Grangemouth Dockyard Company

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The Grangemouth Dockyard Company was a British shipbuilding and ship repair firm located at Grangemouth, on the Firth of Forth, Scotland.

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History

The company was established in Grangemouth by William Miller and Samuel Popham Jackson in 1885. [1] SS Vaitarna was the first ship constructed by the company. In 1887 the yard was visited by Andrew Carnegie and his new wife Louise. [2] While there they witnessed the christening and launch of the Mexican steamer Tabasqueño, after which Carnegie gave a speech at the luncheon that followed. [2] The company acquired another two yards in 1888, located in Alloa and Ardrossan. This was followed by the acquisition of a yard in Greenock in 1900, and the merging of the company with the pre-existing Greenock Dockyard Company. [1] After eight years the company was incorporated as the Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Co. [3] The Greenock yard was then sold to Cayzer, Irvine & Company, the operators of the Clan Line, in 1918. In 1920 the Greenock yard was itself incorporated as the Greenock Dockyard Co Ltd, while upon the split in 1918 the Grangemouth-based yard became the Grangemouth Dockyard Co Ltd. [1] [3] The company continued to build merchant ships and some naval vessels during the Second World War, eventually producing 31 new ships during the war. [4] 14 of the ships present at the Normandy Landings had been built at Grangemouth, while another 44 were repaired there. [4] The facilities were also used to repair and maintain submarines of the Royal Netherlands Navy. [4]

The company continued to operate after the war, becoming part of Swan Hunter in 1967. [1] The company ceased building ships in 1972, thereafter concentrating solely on ship repair. [1] With the large scale nationalisation of British shipbuilding in the late 1970s Swan Hunter became part of British Shipbuilders, with the Grangemouth Dockyard Company as a subsidiary. The winding up of operations in the 1980s saw the re-emergence of the Grangemouth Dockyard Company as a private concern in 1984, but it was subsequently liquidated in 1987. [1]

Records and documents relating to the company and its activities are held by the National Archives of Scotland, and Falkirk Museums. [1]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Ship making, shipping industry, marine engines" (PDF). Falkirk Council Cultural Services. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 June 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  2. 1 2 Nasaw. Andrew Carnegie. p. 307.
  3. 1 2 "Records of Greenock Dockyard Co Ltd". Glasgow University Archive Services. Retrieved 6 January 2009.
  4. 1 2 3 "History of Grangemouth". Scottish Studies Foundation. Retrieved 6 January 2009.

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