Court Line - the company and its ships

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Welcome to the Website

This site celebrates Court Line ships and is dedicated to those who sailed in them - particularly during the dark days of World War 2.

I hope you will share my deep respect for the sacrifices made the Merchant Navy during the war that have never had the official recognition they deserve. Without the supplies they brought, Britain would not have survived, and this website would probably be in German rather than English. During every trip these men ran the gauntlet of the lurking U-boat wolf-packs. Many ships were lost; many seamen lost their lives. Everyone involved, including the families of the seamen, suffered hardship of a kind that those of us born after the war can barely imagine.

This site is an attempt to correct the lack of information about Court Line in print or on the Internet and I am grateful to Stan Mayes for raising my awareness of these ships, and for the support of the many people who provided information and photographs whose names appear on the Contributors page. .

The site contains details of all known Court Line ships apart from a small number that were managed by the company during WW2.

 

Brian Watson

20 December 2009

 

Copyright Warning

Most of the photos on this site are very old and believed to be out of copyright. However it has been impossible to confirm this in most cases.  

· The photographs can be used for research or educational purposes.

· If anyone wants to use a photograph for commercial purposes it is entirely their responsibility to resolve any questions related to copyright before using it.

For further information about the copyright position please see:

Legal and Copyright

To contact us:

 

E-mail: brian@benjidog.co.uk

Last Update:

 

4 July  2010

 

Additional photo of Geddington Court (3).

 

Change History

Other parts of the Benjidog Website:

 

The Allen Collection:

 

Over five thousand nautical photographs collected by a father and son over a period of 60 years.

 

Court Line:

 

The history of Court Line ships including factual information, career highlights, service history (including details of service in  WW1 and WW2) and ultimate fate.

 

Recollections:

 

Personal accounts by members of the Merchant Navy and others especially during WW2 with numerous photographs.

 

Miscellaneous Ship Histories:

 

Histories of ships - particularly ones referred to in the Recollections section.

 

Govan to Nuremburg - The History of Athenia (2)

 

The history of the passenger ship sunk on the first day of WW2 and the aftermath through to the Nuremburg War Crime trials.

 

British Battleships and Battle Cruisers

 

New section with histories of these fighting ships written by Steve Woodward.