the general steamship story

Excerpts taken from: GENSTEAM: The General Steamship Story, written by Steve Simpson. Published 2003.

The General Steamship story begins in San Francisco, the city by the bay - a city whose own history has been linked to the sea. To anyone familiar with the maritime history of San Francisco, the General Steamship name figures prominently.

By the end of the First World War, a change in policy concerning government ownership of trading ships was imminent. Through a series of wartime conscriptions, the US Government had accumulated a fleet and tonnage of significant size, and pressure from the private sector to release the fleet into the hands of private US interests, was growing. While there were many well-heeled and qualified interests on the East Coast who were prepared to acquire Atlantic trades, the competition for the Pacific fleets and trade routes were not as intense.

By 1919, the initiative to form a company to capitalize on the many opportunities the Pacific arena presented, was in full flight. Captain John Barneson and his associates, including: Harry S. Scott, Captain Harry Birkholm, Clarence Belknap and several others, all emanating from various sectors of the West Coast maritime industry, would come together to form and operate the new General Steamship Corporation in early 1920's San Francisco.

The Early days

Drawing on the expertise of its founders, General Steamship established and operated many new trading routes from an emerging US West Coast market to the Far East, South Pacific Ocean, Europe, and Central and South America during the early 1920's. These routes were crucial to bolstering America's economic presence on the global stage for the remainder of the 20th century, and beyond. After several years of initial success on the vessel operating side, changing market forces and a looming depression would force the company to adapt its business model.

Within a decade of its founding, General Steamship transformed itself into the West Coast's most prominent shipping agency - coming to represent many of the most well-respected ocean carriers of the time in the Pacific arena. Vessel agency would be the company's sole enterprise from this point onward.

The years between wars

General Steamship saw a rapid expansion of operations in the 20's and 30's - opening offices in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Callao, Chicago, Valparaiso and most notably, Vancouver B.C., Canada, with the formation of Empire Shipping in 1921. By the end of the 1930's, President Harry S. Scott's accomplishments, and rapidly expanding business portfolio, had created an enviable reputation within the local shipping industry.

As Charles A. Reali, who worked in General Steamship's Traffic Department on the South Pacific recounts, "To the shipping world, General Steamship had developed a reputation of having implicit confidence for the future of the Pacific Rim, which it saw as supplanting the Atlantic in shipping activity. Ever since the company was incorporated, it had been imbued with the pioneering spirit, and this is substantiated by the fact that practically all of the Lines under its management have pioneered a new trade route. The company, therefore, has not only been an important link, but a tremendous force in building up new markets for Pacific Coast importers and exporters. Ships under this agency fly the flags of numerous nations, and the company's slogan, '700 Ports on the Seven Seas,' explains in very few words the scope of their operation."

For all the success and glory of the early days, it would be the actions of Scott during the next world war that would permanently solidify his reputation and commitment to working relationships.

the second great war

By the the time the United States had entered WWII, many US shipping companies found themselves with strong commercial and personal ties to both German and Japanese shipping interests, which had to be immediately severed. General Steamship attempted to maintain some semblance of commercial order during the war by committing its entire personnel to the cause - converting itself largely from a traffic agency, to a complete wartime operating organization. It was quite difficult for the company to watch two decades of hard work building quality business relationships, amongst newly defined adversaries, disintegrate seemingly overnight. Scott, however, was determined to do his part for the American war effort.

Our corporation was appointed general agent for the Wartime Shipping Administration, and in this capacity, serviced some 25 Liberty and Victory-type vessels on behalf of the U.S. Government during the war. General Steamship also acted as agents for numerous vessels on behalf of the British Ministry of War Transport, the Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission, and various Canadian military interests. The company further serviced, for the account of the U.S. Government, 51 T-2 type tanker vessels, which were critical in supplying fuel to the Navy and the Armed Forces on the front lines of the Pacific arena.

Of the 175 total vessels that General Steamship operated during the war, only one vessel and one man were known to be lost.

On April 9, 1940, Germany invaded Norway, and all contact with one of our then largest Principals, Westfal-Larsen, was completely severed. Over the next 5 years, General Steamship was trusted with, and oversaw, the business affairs of Westfal-Larsen Line in nearly every aspect, while the country remained isolated under Nazi occupation.

As the end of the war approached in April of 1945, General Steamship prepared a report that provided the complete status of all segments of the business to Westfal-Larsen Line - in hopeful anticipation of returning control back to the company in the days ahead. A fascinating and cherished piece of our history, the cover-letter Scott penned to the company has been preserved in our archives, and is pictured below:

a return from the ravages of war

Rebuilding the business after the Second World War was not dissimilar to what Scott had been through in the early days of the company. Once established trade routes needed to be rebuilt yet again. The same qualities of trust and respect that the company had so proudly earned, would now have to be re-applied to help mend the tattered relationships brought on by the war.

