William Patterson Shipbuilders was a major
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
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
during the 19th century and an innovator in ship construction, producing both the ''
SS Great Western'' and ''
SS Great Britain
SS ''Great Britain'' is a museum ship and former passenger steamship that was advanced for her time. She was the largest passenger ship in the world from 1845 to 1854. She was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859), for the Great We ...
'', fine lined
yachts
A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...
and a small number of
warships
A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster an ...
.
[Farr, Graeme (1977). ''Shipbuilding in the Port of Bristol'' National Maritime Museum Maritime Monographs and Reports. p8]
History
Origins
Patterson Patterson may refer to:
People
* Patterson (surname)
Places
;Canada
* Pattersons Corners, Ontario
*Patterson Township, Ontario
*Patterson, Calgary a neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta.
;United States of America
* Patterson, Arkansas
*Patterson, C ...
, the founder, was born in
Arbroath,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, in 1795 and worked his way up from
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...
shop seller to
shipwright at
Rotherhithe
Rotherhithe () is a district of south-east London, England, and part of the London Borough of Southwark. It is on a peninsula on the south bank of the Thames, facing Wapping, Shadwell and Limehouse on the north bank, as well as the Isle of D ...
, and then foreman at steamship builder William Evans. Here he took charge of the yard for the build of the
steam packet ''Dasher'' for the Post Office, before moving to Bristol in 1823 to become assistant to
William Scott at his ship at Wapping.
When Scott when bankrupt in 1830, Patterson stepped in to take over the yard at East Wapping with partner John Mercer, Jr, as Patterson & Mercer. He also had business in the
timber trade There are multiple market layers for wood products. Each country has its own domestic market that may be connected to a regional or global market. Timber supply to domestic markets in many tropical forest countries is largely provided by informal lo ...
and had at least one vessel in operation, the
sloop ''Charles''.
Early vessels
Patterson’s first vessel was the steam packet ''County of Pembroke'' for the
Bristol Channel trade, which may have been in frame when he took over the yard from William Scott. The early constructions were traditional, the
smack ''Dispatch'' and the
West Indiaman
West Indiaman was a general name for any merchantman sailing ship making runs from the Old World to the West Indies and the east coast of the Americas. These ships were generally strong ocean-going ships capable of handling storms in the Atlantic ...
''Edward Colston'', but soon he began to produce ground breaking designs, such as the
schooner ''Velox'' in 1834 built to clipper lines, which surprised conservative Bristol shipowners.
The following vessels were a pair of steam packets, ''Lady Charlotte'' in 1834 and ''Mountaineer'' in 1835. Both were considered to be finished to a high standard, and lead to an approach by
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "on ...
, Thomas Guppy and the
Great Western Steamship Company
The Great Western Steam Ship Company operated the first regular transatlantic steamer service from 1838 until 1846. Related to the Great Western Railway, it was expected to achieve the position that was ultimately secured by the Cunard Line. Th ...
to build a large passenger steamship for the Bristol to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
route. By this time Mercer had left the business and it was refashioned William Patterson & Son.
Trans-Atlantic steamships
Patterson built the first steam vessel designed for regular Atlantic passengers in the ''
SS Great Western''
a large 1775 grt iron-strapped, wooden, side-wheel paddle steamer, which sailed for maiden voyage on 8 April 1838. The vessel proved very successful and from the beginning of the project in 1839 Patterson was involved in her successor which would become ''
SS Great Britain
SS ''Great Britain'' is a museum ship and former passenger steamship that was advanced for her time. She was the largest passenger ship in the world from 1845 to 1854. She was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806–1859), for the Great We ...
'',
employing his own hull lines with an iron hull and screw propulsion and built at the Great Western Yard. Many changes stimulated by Brunel were embodied and she eventually sailed from Bristol in December 1844.
![SS Great Britain by Talbot](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/60/SS_Great_Britain_by_Talbot.jpg)
The experience proved fruitful as Patterson was employed to draw up the hull lines for two large steamships built in Bristol by Acramans for the Royal West India Mail Company, the ''Avon'' and ''Severn'', and an order in his own yard for ''Demerara'', a 3000-ton bm vessel built for
Royal Mail Steam Packet Company
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by a Scot, James MacQueen. The line's motto was ''Per Mare Ubique'' (everywhere by sea). After a troubled start, it became the largest shipping group ...
which unfortunately was stranded and almost wrecked in the Avon in 1851. She was rebuilt as the then world’s largest sailing ship and her figurehead still features at the
M Shed
M Shed is a museum in Bristol, England, located on Prince's Wharf beside the Floating Harbour in a dockside transit shed formerly occupied by Bristol Industrial Museum. The museum's name is derived from the way that the port identified each of it ...
.
Warships
The yard’s first warships were three ‘war steamers’ for the navy of the German Confederation, two sisterships ''Inca'' and ''Cacique'' of 628 tons bm and the larger ''
Cora'' of 970 tons bm each built with auxiliary steam in 1849, renamed ''Großherzog von Oldenburg'' (Inca), ''Frankfurt'' (Cacique) and ''Der Königliche Ernst August'' (Cora). These were wooden paddle vessels with low power engines and a full sail plan and built to a strong design on Lang’s improved principle diagonally fastened upon the plan of
Sir Robert Seppings.
