Richardson, Duck and Company was a shipbuilding company in

Thornaby-on-Tees Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, north of York and south-east of Middlesbrough. On the south bank of the River Tees, Thornaby falls within th ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

that traded between 1855 and 1925.

History

The yard was founded as the South Stockton Iron Ship Building Co in 1852. Its premises were the former yard of engine builders Fossick of Stockton and its first vessel was the iron-hulled steamship ''Advance''. In 1855 Joseph Richardson and George Nixon Duck took over the yard. They built fifty iron steamships, a

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

, ten

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on Mast (sailing), masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing Square rig, square-rigged or Fore-an ...

s and 29 barges in their first ten years. In 1859 they built the paddle steamer ''Tasmanian Maid'' (yard no. 9) which in 1863 was converted into the

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-steam ...

. In 1859 Richardson, Duck took over the Rake Kimber yard at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. They built about 11 vessels at Middlesbrough and then sold the yard to Backhouse and Dixon in 1862. In 1870 Richardson, Duck built (yard no. 160) which in 1884 was re-engined with a

triple-expansion engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) Cylinder (engine), cylinder, then ha ...

made by Blair & Co of

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees is a market town in County Durham, England, with a population of 84,815 at the 2021 UK census. It gives its name to and is the largest settlement in the wider Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. It is part of Teesside and the Tees Val ...

. In 1893 the company built the German merchant ship . In the 1900s Richardson, Duck started building steel hulls. By the end of that decade Richardson, Duck had built five hundred tramp steamers, other merchant ships and

lighters A lighter is a portable device which uses mechanical or electrical means to create a controlled flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of flammable items, such as cigarettes, butane gas, fireworks, candles, or campfires. A lighter typica ...

. It had also become licensees for the Isherwood system of longitudinal framing. Richardson, Duck's ships in 1911 included the cargo steamship ''Budapest'' (yard no. 616) which was later renamed ''Kerwood'' and in 1918 was commissioned into the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

as . In 1912 Richardson, Duck built 12 ships and became a

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC) is the United States-specific form of a private limited company. It is a business structure that can combine the pass-through taxation of a partnership or sole proprietorship with the limited liability of ...

. In the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the yard built the ''Arabis''-class sloop (yard no. 661) and ''Aubrietia''-class sloop (yard no. 666). It also built a further dozen tramp steamers, eight standard War "A" tramps and a standard "AO" tanker. Richardson, Duck's wartime merchant orders included ''

Farnworth Farnworth is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, southeast of Bolton, 4 miles south-west of Bury (7 km), and northwest of Manchester. Within the historic county of Lancashire, Farnworth lies on ...

'' (yard no. 651), (yard no. 652) and ''Cardigan'' (yard no. 653) launched in 1917; (yard no. 662), (yard no. 671), (yard no. 672) and (yard no. 673) all launched in 1918 and (yard no. 676) and (yard no. 677) launched in 1919. In 1919 Richardson, Duck became a

public company A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) co ...

and in 1920 James and Walter Gould acquired a controlling interest in it. In 1922 the yard suffered industrial action and a lack of orders. Richardson, Duck's final ship was (yard no. 689) in 1924. In May 1925 the Gould Group went into liquidation and in 1933 the yard was demolished.

References

{{reflist Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United Kingdom Thornaby-on-Tees Teesside Manufacturing companies established in 1855 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1925 1855 establishments in England 1925 disestablishments in England British companies established in 1855