Shipbuilding company
Swan Hunter
, formerly known as
Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson
, is a
shipbuilding
design, engineering, and management company,
[1]
based in
Wallsend
,
Tyne and Wear
,
England
.
At its apex, the company represented the combined forces of three powerful shipbuilding families: Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson.
The company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century, most famously
RMS
Mauretania
which held the
Blue Riband
for the fastest crossing of the
Atlantic
, and
RMS
Carpathia
which rescued survivors from
RMS
Titanic
.
In 2006
Swan Hunter
ceased vessel construction on Tyneside, but continues to provide design engineering services.
History
[
edit
]
Swan & Hunter was founded by
George Burton Hunter
, who formed a partnership with the widow of
Charles Sheridan Swan
(the owner of a
Wallsend
Shipbuilding business established in 1852 by
Charles Mitchell
)
[2]
under the name in 1880.
[3]
In 1903, C.S. Swan & Hunter merged with
Wigham Richardson
(founded by
John Wigham Richardson
as Neptune Works in 1860), specifically to bid for the important contract to build
RMS
Mauretania
on behalf of
Cunard
.
[4]
Their bid was successful, and the new company, Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd, went on to build what was to become, in its day, the most famous oceangoing liner in the world. Also in 1903, the Company took a controlling interest in the
Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company
, which was an early licensed manufacturer of
Parsons
steam turbine engines, which enabled
Mauretania
to achieve her great speed.
[5]
Mauretania
was launched from
Wallsend
on 20 September 1906 by the
Duchess of Roxburghe
.
[6]
The firm expanded rapidly in the early part of the twentieth century, acquiring the Glasgow-based
Barclay Curle
in 1912.
[5]
In 1966, Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson merged with
Smiths Dock Company
to form
Associated Shipbuilders
, which later became
Swan Hunter Group
.
[7]
Following the publication of the
Geddes Report
recommending rationalisation in
British
shipbuilding, the Company went on to acquire
Clelands Shipbuilding Company
[8]
and
John Readhead & Sons
in 1967.
[9]
Meanwhile, Swan Hunter inherited both the Naval Yard at
High Walker
on the
River Tyne
of
Vickers-Armstrongs
[8]
and the
Hebburn
Yard of
Hawthorn Leslie
in 1968.
[9]
In 1973 further expansion came with the purchase of
Palmers
Dock at
Hebburn
from
Vickers-Armstrongs
.
[10]
Then in 1977, Swan Hunter Group was
nationalised
as part of
British Shipbuilders
.
[7]
The former flagship of the
Royal Navy
,
HMS
Ark Royal
was built at Swan Hunter during this period, entering service in 1985.
[11]
The Company was
privatised
again in 1987 but decided to close its Neptune Yard in 1988.
[12]
It was then forced to call in the receivers when the UK government awarded the contract for
HMS
Ocean
to
Kvaerner Govan
in 1993.
[13]
The receiver took steps to break up the business.
[14]
However, the main shipyard in
Wallsend
was bought out from receivership by Jaap Kroese, a Dutch
millionaire
.
[7]
The yard subsequently undertook several ad-hoc ship repair and conversion projects for private-sector customers.
[15]
In 2000, Swan Hunter was awarded the contract to design and build two (Auxiliary) Landing Ship Dock ships for the
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
with two other ships being built by
BAE Systems Naval Ships
: the cost of the two Swan Hunter ships was to be £210 million including £62 million for lead yard services, with an inservice date of 2004.
[16]
By July 2006, the costs had risen to £309 million and only one ship had been delivered. As a result of this, the second ship
RFA
Lyme Bay
was transferred to
BAE Systems Govan
in Glasgow for completion.
[17]
In 2001, Swan Hunter acquired
Kværner
's
Port Clarence
offshore yard at
Teesside
[18]
but then in 2006 sold it to Wilton Engineering Group.
[19]
In November 2006, after the failure to complete
Lyme Bay
within budget and resulting exclusion from future Royal Navy shipbuilding projects,
Jaap Kroese
announced that the business was effectively finished and placed the Wallsend Yard's iconic cranes up for sale. He also said that he was actively looking for a buyer for the land.
[20]
During this time,
Lyme Bay
'
s earlier sister ship,
Largs Bay
, was noted as the last ship to be built and fully completed by Swan Hunter. In April 2007, Swan Hunter's cranes, along with its floating dock and other equipment, were sold to
Bharati Shipyards
,
India
's second-largest private-sector shipbuilder. The entire plant machinery and equipment from Swan Hunter was dismantled and transported to India over six months to be rebuilt at Bharati Shipyards.
