The Blyth Shipbuilding & Dry Docks Company Ltd. was a British shipyard located in Blyth,

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Company history

Early history

Shipbuilding began on the site on the south bank of the River Blyth in 1811. In the 1840s the yard was purchased by Beaumont and Drummond. In 1863 the yard was taken over by Hodgson and Soulsby who repaired and built small wooden sailing ships. In 1880 the first two iron ships were built at Blyth for the Russian Government. Blyth Dry Docks and Shipbuilding Co 3

Foundation

On 2 March 1883 the Blyth Shipbuilding & Dry Docks Company Ltd. was registered as a

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...

. It built

cargo liners A cargo liner, also known as a passenger-cargo ship or passenger-cargoman, is a type of merchant ship which carries general cargo and often passengers. They became common just after the middle of the 19th century, and eventually gave way to conta ...

tramp steamers A boat or ship engaged in the tramp trade is one which does not have a fixed schedule, itinerary nor published ports of call, and trades on the spot market as opposed to freight liners. A steamship engaged in the tramp trade is sometimes calle ...

and colliers. The fifth ship built at the yard was for the shipping company Stephens and Mawson of Newcastle. Daniel Stephens eventually became a

Director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, and then the Chairman of the company.

World War I

In 1914 a cargo ship under construction was purchased by the

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...

and converted into the Navy's first

seaplane carrier A seaplane tender is a boat or ship that supports the operation of seaplanes. Some of these vessels, known as seaplane carriers, could not only carry seaplanes but also provided all the facilities needed for their operation; these ships are rega ...

. During the war the company completed nine tramps and colliers, along with ten X-lighter landing craft and six

sloops A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular ...

for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

; these were the ''Arabis''-class minesweeper , the ''Aubrietia''-class convoy escorts and , the ''Anchusa''-class convoy escort and the 24-class fleet minesweepers and .

Post-war slump and closure

Post-war the company returned to the civilian market building steamers and colliers. However, after Daniel Stephens death on 19 March 1925, and the collapse of the freight market, the yard was closed. In November 1926 Robert Stanley Dalgleish, a Newcastle shipowner, purchased the yard, and changed its name to the Cowpen Dry Docks and Shipbuilding Company. The yard was later amalgamated with Ritson's Shipbuilding and Engineering Company. After completing a number of ships, the yard closed again in 1930.

Reopening and World War II

In mid-1937 the yard was reopened under its original name. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

the Blyth company built five and two s, seven s, as well as two s and ten s. The former German cargo ship ''Hannover'' was also converted into the escort carrier .

Hansard ''Hansard'' is the traditional name of the transcripts of parliamentary debates in Britain and many Commonwealth countries. It is named after Thomas Curson Hansard (1776–1833), a London printer and publisher, who was the first official prin ...

records on 8 December 1943 that a question was put to the

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

that a director of Blyth Shipyard and an Admiralty official, was convicted of fraudulently altering a tender to the extent of £12,000 enabling the shipyard to secure a contract.

Decline and final closure

By 1947 the company was owned by Mollers (Hong Kong) Ltd. It had four berths and five dry docks. Turbine-driven cargo-liners were built for Moller's subsidiary the Lancashire Shipping Company. In 1949 eleven tankers were built for a number of different companies. In 1954 the main berth of the yard was extended to 550 feet in order to build larger tankers and ore carriers. In 1961 four coastal steamers were completed for

Stephenson Clarke Stephenson Clarke Shipping Limited, established in 1730 is Great Britain's oldest shipping company. The company specializes in short sea bulk cargo such as aggregates, alumina, grain, coal, fertilizers and steel. History Reverend Ralph Clarke, ...

, along with another for William Cory and Son. Unfortunately rising costs and falling orders meant that, after losing money for five years, the yard was finally closed in 1967. Repair work and shipbreaking was then carried out by various companies on the site. Eventually the shipbuilding berths were demolished to make room for a paper and timber storage area for the Port of Blyth.

Shipping owners commissioning new tonnage

List representing some of the owners commissioning new tonnage - Admiralty, Ampol Petroleum, Barberrys Steamship Co Ltd, Bulk Oil Steamship Co Ltd, Commonwealth of Australia, Companhia de Navegacao, Corporation of Trinity House, Wm. Cory & Son ltd, Dalhousie Steam & Motor Ship Co Ltd, Eagle Oil & Shipping Co Ltd, Elder Dempster Co Ltd, J & C Harrison Ltd, J Ludwig Mowinckel's Rederi A/S, A.P. Moller, Nomikos Ltd, Olsen & Ugelstad, Pacific Steam Navigation Co, Polish Ocean Lines, Rederi A/B Helsingborg, The St Denis Shipping Co Ltd, Stephenson Clarke Ltd, Straits Steamship Co Ltd, Trader Line Ltd, Vilhelm Torkildsen and Wahl & Co.

Facilities

Dry Docks # 376 ft by 52 ft # 314 ft 8 ins by 50 ft 6 ins # 467 ft 10 ins by 60 ft # 338 ft 9 ins by 44 ft 10 ins # 311 ft by 46 ft Building Berths # 350 ft by 50 ft # 370 ft by 54 ft # 694 ft 9 ins by 95 ft # 566 ft by 90 ft

References

{{Reflist

External links

View of Blyth Shipyard in 1958
Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Northumberland Blyth, Northumberland Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1883 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1967