Appledore Shipbuilders

Last updated

Appledore Shipbuilders
(H&W Appledore)
Company type Private limited company
Industry
Founded1855;169 years ago (1855)
Headquarters
Appledore, Devon, England
Parent InfraStrata
Website www.harland-wolff.com

Appledore Shipbuilders is a shipbuilder in Appledore, North Devon, England.

Contents

History

Appledore shipyard Appledore-shipyard.jpg
Appledore shipyard
The shipyard's cranes Appledore shipyard 800.jpg
The shipyard's cranes
Bow section of HMS Queen Elizabeth at Appledore in March 2010 Bulbous Bow of HMS Queen Elizabeth MOD 45157100.jpg
Bow section of HMS Queen Elizabeth at Appledore in March 2010

The Appledore Yard was founded in 1855 on the estuary of the River Torridge. [1] The Richmond Dry Dock was built in 1856 by William Yeo and named after Richmond Bay on the north coast of Prince Edward Island in Canada, where the Yeo family's shipping fleet was based. [2]

The business was led by Philip Kelly Harris [3] during the early part of the 20th century and known as P.K. Harris & Sons until 1963, when it became Appledore Shipbuilders. [4]

During World War II, P.K. Harris & Sons built a variety of small vessels for the Royal Navy, primarily coastal craft. These included Fairmile B motor launches ML 128, ML 152, ML 184, ML 233, ML 263, ML 279, ML 304 and ML 451; Fairmile D motor gun boats (later re-classed as motor torpedo boats) MGB 618, MGB 627, MGB 642, MTB 665, MTB 687, MTB 702, MTB 723, MTB 757, MTB 788 and MTB 5021; and (armed) motor fishing vessels MFV 794 and MFV 795.

In 1964 the company was acquired by Court Line, a shipping and airline business. [5] A new shipyard was built on a greenfield site in Appledore at a cost of about £4m, opening for business in 1970. [5] Court Line collapsed in 1974 and Appledore Shipbuilders was nationalised, subsequently being subsumed into British Shipbuilders. By the late 1980s the only yards still held in state ownership were the smaller Appledore and Ferguson yards. [6] In 1989, Appledore Shipbuilders was sold to Langham Industries. [7]

In the late 1990s the two square-rigged sail training ships of the Tall Ships Youth Trust, the Prince William and the Stavros S Niarchos, were completed at Appledore, by performing substantial modifications to two bare hulls begun in Germany. [8]

Appledore built two Róisín-class patrol boats for the Irish Naval Service:  Róisín was completed in 1999 and  Niamh in 2001. In 2010, Ireland ordered a further two, 90-metre (295 ft 3 in), 23- knot (43 km/h; 26 mph) offshore patrol vessels from Babcock with an option for a third, to be built at Appledore. The first Samuel Beckett-class offshore patrol vessels was commissioned in May 2014. In June 2014, the Irish government took up the option for the third ship to be built at Appledore (delivered in 2016) and ordered a fourth in 2016 (delivered in 2018). [9]

In October 2003, the Appledore shipyard went into receivership, [10] and in early 2004 was acquired by DML, the operators of Devonport dockyard. [11] The company was reconstituted as Appledore Shipbuilders (2004) Limited and was run by the DML subsidiary DML Appledore. During this period the yard's main activity was the installation of machinery packages and other systems for luxury yachts for Devonport Yachts Ltd. [12]

In June 2007, Babcock International Group acquired DML, including its operations at the Appledore Shipyard, renaming them Babcock Marine Appledore. A Royal Navy contract secured 300 jobs in Appledore until 2015. [13] The Appledore yard constructed elements of the two Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers. Bow sections for HMS Queen Elizabeth were completed in April 2010 and were barged to Rosyth Dockyard for integration with other modules. [14] The yard then built flight deck sponsons and centre blocks for Queen Elizabeth. [15] From 2012, Appledore built similar sections for Queen Elizabeth's sister ship HMS Prince of Wales. [15]

Babcock announced in November 2018 that it had no future for the shipyard, which closed on 15 March 2019. The last vessel to be built at the yard was the  George Bernard Shaw, an Irish Naval Service vessel. [16] [17] [18]