[21]
Swan's performed the conceptual design of
Pioneering Spirit
, provisionally named
Pieter Schelte
, the world's largest platform installation/decommissioning and pipelay vessel. The basic design of the lifting systems was completed by the end of 2008, and detailed design of the hulls by May 2010.
[22]
In 2008, the company said it was concentrating on ship design with just under 200 people employed.
[1]
[23]
In 2016, Jaap Kroese died but the company said it would continue with its business of ship design. At the time, the company had 40 employees and contractors.
[24]
Also in 2016, Swan Hunter was relaunched into the subsea industry by Gerard Kroese, the eldest son of former owner Jaap Kroese. Swan Hunter started to offer specialist equipment, design, engineering & project management services to the offshore renewables and subsea oil & gas energy markets.
[25]
On 12 October 2016, the company announced the issue of a letter of intent for the design and build of a basket carousel loading tower.
[26]
The company announced further equipment pool growth through a 15Te tensioner and 450Te reel drive system.
[27]
Swan Hunter announced loading tower readiness on 5 May 2017
[28]
with completion of mobilisation onto EMAS Chiyoda Subsea's multi-lay vessel 'Lewek Constellation' shortly thereafter.
[29]
Operations
[
edit
]
The Company owned three main yards:
All three were on the north side of
River Tyne
. The company also owned the
Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company
, the yard that built the engines for the Mauretania, from 1903 until the 1980s. At various times Swan Hunter also owned
Palmers Hebburn Yard
,
Hawthorn Leslie Hebburn Yard
and
Readheads
at
South Shields
which were all on the south side of the
River Tyne
.
Ships built by Swan Hunter
[
edit
]
Naval vessels
Commercial vessels
Cable ships
- Alert
- All America
- Ariel
- Bullfinch
- Bullfrog
- Bullhead
- Cambria
- Colonia
- Dominia
- Edward Wilshaw
- Emile Baudot
- Guardian
- Iris
- John W. Mackay
- Lord Kelvin
- Marie Louise Mackay
- Monarch
- Pacific Guardian
(1984)
- Patrol
- Recorder
- Sir Eric Sharp
(Launched 1988 ? renamed CS
IT Intrepid
)
- St. Margarets
- Stanley Angwin
- Telconia
Bulk Carrier
- Hoegh Duke
(1984)
- Robkap IV
(1977)
- Liverpool Bridge Renamed to the MV Derbyshire
(1976)
Research Vessels
Tankers
- Shell Supplier
(1946)
- ARA
Punta Medanos
(1950)
- Velutina
(1950)
- Velletia
(1952)
- Helix
(1953)
- Helcion
(1954)
- Heldia
(1955)
- Helisoma
(1956)
- Volvula
(1956)
- Llanishen
(1957)
- Zaphon
(1957)
- Varicella
(1959)
- Solen
(1961)
- Ottawa
(1964)
- Sir Winston Churchill
(1964)
- Clementine Churchill
(1965)
- Narica
(1967)
- Nacella
(1968)
- Esso Northumbria
(1969)
- Esso Hibernia
(1970)
- Faraday
(1970) Liquified petroleum gas tanker
- Texaco Great Britain
(1971)
- London Lion
(1972)
- Frank D. Moores
(1973)
- World Unicorn
(1973)
- Windsor Lion
(1974)
- Tyne Pride
(1975)
- Everett F. Wells
(1976)
- BP Achiever
(1983)
Battleship Potemkin
[
edit
]
On 1 May 2006, British pop-duo
Pet Shop Boys
performed their soundtrack to the 1925 Soviet silent-film
Battleship Potemkin
alongside the
Royal Northern Sinfonia
at the shipyard.
[43]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
"History"
. Archived from
the original
on 11 June 2013
. Retrieved
21 March
2016
.
- ^
"History"
. Archived from
the original
on 3 March 2016
. Retrieved
21 March
2016
.
- ^
"History"
. Archived from
the original
on 3 March 2016
. Retrieved
21 March
2016
.
- ^
"History of the Atlantic Cable & Submarine Telegraphy - Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Ltd"
. Retrieved
21 March
2016
.
- ^
a
b
"History"
. Archived from
the original
on 27 July 2014
. Retrieved
21 March
2016
.
- ^
Maxtone-Graham, John (1972), Page 25, The Only Way to Cross. New York: Collier Books,
ISBN
978-0-7607-0637-4
- ^
a
b
c
Fears for Tyneside tradition as Swan Hunter ship is towed to Govan for completion
Guardian, 15 July 2006
- ^
a
b
"Tyne & Wear Archives"
(PDF)
. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 3 November 2013
. Retrieved
4 April
2009
.
