The shipping and passenger line of this enterprise was the Oceanic Steamship Company, which was founded by J.D. Spreckels in 1881. Its inaugural service was between California and Hawaii and, later, also from California to Australia, New Zealand, Samoa and Tahiti. The various of the lines’ ships transported passengers, sugar and/or other food cargoes and provided mail service. For decades, the company provided the only mail service between the U.S. and Australia and New Zealand. The Oceanic ships that transported mail to Australia and New Zealand were the "Alameda" (3000 horsepower plant), "Mariposa" (3000 horsepower plant), the steamer "Zealandia", the "Sierra", the "Sonoma" and the "Ventura". The "Australia" provided a 33-day direct mail service to Tahiti. In 1926 Oceanic became a subsidiary of Matson Navigation Company, a company which J.D.’s father—Claus Spreckels—had early financed.