The Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth of Bow Creek at its confluence with the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

, at Leamouth Wharf (often referred to as Blackwall) on the west side and at Canning Town on the east side. Its main activity was

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 befo ...

, but it also diversified into civil engineering, marine engines, cranes, electrical engineering and motor cars.Jim Lewis 1999, ''London's Lea Valley'', Phillimore, The company notably produced iron work for

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 ...

Royal Albert Bridge The Royal Albert Bridge is a railway bridge which spans the River Tamar in England between Plymouth, Devon and Saltash, Cornwall. Its unique design consists of two lenticular iron trusses above the water, with conventional plate-girder app ...

over the Tamar in the 1850s, and the world's first all-iron warship, HMS ''Warrior'', launched in 1860.

History

1837–46

The company originated in 1837 as the Ditchburn and Mare Shipbuilding Company, founded by shipwright Thomas J. Ditchburn and the engineer and naval architect Charles John Mare. Originally located at

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century to the late 19th it was home ...

, after a fire destroyed their yard the company moved to Orchard Place in 1838, between the East India Dock Basin and Bow Creek. There they took over the premises of the defunct shipbuilders William and Benjamin Wallis. The firm did well and within a few years occupied three sites covering an area of over . Ditchburn and Mare were among the first builders of iron ships in the area; their partnership commenced with the construction of small

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 we ...

s of between 50 and 100 tons, before progressing to cross- Channel vessels and by 1840 were building ships of more than 300 tons. The company's early customers included the Iron Steamboat Company and the Blackwall Railway Company, several paddle steamers being constructed for the latter, including the ''Meteor'' and the ''Prince of Wales'', which operated between Gravesend and the company's station on Brunswick Wharf. In this period the company was also awarded several contracts by the Admiralty, including HMS ''Recruit'' (a 12-gun brig) which was one of the first iron warships built. They also constructed the P & O Company's steamers ''Ariel'' and ''Erin'', along with the paddle steamer for

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

1847–56

Thomas Ditchburn retired in 1847 and the business was carried on by Charles Mare, under the name of C.J. Mare and Company. He was joined by naval architect James Ash, who later began his own shipyard at

Cubitt Town Cubitt Town is a district on the eastern side of the Isle of Dogs in London, England. This part of the former Metropolitan Borough of Poplar was redeveloped as part of the Port of London in the 1840s and 1850s by William Cubitt, Lord Mayor of L ...

. From 1847 the company grew considerably and Mare purchased land on the Canning Town side of the River Lea, a ferry service being established between the two sites. Mare constructed a yard with furnaces and

rolling mill In metalworking, rolling is a metal forming process in which metal stock is passed through one or more pairs of rolls to reduce the thickness, to make the thickness uniform, and/or to impart a desired mechanical property. The concept is simil ...

s that could construct vessels of 4,000 tons; because of the narrowness of the spit at the mouth of the River Lea, the Orchard Place site was limited to the construction of vessels of less than 1,000 tons. In 1853 the company launched the SS ''Himalaya'' for the

Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company P&O (in full, The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company) is a British shipping and logistics company dating from the early 19th century. Formerly a public company, it was sold to DP World in March 2006 for £3.9 billion. DP World c ...

, briefly the world's largest passenger ship before becoming a naval

troopship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

. In 1855, the company which by now had more than 3000 employees, was threatened with closure following Mare's

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

cy. It is thought by some that his financial difficulties arose from delays in payment for completed work or, alternatively, that the company had miscalculated the cost of building vessels for the Royal Navy. The business did not lack orders, having in hand six contracts for gunboats and the contract for

Westminster Bridge Westminster Bridge is a road-and-foot-traffic bridge over the River Thames in London, linking Westminster on the west side and Lambeth on the east side. The bridge is painted predominantly green, the same colour as the leather seats in the ...

(which was built in 1862).

1857–1912

The company's chief creditors moved to keep the company in operation, and two employees, Joseph Westwood and Robert Baillie were appointed works managers. The main figure in saving the company was Peter Rolt, Mare's father-in-law and

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

MP for

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

. Rolt was also a timber merchant and a descendant of the

Pett Pett is a village and civil parish in the Rother district of East Sussex, England. The village is located north-east of Hastings on the edge of Pett Level, the one-time marshes stretching along the coast of Rye Bay. The road through the villa ...

shipbuilding family. He was supported in the venture by another company director, Lord Alan Spencer-Churchill. Rolt took control of the company's assets and in 1857 transferred them to a new

limited company In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by shares, the lia ...

, named the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Ltd.. It had a capital of £100,000 in 20 shares of £5000 each, five of which were held by Rolt who was the main shareholder and also chairman of the board. The new company was the largest shipbuilder on the Thames, its premises described by the Mechanics' Magazine in 1861 as "Leviathan Workshops". Large scale

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

maps of the 1860s show the yard occupying a large triangular site in a right-angled bend on the east bank of Bow Creek with the railway to Thames Wharf on the third side, and with a smaller site on the west bank. The main yard had a quay 1,050 feet (320m) long. To the south-east the yard occupied the north bank of the Thames east of Bow Creek, with two slips giving direct access to the main river. Today the site is crossed by the

A1020 A1, A-1, A01 or A.1. may refer to: Education * A1, the Basic Language Certificate of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages * Language A1, the former name for "Language A: literature", one of the IB Group 1 subjects * A1, a ...

