The Metropolitan Steamship Co. was a steamship line which provided service between Boston and New York and later between San Francisco and Los Angeles. It was founded in 1866 in New York and was taken over by Charles W. Morse (1856-1933) in 1905. Morse was a prominent businessman and speculator on Wall Street.

Morse established the Eastern Steamship Company in 1901 and organized the Consolidated Steamship Company in January 1907 as a holding company for the Eastern Steamship Company, Metropolitan Steamship Company, Clyde Steamship Company and Mallory Steamship Company.

In 1907 the United States experienced a financial panic following the collapse of the copper market, which led to a series of runs on banks, most notably the Knickerbocker Trust Company in New York. The failure of banks and trusts induced nationwide panic, economic repercussions and eventual transformation of banking systems. The Morse shipping empire collapsed during the 1907 panic leaving Metropolitan in bankruptcy. The company was absorbed into Eastern Steamship Lines in 1911.