ALFRED HOLT AND COMPANY – THE BLUE FUNNEL LINE A study of the
history of Alfred Holt and Company suggests that apprentices
were not carried on Blue Funnel ships until the early part of
the twentieth century when a shortage of trained deck officers
prompted Lawrence Holt to propose that the Company should
establish its own training facility. As a result, a Midshipmen’s
Department was established in 1916. The Company also established
a hostel in Liverpool in 1922 where midshipmen were expected to
stay during periods ashore. In 1963, the Company opened a new
training and residential establishment for both midshipmen and
engineer cadets. The new building, which actually adjoined the
original hostel, comprised a purpose built chartroom, seamanship
room, lecture theatre, library, general classroom and dormitory
accommodation – the whole complex being named Aulis. Following
the merger in 1965, Elder Dempster’s adjacent cadet training
establishment – River House – was incorporated with Aulis into
Ocean Fleets Trainin