In all of these efforts, perhaps most significant was the recognition Scott received from the country of Japan, in restoring business ties between the two nations. Scott's son Harry picks up the story:

"My father went over to Japan as soon as it was practical after the war, and conferred with General MacArthur's staff. He was basically credited with resuming the shipping operations between the two countries. When the Peace Treaty was being signed in San Francisco, the Prime Minister of Japan was in ill health and could not stay at a hotel. So my father offered his home to the Prime Minister, so that he could bring his family and whatever nursing assistance he needed in order to make the trip. The Prime Minister and his family moved into our house for 10 days. It was at 490 Lavilla Street in the Marina with a view of the Bay. The Prime Minister spoke almost no English. His name was Shigeru Yoshida. My father and he both loved cigars, and they communicated over their cigars. Whenever my father made a trip to Japan after that, he always brought a box of fine cigars for the Prime Minister."

In time, Scott's efforts to restore trade relations between Japan and the United States, resulted in him being awarded Japan's highest civilian honor in 1952 - The Order of the Rising Sun.

For overseeing Norwegian shipping interests during the war, Scott would be promoted to "Commander of the Royal Order of St. Olav," by his majesty, King Haakon VII of Norway, at a Bohemian Club Dinner in July 1955.

Scott would further be awarded the title of Cavaliere, by the Order of the Crown of Italy, the Knight's Cross, First Class, Order of Vasa, from the Government of Sweden, and the Cross of the Legion of Honor with the Grade of Chevalier, from the government of France.

into the modern era

For the second half of the 20th century, General Steamship saw a steady expansion of its agency business, starting with the formation of Alaska Maritime Agencies (Alamar) in 1961. Alamar was formed as a joint venture between General Steamship and Kerr Steamship. The founding board of Alamar composed of: Raymond Winquist and David M. Drysart, representing Gensteam, and G. Scott Jones and John W. Money, representing Kerr Steamship. Alaskan cargo volumes steadily increased during the decade, paralleling the development of infrastructure within the state. Overall, the prime export of the day was pulp followed by lumber and logs. Alamar soon had staffed offices from Juneau to Dutch Harbor, and enjoyed growing tanker activity after construction of the Alaska Pipeline in the 1970's. And although not a memory we cherish, Alamar were the acting agents during the infamous Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989.

General Steamship established new companies and entered into multiple joint ventures in various maritime sectors during this time, including most notably: Western Stevedoring (Vancouver BC), California United Terminals - CUT (Long Beach), North Star Stevedoring (Alaska), and many others.

After taking over control of their various joint ventures with General Steamship, G. Scott Jones departed Kerr Steamship, and joined our company as its fifth President in 1985. Although new to the company itself, the Jones family had a long history with General Steamship, dating all the way back to G. Scott’s great grandfather, William Ernest Jones, who was a well-known and highly respected pioneer in the stevedoring trade, on the early San Francisco waterfront.

Over the next 15 years, G. Scott undertook significant steps to change the very culture of General Steamship (ultimately ensuring its economic survival), by adjusting strategy and staff away from the container dominated liner trades, and focusing mainly on tramp trades. Failing to adapt, nearly all of Gensteam's historic competitors disappeared during this same period of time. With a renewed focus, General Steamship not only endured, but successfully expanded into the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, where it still proudly operates to this day.

G. Scott's son, Scott M. Jones, took over as President & CEO of General Steamship Agencies in 1999.Today, General Steamship Agencies operates 20 offices, and employs more than 135 staff across North America.

In 2017, Empire Shipping merged with Compass Marine to form Wheelhouse Shipping Agency, which is one of Vancouver B.C.'s largest vessel agencies, and the newest addition to the Gensteam family.

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Our storied history is a long and proud one, fraught with tribulations and triumphs, victories and battle scars. Seeing ourselves through major world wars and economic depressions with sound leadership, dedicated staff, and a loyal customer base, General Steamship has not only withstood the test of time, but firmly solidified its reputation as an industry leader in North American ship agency.

2020 rings in our one-hundredth year of service - an amazing accomplishment we share with very few in this industry. We owe it all to the countless men and women that have worked so hard and sacrificed so much for us over the previous century. This celebration is dedicated to all staff, past and present. Thank you.

And to our customers... old, new, and those yet to come...we look forward to continuing this story with you - well into the next century, and beyond.

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A full 172-page copy of GENSTEAM: The General Steamship Story, by Steve Simpson, is available to our customers upon request.