Swan Hunter shipyards at Wallsend

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Swan & Hunter, one of the best known British shipbuilders, was founded in 1880. In 1903, it merged with Wigham Richardson (founded by John Wigham Richardson as Neptune Works in 1860), specifically to bid for the prestigious contract to build the RMS Mauretania on behalf of Cunard. Their bid was successful, and the new company, Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd, went on to build what was to become, in its day, the most famous ocean going liner in the world. Also in 1903 the Company took a controlling interest in the Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company, which was an early licensed manufacturer of Parsons turbine engines, which enabled the Mauretania to achieve its great speed. The Mauretania was launched from Wallsend on 20 September 1906 by the Duchess of Roxburghe. It expanded rapidly in the early part of the twentieth century acquiring Barclay Curle in 1912.

In 1966 Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson merged with Smith's Dock Co to form Associated Shipbuilders, later to become Swan Hunter Group. Following the publication of the Geddes Report recommending rationalisation in British shipbuilding, the Company went on to acquire Clelands Shipbuilding Company and John Readhead & Sons in 1967. Meanwhile Swan Hunter inherited both the Naval Yard at High Walker on the River Tyne of Vickers-Armstrongs and the Hebburn Yard of Hawthorn Leslie in 1968. In 1973 further expansion came with the purchase of Palmers Dock at Hebburn from Vickers-Armstrongs.

In 1977 Swan Hunter Group was nationalised. The current flagship of the Royal Navy, HMS Ark Royal was built at Swan Hunter during this period, entering service in 1985.

The Company was privatised again in 1987 but decided to close its Neptune Yard in 1988. It was then forced to call in the receivers when the UK government awarded the contract for HMS Ocean to Kværner in Govan in 1993. The Receiver took steps to break up the business. However the main shipyard in Wallsend was bought out from receivership by Jaap Kroese, a Dutch millionaire. The yard subsequently undertook several ad-hoc ship repair and conversion projects for private-sector customers.

In 2000, Swan Hunter was awarded the contract to design and build 2 (Auxiliary) Landing Ship Dock ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary with 2 other ships being built by BAE Systems Naval Ships: the cost of the 2 Swan Hunter ships was to be GBP210 million including GBP62 million for lead yard services, with an in service date of 2004. By July 2006, the costs had risen to GBP309 million and only one ship had been delivered. As result of this, the second ship RFA Lyme Bay was transferred to BAE Govan for completion.

In November 2006, after the failure to complete RFA Lyme Bay within budget and resulting exclusion from future Royal Navy shipbuilding projects, Jaap Kroese announced that the business was effectively finished and placed the Wallsend Yard's iconic cranes up for sale. He also said that he was actively looking for a buyer for the land. In April 2007, Swan Hunter's cranes, along with its floating dock and other equipment, were sold to Bharati Shipyards, India's second largest private sector shipbuilder. The entire plant machinery and equipment from Swan Hunter was dismantled and transported to India over six months to be rebuilt at Bharati Shipyards.

In 2008 the company said it was concentrating on ship design with just under 200 people employed.

The Company owned three main yards:

1. The Neptune Yard at Walker-on-Tyne inherited from Wigham Richardson (opened in 1860 and closed in 1988)
2. The Wallsend West Yard at Wallsend inherited from Charles Sheridan Swan (opened in 1842 and closed in 2006)
3. The Naval Yard at High Walker inherited from Vickers-Armstrongs (opened in 1912 and closed during the 1980s)

All three were on the North side of River Tyne. The company also owned the Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company, the yard that built the engines for the Mauretania, from 1903 until the 1980s. At various times Swan Hunter also owned Palmers Hebburn Yard, Hawthorn Leslie Hebburn Yard and Readheads at South Shields which were all on the South side of the River Tyne.

My channel on you tube : http://www.youtube.com/alanhea th is one of the most prolific from Poland. I have produced around 1,600 original films, most in English but also in Polish, French, Italian, Spanish and the occasional hint of German and Hebrew. My big interest in life is travel and history but I have also placed films on other subjects

There are a number of films here on the packaging industry. This is because I am the publisher of Central and Eastern European Packaging -- http://www.ceepackaging.com - the international platform for the packaging industry in this region focusing on the latest innovations, trends, design, branding, legislation and environmental issues with in-depth profiles of major industry achievers.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• Shipyard
• Swan
• Hunter
• Mauretania
• Wallsend
• Tyne

[balacau]

The Ship Inn has now closed an is boarded up. There was supposedly plans to turn it into a nursery or something similar, needless to say, that doesn't appear to have happened.

[alanheath]

@balacau I should have attempted to go in when I was there last year. It does not seem like the right place for a nursery to me!

[5micky2]

And if ever Britain has the misfortune to go to war against one of the countries who are now building its ships, Britain will have to politely refuse a war in favour of a cricket match against them instead!

[alanheath]

@5micky2 Lets hope it won't be a football match as we would not stand a chance!!

[conrad4ever]

when i was in china people often where supprised to hear that the uk was no longer an industral country and that most industry from the past had been shut down.

[alanheath]

@conrad4ever In Britain the heavy industries have largely gone but in light manufacturing the UK still has a strong world position.

[Hspecialsx]

I lived most of my life in wallsend :)