Timeline of Shipbuilding on the River Tyne

The following is a timeline of the history of shipbuilding on the River Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England.

19th Century

1840s

• 1840
  • Charles Coutts established a shipbuilding yard at Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne ^[1]
• 1842
  • The first Tyne-built iron steamer the Prince Albert was launched at Coutts shipyard in Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne ^[2]
• 1847
  • WG Armstong & Co founded at Elswick, Newcastle upon Tyne, ^[3] to build the hydraulic machinery Armstrong had invented ^[4]

1850s

• 1856
  • The shipbuilding yard of Charles Coutts in Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne was closed ^[1]

1860s

• 1860
  • John Wigham Richardson opened the Neptune shipbuilding yard at Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne, taking over the former Charles Coutts yard ^{[1] [5]}
• 1868
  • Gunboat for the Admiralty built to WG Armstrong's order by CW Mitchell's shipyard at Walker ^[6]

1880s

• 1881
  • Oil tanker Massis completed at Armstong Mitchells shipyard in Low Walker ^[5]
• 1882
  • WG Armstrongs merged merged with Charles Mitchell's shipyard at Low Walker to become Armstrong Mitchells ^{[3] [6]}
• 1884
  • Shipyard devoted exclusively to warship construction opened by WG Armstrong at Elswick ^{[7] [6]}
• 1886
  • R and W Hawthorn merged with A. Leslie and Company shipbuilders in Hebburn to become R. & W. Hawthorn, Leslie and Company ^[3]
  • Glückauf launched at Armstong Mitchells for German owners, regarded as a prototype of the modern day oil tanker ^[7]
• 1888
  • John Wigham Richardson's Neptune shipyard delivered the Alfonso XII, a Spanish passenger liner and troopship ^[5]

1890s

• 1890
  • John Wigham Richardson's Neptune shipyard completed the Hornby Grange, one of the world's first refridgerated cargo ships ^[5]
• 1894
  • Turbinia , first steam turbine powered ship, launched for Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Company ^[8]
• 1897
  • Armstrong Mitchells merged with the Manchester armaments works of Whitworths to become Armstrong Whitworth ^[3]
• 1898
  • Ice breaker Yermak launched at Low Walker yard of Armstrong Whitworth for the Russian government ^[7]

20th Century

1900s

• 1900
  • Iwate , Japanese cruiser, launched at the Elswick shipyard of Armstrong Whitworth ^[7]
  • HNoMS Norge and HNoMS Eidsvold , coastal defence ships for Norway, were launched at the Elswick shipyard of Armstrong Whitworth ^[7]
• 1902
  • John Wigham Richardson's Neptune shipyard delivered the Colonia, its first cableship ^[5]
  • SS Silverlip tanker launched at Low Walker shipyard of Armstrong Whitworth ^[7]
• 1903
  • John Wigham Richardson's shipbuilding company merged with Swan Hunter in Wallsend to become Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson ^{[9] [5]}
• 1907
  • 13 April: The battlecruiser HMS Invincible was launched at the Elswick shipyard of Armstrong Whitworth watched by over 12,000 people ^[5]

1910s

• 1912-1913
  • Armstrong Whitworths' Walker Naval Yard began production ^[7]
• 1913
  • November: Armstrong Whitworth employed 20,669 people on the Tyne ^[10]
• 1914
  • By September nearly 2,000 men from Armstrong Whitworth had enlisted in the army, as well as nearly 1,000 from Hawthorn & Leslie ^[10]
  • Ice breakers Alexander Nevsk and Sviatogor completed at Low Walker yard of Armstrong Whitworth ^[7]
• 1918
  • November: Numbers employed by Armstrong Whitworth had risen to just under 60,000 ^[10]
• 1919
  • Newcastle Shipbuilding Company established under the chairmanship of John Crass ^[11]