Lower Lea Crossing and the

Docklands Light Railway The Docklands Light Railway (DLR) is an automated light metro system serving the redeveloped Docklands area of London, England and provides a direct connection between London's two major financial districts, Canary Wharf and the City of Lo ...

south of

Canning Town station Canning Town is a London Underground, Docklands Light Railway (DLR) and London Buses station in Canning Town in London, England. It is designed as an intermodal metro and bus station, fully opening in 1999 as part of the Jubilee Line Extensio ...

. By 1863 the company had the capacity to build 25,000 tons of warships and 10,000 tons of

mail steamer Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European countries and in North American rivers and canals, some of them steam driven. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th ...

s simultaneously. One of its first Admiralty contracts was for HMS ''Warrior'', launched in 1860, at the time the world's largest warship and the first iron-hulled armoured frigate. HMS ''Minotaur'' followed in 1863, long and 10,690 tons displacement. Work on vessels such as ''Minotaur'' was performed on the Canning Town side of the Lea, and this is where the Thames Ironworks expanded from less than in 1856 to by 1891. While the old site at Orchard Place was still the company's official address until 1909, its presence there was minimal, by the late 1860s the company having only a site there. General shipbuilding on the Thames came under great pressure due to the cost advantages of northern yards with closer supplies of coal and iron, and many yards closed following the 1866 financial crisis. Of the survivors, those like the Thames Ironworks were specialised in warships and liners. HMS Sans Pareil ready for launching 1887 Flickr 5374541067 30e01bf104 o

HMS Sans Pareil ready for launching 1887 Flickr 5374541067 30e01bf104 o

Following the success of HMS ''Warrior'' and HMS ''Minotaur'', orders were placed by navies all over the world, and vessels were built for

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, Spain and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

. The yard also built the

n Navy's first iron-hulled warship, the SMS ''König Wilhelm'' in 1868 and the cruiser '' Afonso de Albuquerque'' for Portugal in 1884. A multitude of mostly small warships were also built for the

Romanian Navy The Romanian Navy ( ro, Forțele Navale Române) is the navy branch of the Romanian Armed Forces; it operates in the Black Sea and on the Danube. It traces its history back to 1860. History The Romanian Navy was founded in 1860 as a river flo ...

, most notably the brig '' Mircea''. Also notable was the tiny minelayer ''

Alexandru cel Bun Alexander the Good ( ro, Alexandru cel Bun or ''Alexandru I Mușat''; c. 1375 – 1 January 1432) was a Voivode (Lord) of Moldavia, reigning between 1400 and 1432, son of Roman I Mușat. He succeeded Iuga to the throne, and, as a ruler, init ...

''. The Iron Works also produced for the Romanian Navy a class of three small 45-ton gunboats, a class of three medium 116-ton gunboats and a class of eight 50-ton torpedo boats. In the 1890s philanthropist Arnold Hills became the managing director. He had originally joined the board of directors in 1880 at the age of 23. Hills was one of the first business directors voluntarily to introduce an

eight-hour day The eight-hour day movement (also known as the 40-hour week movement or the short-time movement) was a social movement to regulate the length of a working day, preventing excesses and abuses. An eight-hour work day has its origins in the ...

for his workers at a time when 10- and 12-hour shifts were more common in industrial work. In 1895 Hills helped to set up a football club for the Works' employees, Thames Ironworks F.C. and within their first two years they had entered the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

and the London League. As a result of the committee's desire to employ professional players, the Thames Ironworks F.C. was wound up in June 1900 and West Ham United F.C. was formed a month later. Merged with the engine builder John Penn and Sons in 1899 as the Thames Iron Works, Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. During its lifetime the yard produced 144 warships and numerous other vessels. In 1911 Hills petitioned

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

, then

First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...

, regarding the lack of new orders. He was unsuccessful, and the yard was forced to shut in 1912. Within two years the United Kingdom was at war with the German Empire, with the yard's last major ship taking part in the Battle of Jutland. Kotri Bridge in Pakistan Sindh province was also constructed in between 1897 and 1912. The premises of the Thames Iron Works and Shipbuilding Company, Greenwich, were subsequently acquired in 1915, by the Royal Flying Corps (created in 1912) for the storage of aeroplanes.

Archaeology

Part of the company's Limmo Peninsula site was excavated during the construction of

Crossrail Crossrail is a railway construction project mainly in central London. Its aim is to provide a high-frequency hybrid commuter rail and rapid transit system crossing the capital from suburbs on the west to east, by connecting two major railway l ...

in 2012.

Notable products

*In the 1850s the company produced iron work for I.K. Brunel's

over the Tamar at

Saltash Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Corn ...

. *In 1897 to 1912 the company did the Iron Works of

Kotri Bridge, Sindh Province of Pakistan Kotri ( sd, ڪوٽڙي, ur, ) is a city and the headquarters of the Kotri Taluka of Jamshoro District of Sindh province in Pakistan. Located on the right bank of the Indus River, it is the 29th largest city in Pakistan by population. Name The ...

