Hall, Russell & Company, Limited was a shipbuilder based in

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Scotland.

History

Brothers James and William Hall, Thomas Russell, a

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

engineer, and James Cardno Couper founded the company in 1864 to build steam engines and boilers. In 1867 the company built its first ship, the ''Kwang Tung'', for the Imperial Chinese Navy. Like most shipyards of their era, Hall Russell built ships first using iron and later changing to steel. In 1944–45 Hall, Russell built five coasters under sub-contract for the

Burntisland Shipbuilding Company The Burntisland Shipbuilding Company was a shipbuilder and repairer in Burntisland, Fife, Scotland that was founded in 1918. In 1969 it was taken over by Robb-Caledon Shipbuilders, which in turn was nationalised in 1977 as part of British Ship ...

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...

: hull numbers 773, 776, 781, 785 and 788. In 1956–57 Hall, Russell built two more coasters for Burntisland: hull 750 launched as SS ''Winga'' and hull 857 launched as William Cory & Son's MV ''Corsea''. In 1977 the company became part of the nationalised

British Shipbuilders Corporation British Shipbuilders (BS) was a public corporation that owned and managed the shipbuilding industry in Great Britain from 1977 through the 1980s. Its head office was at Benton House in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. History The corporation was ...

, before being returned to the private sector in 1986. Having been placed in receivership in 1988, it came under the ownership of A&P Appledore International in 1989, as A&P Appledore International (Aberdeen). However, it had been classed by the Government as a naval shipbuilder, despite traditionally producing fishing vessels and small cargo ships, and closed in 1992. In the

Second World War 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 opposin ...

Hall Russell built a number of

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 F ...

s and s. After the war the company built fishing vessels, cargo ships and naval patrol craft. The last vessel completed at the yard was the , launched in 1989 and delivered in 1990. The most widely known ship built by Hall Russell was MV ''Sir William Hardy''. Launched in 1955, she was the first diesel-electric all-refrigerated trawler built in the UK. Refurbished by

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

, she was renamed on 29 April 1978 the '' Rainbow Warrior''. She was bombed by French agents in New Zealand 10 July 1985. Her masts currently stand outside the Dargaville Museum in the upper North Island, New Zealand. They were builder of Island-class OPV. The class is still in active service with

Bangladesh Navy The Bangladesh Navy ( bn, বাংলাদেশ নৌবাহিনী, Bangladesh Nou Bahini) is the naval warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, responsible for Bangladesh's of maritime territorial area, and the defence of imp ...

MY Steve Irwin The MV ''Steve Irwin'' was the flagship of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and was used in their direct action campaigns against whaling and against illegal fisheries activities. The vessel was built in 1975 and formerly served as a Scot ...

was the flagship of the

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society (SSCS) is a non-profit, marine conservation activism organization based in Friday Harbor, Washington, Friday Harbor on San Juan Island, Washington, in the United States. Sea Shepherd employs direct action t ...

, and was used in their

direct action Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...

campaigns against

whaling Whaling is the process of hunting of whales for their usable products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that became increasingly important in the Industrial Revolution. It was practiced as an organized industry ...

and against illegal fisheries activities. They were also builder of Castle-class OPV. The ships of the class are now in active service with Bangladesh Navy. These are now reclassified as

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

s by the Bangladesh Navy.

Gallery

File:Hall, Russell and Co brass plaque.jpg, Hall, Russell and Co brass plaque File:Bangladesh Navy Ship Sangu (P-713).jpg, BNS Sangu operating in the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...

File:MY Steve Irwin-Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.jpg,

moored in West India Docks,

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, 2011

References and sources

;References ;Sources * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hall, Russell and Company Companies based in Aberdeen Defunct shipbuilding companies of Scotland Companies established in 1864 1864 establishments in Scotland Defunct companies of Scotland Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1992 Ships built by Hall, Russell & Company British companies established in 1864 Manufacturing companies established in 1864 British Shipbuilders

History

Gallery

See also

References and sources