Allan Line Royal Mail Steamers

The Allan Shipping Line was started in 1819, by Captain Alexander Allan (1780-1854) of Saltcoats, Ayrshire, running dry goods from Greenock to sell in Montreal and returning with Canadian produce to sell back in Scotland, a route which quickly became synonymous with the Allan Line. His sons were all involved with the business on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, but it was his second son, Sir Hugh Allan, who after his death took over the business and founded the "Montreal Ocean Steamship Company" in 1854, as part of the Allan Line. In 1891, the company took over the State Line (founded 1872). After this the company was often referred to as the Allan & State Line. The "Allan & State Line" name was retired by the end of 1905, and the "Allan Line" name was no longer used by the end of 1918 brought about by the sale of the Allan Line to the Canadian Pacific Ocean Services Ltd (CPOS, now CP Ships) in 1917.

List of Steamships

The Allan Line fleet evolved over the course of decades -- changing as new ships were added, lost at sea, sold, or scrapped:

• SS Alsatian.
• SS America.
• SS Anglo Saxon.
• SS Assyrian.
• SS Austrian.
• SS Australasian (1857).
• SS Australasian......
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