Short Brothers Limited was a British

shipbuilding 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 ...

company formed in 1850 and based at

Pallion Pallion is a suburb and electoral ward in North West Sunderland, in Tyne and Wear, England. Most of the buildings in the area were built during the Victorian Era and consist of large terraced houses built for shipbuilders, but also smaller one- ...

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

since 1869. The company closed in 1964 when it failed to invest to build bigger ships.

19th century

In 1850 George Short founded a shipyard at Hylton to build small wooden ships for local users. In 1860 Short moved the yard downriver to

and his four sons became partners in the business. In 1871 the yard built its first iron-hulled ship the ''High Stretfield'' and the company started using the name Short Brothers. John Y Short became a distinguished naval architect and at the 1878 Paris Exhibition he was awarded a gold medal. In 1883 Short's built a

cargo liner 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 ...

for James Knott's Prince Line of Newcastle upon Tyne. This was the beginning of a 35-year relationship in which Short's supplied Prince Line with a total of 37 ships. They included the passenger liner , built in 1897, which spent its early years of service carrying thousands of Italian migrants to the USA. In 1895 John Y Short made a substantial investment in

John Thomas North John Thomas North (30 January 1842 – 5 May 1896) was an English investor and businessman. North was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, the son of a coal merchant and a churchwarden. At the age of fifteen he was apprenticed to millwrights and engine ...

Nitrate Producers' Steamship Company Sir John Latta, 1st Baronet (9 May 1867 – 5 December 1946) was a Scottish shipping magnate. Latta was born in Old Cumnock, Ayrshire, the son of William Latta,Biography, ''Who Was Who'' and was educated at Ayr Academy. He entered the family busi ...

Ltd ("Anglo Line"). Short's went on to supply the line with 30 ships, starting with and continuing until at least 1929. From 1897 Short's undertook contract work for several

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as published i ...

shipyards. In 1900 John Y Short died, his brother Joseph took over and the business was converted from a partnership into a limited company, Short Brothers Limited. The yard now employed 1,500 people.

20th century

In the First World War the yard built 14 barges for 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 ...

, plus merchant ships including four

cargo ships A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

to the War Shipping Controller's standard B type design. After the war Short's built its first two

turbine steamers A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced by a turbine can be used for generating e ...

; the 7,607 GRT

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

s (1921) and (1922) for

Union-Castle Line The Union-Castle Line was a British shipping line that operated a fleet of passenger liners and cargo ships between Europe and Africa from 1900 to 1977. It was formed from the merger of the Union Line and Castle Shipping Line. It merged with ...

. During the 1920s shipbuilding declined. Short's workforce struck in 1923 and 1926 and the yard closed in June 1930. Arcwear

In 1933 Short's reopened to build , a

tramp A tramp is a long-term homeless person who travels from place to place as a vagrant, traditionally walking all year round. Etymology Tramp is derived from a Middle English verb meaning to "walk with heavy footsteps" (''cf.'' modern English ''t ...

steamer designed by

Joseph Isherwood Sir Joseph William Isherwood, 1st Baronet (23 June 1870 – 24 October 1937) was a British naval architect. He invented the Isherwood System of longitudinal construction of ships and the Arcform System. Isherwood was born in Hartlepool, the ...

. She was the first of Isherwood's new "arcform" design, which increased cargo capacity by 10% and increased speed, but also reduced fuel consumption. ''Arcwear'' was launched in November 1933 and made her maiden voyage in 1934. Her fuel economy and speed exceeded expectations but she rolled badly in heavy weather and did not even move smoothly in calm weather. Only a few further arcform cargo ships and

tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanke ...

were built. In 1938 Short's closed again, despite having a tramp ship still under construction. In the summer of 1939 Short's reopened again. During the Second World War it built mostly tramp steamers, plus two tankers and one LCT. Under the direction of the

Ministry of War Transport The Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) was a department of the British Government formed early in the Second World War to control transportation policy and resources. It was formed by merging the Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Transport ...

by the end of 1944 Short's switched from building ships to its own design to assembling partly prefabricated government standard C-type cargo ships. By the end of the war Short's was employing about 900 people. In 1946 John H Short was company chairman and H.S. Short, great-grandson of the founder, joined the board of directors. In the early 1960s the Short family did not want to invest in lengthening the yard's berths to build bigger ships. Therefore, after Short's launched the universal

bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo — such as grains, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement — in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, econom ...

on 17 October 1963 and completed her in January 1964, they closed the business with the loss of 300 jobs. USS Cacique World War I

*1889 – SS ''Magnus Mail'' – hull 184 *1892 – *1910 – *1918 – *1927 – – hull 425 *1940 – *1941 – *1941 – – hull 466 *1941 – *1941 – *1941 – *1942 – – hull 474 *1942 – *1942 – *1942 – *1942 – *1943 – *1943 – *1943 – *1943 – *1943 – – hull 480 *1944 – *1945 – *1945 – *1945 – *1946 – *1952 –

References

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Short Brothers, Sunderland Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United Kingdom Shipbuilding companies of the City of Sunderland British companies established in 1900 Manufacturing companies established in 1900 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1964 1900 establishments in England 1964 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 1964