J. Samuel White 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 bef ...

firm based in

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Fl ...

, taking its name from John Samuel White (1838–1915). It came to prominence during the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwa ...

. During the 20th century it built

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed ...

s and other naval craft for both 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 Fr ...

and export customers; they also built lifeboats and various types of commercial vessels. (It is worth mentioning that there was another 'White's engineers and shipyard' of Cowes, that of William White & Sons (1883 - 1929); the use of the term 'White's of Cowes' can, and does, lead to confusion.)

History

The family had a long tradition of shipbuilding in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, with James White constructing the cutter ''Lapwing'' for the Royal Navy at

Broadstairs Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 o ...

in 1763–1764, as well as fast vessels for the Revenue services and fishing smacks, and even a number of West Indiamen. At least three generations of the White family business undertook shipbuilding before Thomas White, (1773–1859) the grandfather of John Samuel White, moved from Broadstairs, to

East Cowes East Cowes is a town and civil parish in the north of the Isle of Wight, on the east bank of the River Medina, next to its west bank neighbour Cowes. The two towns are connected by the Cowes Floating Bridge, a chain ferry operated by the Isle ...

on the northern coast of the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the largest and second-most populous island of England. Referred to as 'The Island' by residents, the Is ...

in 1802, where he acquired the shipbuilding site on the east bank of the River Medina where there was already more than a century of shipbuilding tradition. In the closing years of the

Napoleonic War The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

he began work on what would become the 'Thetis' Yard across the river on the West bank on the 'salterns' and marsh between the Medina and Arctic roads. It opened officially on 1 October 1815. J. S. White subsequently rebuilt the east bank site which in 1825 became the Falcon Yard. Tucumán 1938

Records indicate that by the 1850s J. S. White's docks with its steam

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

s and engine shops, and the mast and block shops, provided work for around 500 craftsmen. J Samuel White expanded still further in 1899. It rapidly became a world leader in the design and construction of small- to medium-sized naval and merchant ships, and also built numerous smaller craft, including more than 130 lifeboats for the

RNLI The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

, more than any other builder. Sir Barnes Wallis, later famous as an aeronautical engineer, worked as a draughtsman for the company at the start of his career, before moving to Vickers to design airships. Cowes Crane and 100yr old Lugger

An expansion of the yard in 1911 led to the purchase of a large 80 ton

hammerhead crane A crane is a type of machine, generally equipped with a hoist rope, wire ropes or chains, and sheaves, that can be used both to lift and lower materials and to move them horizontally. It is mainly used for lifting heavy objects and transporti ...

from

Babcock & Wilcox Babcock & Wilcox is an American renewable, environmental and thermal energy technologies and service provider that is active and has operations in many international markets across the globe with its headquarters in Akron, Ohio, USA. Historicall ...

Renfrew, Scotland Renfrew (; sco, Renfrew; gd, Rinn Friù) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's form ...

. The crane was installed in 1912 on the Cowes side of the river and still survives, it was last used in 2004, and now

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. At the height of its shipbuilding activities, J. S. White had shipbuilding slipways on the eastern side of the River Medina at East Cowes and fitting-out quays, engineering works and administration offices at Cowes on the western side of the river. In 1922 J. S. White established the 'Island Transport Co. Ltd.' with barges running from Southampton, (and initially Portsmouth) to East Cowes to carry supplies for the shipyards. Any spare capacity was used to carry general, commercial cargo. After the shipyards closed in 1965, the trade was just general cargo. The Island Transport company was sold to the Red Funnel Group in 1968. At some time, J. S. White acquired the Henry Bannister, rope making business of Cowes. In 1954 J. S. White acquired the shipbuilding business of William Weatherheads at

Cockenzie Cockenzie and Port Seton ( sco, Cockennie ; gd, Cùil Choinnich, meaning "cove of Kenneth") is a unified town in East Lothian, Scotland. It is on the coast of the Firth of Forth, four miles east of Musselburgh. The burgh of Cockenzie was created ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. the business was carried on under the name 'William Weatherhead & Sons (1954) Ltd' until 1965 when it was renamed 'J. Samuel White (Scotland) Ltd'. In 1961 J. S. White acquired the postcard and greeting-card printing business of J. Arthur Dixon with production facilities at

Newport, Isle of Wight Newport is the county town of the Isle of Wight, an island county off the south coast of England. The town is slightly north of the centre of the island, and is in the civil parish of Newport and Carisbrooke. It has a quay at the head of the ...

and at

Inverness, Scotland Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Historic ...

