAEL (5) entered service in 1957, followed by the REMBRANDT (3) in 1960 which had gas turbines engines placed right aft, this was not a great success and the ship was sold in 1967 with considerable loss. The RAMSAY (5), REYNOLDS (4) and ROMANIC were sold in the early sixties and the RUYSDAEL (5) followed in 1968.

In June 1965 the company entered the bulk trade with the delivery of the RIBERA (5) from Smiths Dock Co., Middlesbrough.
The RIBERA (5) was sold in 1973 and replaced with two new bulkers the ROSSETTI (2) and REYNOLDS (5). Also a new funnel marking was used with the house flag instead of an all black funnel.
A third sister ship of the two previously built ships joined the fleet in 1976 as RUBENS (4). However, the market collapsed and Frederick B. Bolton was forced to sell his ships. The ROSSETTI (2) was sold in 1978 and also the REYNOLDS (5) was sold and chartered back.

The debt was still mounting so in 1982 they were bought by Nosira Shipping (Carnival Cruises Line Group) with Carnival in turn selling them both in 1987 to the Mountleigh Group. Whilst part of the Carnival Group the Bolton Maritime Management Ltd. was set up to manage the fleets of Bolton Steamship and Nosira Shipping but these two have gone out of ship-owning soon after and by 1992 and the management company was noted in Lloyds Shipowners acting for a non related company.

Many thanks to Henk Jungerius and Ted Finch for their assistance in collecting this data. The following list was extracted from various sources. This is not an all inclusive list but should only be used as a guide. If you would like to know more about a vessel, visit the Ship Descriptions (onsite) or Immigrant Ship web site.

Funnels & Flags: Fleet:
	1855-1973	1973-1982

TheShipsList | Return to The Fleets

TheShipsList®™ - (Swiggum) All Rights Reserved - Copyright © 1997-present
These pages may be freely linked to but not duplicated in any fashion without written consent of .
Last updated: April 13, 2009 and maintained by and M. Kohli