Southern Whaling and Sealing Company

The Southern Whaling and Sealing Company Ltd (SWSC) was a UK-based whaling and sealing company formed in 1911 by Richard Irvin & Sons of North Shields and Irvin & Johnson of South Africa. The company was sold to Lever Bros. in 1919, which modernized operations at Prince Olav Harbour, South Georgia, until its closure in 1931. In 1941, SWSC was resold to Christian Salvesen Ltd, expanding their fleet by two factory ships and 15 catchers. Richard Irvin began his career in fishing at age 11 in 1864 and expanded into various ventures, including Shields Engineering & Dry Dock Co. and the East Coast Herring Drifter Co. His son, George Driver Irvin, established The African Fishing & Trading Co. in South Africa in 1903, which later merged with Carl Ossian Johnson’s company to form Irvin & Johnson in 1910. SWSC was granted a whaling license for Prince Olav Harbour in 1911 and purchased ships such as the Sound of Jura and Restitution. They also commissioned two steel whale catchers from Smith's Dock Co., but replaced diesel engines with steam due to reliability issues and noise concerns. The company operated a station at Port Alexander, Angola, and conducted sealing expeditions to Marion and Prince Edward Islands, though these proved unsustainable. During World War I, SWSC cooperated with Salvesen's at Leith Harbour to produce blubber oil for the war effort. By 1912, South Georgia had seven whaling stations, but the industry declined due to whale scarcity and the rise of pelagic whaling using ...