In August 2020, InfraStrata (owners of Belfast shipyard Harland and Wolff) bought the dormant shipyard for £7 million. [19] The deal saw the shipyard renamed H&W Appledore. [20]

In July 2022, the shipyard won a £55 million contract to refit former Royal Navy mine-hunting ship HMS Quorn (M41) which is expected to be passed to the Lithuanian navy in 2024. [21]

Ships built at Appledore

The company built more than 350 vessels, including small and medium-sized military craft, bulk carriers, LPG carriers, superyachts, ferries, and oil-industry support vessels. Specific ships include:

Survey vessels
Tall ships
Superyachts
Ferries
Aircraft carriers


Patrol vessels
Research ships
Commercial vessels
  • Manchester Vigour, a container ship
  • Manchester Zeal, a container ship
  • Seamark, a pilot cutter for Swansea Bay
  • Wimpey Seadog, supply vessel
  • Craigdarragh, a tug boat
  • Alphagas, an LPG carrier
  • Betagas, an LPG carrier
  • Deltagas, an LPG carrier
  • Arklow Bridge, a bulk carrier
  • Star Hercules [29]
  • Suffolk Chieftain, a fishing vessel
  • Toisa Coral, an offshore supply vessel
  • Toisa Crest, an offshore supply vessel
  • Toisa Conqueror, an offshore supply vessel
  • Ikar, a tug boat
  • Elkhound, a tug boat
Dredgers
  • City of Chichester [30]
  • City of Cardiff
  • City of Westminster
  • City of London [31]
  • Cherry Sand [32]
  • Arco Avon
  • Arco Arun
  • Arco Axe
  • Arco Adur
  • Britannia Beaver [33]
  • UKD Marlin

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harland & Wolff</span> Shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding and fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the White Star Line, including Olympic-class trioRMS Olympic, RMS Titanic and HMHS Britannic. Outside of White Star Line, other ships that have been built include the Royal Navy's HMS Belfast; Royal Mail Line's Andes; Shaw, Savill & Albion's Southern Cross; Union-Castle's RMS Pendennis Castle; P&O's Canberra; and Hamburg-America's SS Amerika of 1905. Harland and Wolff's official history, Shipbuilders to the World, was published in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shipyard</span> Place where ships are built and repaired

A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes more involved with original construction, dockyards are sometimes more linked with maintenance and basing activities. The terms are routinely used interchangeably, in part because the evolution of dockyards and shipyards has often caused them to change or merge roles.

Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, when that side of the business was separated and became part of the Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage & Wagon Company.

HMS <i>Scott</i> (H131) Royal Navy ocean survey vessel

HMS Scott is an ocean survey vessel of the Royal Navy, and the only vessel of her class. She is the third Royal Navy ship to carry the name, and the second to be named after the Antarctic explorer, Robert Falcon Scott. She was ordered to replace the survey ship HMS Hecla.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosyth Dockyard</span> Naval dockyard

Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which formerly undertook refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels and submarines. Before its privatisation in the 1990s it was formerly the Royal Naval Dockyard Rosyth. Its primary role now is the dismantling of decommissioned nuclear submarines. It is also the integration site for the Royal Navy's newest aircraft carriers, the Queen Elizabeth class as well as the Type 31 Frigate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John I. Thornycroft & Company</span> Shipbuilding company in the United Kingdom

John I. Thornycroft & Company Limited, usually known simply as Thornycroft was a British shipbuilding firm founded by John Isaac Thornycroft in Chiswick in 1866. It moved to Woolston, Southampton, in 1908, merging in 1966 with Vosper & Company to form one organisation called Vosper Thornycroft. From 2002 to 2010 the company acquired several international and US based defence and services companies, and changed name to the VT Group. In 2008 VT's UK shipbuilding and support operations were merged with those of BAE Systems to create BVT Surface Fleet. In 2010 remaining parts of the company were absorbed by Babcock International who retained the UK and international operations, but sold the US based operations to the American Jordan Company, who took the name VT Group.

Seawind Barclay Curle is a British shipbuilding company.

