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Alexander Hall and Sons was a shipbuilder that operated in
Alexander Hall (1760–1849) was born in Auchterless, moved to Aberdeen in 1783 and took over his father-in-law’s shipbuilding business Cochar and Gibbon in 1790 to found Alexander Hall and Company. The first ships he built were wooden sailing vessels. A schooner built in 1839, The '' Scottish Maid'', was the first to use the " Aberdeen bow", which was designed to improve speed and performance.
When he died in 1849, Alexander Hall left the shipyard to his sons James and William. William took charge of ship design and James ran the business. They built many famous clippers, including ''Torrington'' in 1845 and ''Stornoway'' in 1850, used on the opium and tea routes.
One ship later developed was the '' Ihoshu Maru'', a
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 ...
from 1797 to 1957. They designed the pointed and sharply raked Aberdeen bow" first used on the '' Scottish Maid'' and which became a characteristic of the "extreme clipper
An extreme clipper was a clipper designed to sacrifice cargo capacity for speed. They had a bow lengthened above the water, a drawing out and sharpening of the forward body, and the greatest breadth further aft. In the United States, extreme clip ...
s".
History
Alexander Hall (1760–1849) was born in Auchterless, moved to Aberdeen in 1783 and took over his father-in-law’s shipbuilding business Cochar and Gibbon in 1790 to found Alexander Hall and Company. The first ships he built were wooden sailing vessels. A schooner built in 1839, The '' Scottish Maid'', was the first to use the " Aberdeen bow", which was designed to improve speed and performance.
When he died in 1849, Alexander Hall left the shipyard to his sons James and William. William took charge of ship design and James ran the business. They built many famous clippers, including ''Torrington'' in 1845 and ''Stornoway'' in 1850, used on the opium and tea routes.
One ship later developed was the '' Ihoshu Maru'', a 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 ...
-rigged steamship, built in the 1860s for the Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrend ...
. This vessel carried a belt of iron armour plating at the waterline together with eight 64 pounder and two 100 pounder guns. James suffered a fatal heart attack when a fire broke out in the yard during the ship's construction.
The firm built steamships as well as sailing ships. It built its first marine steam engine
A marine steam engine is a steam engine that is used to power a ship or boat. This article deals mainly with marine steam engines of the reciprocating type, which were in use from the inception of the steamboat in the early 19th century to their ...
in 1887, and installed it in the launch ''Petrel''. It built its first trawler, ''Maggie Walker'', in 1888, followed by more trawlers, coasters, tugs and dredgers. In 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 ...
Hall built 26 steam tugs, a large number being supplied to the Admiralty.
The firm became deeply involved with the welfare of its employees, starting a medical fund in 1846 which took care of sick pay, medical attention and medication, and met funeral expenses.
Failure to modernise and adapt after the war caused a decline in Hall's fortunes and in 1957 Hall, Russell & Company took over the company. Hall, Russell became part of British Shipbuilders in 1977. In the latter years the yard focused on ship repair work.
Legacy
A&P Appledore bought Alexander Hall's former shipyard. It closed in 1992 and was replaced by River Dee Ship Repairers. Today the site is part of Telford Dock and now has a modern drydock belonging to Dales Marine Services Limited (founded 1987), a ship repair and maintenance facility.Ships built
* ( brig) (1818) * ''Torrington'' (schooner) (1845) * ''Reindeer'' (clipper) (1848) * (1850) * (clipper) (1853) * (clipper) (1856) * (1860) * (clipper) (1861) * (clipper) (1864) * '' Ihoshu Maru'' (Japanese battleship) (1864) * ''Sobraon
Sobraon is a village in Punjab, India. It is located west to Harike village in Tarn Taran district. The Sutlej river is to the south of this village. The village is located at 31°10'39N 74°51'10E with an altitude of 192 metres (633 feet).
H ...
'' (clipper) (1866)
* (Japanese gunboat) (1870)
* ''Elissa'' (barque) (1877)
* ''Port Jackson'' (barque) (1882)
* (1918)
* ST ''Challenge'' (tug) (1931)
* (tug) (1945)
* (tug) (1946)
References
{{reflist British shipbuilders Defunct shipbuilding companies of Scotland History of Aberdeen