. The company was sold in 1974 to the

Dickinson Robinson Group The Dickinson Robinson Group, or DRG, was a listed British paper, printing and packaging company founded in 1966 as a result of a merger of John Dickinson Stationery Ltd and E. S. & A. Robinson Ltd, creating one of the world's largest stationery an ...

. With the regular construction of

turbine 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 ...

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central ...

s, steam and

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-cal ...

s, the Cowes site became an engineering works. With the closing of the shipbuilding section in 1965, the works on the East Cowes side of the river were sold to the

British Hovercraft Corporation British Hovercraft Corporation (BHC) was a British hovercraft manufacturer that designed and produced multiple types of vehicles for both commercial and civil purposes. Created with the intention of producing viable commercial hovercraft in March ...

in 1966. In 1968 the company received a take-over bid for the whole group of companies from the Foreign and Colonial Investment Trust; by December 1968 the take-over was complete - at this time it was reported that there were 1000 people employed over the group. In 1971 Foreign and Colonial Investment Trust sold the company to Spectrol Holdings, a UK subsidiary of the Carrier Corporation of

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. It is the fifth-most populous city in the state of New York following New York City, Buffalo, Yonkers, and Rochester. At the 2020 census, the city' ...

. By 1979 the company had been renamed Elliott Turbomachinery Ltd and employed almost 850 people; and the American parent company, the Carrier Corporation, was taken over by another American company,

United Technologies United Technologies Corporation (UTC) was an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut. It researched, developed, and manufactured products in numerous areas, including aircraft engines, aerospace systems, ...

. In 1981 the company finally ceased trading and the sites were closed. "Sammy" White built well over two thousand vessels at their various shipyards at East Cowes between 1803 and their closure in 1963.

Naval vessels

An order in 1911 of six destroyers for the

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy ( es, Armada de Chile) is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Origins and the War ...

, these destroyers were fitted with J. S. White's own design of water-tube boiler, the

White-Forster boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, an ...

. These were similar to contemporary

three-drum boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, an ...

designs, but had a remarkable number of smaller tubes. Paul Hyland describes how J. S. White had grown during the succeeding century: ORP Grom

Naval vessels built by J. Samuel White (vessels in some classes also built by other shipbuilders) include (in date order): * Vigilant-class gun vessel (1856) (J & R White) * HMS TB81 (1885), torpedo boat * Conflict-class destroyer (1895) * TB 114-class torpedo boat (1903-1905) *

River-class destroyer The River-class destroyer (re-designated in 1913 as the E class) was a class of torpedo boat destroyer built for the Royal Navy at the turn of the 20th century, and which saw extensive service in World War I. The class introduced new features t ...

(1905) *

Cricket-class coastal destroyer The ''Cricket'' class and following classes of coastal destroyers were a series of small torpedo boat destroyers (TBDs) intended to complement the Royal Navy's s. The thirty-six vessels which broadly comprised this group actually consisted of se ...

(1906-1908) * Tribal-class destroyer (1906-1909) * Acorn-class destroyer (otherwise, H-class) (1911) * Acheron-class destroyer (otherwise Admiralty I class) (1911) * Almirante Lynch-class/Faulknor-class flotilla leader (1912-1914) Originally 6 were ordered for the

, 2 were delivered, the other 4 purchased by the Royal Navy for use during

WW1 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighti ...

, after WW1 the 3 surviving vessels were passed on to the Chilean Navy. * Laforey-class destroyer (1913) *

Marksman-class flotilla leader The ''Marksman'' class (sometimes known as ''Lightfoot'' class) were a class of flotilla leaders built for the Royal Navy. Two each were ordered in the naval programmes of 1913–14 and 1914–15 with a further three being ordered under the Em ...

(1915) *

Admiralty M-class destroyer The M class, more properly known as the Admiralty M class, were a class of 85 destroyers built for the Royal Navy of United Kingdom that saw service during World War I. All ships were built to an identical – Admiralty – design, hence the c ...

(1915) * R-class destroyer (1916) * S-class destroyer (1917) *

V and W-class destroyer The V and W class was an amalgam of six similar classes of destroyer built for the Royal Navy under the 9th, 10th, 13th and 14th of fourteen War Emergency Programmes during the First World War and generally treated as one class. For their ti ...

(1917) * HMS E32 Submarine (1917) * HMS F2 Submarine (1917) *

Landing Craft Landing craft are small and medium seagoing watercraft, such as boats and barges, used to convey a landing force (infantry and vehicles) from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. The term excludes landing ships, which are larger. ...