In 1856, Patterson built two
gunboats
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
History Pre-stea ...
of the
''Albacore'' class, ''HMS Ernest'' and ''HMS Escort'' carrying 1-68pdr, 1-32pdr and 2-20pdrs,
[Colledge, JJ (2006). ''Ships of the Royal Navy, The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy from the 15th Century to the Present'' Chatham Publishing. pxiii] and four mortar vessels with single 13in mortars 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 ...
for use in the
Crimean War
The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia.
Geopolitical causes of the war included the ...
. Unfortunately the yard made a loss of £21,000 on these orders, and this followed by a lack of new orders led to the creditors being called in June 1858 leading to having to sell his assets at Wapping and concentrate business at the Great Western Yard.
Yachts
Patterson was responsible for a number of pilot cutters and also had a line of yachts built in the yard. The ''Oriana'' of 69 tons bm was built in 1852 for G.S. Tritton of the
Royal Yacht Squadron
The Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) is a British yacht club. Its clubhouse is Cowes Castle on the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. Member yachts are given the suffix RYS to their names, and are permitted (with the appropriate warrant) to w ...
, and Patteron himself raced his own iron cutter yacht ''Cyclone'' built in a neighbouring Bristol yard.
Final ships
From 1858 all the company’s vessels were built at the Great Western Yard, starting with the completion of the
barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...
''Constance'' which had been started at the Wapping Yard, and including fast
schooners and a number of rebuildings including new screw arrangements on the ''Royal Bride'' and the rebuild of French steamship ''Jacquard'' which emerged as the ''Great Victoria''.
1864-65 was the final flourish with four large iron three-masters being completed, including
''Royal Adelaide'' and ''Royal Sovereign'' of 140 tons bm for Fernie Brothers of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
. These were the largest iron sailing ships ever built in Bristol. William Patterson Sr. moved to Liverpool in 1865 (d. 1870), and his son continued at Bristol with a salvage business at Dean’s Marsh.
William Patterson built ships
Major ships built by Patterson & Mercer:
*''Dispatch'' (1831), 27 t bm
smack
*''County of Pembroke'' (1831), 110 t bm steam paddlewheel schooner
*''Edward Colstan'' (1833), 276 t bm schooner-barque
Major merchant ships built by William Patterson & Son:
*''Eagle'' (1834), 29 t bm steam paddlewheel
sloop
*''Lady Charlotte'' (1834), 75 t bm steam paddlewheel schooner
*''Velox'' (1834), 153 t bm schooner
*''Mountaineer'' (1835), 177 t bm steam paddlewheel schooner
*
''Great Western'' (1837), 1775 grt steam paddlewheel 4-masted schooner
*''Lucy'' (1840), 268 t bm barque
*
''Great Britain'' (1844), 2936 grt steam screw 6-masted schooner
*''Charlotte Jane'' (1848), 730 t bm ship-rigged merchantman
*''Era'' (1849), 204 t bm
brigantine
*''Lyra'' (1851), 242 t bm brigantine
*''Demerara'' (1851), 3000 t bm paddlewheel steamer (finished as sailing vessel)
*''Oriana'' (1852), 56 t bm screw yacht
*''Louisa'' (1852), 317 t bm ship-rigged merchantman
*''Batanga'' (1853), 141 t bm barque
*''Venus'' (1854), 741 t bm ship-rigged merchantman
*''Dora'' (1854), 219 t bm barque
*''Constance'' (1858), 351 t bm barque
*''Inez'' (1860), 109 t bm schooner
*''Wye'' (1861), 108 t bm iron steam paddlewheel schooner
*''White Squall'' (1864), 537 t bm iron barque
*''Ladye Love'' (1864), 501 t bm iron ship-rigged barque
*''Royal Sovereign'' (1864), 1338 t bm iron ship-rigged barque
*
''Royal Adelaide'' (1865), 1385 t bm iron ship-rigged merchantman
Warships built by William Patterson & Son:
*''Inca'' (1849), 628 t bm paddlewheel steam
gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
History Pre-ste ...
- ''Großherzog von Oldenburg'' (1850), 450 t bm paddlewheel steamer
*''Cora'' (1849), 970 t bm paddlewheel steam gunboat - ''Ernst August'' (1849), 741 t bm paddlewheel steamer
*''Cacique'' (1849), 628 t bm paddlewheel steam gunboat - ''Frankfurt'' (1849), 439 t bm paddlewheel steamer
*''No 49'' (1856), 166 ton mortar vessel
*''No 50'' (1856), 166 ton mortar vessel
*''No 51'' (1856), 166 ton mortar vessel
*''No 52'' (1856), 166 ton mortar vessel
*''Ernest'' (1856), 233 ton wooden screw gunboat
*''Escort'' (1856), 233 ton wooden screw gunboat
References
{{reflist, colwidth=30em
Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United Kingdom
Manufacturing companies established in 1831
Defunct companies based in Bristol