Editing Reefer ship (section)

== History of ship refrigeration ==
In 1869, reefers were shipping beef carcasses frozen in a salt-ice mixture from [[Indianola, Texas]], to [[New Orleans, Louisiana]], to be served in hospitals, hotels, and restaurants. In 1874, shipping of frozen beef from America to [[London]] had already begun, which developed into an annual tonnage of around {{convert|10,000|ST|LT t}}. The insulated cargo space was cooled by ice, which was loaded on departure. The success of this method was limited by insulation, loading techniques, ice block size, distance and climate.

The first attempt to ship refrigerated meat across the Pacific was made when the ''Northam'' sailed from [[Australia]] to the UK in 1876. The [[refrigeration]] machinery broke down en route and the cargo was lost. In 1877, the French steamer ''Paraguay'' equipped with a Carré compression machine completed the first successful travel with its shipment of 5500 frozen muttons from [[Argentina]] arriving to [[France]] in excellent condition despite a collision that delayed the delivery for several months, thus proving the concept of refrigerated ships, if not the economics. In 1879, ''Strathleven'', equipped with compression refrigeration, sailed successfully from [[Sydney]] to the UK with 40 tons of frozen beef and [[mutton]] as a small part of her cargo.

[[File:SS Dunedin by Frederick Tudgay.JPG|thumb|right|{{ship||Dunedin|ship|2}}, first refrigerated [[clipper]] ship to complete a successful shipment of refrigerated meat]]
The [[clipper]] sailing ship {{ship||Dunedin|ship|2}}, owned by the New Zealand and Australian Land Company (NZALC), was refitted in 1881 with a Bell-Coleman compression refrigeration machine. This freezer unit worked by compressing air, then releasing it into the hold of the ship. The expanding air absorbed heat as it expanded, cooling the cargo in the hold. Burning three tons of coal a day in the steam engine that ran the compressor, it could lower the temperature of the hold by {{convert|40|F-change|C-change}} compared to the surrounding air temperature, which froze the cargo in the temperate climate of southern [[New Zealand]] and then maintained it below freezing ({{convert|32|F|C|disp=comma}}) through the tropics. ''Dunedin''{{'}}s most visible sign of being an unusual ship was the funnel for the refrigeration plant placed between her fore and main masts (sometimes leading her to be mistaken for a [[steamship]] which had been common since the 1840s). In February 1882, ''Dunedin'' sailed from [[Port Chalmers]], New Zealand, with 4,331 mutton, 598 lamb and 22 pig carcasses, 246 kegs of butter, and hare, pheasant, turkey, chicken and 2,226 sheep tongues. It arrived in London after sailing 98 days with its cargo still frozen. After meeting all costs, the NZALC company made a £4,700 profit from the voyage.

Soon after ''Dunedin''{{'}}s successful voyage, an extensive frozen meat trade from New Zealand and Australia to the UK was developed with over 16 different refrigerated and passenger refrigerated ships built or refitted by 1900 in [[Scotland]] and Northern England shipyards for this trade.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.newzealandshipping.co.nz/History/Vessels/index.htm |last=Shaw |first=Jeffrey |title=New Zealand Shipping Co & Federal Steam Navigating Co |work=New Zealand Shipping Vessels |access-date=12 February 2012}}</ref> Within 5 years, 172 shipments of frozen meat were sent from New Zealand to the United Kingdom. Refrigerated shipping also led to a broader meat and dairy boom in Australia, New Zealand and [[Argentina]]. Frozen meat and dairy exports continue to form the backbone of New Zealand's economy.

