Irrawaddy Flotilla Company facts for kids
The Irrawaddy Flotilla Company (IFC) was a large company that ran boats for people and goods on the Irrawaddy River in a country called Burma, which is now known as Myanmar. This company was owned by people from Scotland and was managed by a firm from Glasgow. The IFC operated from 1865 until the late 1940s. At its busiest time in the late 1920s, the IFC had the largest fleet of river boats in the world! It had over 600 boats. These boats carried about 8 to 9 million passengers and over a million tons of cargo every year.
How It Started
The IFC began in 1865. Its first name was the Irrawaddy Flotilla and Burmese Steam Navigation Co Ltd. Its main job was to carry soldiers up and down the Irrawaddy River. Soon, the company started carrying other things too. They transported passengers, rice, government supplies, and mail. Their routes went from Rangoon to Prome, Thayetmyo, and Mandalay. By 1868, they had even extended their service to Bhamo.
In 1875, the company's name became shorter. It was then called the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company. Even though it was officially registered in Glasgow, Scotland, its main offices were in Rangoon. They also had a big shipyard across the river in Dalla.
The company's boat services became very important. They helped the oil fields at Yenangyaung and Chauk. They carried supplies and heavy equipment needed for drilling oil. The company stayed important even after Burma became independent from Britain. This was partly because the railway to Mandalay followed a different river, the Sittaung River, not the Irrawaddy.
Most of the company's ships were paddle steamers. These boats were usually built in Scotland. Then, they were taken apart and shipped to Burma. Once there, they were put back together.
During World War II, Japan invaded Burma. The manager of the IFC's fleet, John Morton, gave a special order. He told his team to sink all 600 ships. This was done to stop the Japanese army from using the boats. It prevented them from having an easy way to transport things up the Irrawaddy River. After the war, in 1948, the company changed. It became a government-run group called the Government Inland Water Transport Board.
A Famous Poem
The paddle steamers of the IFC even inspired a famous poet. Rudyard Kipling wrote some well-known lines about them. He mentioned the "old Flotilla" and the sound of their "paddles chunkin'" on the way to Mandalay.
