List of ships of the Oceanic Steamship Company
The Oceanic Steamship Company was an American line that operated from 1881 to 1926 and later became part of Matson. Early ships were built by Matthew Turner and William Cramp & Sons. Several ships were named after California counties. Zealandia and Australia joined Oceanic’s San Francisco–Australia–New Zealand mail route and were the first ocean-going steamers to fly the Hawaiian Kingdom flag. Some ships were built to U.S. Navy standards, and a few served as troopships in wars. After the company became part of Matson, 11 more ships sailed under the Oceanic name from 1927 into the 1970s.
Notable ships (short, easy-to-understand notes)
- Alameda: built in Philadelphia in 1883; sold to the Alaska Steamship Company in 1910. Was inspected by the Navy in WWI but not used. Damaged by fire in Seattle in 1931 and scrapped.
- Anna: a wooden schooner (239 tons) built in San Francisco in 1881. Sold to the Pacific Supply Company in 1893 and lost on Sanak Island in 1901.
- Australia: originally Nova Cambria (1875) built in the UK. Sold to W. G. Irwin in 1886, chartered to Oceanic in 1886, and placed on the U.S. register in 1890. Used as a military transport in 1898 (Spanish–American War); chartered to Russia in 1905 and captured by the Japanese that year. Scrapped in Japan in 1912.
- Claus Spreckels: wooden brigantine built in 1879 (247 tons). Wrecked on Duxbury Reef in 1888.
- Consuelo: wooden brigantine built in 1880 (293 tons). Sold to Charles Nelson in 1900, then to Mexican owners in 1902; listed as active in Topolobampo until 1922.
- Emma Augusta: barquentine built in 1867. Lost in the Gulf of California in 1889.
- John D. Spreckels: wooden brigantine built in 1880 (300 tons). Later re-rigged as a fishing schooner; wrecked in 1913 after a collision with the Statesman.
- Mariposa: built in 1883 (Cramp). Sold to the Alaska Steamship Company in 1912. Struck a rock and wrecked near Point Baker, Alaska, in 1917.
- Rosario: two-masted schooner built in 1879. Bought by Spreckels in 1882, transferred to Oceanic, sold in 1887.
- Selina: built in 1883. Chartered by Matson in 1886; wrecked at Paukaa, Hawaii, in 1887.
- Sierra: built in 1900 (Cramp). Requisitioned by the U.S. Navy in 1918 as a troopship, commissioned in 1918 and decommissioned in 1919. Sold to Polish-American Navigation Co. in 1920 and renamed Gdansk. Bought by Oceanic in 1924 and renamed Sierra again; scrapped in Japan in 1934.
- Sonoma: built in 1900; scrapped in 1934.
- Suez: built in 1876; chartered by Oceanic in 1882–83; later sold to Turkish owners and renamed Hodeidah.
- Ventura: built in 1900; scrapped in 1934.
- W. H. Dimond: wooden barquentine built in 1881 (390 tons). Sold to the Alaska Codfish Co. in 1904; wrecked in 1914 on Bird Island.
- William G. Irwin: wooden brigantine built in 1881 (348 tons). Sold to the Tacoma & Roche Harbor Lime Co.; burned for a film scene at Catalina Island in 1926.
- Zealandia: built in 1875 for William Pearce. Chartered by Oceanic in 1886; sold to W. G. Irvin in 1889, then back to Oceanic in 1893. Placed on the American register in 1898 and became a Spanish–American War troopship, transporting several units to the Philippines. Returned to Oceanic in 1902, later sold to Dimon (1906), Fisk Trading (1915), and United States Mercantile Corp. (1916). Wrecked on the River Mersey in 1917 while traveling from Liverpool to New York.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 03:56 (CET).