In 1916 a company known as the COMMONWEALTH & DOMINION LINE was taken over by the CUNARD STEAMSHIP CO.
The ships of the Commonwealth & Dominion Line all had names of local ports(such as ‘Port Albert’, ‘Port Chalmers’, ‘Port Melbourne’, etc.) This style of nomenclature was continued on and the service became widely known as the Cunard Line Australasin service. Eventually this title was dropped to the much simpler ‘PORT LINE’.
In 1936 the company finally reorganised itself officially as the PORT LINE. It ran successfully for many years.
REF: NORTH STAR TO SOUTHERN CROSS by JOHN MABER
