General Steam Navigation Co. Ltd

occupation:
Ferry company
Nationality:
British

1902 - General Steam Navigation Company incorporated as a limited liability company. 1903 – Cygnet lost to fire in the Atlantic. 1906 - acquired John Crisp and Son which had a shipping service between London and East Anglia and also a river trade using a fleet of Norfolk wherries. 1909 - acquired the freehold of Brewers, Chesters and Galley Quays, near Tower Bridge. 1914 – Admiralty requisitioned 21 vessels for the war effort. 1915 – the Golden Eagle converted to troopship and seaplane carrier. 1917 – Hirondelle sunk by German submarine off Penzance. 1919 - purchased the Humber-London service of G. R. Haller Ltd and the London-Ghent service of Leach and Co. 1920 - company purchased by P&O but retained independent operation. 1924 – company football team won the interdivisional cup. 1931 - took over the Rhine-London Line. 1933 - acquired the London and Dunkirk Shipping Co. 1934 - acquired the Moss Hutchison Line of Liverpool. 1936 - the New Medway Steam Packet Co taken over, giving GSNC a monopoly of the Thames excursion business. 1939 - an interest in Turner, Edwards and Co of Bristol purchased, and later taken over. 1966 - excursion steamers withdrawn at the end of the season. 1972 - ceased operating as an independent company.