Sir Leonard Redshaw (15 April 1911 – 29 April 1989) was a shipbuilder from

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of B ...

, England. Like his father, Redshaw became an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

ships' draughtsman at Vickers shipyard at the age of 16. Though this was unusual at the time, he completed graduate work at

Liverpool University , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

naval architecture Naval architecture, or naval engineering, is an engineering discipline incorporating elements of mechanical, electrical, electronic, software and safety engineering as applied to the engineering design process, shipbuilding, maintenance, and ...

, including some time in German plants in 1934. After advancing through management, he became the Shipbuilding Manager at the yard in 1950, aged 39, and then the

managing director A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the Barrow-based Vickers Shipbuilding Group in 1965. In 1968, he became the chairman of the company, and was knighted for his contributions to British

exports An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

in 1972. He retired in 1976, having been promoted to

deputy chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

Vickers Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public i ...

. In later life, he was a member of a so-called "Suicide Squad" of older engineers and scientists who volunteered to be first responders in disasters involving

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat fr ...

s. At Barrow, Redshaw oversaw the building of HMS ''Dreadnought'', the United Kingdom's first

nuclear-powered submarine A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion, ...

, and subsequently saw Barrow achieve a monopoly on the construction of British nuclear submarines. The ''Dreadnought'' success also led to the yard being appointed the primary builder of the submarines for the

UK Polaris programme The United Kingdom's Polaris programme, officially named the British Naval Ballistic Missile System, provided its first submarine-based nuclear weapons system. Polaris was in service from 1968 to 1996. Polaris itself was an operational system ...

. During this time, Redshaw was named as the "Builders Chief Polaris Executive"; on this project, he worked opposite and alongside Rear Admiral Hugh McKenzie of 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 ...

. The pair were mutually hostile, with Redshaw doubting that McKenzie had the business acumen to handle the project, and McKenzie thinking Redshaw and Barrow's plant to be highly outdated. The shipyard was highly profitable under his management, succeeding while other shipbuilding ventures were failing and becoming the major profit centre of the wider Vickers company. Despite this, Redshaw had a series of protracted disagreements with the ship builders' unions concerning the company's direction, and he was in turn critical of the unions' power. Redshaw published two books, ''British Shipbuilding-Welding'' (1947) and ''Application of Welding to Ship Construction'' (1962).

Personal

Redshaw married Joan Mary (née White) in 1939. They had a daughter and a son. He was a gliding enthusiast, logging over 3,000 hours in the air, and owner of several

glider Glider may refer to: Aircraft and transport Aircraft * Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight ** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...

models. A biography of Redshaw, ''Vickers' Master Shipbuilder: Sir Leonard Redshaw'' by Leslie M. Shaw, was published in 2011 by Black Dwarf Publications.

Personal

References

Further reading