ROYAL MAIL STEAM PACKET COMPANY. This British shipping company was incorporated in 1839, at a time when energetic efforts were being made to reform the postal serv ices. (See HILL, SIR ROWLAND.) Representations were made from the West Indian colonies to the government, and in Sep tember, 1839, a charter of incorporation was granted to the Royal Mail Steam Packet company, which was formed, with a capital of 11,500,000. Fourteen "steam packets" were laid down, these being paddle steamers, fully equipped with sails, and on Jan. 1, 1842, the first vessel, named "Thames," left on her maiden voyage for the West Indies. The opening of 1846 found this service fully established; indeed, it proved so successful that an extension to the port of Colon was provided by steamers running once a month. In the same year, the company undertook further pioneer work by the establishment of a regular service of mules and canoes across the 5o miles of land that separated Colon from the Pacific side of the Isthmus of Panama. This proving inade quate, a railroad across the isthmus was completed in 1855 by the Panama Railroad company, to which the Royal Mail Steam Packet company lent considerable pecuniary assistance.
In 1850, a contract was concluded with the British government for the conveyance of the mails from the United Kingdom to Brazil. After the new Brazil service had been in operation for 19 years, the expansion of trade with South America necessitated the extension of the main service to the Argentine republic.
Since then the story of the company's South American service has been one of steady progress. The fleet has rapidly grown, each vessel constructed being larger than its predecessor, until in 1928 "Asturias" and "Alcantara" were Great Britain's largest motor liners. In the World War, 56 of the company's ships were requisitioned and 13 of them were sunk. The 29,237 tons owned by the company in 1839 had grown in 1928 to 373,527 tons, which figure includes the tonnage of the fleet of R.M.S.P. Meat Trans ports, Ltd. The fleets of the other companies affiliated with the Royal Mail Steam Packet company aggregated in 1928 2,328,426 gross registered tons, making a total of 2,701,953 tons. (L.C.M.)