The Syren and Shipping Illustrated

04 Oct 2024

The Syren and Shipping Illustrated was a weekly journal for the merchant shipping industry, published 1887-1967. Sans peur et sans reproche (without fear and without reproach) was the title's motto.

by Sue Hoyland, Caird Library Reception Desk Volunteer

The Syren and Shipping Illustrated contained various items such as photographs of prominent men in the industry, shipping news of the day, details of ship launches, financial reports of shipbuilders and their associated companies, marine insurance news and information for passengers.

The luxury cruise liners feature heavily in some issues, providing photos of various staterooms, dining rooms, loungerooms, decks and facilities. For examples see: the Cunard liners Campania, Lucania, Etruria, Umbria (Vol. 16, No. 201, 4 July 1900).

Technological developments in shipbuilding and fuel were also noted. Some items now seem very outdated, not to say dangerous, for example an article on asbestos is entitled ‘Asbestos has become such a necessity that the wonder is how the world got along without it’ (Vol. 10, No. 119, 7 December 1898).

There are references to the Titanic including a photo of its launch (Vol. 62, No. 801, 3 January 1912) and references to the inquiry which followed the disaster, specifically Lord Mersey's recommendations for improvements with regard to watertight sub-divisions; lifeboats and rafts; manning the boats and boat drills especially on foreign-going passenger and emigrant steamships (Vol. 64, No. 831, 31 July 1912).

Details of merchant vessels sunk or captured appear throughout, including the sinking of the Lusitania during the First World War. The inquiry is noted in the 1 July 1915 issue (Vol. 76, No. 984) and the judgment given in an Admiralty case (Vol. 76, No. 986, 15 July 1915).

Until 1914, or thereabouts, the editorial tone of the Syren tended to be rather gossipy – it was a journal for those concerned in the shipping business. Some comments suggest a light-hearted feud with the Daily Mail – perhaps a sign that things don’t change all that much! The journal also used racist terms which would be completely unacceptable today. However, during the First World War it adopted an intensely patriotic tone; numerous derogatory references are made to the ‘Hun’ or to ‘pirates’. 

At one point during the Great War, the Syren launched a campaign to reward the first merchant vessel to sink a German submarine. This was won by a vessel named Thordis. The prize of £500 was funded by the Syren, augmented to £650 by readers (Vol. 75, No. 972, 14 April 1915). The Syren also had a campaign to raise funds for the Marine Trades Fund; lists of donations and donors were published regularly during 1918.

A few articles illustrate contributions of female workers to the war effort. There is a discussion of the employment of women in the operation of machine tools and their eligibility for membership of the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (Vol. 75, No. 972, 14 April 1915). There are also photos showing women labourers in a standard shipyard (Vol. 87, No. 1139, 26 June 1918); women shipyard workers in a Tyne yard (Vol. 88, No. 1143, 24 July 1918); women navvies at the Furness shipyard (Vol. 88, No. 1144, 31 July 1918) and women labourers removing the ballast for trucks (Vol. 89, No. 1163, 11 December 1918).

The Panama Canal is mentioned frequently; an issue of 1915 gives facts and figures on the first year’s working of the canal (Vol. 77, No. 1002, 10 November 1915).

A discussion piece in December 1918 covers developments in aviation which were made during the later years of the First World War and suggests that commercial transportation by air is likely to become a possibility (Vol. 89, No. 1164, 18 December 1918).

As well, developments in motor transport of goods become increasingly important in the 1920s, although a news item in the journal dated February 1921 reports that the Motor Legislation Committee has protested against the issue of drivers' licences being subject to any medical or proficiency tests on the grounds that, inter alia, they tend to hinder the free development of mechanical road transport! (Vol. 98, No. 1278, 23 February 1921).

At the end of the First World War, the Syren published a pamphlet entitled ‘The Syren and Shipping Mercantile War Loss Book’, which contained an ‘Alphabetical List of Steamships sunk during the Great War, 1914-1918, together with a list of the Losses of the World’s Principal Liner Companies’. The list did not take account of vessels ‘salved’ or ‘salvable’ (RMG ID: PBP7916).

Advertisements, an underused resource, are plentiful in the Syren. Each issue contains numerous adverts for items related to ships and shipbuilding, e.g. steel and rubber products, paint and electrical goods. Shipbrokers and auction houses advertise vessels for sale. Features on shipbuilding companies are often displayed in full page adverts (Vol. 99, No. 1286, 20 April 1921).

The materials required to create so called ‘dazzle ships’ were advertised by a company named Hoyle, Robson, Barnett & Co of Newcastle. The advert reads ‘Defeat the “U” boat and save your ships by reducing their visibility with ‘Hoyle’s Dazzle Paints’’ (Vol. 89, No. 1159, 13 November 1918). The purpose of ‘dazzle’ camouflage was to make it difficult for U-boat captains to measure the speed, direction and future position of ships they intended to blast with torpedoes. More than 4,000 British ships received the ‘dazzle’ treatment.

Covering many areas of the shipping industry, the Syren journal contains a wealth of information for all types of research. Each issue regularly covers personal information about shipping owners and officers of shipping companies; merchant shipping business practices and financial matters; details of ships’ interiors and build (including some line drawings of each deck); developments in marine engineering and technology (which are often reflected in the numerous adverts in each issue); articles on labour issues; and war-time shipbuilding mentioning the workforce, including women workers. Other than a small table of contents, there is little indication of the types of research possibilities contained within.

This valuable resource is currently undergoing a project to index ship names and other subjects. Please contact the library team for more information at library@rmg.co.uk.