Furness Bermuda Line

The Quebec Steam Ship Company had served Bermuda since 1874. Canada Steamship Lines took over the company in 1913 and sold it in 1919 to Furness, Withy, who renamed it the Furness Bermuda Line. At first the route had only one ship, the 5,530 GRT Bermudian, which Sir James Laing & Sons had built in 1904 and which Furness, Withy renamed Fort Hamilton.

In 1921 Furness, Withy bought a pair of ships from the Adelaide Steamship Company: the 7,785 GRT Wandilla and 7,784 GRT Willochra. They were quadruple-expansion steamships that William Beardmore and Company in Glasgow had built in 1912 and 1913.

Furness, Withy had Willochra fitted out with berths for 400 first class passengers and renamed her Fort St. George. It had Wandilla modified to carry 380 first class and 50 second class passengers, replaced her cargo holds with tanks to supply Bermuda with fresh water, and renamed her RMS Fort Victoria.

At the same time Furness, Withy invested in tourist development such as hotels on Bermuda.

Post War Voyages & Fleet

The Queen of Bermuda returned to the New York-Bermuda service after the war. To replace the Monarch of Bermuda, Furness, Withy ordered a smaller ship. the 13,834 GRT Ocean Monarch, completed by Vickers-Armstrongs at Walker in 1951.

In October 1961 the Queen of Bermuda was sent to Harland and Wolff in Belfast for a refit, to modernize the ship. The bow was reshaped, and all three funnels were removed, replaced with one funnel amidships. This gave the ship the distinction of being the only ocean liner to have sailed with one, two and three funnels.

The two ships continued to serve the island until late 1966, when Furness, Withy ceased its Bermuda service. The Queen of Bermuda was sold for scrap, while the Ocean Monarch was laid up until 1967, when she was sold to Navigation Maritime Bulgare and renamed Varna.

Fleet

Chartered Fleet

Veendam, Holland America Line, (chartered: Winter-Summer 1930)