- J. S. White built a prototype Motor Landing Craft in 1926 * Mendoza-class destroyer (late 1920's) built for the

Argentine Navy The Argentine Navy (ARA; es, Armada de la República Argentina). This forms the basis for the navy's ship prefix "ARA". is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with th ...

* Bittern-class sloop escort vessel - (1936) *

Grom-class destroyer The ''Grom''-class destroyers were two destroyers, built for the Polish Navy by the British company of J. Samuel White, Cowes. They were laid down in 1935 and commissioned in 1937. The two ''Grom''s were some of the fastest and most heavily arm ...

(1937) - built for the Polish Navy,

ORP Grom Three ships of the Polish Navy have been named ORP ''Grom'' ( pl, thunder): * was a launched in 1936 and sunk near Narvik in 1940. * was a Project 30bis destroyer received from the USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Sovi ...

and ORP Blyskawica, the latter (the oldest preserved destroyer in the world) currently (2022) a

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

ship in

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...

. * Egret-class sloop (1938) * Kingfisher-class sloop (1938) *

J-, K- and N-class destroyer The J, K and N class consisted of 24 destroyers built for the Royal Navy beginning in 1938. They were a return to a smaller vessel, with a heavier torpedo armament, after the that emphasised guns over torpedoes. The ships were built in three fl ...

(1939) * Type I Hunt-class destroyer escort (1939) * Type II Hunt-class destroyer escort (1939) - 2 were used by the Polish Navy as ORP Kujawiak (L72) and

ORP Krakowiak (L115) ORP ''Krakowiak'' was a British Type II Hunt-class destroyer escort, used by the Polish Navy during World War II. Initially built for the Royal Navy, it bore the name of HMS ''Silverton'' during British use. History The ship was laid down ...

Hunt-class destroyer The Hunt class was a class of escort destroyer of the Royal Navy. The first vessels were ordered early in 1939, and the class saw extensive service in the Second World War, particularly on the British east coast and Mediterranean convoys. They ...

(1940) *

Q and R-class destroyer The Q and R class was a class of sixteen War Emergency Programme destroyers ordered for the British Royal Navy in 1940 as the 3rd and 4th Emergency Flotilla. They served as convoy escorts during World War II. Three Q-class ships were transf ...

(1942) * British Type III Hunt-class destroyer escort (1943) * C-class destroyer (1943-1945) - including

HMS Cavalier (R73) HMS ''Cavalier'' is a retired destroyer of the Royal Navy. She was laid down by J. Samuel White and Company at East Cowes on 28 March 1943, launched on 7 April 1944, and commissioned on 22 November 1944. She served in World War II and in v ...

, preserved as a museum ship, currently (2022) at

Chatham Historic Dockyard The Historic Dockyard Chatham is a maritime museum on part of the site of the former royal/naval dockyard at Chatham in Kent, South East England. Chatham Dockyard covered 400 acres (1.6 km²) and was one of the Royal Navy's main facil ...

. *

Halcyon-class minesweeper The ''Halcyon'' class was a class of 21 oil-fired minesweepers (officially, "fleet minesweeping sloops") built for the British Royal Navy between 1933 and 1939. They were given traditional small ship names used historically by the Royal Navy ...

(1942-1944) * Weapon-class destroyer (1945) * 75ft Motor Torpedo Boat (date unspecified – 1940’s?) * Daring-class destroyer (1950) *

Blackwood-class frigate The Type 14 ''Blackwood'' class were a ship class of minimal "second-rate" anti-submarine warfare frigates. Built for the Royal Navy during the 1950s at a time of increasing threat from the Soviet Union's submarine fleet, they served until the ...

(1952-1957) * Ham-class minesweeper (1953-1960) *

Rothesay-class frigate The ''Rothesay'' class, or Type 12M frigates were a class of frigates serving with the Royal Navy, South African Navy (where they were called President-class frigates) and the Royal New Zealand Navy.Purvis,M.K., 'Post War RN Frigate and Guided ...

(1961) - One built for the Royal Navy, another 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 ...

Leander-class frigate The ''Leander''-class, or Type 12I (Improved) frigates,Purvis, M.K., 'Post War RN Frigate and Guided Missile Destroyer Design 1944-1969', Transactions, Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA), 1974 comprising twenty-six vessels, was a ...

(1965) -

HMS Arethusa (F38) HMS ''Arethusa'' was a ''Leander''-class frigate of the Royal Navy. She was, like most of the ''Leander''s, named after a figure of mythology (the exceptions being ''Cleopatra'' and ''Sirius''). ''Arethusa'' was built by J.S. White & Compan ...

