| Industry | Shipbuilding |
|---|---|
| Fate | Takeover |
| Predecessor | John Wood and Company |
| Successor | Roberts & Co (Lithgows) |
| Founded | 1830 |
| Founder | Robert Duncan |
| Defunct | 1915 |
| Headquarters | , |
Robert Duncan and Company was a shipyard in the town of Port Glasgow on the Clyde in Scotland. [1]
The shipbuilder Robert Duncan had spent his previous working life in shipbuilding before he acquired in 1830 at the age of 35 years, the shipyard East Yard in the town of Port Glasgow previously owned by John Wood and Company. [1] Having founded his own shipyard he began with the construction of iron ships. Until the 1860s, he continued to build only sailing ships for worldwide buyers until in 1866 Duncan launched the first screw steamer. A decade later steel began to replace iron as the main shipbuilding material. Duncan's three sons joined the company in 1883; Robert Duncan died in 1889 and the sons continued to run the yard. [1]
Sailing ships were created in addition to large steamboats and smaller trampers . Noteworthy is the twin-screw steamship Flying Serpent, built in 1886 at Duncan, later provided with a diesel engine, 1928 initially converted to a trawler, from 1951 then used as a cargo ship and only deleted in 1998 from the register. [2]
A whole series of trampships was built for the Greek shipowner Alexandros Michalinos during this time. The last sailing ship was delivered in 1900 to the Chilean shipping company AP Lorentzen Alta. [3]
During the First World War the company produced freight ships and tramp steamers from Duncan's slipways. In addition, a standard type "C" freighter and three standard type "Z" tankers were built. Early in the war, in 1915, the shipbuilding company Lithgows (then known as Roberts & Co), took over the Duncan shipyard, but the yard continued to operate under its old trade name.
In the immediate post-war period there was a lack of demand, however the shipyard managed to build over 26 liner freighters and trampers and 13 tankers between 1920 and 1931, when the Great Depression forced the shipyard to close. [1]
In total approximately 400 ships were built at the shipyard under the name Duncan. When the East Yard shipyard reopened in April 1937, it operated as a wholly owned subsidiary of Lithgows. [1]
The River Clyde is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second-longest in Scotland. Traveling through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire. To the Romans, it was Clota, and in the early medieval Cumbric language, it was known as Clud or Clut, and was central to the Kingdom of Strathclyde.
The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited was a Scottish shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the Clyde in Glasgow. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Navy and other navies through the First World War and the Second World War. It also built many transatlantic liners, including record breaking ships for the Cunard Line and Canadian Pacific, such as the Blue Riband-winning sisters RMS Campania and RMS Lucania. At the other end of the scale Fairfields built fast cross-channel mail steamers and ferries for locations around the world. These included ships for the Bosporus crossing in Istanbul and some of the early ships used by Thomas Cook for developing tourism on the River Nile.
William Todd Lithgow (1854–1908) was a Scottish ship-designer who became sole owner of an extremely successful shipbuilding company. For much of the 20th century its name was Lithgows, as it was developed further by William's sons Sir James Lithgow (1883–1952) and Henry Lithgow (1886–1948), and then by his grandson Sir William Lithgow. By 1950 it was the largest private shipbuilding company in the world.
Ailsa Shipbuilding Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Troon and Ayr, Ayrshire.
Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited, often referred to simply as Scotts, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Greenock on the River Clyde. In its time in Greenock, Scotts built over 1,250 ships.
Alexander Stephen and Sons Limited, often referred to simply as Alex Stephens or just Stephens, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Linthouse, Glasgow, on the River Clyde.
A & J Inglis, Ltd, was a shipbuilding firm founded by Anthony Inglis and his brother John, engineers and shipbuilders in Glasgow, Scotland in 1862. The firm built over 500 ships in a period of just over 100 years. Their Pointhouse Shipyard was at the confluence of the rivers Clyde and Kelvin. They constructed a wide range of ships, including Clyde steamers, paddle steamers and small ocean liners. In wartime, they built small warships, and in the period after World War II, they built a number of whalers.
Lithgows Limited, is a family-owned Scottish company that had a long involvement in shipbuilding, based in Kingston, Port Glasgow on the River Clyde in Scotland. It has a continued involvement in marine resources.
The Blyth Shipbuilding & Dry Docks Company Ltd. was a British shipyard located in Blyth, Northumberland, England.
Charles Connell and Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Scotstoun in Glasgow on the River Clyde.
Nobiskrug is a shipyard located on the Eider River in Rendsburg, Germany, specializing in building luxury yachts and the construction, modification and repair of yachts, naval and commercial vessels. It is now a subsidiary of Privinvest Holding. The shipyard currently employs some 400 people.
Short Brothers Limited was a British shipbuilding company formed in 1850 and based at Pallion, Sunderland since 1869. The company closed in 1964 when it failed to invest to build bigger ships.
The Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation was an American corporation established in 1917 by railroad heir W. Averell Harriman to build merchant ships for the Allied war effort in World War I. The MSC operated two shipyards: the former shipyard of John Roach & Sons at Chester, Pennsylvania, and a second, newly established emergency yard at Bristol, Pennsylvania, operated by the MSC on behalf of the U.S. Shipping Board's Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC).
The Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works, was a major late-19th-century American shipyard located on the Delaware River in Chester, Pennsylvania. It was founded by the industrialist John Roach and is often referred to by its parent company name of John Roach & Sons, or just known as the Roach shipyard. For the first fifteen years of its existence, the shipyard was by far the largest and most productive in the United States, building more tonnage of ships than its next two major competitors combined, in addition to being the U.S. Navy's largest contractor. The yard specialized in the production of large passenger freighters, but built every kind of vessel from warships to cargo ships, oil tankers, ferries, barges, tugs and yachts.
Evan Thomas, Radcliffe and Company was one of the more prosperous and best-known of Cardiff-based shipowning companies, established in 1882 by a Ceredigion sea captain, Evan Thomas, and a Merthyr Tydfil businessman, Henry Radcliffe. Prior to 1939 one of the principal activities of the company was the transportation of Welsh steam coal, this trade reaching its peak in the years immediately prior to World War I. The company was finally wound-up in the 1980s.
The Furness Shipbuilding Company was a shipbuilding company based in Haverton Hill, Stockton on Tees, England. It was established during the First World War, and operated from 1917 until 1979.
Richardson, Duck and Company was a shipbuilding company in Thornaby-on-Tees, England that traded between 1855 and 1925.
William Gray & Company Ltd. was a British shipbuilding company located in West Hartlepool, County Durham, in North East England. Founded in 1863 by John Denton and William Gray as a partnership, it became a private and then a public limited company under the leadership of three generations of the Gray family until finally wound up in 1962.
The Falls Line was a shipping line in the late C19th and early C20th.
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ships built at Robert Duncan and Co, Port Glasgow . |