[[File:Loading "Clan McDougall" with frozen meat for England.jpg|thumb|Loading ''Clan McDougall'' with frozen meat for England (Archives New Zealand)]]

The Nelson brothers, butchers in [[County Meath]], [[Ireland]], started shipping extensive live beef shipments to [[Liverpool]], England. They successfully expanded their beef business until their imports from Ireland were insufficient to supply their rapidly growing business and Nelson decided to investigate the possibility of importing meat from [[Argentina]]. The first refrigerated ship they bought was ''Spindrift'' which they renamed in 1890 SS ''Highland Scot''. A vessel of 3,060 gross tons bought by James Nelson and Sons in 1889 and fitted with a somewhat primitive refrigerating plant operating on the cold air system became one of the pioneer vessels in the trade of refrigerated meat and other perishable commodities. They hauled beef carcasses from Argentina to Britain. Their regularly scheduled shipments and ships developed into the Nelson Line that was formed in 1880 for the meat trade from Argentina to UK.  Refrigeration made it possible to import meat from the United States, New Zealand, Argentina and Australia.

===Timeline===
*In 1876, French engineer [[Charles Tellier]] bought the ex-Elder-Dempster 690 tons cargo ship ''Eboe'' and fitted a Methyl-ether refrigerating plant of his design. The ship was renamed ''Le Frigorifique'' and successfully imported a cargo of refrigerated meat from Argentina. However the machinery could be improved and in 1877 another refrigerated ship called ''Paraguay'' with a refrigerating plant improved by [[Ferdinand Carré]] was put into service on the South American run.
*In 1879, Henry Bell (1848–1931) and John Bell (1850–1929) of Scotland and [[Joseph James Coleman]] [[FRSE]] (1838–1888) of Scotland completed the Bell–Coleman dense-air machine on the Anchor liner ''Circassia'', which successfully brought a cargo of chilled beef from the US to London.
*In 1880, ''Strathleven'', equipped with a Bell–Coleman air machine and loaded with successfully shipped beef, mutton, butter and kegs, sailed from [[Melbourne]], Australia, to London—a nine-week voyage of about {{convert|15000|mi}}.
*In 1881, Alfred Seale Haslam (1844–1927) of England equipped the liner ''Orient'' with Haslam refrigeration compressors. He bought the Bell–Coleman dense-air patents in 1878 and eventually equipped four hundred plants and ships with Bell-Coleman machines.
*By 1899, refrigerated fruit ship traffic to the US reached 90,000 tons per year.
*By 1890, after acquiring the patent rights of Franz Windhausen's CO<sub>2</sub>-compression refrigeration system, the [[J & E Hall]] company installed the first marine CO<sub>2</sub> refrigerator system on the Nelson Line ship ''Highland Chief''.
*In 1900, a worldwide survey found 356 refrigerated ships, 37% of which had air machines, 37% ammonia compressors and 25% CO<sub>2</sub> compressors.
*In 1900, Great Britain {{verify source|reason=Great Britain or UK? The former excludes Ireland, all of which was part of the UK in 1900|date=February 2019}} imported over 360,000 metric tons of refrigerated meat: 220,000 tons from Argentina, 95,000 tons from New Zealand and 45,000 tons from Australia. There were weekly sailings on refrigerated "banana boats" from the UK to Central America by [[Fyffes Line|Elders and Fyffes Ltd]], which had been importing bananas since 1888 to the UK in their own ships. Round trips took 28 days.
*In 1901, the first refrigerated banana ship, ''Port Morant'', was equipped with a CO<sub>2</sub> machine and carried 23,000 stems of bananas at a controlled temperature from [[Jamaica]] to the UK.
*In 1902, [[Lloyd's Register]] recorded 460 ships with refrigerating plants.
*By 1902, the [[United Fruit Company]] started having refrigerated banana boats built in the UK to add to their fleet which hauled passengers and bananas between ports in the United States and [[Central America]].
*By 1910, UK refrigerated meat imports rose to 760,000 tons per year.
*By 1910, the British company J & E Hall had installed 1800 CO<sub>2</sub> refrigeration machines in ships.
*By 1913, the UK fleet included 230 refrigerated ships with a total cargo capacity of 440,000 tons.
*By 1935, refrigerated imports into Britain totaled {{convert|1000000|t|sp=us}} of meat, 500,000 tons of butter, 130,000 tons of cheese, 430,000 tons of apples and pears, and 20 million stems of bananas.