Vosper & Company, often referred to simply as Vospers, was a British shipbuilding company based in Portsmouth, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burrard Dry Dock</span> Shipyard in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Burrard Dry Dock Ltd. was a Canadian shipbuilding company headquartered in North Vancouver, British Columbia. Together with neighbouring North Van Ship Repair and Yarrows Ltd. of Esquimalt, which were both later purchased by the company, Burrard built and refitted over 450 ships, including many warships for the Royal Navy and Royal Canadian Navy during the First and Second World Wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferguson Marine</span> Shipyard located in Port Glasgow on the River Clyde in Scotland

Ferguson Marine Limited is a shipbuilding company whose yard, located in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, was established in 1903. It is the last remaining shipbuilder on the lower Clyde and is currently the only builder of merchant ships on the river. For some years the company's mainstay has been Roll-on/roll-off ferries, primarily for Caledonian MacBrayne (CalMac), including a series of innovative hybrid diesel-electric/battery-powered vessels. Beset with difficulties since 2018 over their latest two CalMac ferries, Fergusons' largest ever vessel, the shipyard was nationalised in December 2019. It is now classified as an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government.

Devonport Management Limited owned and managed Devonport Royal Dockyard, the largest dockyard in Western Europe from 1987 until 2007. DML was purchased by Babcock International and was rebranded Babcock Marine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HMNB Devonport</span> Operating base in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy

His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Royal Navy. The largest naval base in Western Europe, HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth, England.

Fairmile B motor launch WWII Royal Navy motor boat

The Fairmile B motor launch was a very numerous class of motor launch produced in kit form by British boatbuilder Fairmile Marine, and then assembled and fitted out by numerous boatyards during the Second World War to meet the Royal Navy's coastal operation requirements.

Fairmile D motor torpedo boat

The Fairmile D motor torpedo boat was a type of British motor torpedo boat (MTB) and motor gunboat (MGB), conceived by entrepreneur Noel Macklin of Fairmile Marine and designed by naval architect Bill Holt for the Royal Navy. Nicknamed "Dog Boats", they were designed to be assembled in kit form mass-produced by the Fairmile organisation and assembled at dozens of small boatbuilding yards around Britain, to combat the known advantages of the German E-boats over previous British coastal craft designs. At 115 feet in length, they were bigger than earlier MTB or motor gunboat (MGB) designs but slower, at 30 knots compared to 40 knots.

Kvaerner Govan Ltd (KGL), located at Govan in Glasgow on the River Clyde, was a shipyard subsidiary formed in 1988 when the Norwegian group Kværner Industrier purchased the Govan Shipbuilders division of the nationalised British Shipbuilders corporation. Prior to the Govan Shipyard's nationalisation in 1977, as a result of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act, it had been operated by Govan Shipbuilders Ltd, which emerged from the collapse of the previous Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS) joint venture in 1972. Prior to the formation of UCS in 1968, the Shipyard was operated by the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, which had a history extending back to 1834.

<i>Vava II</i> Megayacht owned by Ernesto Bertarelli

MY Vava II is the 97-metre superyacht commissioned by Swiss entrepreneur Ernesto Bertarelli in 2007. Built by Devonport Yachts at Plymouth, England, the hull was built by sister shipyard Appledore Shipbuilders, both being owned by Babcock Marine. She was launched on 2 December 2009 and then taken to Devonport for the accommodation section to be lifted onto the ship. She was fully completed in February 2012. When constructed she was claimed to be the largest British-built superyacht and was the last yacht built by Devonport Yachts following its acquisition by Pendennis Shipyard. The yacht's designers were Hampshire-based firm Redman Whitely Dixon (exterior) and the French interior designer Remi Tessier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip and Son</span>

Philip and Son was a shipbuilder in Kingswear, near Dartmouth, Devon, England. Operating from 1858 until the late 1990s, the company provided employment opportunities for nearly 141 years for many people of Dartmouth. It was Dartmouth's last industrial shipyard. A documentary film, Philip and Son, A Living Memory, presents the story of the industrial shipyard from its beginning to its eventual closure.