- the last ship built for the Royal Navy by J. S. White

Lifeboat production

Over the years, J. S. White's produced lifeboats for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and other users. Their production included: * Barnett-class lifeboats * Lamb & White-class lifeboats * Liverpool-class lifeboat * Norfolk and Suffolk-class lifeboats * Oakley-class lifeboats * Ramsgate-class lifeboats * 35ft 6in Self-righting motor-class lifeboats * Surf-class lifeboats * Watson-class lifeboats

Aircraft production

In 1912 the company began constructing aircraft at

in a "Gridiron Shed" on the bank of the River Medina with Howard T. Wright as general manager and chief designer. Because of its location on the

the company choose the name Wight Aircraft. Between 1912 and 1916 the company moved its aircraft manufacturing facilities across the river to

and built a number of seaplanes: * Wight Pusher Seaplane * Wight Twin *

Wight Seaplane The Wight Seaplane was a British twin-float seaplane produced by J Samuel White & Company Limited (Wight Aircraft). It was also known as the Admiralty Type 840. Design and development Designed by Howard T Wright and built by the aircraft depar ...

Wight Baby The Wight Baby was a British single-seat seaplane fighter produced by John Samuel White & Company Limited (Wight Aircraft). Only three prototype aircraft were built. Design and development Designed by Howard T. Wright and built by the aircraft ...

* Wight Bomber *

Wight Converted Seaplane The Wight Converted Seaplane was a British twin-float patrol seaplane produced by John Samuel White & Company Limited (Wight Aircraft). Design and development Developed from the unsuccessful Wight Bomber for use as an anti-submarine patrol ai ...

* Wight Quadruplane * AD Seaplane Type 1000 In 1913 the company produced a

flying boat A flying boat is a type of fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a floatplane in that a flying boat's fuselage is purpose-designed for floatation and contains a hull, while floatplanes rely on fuselag ...

which was displayed at the London Air Show at Olympia in 1913.Flying Boats of the Solent, Norman Hull. The company also manufactured 110 Short Type 184 aircraft designed by

Short Brothers Short Brothers plc, usually referred to as Shorts or Short, is an aerospace company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Shorts was founded in 1908 in London, and was the first company in the world to make production aeroplanes. It was particu ...

. Through 1916–1917 the company developed the Wight Quadruplane prototype fighter. This aircraft was tested at

Martlesham Heath Martlesham Heath village is situated 6 miles (10 km) east of Ipswich, in Suffolk, England. This was an ancient area of heathland and latterly the site of Martlesham Heath Airfield. A "new village" was established there in the mid-1970s and t ...

from 1917, and was written off in 1918.

Commercial vessels

J. S. White's built ships for commercial customers, including: *

Crested Eagle The crested eagle (''Morphnus guianensis'') is a large Neotropical eagle. It is the only member of the genus ''Morphnus''. The crested eagle can grow up to long, with a wingspan up to , and weigh up to . The plumage varies between a light br ...

, a

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

built in 1925 for the

General Steam Navigation Company The General Steam Navigation Company (GSN), incorporated in 1824, was London's foremost short sea shipping line for almost 150 years. It was the oldest shipping company in the world to begin business with seagoing steam vessels. Foundation ...

, later requisitioned and sunk during the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allies of World War II, Allied soldiers during the World War II, Second World War from the bea ...

. *The

Massey Shaw ''Massey Shaw'' is a former London Fire Brigade fireboat, named after the first Chief Officer of the Metropolitan Fire Brigade, Captain Sir Eyre Massey Shaw. Built in 1935 and decommissioned in 1971, the vessel was restored in the early 21st c ...

a Thames fireboat (1935) *The Woolwich Ferries, John Benn (1930) and Will Crooks (1930) *Nore Light Vessel (1931) *Nos 2 and 3 Cowes Floating Bridges (1925, & 1936) *No 1 Sandbanks chain ferry (1926)

References

Publications

* *David L. Williams, ''White's of Cowes''. Silver Link Publishing, 1993. .

External links

Pictures of some of J. Samuel White's ships

Naval Ships of J. Samuel White

Commercial Ships of J. Samuel White

Lifeboats of J. Samuel White

{{Authority control Maritime history of the United Kingdom Aviation history of the United Kingdom

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

Former defence companies of the United Kingdom Defunct shipbuilding companies of England Companies based on the Isle of Wight Defunct companies of England United Kingdom in World War I United Kingdom in World War II 1802 establishments in England 1981 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 1981 British companies established in 1802