Blue Anchor Line

File:Flag of Blue Anchor Line.svg of the Blue Anchor Line]]

File:1903 Blue Anchor Line advertisement.png

Blue Anchor Line was a British shipping company operating between the United Kingdom, South Africa and Australia between 1870 and 1910.

The owners of this shipping company in later years were Messrs. W. Lund and Sons.{{cite web |url= http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/blueanchor.shtml |title=Blue Anchor Line |website=The Ships List |date=5 February 2005 |accessdate=23 August 2016}}

The Blue Anchor Line was founded in London by Wilhelm Lund (born Denmark 1837,{{cite web |title=William Lund Positions of Trust |url= http://waratahrevisited.blogspot.com.au/2015/12/william-lund-positions-of-trust.html}} died Kent, 1928){{cite web |url= https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/33401/page/4627/data.pdf |title=Wilhelm Lund, Deceased |work=The London Gazette |page=4627 |date=6 July 1928 |accessdate=23 August 2016}} in 1869. His two sons were Albert Edward Lund and Friedrich Wilhelm Lund, who was also called Frederick Lund,{{cite news |url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article109003792 |title=Waratah Inquiry |newspaper=The Bathurst Times |place=Bathurst, NSW |date=21 December 1910 |accessdate=22 July 2016 |page=2 |via=Trove}} and is also recorded as F.W. Lund Jr. His grandfather, also a ship-owner, was also called Wilhelm Lund. An "H. Lund" also appears in relation to the business.

Originally sailing ships were used. Between 1880 and 1890, sailing ships were replaced by steamers.

Ships operated by this company include Yeoman,{{Cite news |date=21 July 1887 |title=Shipping Reports, etc. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/989095655/?match=1&terms=%22blue%20anchor%20Line%22%20yeoman |work=Sydney Morning Herald |pages=8}} {{SS|Waratah||2}}, Commonwealth, {{SS|Bungaree|1889|2}},{{cite news |url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13744160 |title=A New Steamer for Australia. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=16,055 |place=Sydney, NSW |date=9 September 1889 |accessdate=21 July 2016 |page=7 |via=Trove}} {{USS|Culgoa||2}}, {{SS|Geelong||2}},{{cite news |url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19273504 |title=The Lund Liner Geelong. |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |volume=LX |issue=14,421 |place=Brisbane |date=2 April 1904 |accessdate=22 July 2016 |page=7 |via=Trove}} Wilcannia, Narrung, and {{SS|Wakool||2}}.{{cite news |url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14193006 |title=The Wakool. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=18,969 |place=Sydney, NSW |date=30 December 1898 |accessdate=21 July 2016 |page=3 |via=Trove}}{{cite news |url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article229090852 |title=Lund's Blue Anchor Line |newspaper=The Australian Star |issue=6514 |place=Sydney, NSW |date=26 September 1908 |accessdate=21 July 2016 |page=14 |via=Trove}}

The loss of the Waratah near Durban in 1909 led to the commercial failure of the company. Its ships were sold to P&O,{{cite news |url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article80250112 |title=Purchase of the Lund Line. |newspaper=The Northern Miner |place=Charters Towers, Queensland |date=22 January 1910 |accessdate=22 July 2016 |page=5 |via=Trove}} and it was wound up in 1910.

An inquiry was held in London to investigate the disappearance of the Waratah, and FW Lund Jr., who gave evidence at the inquiry on behalf of the owners,{{cite news |url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article109003792 |title=Waratah Inquiry |newspaper=The Bathurst Times |place=Bathurst, NSW |date=21 December 1910 |accessdate=22 July 2016 |page=2 |via=Trove}} was described in some newspaper reports as the chairman of directors of the company,{{cite news |url= http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article178316879 |title=Waratah Inquiry |newspaper=Daily Post |volume=III |issue=293 |place=Hobart, Tasmania |date=21 December 1910 |accessdate=22 July 2016 |page=5 |via=Trove}} although it appears to have actually been a partnership, in which Wilhelm Lund was still the senior partner.{{cite news |title=The Waratah |newspaper=The Dominion |place=Wellington, NZ |page=5 |date=2 February 1911 |url= https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/DOM19110202.2.41 |via=Papers Past}}

Waratah{{'}}s wreck has never been found, and the cause of its loss remains inconclusive and still attracts controversy. Despite this setback, Wilhelm Lund and F.W. Lund continued to be respectable businessmen.

StateLibQld 1 111760 Ballarat (ship).jpg|Ballarat (Not owned by the Blue Anchor Line, but painted as a tribute by the P&O Branch Service)

File:Bungaree 1889 SLQ.jpg|Bungaree

StateLibQld 1 127711 Commonwealth (ship).jpg|Commonwealth

Culgoa 1890 Boston 1901-10-01 19-N-14279.jpg|Culgoa

SS Geelong FL1649017.jpg|Geelong

Wakool 1898 SLQ 60471.jpg|Wakool

SS Waratah FL601368.jpg|Waratah

File:StateLibQld 1 109424 Warrigal (ship).jpg|Warrigal

File:StateLibQld 1 198495 Wilcannia (ship).jpg|Wilcannia