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British shipping companies (F)

Falkland Islands Trading Co., Ltd.
Federal Steam Navigation Co. Ltd
James Fisher & Sons Ltd.
FOCS Container Service, Ltd.
William France, Fenwick & Co., Ltd.
Furness Lines
Furness Houlder Argentine Lines
Furness Withy & Co. Ltd.
Fyffes Group Ltd.

See also:

Falkland Islands Trading Co., Ltd.

by Phil Nelson, 11 April 2000

from Stewart and Styring's Flags, Funnels and Hull Colors 1963. This company is based in London.

Federal Steam Navigation Co. Ltd

by Ivan Sache, 17 March 2004

The flag is white with a red cross and a blue rectangle superimposed on the cross.
Ivan Sache, 17 March 2004

The origin of the Federal Steam Navigation Company's house flag dates back to 1824 when the "Sir Edward Paget", one of Money Wigram's clippers, was anchored off Spithead flying the St. George's Cross at the Main. That was, and still is, the flag flown by an Admiral, and so a naval pinnace was sent by an H.M. frigate to investigate. There being no Admiral on board, the Master was censured and ordered to haul down his flag, but, thinking that his masthead looked bare, he rehoisted the flag after a blue pocket handkerchief had been sewn on the middle of the cross. These markings were adopted as the Company's house flag and were also painted on each side of the funnel, which was otherwise red with a black top.
Source: http://www.rakaia.co.uk/downloads/nzscl-house-flags.pdf
Jan Mertens, 11 December 2004

James Fisher & Sons Ltd.

by Ivan Sache, 6 March 2004

FOCS Container Service, Ltd.

by Ivan Sache, 17 March 2004

This is a UK firm nominally, but active in Canary Islands shipping (http://www.focscontainer.com/). The flag is quartered blue and white, letters FO in the top quarters, CS in the lower ones (white letters on blue, blue on white).

Some information (extracted from the site):

"In September 2000 Oldenburg-Portugiesische Dampfschiffs-Rhederei GmbH & Co.KG (OPDR) of Hamburg acquired 100% of the shares of FOCS Canary Container Service, S.L., Tenerife from Fred. Olsen and Co, Oslo. The company subsequently switched its registration and headquarters to the United Kingdom and 'FOCS Container Service Ltd.' was formed in April 2003. The company maintained key personnel and the full agency network of the Fred. Olsen service, providing unrivalled experience and knowledge of the Canary Island market. FOCS offers a weekly fixed day service from the UK and the North Continent to/from the Canary Islands utilising OPDR vessels under a slot charter agreement. More recently the company has started to extend its service to adjacent areas."

Jan Mertens, 18 December 2003

William France, Fenwick & Co., Ltd.

by Phil Nelson, 6 April 2000

from Stewart and Styring's Flags, Funnels and Hull Colors 1963

William France, Fenwick & Co. Ltd. Formed 1901 by a merger with the flag being that of one of the parties, Fenwick, Stobbart & Co. Ltd., previously to 1893 being Fenwick & Co., with the flag applying at that point as confirmed by Reed 1891. According to Loughran (1979) a slightly different version showing a cross of a lighter blue was used in the Goole-Yorkshire coal trade as the company itself diversified into deep sea tramping before folding in 1975. There are a couple of variations shown with Reed 1912 showing the red letters "WF" on the panel and Harnack who shows a white cross. The latter is probably a printing error but the Reed image, which is unsupported, refers to another of the merging parties, William France & Co. They originally had a blue flag with the white letters "WF" but in 1895 adopted a blue flag with a white cross which, according to Loughran (1979), was surmounted by a blue circle defined black and bearing the white letters "WF" [see image below] with Griffin 1895 differing by showing a white circle defined blue bearing the red letters "WF".
Neale Rosanoski, 16 February 2004

by Ivan Sache

Furness Lines

by Ivan Sache, 17 March 2004

The flag is blue with a white F.

Larousse Commercial Illustré (1930) shows Furness Withy & Co.Ld., London: blue with large white letter F (no serifs) in the centre, the height of which is about two thirds of the flag.
Jan Mertens, 16 May 2004

Furness Houlder Argentine Lines

by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, "the house flag, Furness-Houlder Argentine Lines Ltd: A blue pennant bearing a black disc in the centre with two red stripes. A letter 'F' appears in the top left-hand corner. Below is a red pennant with a white cross in the centre. The pennants are made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. They have cotton hoists and are machine sewn. A rope and toggle is attached.
Jarig Bakker, 12 August 2004

Larousse Commercial Illustré (1930) shows Furness Houlder Argentine Lines, London: two pennants above each other, the upper one blue with white letter F in the hoist, the lower one red with a white Maltese cross in the hoist.

A predecessor: red flag with white Maltese cross in on-line 1912 Lloyd's Flags & Funnels, No. 757 for Houlder Bros & Co., Ltd., London':

See: http://www.mysticseaport.org/library/initiative/Impage.cfm?PageNum=39&bibid=11061&ChapterId=8

Jan Mertens, 16 May 2004

Furness Withy & Co. Ltd.

by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, "the house flag of Furness Withy & Co. Ltd., London. A pale blue swallow-tailed pennant. In the upper hoist is a white letter 'F' and the centre of the pennant bears a black disc with two red horizontal stripes of irregular width. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting with a linen hoist. It is machine sewn. A rope and toggle is attached.
Jarig Bakker, 12 August 2004

Fyffes Group Ltd.

by Jarig Bakker, based on the website of the National Maritime Museum.

From the website of the National Maritime Museum, "the house flag of Fyffes Group Ltd, London. A blue swallowed-tailed burgee bearing a yellow triangle against the hoist with the name 'Fyffes' in white letters on a navy blue oval. The flag is made of a wool and synthetic fibre bunting. It has a cotton hoist and is machine sewn. A rope and toggle is attached. 'Fyffes 9 x 6' is inscribed on the hoist."

This is associated with the huge conglomerate around the United Fruit Company (US).
Jarig Bakker, 12 August 2004