Private company

Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company

The Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company (sometimes abbreviated to O&O) was an American shipping company founded in 1874 by US railroads wishing to provide competition to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company which had not complied with its obligations to them. Chartering vessels from different companies, the most important being the British White Star Line, the company quickly became financially successful, against the expectations of its founders.2 It is headquartered in San Francisco.1 It ceased to exist in 1908.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

1874Founded1
  • Industrywater transport1
  • HeadquartersSan Francisco1
  • Legal formcompany1

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House flag of the Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company
Photo: Germenfer, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons3

The Occidental and Oriental Steamship Company (sometimes abbreviated to O&O) was an American shipping company founded in 1874 by US railroads wishing to provide competition to the Pacific Mail Steamship Company which had not complied with its obligations to them. Chartering vessels from different companies, the most important being the British White Star Line, the company quickly became financially successful, against the expectations of its founders.2

Subsidiaries and ownership

Owners

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1908Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 1874Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3