. * HMS ''Warrior'', launched in 1860, the world's first all-iron warship. When completed in October 1861, ''Warrior'' was the largest, fastest, most heavily armed and most heavily armoured warship in the world. *In the 1890s the yard built two of the six British-built battleships that formed the main Japanese battle line in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War ( ja, 日露戦争, Nichiro sensō, Japanese-Russian War; russian: Ру́сско-япóнская войнá, Rússko-yapónskaya voyná) was fought between the Empire of Japan and the Russian Empire during 1904 and 1 ...

of 1904–1905. *The launch of HMS ''Albion'' in 1898 was marred by an accident when several observers died following a bridge collapse. *The last major warship built by the yard, HMS ''Thunderer'' (22,500 tons), was launched in 1911.

Ships

* HMS ''Trident'', Royal Navy, 1845 (Ditchburn & Mare) * HMS ''Recruit'', Royal Navy, 1846, iron brig. * DS ''Rigi'', 1847. In continuous service on Lake Lucerne (Switzerland) until 1952. Since being decommissioned, she has been on display at the Swiss Transport Museum (Verkehrshaus). * PS ''Vladimir'', 1848 (C J Mare), "Russian War Steamer" * ''Argo'', 1853, first steamship to circumnavigate the world. * SS ''Himalaya'', 1853 (C J Mare), for

, later HMS ''Himalaya'', Royal Navy. * HMS ''Warrior'', Royal Navy, 1860 * ''Yavari'' and '' Yapura'', Peruvian Navy, 1862, exported in sections for assembly on

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, i ...

. * , Ottoman Navy, 1863 * HMS ''Minotaur'', Royal Navy, 1863 * RUS ''Pervenetz'', Imperial Russian Navy, 1863 * HMS ''Valiant'', Royal Navy, 1863 * ''Victoria'', frigate, 1865 * SNS ''Vitoria'', Spanish Navy, 1865 * HMS ''Serapis'', Royal Navy troopship, 1866 * ''Anglia'', 1866, iron paddle tug.Thames Tugs, William Watkins Limited
/ref> * SMS ''König Wilhelm'', 1869, Prussian Navy * , Ottoman Navy, 1869 * , Ottoman Navy, 1870 * HMS ''Magdala'', Royal Navy, 1870 * ''Hamidiye'', Ottoman Navy, 1872, purchased by the Royal Navy as HMS ''Superb'' * , Ottoman Navy, 1872 * , English Channel Steamship Company, 1874 * ''Mindello'', Portuguese Navy, 1875 * ''Rainha De Portugal'', Portuguese Navy, 1875 * , Portuguese Navy, 1876 * ''Fox'' 1877, iron tug * ''Canada'' 1880, Screw Tug * HMS ''Linnet'', Royal Navy, 1880 * NRP ''Afonso de Albuquerque'', Portuguese Navy, 1884 * HMS ''Benbow'', Royal Navy, 1885 * HMS ''Sans Pareil'', Royal Navy, 1887 * HMS ''Blenheim'' Royal Navy, 1890 * , Arthur Ponsonby, 1890 * HMS ''Grafton'', Royal Navy, 1892 * HMS ''Theseus'', Royal Navy, 1892 * Battleship ''IJN Fuji'', 1896 * Battleship ''Shikishima'', 1898 * HMS ''Albion'', Royal Navy, 1898 * HMS ''Cornwallis'', Royal Navy, 1901 * HMS ''Duncan'', Royal Navy, 1901 * Cromer Lifeboat Louisa Heartwell ON 495, RNLI 1902 * , Royal Navy, 1904 * ''J C Madge'', RNLI, Sheringham lifeboat, 1904, * HMS ''Nautilus'', Royal Navy, 1910, later named HMS ''Grampus'' * HMS ''Thunderer'', Royal Navy, 1911

Links to West Ham United Football Club

Employees at the Thames Ironworks formed a works football team, called Thames Ironworks Football Club. This club was later renamed

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

, whose emblem of the crossed hammers represents the large riveting hammers used in the shipbuilding trade. West Ham are also known as "The Hammers" for this reason. While the media and the general football world commonly refer to the club as The Hammers, the club's own supporters have always referred to their team as 'The Irons', which again comes from the link with Thames Ironworks. The chant 'Come on you Irons' is heard on every match day at West Ham. The shape of the 16th evolution of the club badge, launched after club moved to the Olympic Stadium in 2016, is a representation of the cross-section of the bow of HMS ''Warrior'', the first iron clad battleship, built by the Thames Ironworks in 1860.

Notes

External links

Arnold Hills
– International Vegetarian Union

Grace's Guide: Chronology
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thames Ironworks And Shipbuilding Company 1837 establishments in England 1912 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 1912 Ironworks and steelworks in England Engineering companies of the United Kingdom Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United Kingdom History of the London Borough of Newham History of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Shipbuilding in London Ships built in Leamouth Shipyards on the River Thames Port of London British companies established in 1837