LÉ <i>Samuel Beckett</i> Samuel Beckett-class Irish Naval Service vessel

Samuel Beckett (P61) is a Samuel Beckett-class offshore patrol vessel (OPV) of the Irish Naval Service. The ship was launched in November 2013 and commissioned in May 2014. She is named after Irish playwright and author Samuel Beckett.

LÉ <i>James Joyce</i> Irish Naval Service patrol vessel

James Joyce (P62) is a Samuel Beckett-class offshore patrol vessel (OPV) which was built by Babcock Marine Appledore for the Irish Naval Service. Although criticised by a descendant of the author, the ship was named for writer James Joyce.

References

  1. "Receivers to take over yard". BBC News . 29 September 2003.
  2. "The story of the Dry Dock". Celebrating Appledore's Shipping Heritage. Archived from the original on 8 September 2008. Retrieved 15 August 2009.
  3. "Appledore Parish Church Register of Marriages". Archived from the original on 31 March 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
  4. Tribute to British Shipbuilding and Repair Industries 1914–18, Part 2 of 3
  5. 1 2 James Venus: Obituary The Independent, 2 September 1992
  6. Britain misses the boat after years in the doldrums The Independent, 4 September 1994
  7. "Specialisation is the Key". The Motor Ship. Mercatormedia. 1 October 1998. Retrieved 7 January 2018.
  8. Otmar Schäuffelen (2005). Chapman Great Sailing Ships of the World. Hearst Books. p. 159. ISBN   1588163849.
  9. "Government to purchase third new Naval Service ship". Irish Times. 9 June 2014.
  10. "Appledore in receivership", Jane's Navy International, 15 October 2003
  11. "Appledore Shipyard is saved". The BBC . 13 February 2004. Archived from the original on 22 May 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
  12. "Yachts". Babcock Marine. Archived from the original on 31 July 2008. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
  13. "Shipyard celebrates fishery vessels order". This Is North Devon. 29 July 2010. Archived from the original on 9 August 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  14. "Aircraft carrier bow sections leave Appledore Shipyard". This Is North Devon. 1 April 2010. Archived from the original on 4 September 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  15. 1 2 "Shipyard completes key stage in aircraft carrier project". This Is North Devon. 11 February 2010. Archived from the original on 17 February 2010. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  16. Jolly, Jasper (1 November 2018). "Babcock International to close historic Appledore shipyard". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  17. Gussin, Tony (15 March 2019). "'Heart-breaking' farewell as Appledore Shipyard closes for the final time". North Devon Gazette. Barnstaple, Devon. Retrieved 16 March 2019.
  18. North Devon Shipbuilding Ends Ships Monthly July 2019 page 8
  19. "Appledore Shipyard to reopen after £7m InfraStrata deal". BBC News . 25 August 2020.
  20. Jehan Ashmore (25 August 2020). "Historic UK Shipyard Appledore Acquired by Owners of Harland & Wolff". Afloat.
  21. "Appledore Shipyard lands £55m vessel refit contract". BBC News Online . 15 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  22. "HMS Echo website". The Royal Navy . Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
  23. "Motor Yacht Sarafsa by Devonport". charterworld.com. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  24. "Superyacht Vava II". Acronautic Yacht Crew. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
  25. "Coruisk (III)". Ships of Calmac. Archived from the original on 2 October 2010. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
  26. Enthusiasts, Irish Ferries. "Shannon Ferries: Irish Ferries Enthusiasts". www.irish-ferries-enthusiasts.com. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  27. "About Us: Shannon Ferries". www.shannonferries.com. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  28. Gallacher, Neil (28 April 2014). "Devon-built Samuel Beckett ship handed to Irish Naval Service". BBC News.
  29. "The Evolution of Cable & Wireless". FTL Design. Archived from the original on 16 May 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
  30. "Pembroke Dock Visits (Port of Pembroke)". Pembroke Dock Community Web Project. Retrieved 28 May 2008.
  31. "City of London - ppl Trailing suction hopper dredgers - Equipment | Dredging Database".
  32. "Cherry Sand". Associated British Ports. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
  33. "Britannia Beaver". ShipPhotos.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 August 2008. Retrieved 28 May 2008.