Philip and Son (also Philip & Son) was a
shipbuilder
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
in Kingswear, near
Dartmouth, Devon
Dartmouth () is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the western bank of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. It lies within the ...
, 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 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. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...
. A documentary film, ''Philip and Son, A Living Memory'', presents the story of the industrial shipyard from its beginning to its eventual closure.
Early history
William Kelly began modernizing Dartmouth's Sandquay yard in the 1800s. George Philip (d. November 1874, aged 61 years) left 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 ...
for Dartmouth in 1854, becoming Kelly's foreman
__NOTOC__
A foreman, forewoman or foreperson is a supervisor, often in a manual trade or industry.
Foreman may specifically refer to:
*Construction foreman, the worker or tradesman who is in charge of a construction crew
* Jury foreman, a head j ...
shipwright
Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befor ...
, and managing three slipway
A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving small ...
s at Sandquay. With Kelly's retirement in 1858, Philip took over the yard. Shortly afterwards, Philip's son Alexander (nickname, Alec; d. 1899) entered the business. In 1874, Alexander inherited the yard. In the 1880s and 1890s, Philip & Son collaborated with Simpson, Strickland and Company of Noss Shipyard on recreational craft production.
Alexander died in 1899, leaving the yard to his sons, George Nowell Philip and John Nowell Philip. G.N. Philip became managing director, and was assisted by his brother, J.N. Philip and his brother-in-law, John Jules Sautter (d. 1951). In 1905, the business became 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 a ...
. Its 1908 advertisement in ''International Marine Engineering'' stated that the company produced steam and sailing yachts; passenger and cargo steamers; tugs, steam and motor launches; admiralty launches and pinnaces
Pinnace may refer to:
* Pinnace (ship's boat), a small vessel used as a tender to larger vessels among other things
* Full-rigged pinnace
The full-rigged pinnace was the larger of two types of vessel called a pinnace in use from the sixteenth ...
; as well as all classes of main and auxiliary machinery and boilers.
Philip & Son took over Noss Works from Simpson, Strickland in 1918, and within two years, they opened a machine shop at Noss. During these years, Philip & Son specialized in the construction of tugboat
A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...
s, first in wood and later steel. By 1923, Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Ltd. had a controlling share in Philip and Son, Ltd. In the mid-1920s, the shipyard began construction of coastal tankers, ferries and excursion boats, while in the next decade, in addition to ships, boats, and barges, the company produced kits for overseas assembly of small crafts. In 1934, after the death of G. N. Philip, Sautter became the company's managing director. It became a public limited company
A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and the Republic of Ireland. It is a limited liability company ...
in 1937.
Prior to 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 opposin ...
, the company worked on fully non-magnetic research on an Admiralty ship; it was launched in April 1939. Soon after the war started, further research work on the ship was discontinued (after the war, the project was abandoned) and the shipyard concentrated on Admiralty work related to the war effort. To this end, 230 steel and wood vessels, corvettes, wooden minesweepers and air-sea rescues launches for the air force were built. During this period, the yard also repaired existing crafts. During a bombing of Dartmouth by Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
bombs on 18 September 1942, the Philip & Son shipyard was hit and 20 employees were killed. Two students of the Naval college were also killed. The bombs not only hit the shipyard at Noss but also the Dartmouth Harbour
Dartmouth Harbour (also Dart Harbour) is a natural port located in Dartmouth, Devon, England. It is situated at the mouth of the River Dart on the English Channel. Bayard's Cove Fort is a small fort, which was built to defend the harbour's en ...
, sinking lighter aircraft in mid-air. The company managed to operate, however, even after the attack. The general manager was awarded M.B.E., in appreciation of his dedicated efforts to start production within 48 hours after the bombing.[ Frank Little could not identify his own brother's body after the bomb had hit the yard.][
]
Later years
The building program prospered in the years after the war. Sautter retired in 1947 after working for Philip &Son for almost half a century. In 1950, the directors were T. Wilton (chairman), J. A. Philip (Managing), H. G. Philip, J. J. Sautter, and G. M. Turnbull. In the 1950s, it built coasters, tankers, ferries, tugs, as well as cargo and passenger ships for foreign concerns. John Alexander Philip (b. 1896) (Shipyard Manager, 1923–42; director, 1930; assistant managing director, 1942–47; managing director, 1947) became chairman in 1957. The shipyard and subsidiary companies experienced a change in 1965 and in 1969. By 1981, the company's specializations had turned to repairing ships, steel fabrication, and marine engineering. Bob Weedon, who began his career at the shop floor, was works manager in 1996, and became a member of the board of directors.[ D.R. Wills was managing director in 1996.] Ship and boat building were discontinued in October 1999. The shipyard site is currently owned by Noss Marina Limited, which operates a marina
A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.
