Leisure Cruises and the Crimean War
In 1844 Anderson initiated the new idea of leisure cruising to Victorian Britain. In the beginning, the cruises operated in the Mediterranean Sea and included shore trips to Malta, Constantinople, Smyrna, Egypt and Jaffa. The Crimean War of the mid 1850s prevented cruising activities until the 1880s, when other companies acquired it. P&O only rejoined this business in 1904 with the transition of a liner, the Rome, into a cruise ship, the Vectis.
For the time being, P&O continued to progress into the east and constructed additional ships. In 1845 the Lady Mary Wood, the very first P&O steamship to journey to Singapore, accomplished the trip in 41 days before launching a service between Hong Kong and Ceylon-sailing ships could take up to 12 whole months to complete this trip. P&O’s steamers carried opium into and silk out of China. Its initial link with Australia was then established in 1852 and with Japan in 1859.
Trouble was lurking in the backdoor, however. A significant rise in coal costs complicated operating expenses. The Crimean War brought considerable disturbance to services-by 1855 a third of P&O tonnage was in the Black Sea transporting men, supplies, horses and equipment. The 1869 opening of the Suez Canal was also a bittersweet situation. P&O’s ships’ draft and breadth were unsuitable for the canal, and the company’s regional offices and dockyards became outmoded subsequent to the inauguration of the canal, as it turned out to be more cost-effective to take ships back to England for refurbishments.
Passengers still had to be relocated overland through Egypt for 10 years or more after ships that could utilize the canal had been constructed, since the Post Office took an extremely long time to be persuaded it was secure for the mails. Other companies were therefore not limited, and within about 2 years the company’s profits were declining by £100,000 annually.
It was at during this period that a novel administration took control of the situation. In 1854 Willcox resigned as managing director but stayed with the company and succeeded as chairman from 1858 throughout his life (until 1862). After his death, Anderson took over and stayed as chairman until his passing in 1868. In 1872 Thomas Sutherland became chairman. He started out as a P&O office boy and had spent a considerable amount of years managing excellent services in Hong Kong. As he took control of management the company was already dealing with the weight of slashing costs and with reconstructing the fleet. Sutherland slowly but surely revived P&O’s success. By 1884 P&O’s fleet comprised of 50 ships. This was just 6 more than in 1870, but the ships of 1884 had nearly 50 percent more the gross tonnage of 1870.
The latter part of the 19th century was a time of tranquility for the British shipping industry of that period. Consolidation of the empire was on its way and ships were growing in speed, size and comfort to the point that one could arrive at Bombay from England within about a week.
