White Cross Line

The Fleets

This page is about White Cross Line and Steinmann, Ludwig & Cie.

The White Cross Line was founded by Daniel Steinmann in Antwerp in 1854 as an emigrant and cargo service from Antwerp to New York with chartered sailing ships. He later extended his services to Brazil, Montevideo and Buenos Aires, still with chartered ships. In 1863 the company purchased their first ship, and in 1871 the firm became Steinmann, Ludwig & Cie. Their first steamship sailing was in 1872 to New York with a chartered vessel, and their first owned steamer was delivered in Oct.1872.

In 1879 Steinmann and Engels Line started joint services to New York under the title of White Cross Line. After several ship losses, competition from Red Star Line and a serious drop in passenger numbers, it was decided in 1884 to discontinue passenger services, and cargo voyages took place for another four years to Boston and New York. The joint agreement ended in 1888 and Ludwig also left the partnership the same year and the company reverted to Steinmann & Cie. No more ships were acquired by the company which still survives as shipbrokers and forwarding agents.

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.

Routes 1872-1894

• Antwerp - New York
• Antwerp - Halifax - New York
• Antwerp - Quebec - Montreal (seasonal)
• Antwerp - South America - New York
• Antwerp - Boston - New York

Ships