Henry Robb, Limited, known colloquially as Robbs, was a Scottish
shipbuilding company based at
Leith Docks in
Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...
. Robbs was notable for building small-to-medium sized vessels, particularly
tugs and
dredger
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...
s.
History
The company was founded on 1 April 1918 by Henry Robb, a former yard manager for
Ramage & Ferguson
Ramage & Ferguson was a Scottish shipbuilder active from 1877 to 1934, who specialised in luxury steam-yachts usually with steel hulls and timber decks. They also made several notable windjammers including the stunning five-masted K� ...
shipbuilders, who lay around 1km to the east.
Robb was born in Partick, Glasgow in 1874 to Henry Robb (1843-1894), a ships caulker, and his wife Martha Simpson (1840-78). He married Mary Baird Mcintosh Cowan in 1903 and their son, Henry Cowan Robb (1932-2018), became a Director of the firm. Henry Robb died in Edinburgh in 1951.
Robbs grew by buying berths from
Hawthorns in 1924, the business of Cran and Somerville in 1926 and the yards of Ramage and Ferguson in 1934.
[ The site became known as Victoria Shipyard.
Robbs closed its Arbroath and ]Clyde Clyde may refer to:
People
* Clyde (given name)
* Clyde (surname)
Places
For townships see also Clyde Township
Australia
* Clyde, New South Wales
* Clyde, Victoria
* Clyde River, New South Wales
Canada
* Clyde, Alberta
* Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...
operations in the 1920s and focused its activities on Leith.
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 ...
, Robbs built a large number of naval warships 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 ...
, including preparing the designs and building the prototype of the anti-submarine / minesweeping
Minesweeping is the practice of the removal of explosive naval mines, usually by a specially designed ship called a minesweeper using various measures to either capture or detonate the mines, but sometimes also with an aircraft made for that ...
trawler.[ Three corvettes were built for the ]Royal New Zealand Navy
The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; mi, Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, , Sea Warriors of New Zealand) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act ...
. Ordered in 1939, two of these ships would famously sink the in January 1943, while the third ship helped sink seven months later.
On 26 February 1940 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth toured the shipyard.
In 1968 Robbs merged with the Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company
The Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Limited was a major Scottish shipbuilding company based in Dundee, Scotland that traded for more than a century and built more than 500 ships.
History
W.B. Thompson CBE (1837 - 1923) founded th ...
of Dundee, forming Robb Caledon Shipbuilding, and in 1969 the new company took over the Burntisland Shipbuilding Company in Fife. In 1977, under the provisions of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977
The Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that nationalised large parts of the UK aerospace and shipbuilding industries and established two corporations, British Aerospace and British S ...
, Robb Caledon was nationalised as part of British Shipbuilders. The Caledon yard in Dundee closed in 1981. Robb's yard in Leith survived two more years, closing in 1983.[
The site of Robb's shipyard is now the Ocean Terminal shopping centre, where the Royal Yacht ''Britannia'' is berthed. An early 20th-century pitched roof paint shed that once belonged to the yard, built from rivetted iron plates, survives and was a Category B listed building before being relocated.]
The yard features in the video to the song ''" Letter From America"'' (1987) by The Proclaimers
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
, whose father worked in the yard. The overall sentiment of the song stresses the loss of Scotland's traditional industries and the mass emigration of Scots to North America due to circumstances such as the Highland Clearances.
Ships built by Robbs
Naval
s
*
*
*
*
*
*
s
*
*
*
s
*
*
*
s
*
*
*
* (ex- HMS ''Glenarm'')
*
*
* HMS ''Naver'' – cancelled and re-ordered as HMS ''Loch Achanalt''.
s
* – to Royal Canadian Navy
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...
on completion.
* – to Royal Malaysian Navy in 1964 as ''Hang Tuah''.
* – to Royal New Zealand Navy
The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; mi, Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, , Sea Warriors of New Zealand) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act ...
in 1949 as ''Rotoiti''.
* three further ships of this class – ''Loch Kishorn'', ''Loch Nell'' and ''Loch Odairn'' – were cancelled.
s
* (ex- HMS ''Loch Laxford'')
* (ex- HMS ''Loch Maddy'')
* (ex- HMS ''Loch Coulside'')
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RFA ensures the Royal Navy is supplied and supported by ...
ships
* – naval stores ship
* – aviation training ship
* – naval stores ship
''Bustler''-class ocean rescue tugs
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
''Wild Duck''-class RMAS cable-laying and salvage ships
*
*
Merchant
References
External links
The Ships of Henry Robb
The Loftsman
history of the ships built at Leith
History of the Free French frigate ''La Découverte'', ex-HMS ''Windrush''
Blog about the history of Robb's yard and workers by Henry Robb's great-granddaughter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robb, Henry
1918 establishments in Scotland
Manufacturing companies based in Edinburgh
Manufacturing companies established in 1918
Defunct shipbuilding companies of Scotland
Former defence companies of the United Kingdom
History of Leith
1983 disestablishments in Scotland
Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1983
Naval trawlers
British companies disestablished in 1983
British companies established in 1918
British Shipbuilders