A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...
.[
A documentary film ''Philip and Son, A Living Memory'', made with the support of the new owners of the Noss Marina by Totnes film-maker Chris Watson (of Smith and Watson Productions) and journalist and writer Phil Scoble and premiered in 2009, presents the story of the industrial shipyard from its beginning in the 1880s to its eventual closure in the 1990s (caused by differences with trade unions and decline in the British shipbuilding industry).] The film was sponsored by Noss Marina (now a leisure marina) to retain the yard as a heritage site. Many of the former employees of the firm enthusiastically participated in making the film and expressing their experiences with the firm.
Ships built
The yard during 141 years (1858 to 1999) of existence built historic naval vessels (of thousands of tonnage), lightships (with a light tower on a boat), and Chay Blyth
Sir Charles Blyth (born 14 May 1940), known as Chay Blyth, is a Scottish yachtsman and rower. He was the first person to sail single-handed non-stop westwards around the world (1971), on a 59-foot boat called '' British Steel''.
Early life
B ...
's yacht '' British Steel'' which was used for a round the world voyage in 1970–71.[ Some of the vessels built at Philip & Son include:]
* '' Lightship 2000''
* Lightvessel No. 11
* Lightvessel No. 18, ''Ex Trinity House''
* Light Vessel 13, ''Bar''
Light Vessel 21
* Light Vessel 23, ''Bar''
* Light Vessel 88
* Light Vessel 89, ''The Wash''
* Light Vessel 91, ''Humber''
* Light Vessel 94, ''Morecambe Bay''
* MV ''Dartmouth Castle''
* MV ''Karina''
* MV ''Lady Wakefield''
* PS ''Kingswear Castle''
* '' British Steel''
* Light Vessel 16, ''Colne Light''
*
* ''Egremont''
* HSL 3963 ''Crebe''
* ''Ione lll''
* MV Royal Iris of the Mersey
The MV ''Royal Iris of the Mersey'' is a Mersey Ferry in operation on the River Mersey, England. From launch in Devon in 1959 until a major refurbishment in 2001, she was named MV ''Mountwood''.
MV ''Mountwood''
The ''Mountwood'' was the sligh ...
* MV Snowdrop
The MV ''Snowdrop'' is a Mersey Ferry in operation on the River Mersey, England. From launch until a major refit in 2003, she was named MV ''Woodchurch''.
MV ''Woodchurch''
The ''Woodchurch'' was the sister ship of the MV ''Mountwood''. Both f ...
* ''Jaymac''
* ''Senorita''
* ''St Katherine''
* ''Tern IV'' – powered sailing yacht launched in 1924 for Dr. Claud Worth
* ''Alzavola'' – powered sailing yacht launched as ''Gracie III'' in 1924 and twin to ''Tern IV''
* ''Trinity''
Trinity House lightvessels kept their 'build' number but their name could be changed after withdrawal from station and being allocated to a new station off the English or Welsh coasts. Of 26 built by the firm, No.18, of revolutionary design, was delivered in July 1958 for stationing off the Pembrokeshire coast in Wales and being named ''St Govan''. Its predecessor, of conventional Trinity House format, was named ''St Gowan''. Many surviving 2-masted lightvessels latterly had their aft mast removed and instead, a helicopter deck was fitted and such have survived on some older unmanned TH lightvessels still in service.
References
Bibliography
* Blackhurst, Derek: ''Philip & Son Ltd., Shipbuilders & Engineers''. Ships in Focus Publications, Preston 2001, .
{{Authority control
Companies established in 1858
1858 establishments in England
Companies based in Devon
Defunct shipbuilding companies of England
Dartmouth, Devon
Defunct companies of England