1920s

• 1925
  • MS Gripsholm produced at Walker Naval Yard for the Swedish American Line, the first passenger liner powered by diesel engines ^[7]
• 1927
  • Vickers-Armstrongs was created with the merging of Vickers Limited and Armstrong Whitworth ^[12]
  • After completion of the battleship HMS Nelson , the Armstrong Whitworth Walker Naval Yard was closed due to lack of orders ^[13]

1930s

• 1933
  • SS Queen of Bermuda completed at Armstrong Whitworth Walker Naval Yard ^[13]
  • Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company went into receivership ^[14]

1940s

• 1940
  • Vickers Armstrong naval shipyard employed 4,250 people ^[14]

• 1945
  • Vickers-Armstrongs plants at Elswick and Scotswood together were the largest employers in Newcastle ^[15]

1950s

• 1950
  • 17 May: Muristan launched at John Readhead & Sons, South Shields, an oil tanker for the Strick Line ^[16]
  • SS Ocean Monarch launched at the Walker Naval Yard of Vickers Armstrong ^[7]
• 1957
  • RMS Empress of England completed at Walker Naval Yard of Vickers Armstrong for Canadian Pacific ^[7]
• 1958
  • Swan Hunter achieved a profit of over £1m ^[14]

1960s

• 1960
  • SS Northern Star laid down at Vickers Armstrong Walker Naval Yard for Shaw, Savill & Albion Line and was the last passenger ship built there ^[14]
• 1961
  • RMS Empress of Canada completed at Walker Naval Yard of Vickers Armstrong for Canadian Pacific ^[7]
• 1968
  • Vickers-Armstrongs sold off their naval yard at Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne ^[17]

1980s

• 1988
  • HMS Chatham , frigate for the Royal Navy, launched at the Neptune shipyard and was the final ship to be built in Newcastle upon Tyne ^[18]

See also

• History of Tyne and Wear

References

1. Colls & Lancaster 2001, p. 41. sfn error: no target: CITEREFColls_&_Lancaster2001 (help)
2. Middlebrook 1968, p. 184.
3. Colls & Lancaster 2001, p. 40. sfn error: no target: CITEREFColls_&_Lancaster2001 (help)
4. Middlebrook 1968, p. 192.
5. Flowers & Histon 1999, p. 30. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFlowers_&_Histon1999 (help)
6. Middlebrook 1968, p. 243.
7. Flowers & Histon 1999, p. 31. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFlowers_&_Histon1999 (help)
8. Middlebrook 1968, p. 244.
9. Colls & Lancaster 2001, p. 42. sfn error: no target: CITEREFColls_&_Lancaster2001 (help)
10. Colls & Lancaster 2001, p. 49. sfn error: no target: CITEREFColls_&_Lancaster2001 (help)
11. Colls & Lancaster 2001, p. 50. sfn error: no target: CITEREFColls_&_Lancaster2001 (help)
12. Flowers & Histon 1999, p. 24. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFlowers_&_Histon1999 (help)
13. Elson 1986, p. 1.
14. Elson 1986, p. 2.
15. Colls & Lancaster 2001, p. 184. sfn error: no target: CITEREFColls_&_Lancaster2001 (help)
16. Elson 1986, p. 3.
17. Colls & Lancaster 2001, p. 60. sfn error: no target: CITEREFColls_&_Lancaster2001 (help)
18. Flowers & Histon 1999, p. 39. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFlowers_&_Histon1999 (help)

Sources

• Colls, Robert; Lancaster, Bill (2001). Newcastle upon Tyne. A Modern History. Chichester: Phillimore & Co Ltd. ISBN   1-86077-167-X.
• Elson, Peter (1986). Tyneside Shipbuilding 1920-1960. Newcastle upon Tyne: Newcastle City Libraries. ISBN   0 902653 38 5.
• Flowers, Anna; Histon, Vanessa (1999). Water Under the Bridges, Newcastle's Twentieth Century. Newcastle upon Tyne: Tyne Bridge Publishing. ISBN   1-85795-140-9.
• Middlebrook, Sydney (1968). Newcastle upon Tyne. Its Growth and Achievement. Wakefield: S.R. Publishers ltd.