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 parish on the River Tees's southern bank. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The parish had a population of 24,741 at the 2011 census, in t ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

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 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 ...

, ten

sailing ship A sailing ship is a sea-going vessel that uses sails mounted on masts to harness the power of wind and propel the vessel. There is a variety of sail plans that propel sailing ships, employing square-rigged or fore-and-aft sails. Some ships c ...

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 ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. 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, then having given up h ...

made by

Blair & Co Blair is an English-language name of Scottish Gaelic origin. The surname is derived from any of the numerous places in Scotland called ''Blair'', derived from the Scottish Gaelic ''blàr'', meaning "plain", "meadow" or "field", frequently a “ba ...

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

. In 1893 the company built the German merchant ship '' SS Athen''. In the 1900s Richardson, Duck started building steel hulls. By the end of that decade Richardson, Duck had built five hundred

tramp steamers A boat or ship engaged in the tramp trade is one which does not have a fixed schedule, itinerary nor published ports of call, and trades on the spot market as opposed to freight liners. A steamship engaged in the tramp trade is sometimes calle ...

, other merchant ships and

lighters A lighter is a portable device which creates a flame, and can be used to ignite a variety of items, such as cigarettes, gas lighter, fireworks, candles or campfires. It consists of a metal or plastic container filled with a flammable liquid or ...

. 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 maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

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

limited liability company A limited liability company (LLC for short) is the US-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 a ...

. In the

First World War 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 fightin ...

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'' (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. 677) launched in 1919. NOLLINGTON COURT (9564510839)

In 1919 Richardson, Duck became a

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

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