bauxite production in South America to a point where it became desirable 

 to provide transportation flexible enough to meet refining schedules of 

 aluminum plants in the United States. The immediate result was "The 

 Aluminum Line," six ships with a combined deadweight of 20,700 tons. 

 The ships were put to carrying bauxite, and the beginnings of the Alcoa 

 Steamship Company had taken form. 



World War II brought with it a tremendous demand for aluminum — 

 for arms, construction materials, and, above all, airplanes. The need for 

 aluminum, of course, meant a greatly expanded bauxite service. Trans- 

 portation of the important ore from the rich deposits in South America 

 was turned over to the Alcoa Steamship Company. Faced with one of the 

 war's great transportation jobs, the company almost overnight grew to 

 many times its prewar size. Not only did it bring the needed bauxite 

 to the aluminum plants of the United States, but it was also assigned the 

 job of supplying the Aluminum Company of Canada. 



While the delivery of bauxite has been the Alcoa Steamship Com- 

 pany's chief preoccupation, it has by no means been its only role. The 

 general freight trade, originally conceived as a fill-in to supplement the 

 bauxite service, is daily becoming more important. 



57 



