By 1918 the Chilean Line, the Compañía Sud-Americana de Vapores or CSAV (South American Steamship Company), had been operating for roughly 45 years. During that time the company had steadily grown by adding new routes and services, but was about to embark on its biggest expansion yet.
In 1919 the company bought the 21-year-old passenger liner Nippon Maru from Japan’s Toyo Kisen Kabushiki Kaisha and renamed her Renaico, aiming to open a long-awaited service to New York. Renaico was eventually placed on a Valparaíso-Norfolk-Havre-London-Antwerp-Hamburg route to develop trade out of the European ports.
By the time Renaico entered service in 1920 the Chilean Line, anticipating a post-1918 return of the Grace Line and the Pacific Steam Navigation Company to the South American market, had drawn up plans for a pair of steamturbine-powered liners, the biggest ever built for them and the country to date, enabling the Chilean Line to compete on the route to New York.
The new ships were named Aconcagua and Teno after major Chilean rivers. The ships’ design was heavily influenced by that of Renaico, and construction was carried out by Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Co in Greenock. Negotiations started in May, and the contracts were signed in June 1920. At the time, shipyard prices were at their highest ever, and the pair cost a total of £1,150,000 (roughly £42.244 million today), £42,000 more than the original price. This increase was attributed to the conversion from coal- to oil burning, as well as structural changes made to Teno.
CONSTRUCTION
was laid down on 28 January 1921, followed by on 12 May, and the ships were launched on 11 February 1922 and 5
