- Matson Navigation Company
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Matson Navigation Company Inc. 
Type Subsidiary Industry Shipping Founded 1882 Headquarters Oakland, California, United States Area served United States Parent Alexander & Baldwin Website www.matson.com The Matson Navigation Company, a subsidiary of Alexander & Baldwin, is a private shipping company with roots extending into the late 19th century. It is credited with introducing mass tourism to Hawaii with the opening of the Moana Hotel (now known as the Moana Surfrider Hotel) and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Waikiki on the island of Oahu.
Contents
History
William Matson (1849–1917) was the founder of the Matson Navigation Company. He was born in Lysekil in Västra Götaland County, Sweden, and orphaned during childhood. He arrived in San Francisco after a trip around Cape Horn in 1867. Working aboard the Spreckels family yacht, he struck up a friendship with tycoon Claus Spreckels, who financed many of Matson's new ships. In 1882 the three masted schooner Emma Claudina ran to the Hawaiian Islands. The enterprise began in the carrying of merchandise, especially of plantation stores, to the islands and returning with cargoes of sugar. This led to gradually expanding interests at both ends of the line. Increased commerce brought a corresponding interest in Hawaii as a tourist attraction. The 146-passenger ship S.S. Wilhelmina followed in 1910. More steamships continued to join the fleet. When Captain Matson died in 1917, the Matson fleet comprised 14 of the largest, fastest and most modern ships in the Pacific passenger-freight service.[1]
Operations
Primarily a purveyor of cargo, Matson also introduced into service a number of passenger liners to capitalize on the burgeoning tourist trade. In 1926 Matson took over the Oceanic Steamship Company, operating three trans-Pacific liners, including the San Francisco and Los Angeles to Honolulu and points beyond, including a handful of South Pacific ports of call as well as Australia (Sydney) and New Zealand (Auckland). Two of their earlier cargo liners, the SS Maui and the SS Wilhelmina, were the first passenger ships to place their engines aft. Among the famed "white ships of Matson" were the Malolo (rechristened Matsonia), Lurline, Mariposa and Monterey. With the advent and expansion of routine air travel between the mainland and the islands, Matson's famed passenger service was greatly diminished and the liners were eventually retired from transpacific service and virtually gone by the end of the 1970s.[2]
Matson is still the dominant cargo transportation company in Hawaii. Matson's main competitor in the U.S. domestic market is Horizon Lines.
Gallery
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A Matson ship enters the San Francisco Bay through the Golden Gate
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Historical image from Matson Lines promoting their Hawaiian hotels
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Shipping dock in Hawaii
References
Further reading
- Captain William Matson: From Handy Boy to Ship Owner (by John E. Cushing. Newcomen Society in North America. New York : 1951)
- O'Brien, Duncan (2008). The White Ships. Pier 10 Media. ISBN 978-0-9686734.
External links
- Matson Navigation Company official website
- The last ocean liners of Matson lines
- The Ocean Linear Virtual Museum - Matson Lines
United States-flag shipping companies Ship operators APL · Hapag-Lloyd USA · Intermarine · Maersk Line · Matson Navigation Company · OSG Ship Management · Sealift Incorporated · TransAtlantic Lines · Waterman SteamshipTug & Barge operators: Categories:- Business in Hawaii
- Shipping companies of the United States
- Container shipping companies of the United States
- Ferry companies of Hawaii
- Companies based in Honolulu, Hawaii
- 1882 establishments
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