- ^
a
b
"History"
. Archived from
the original
on 3 March 2016
. Retrieved
21 March
2016
.
- ^
"History"
. Archived from
the original
on 22 February 2012
. Retrieved
21 March
2016
.
- ^
"Remembering Swan Hunter"
.
BBC
. 30 January 2008
. Retrieved
16 January
2011
.
- ^
Royal Navy Ship may bring work for 100's
Evening Chronicle, 30 August 2008
- ^
Duce, Richard (1993-05-12). "Barrow ship order dismays Tyneside". The Times (Times Newspapers).
- ^
Russell Hotten (14 October 1994).
"Receiver breaks up Swan Hunter"
.
The Independent
.
Archived
from the original on 26 May 2022
. Retrieved
16 January
2011
.
- ^
Peter Popham (22 June 1996).
"Making waves again"
.
The Independent
.
Archived
from the original on 26 May 2022
. Retrieved
16 January
2011
.
- ^
Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts 2004-05: Sixth Report of session 2005-06
. Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Defence Committee. Page 29. 2006
- ^
Lyme Bay gets going at Govan
Maritime Journal, 1 April 2007
- ^
Shipbuilder Swan's sells Teesside yard
Archived
1 April 2017 at the
Wayback Machine
The Journal, 13 April 2006
- ^
Ten years ago Port Clarence was an empty shell - now it's a hive of activity
Evening Gazette, 27 May 2008
- ^
"Demise of Swan Hunter?"
.
BBC
. 18 January 2007
. Retrieved
16 January
2011
.
- ^
Bharati buys out UK shipyard major Swan
Business Standard, 10 April 2007
- ^
"Pioneering Spirit Heavy Lift Construction Vessel, Switzerland"
. ship-technology.com
. Retrieved
31 March
2017
.
- ^
People blame the MoD for Swan Hunter's decline, not me
Evening Chronicle, 14 February 2008
- ^
Barbara Hodgson (1 January 2016).
"Swan Hunter owner Jaap Kroese has died in his native Holland, aged 76"
.
nechronicle
. Retrieved
21 March
2016
.
- ^
McCusker, Peter (21 September 2016).
"Swan Hunter to return to Tyneside under the son of former owner"
.
nechronicle
. Retrieved
27 July
2017
.
- ^
"Swan Hunter issue Letter of Intent to Motive Offshore Group for Basket Carousel Loading Tower"
.
Swan Hunter
. 12 October 2016
. Retrieved
27 July
2017
.
- ^
"Swan Hunter Grows Installation Equipment Pool with 15Te Tensioner and 450Te Reel Drive System"
.
Swan Hunter
. 24 October 2016
. Retrieved
27 July
2017
.
- ^
"Swan Hunter announce the completion of new 450Te Reel Drive System"
.
Swan Hunter
. 5 May 2017
. Retrieved
27 July
2017
.
- ^
"Swan Hunter Mobilisation of Flexlay Spread onto Lewek Constellation"
.
Swan Hunter
. 30 May 2017
. Retrieved
27 July
2017
.
- ^
"Ariosto"
. uboat.net
. Retrieved
31 August
2021
.
- ^
"Etrib"
. uboat.net
. Retrieved
31 May
2022
.
- ^
Lloyds (1931?32).
"Lloyd's Register"
(PDF)
. Lloyd's Register (through PlimsollShipData). Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 1 February 2014
. Retrieved
9 August
2013
.
- ^
"City of Oxford"
. uboat.net
. Retrieved
31 May
2022
.
- ^
"Tuapse"
. uboat.net
. Retrieved
30 June
2022
.
- ^
"Empire Explorer"
. uboat.net
. Retrieved
15 July
2022
.
- ^
"Miraflores"
. uboat.net
. Retrieved
16 December
2021
.
- ^
"Liverpool Packet"
. uboat.net
. Retrieved
30 April
2022
.
- ^
"Allister"
. uboat.net
. Retrieved
28 April
2022
.
- ^
"Ranella"
. uboat.net
. Retrieved
14 June
2021
.
- ^
"St. Clair II"
. uboat.net
. Retrieved
30 July
2021
.
- ^
"South Africa"
. uboat.net
. Retrieved
13 May
2022
.
- ^
"Mapleheath"
.
Maritime History of the Great Lakes
. Retrieved
1 August
2010
.
- ^
"Pet Shop Boys play shipyard gig"
. BBC. 2 May 2006
. Retrieved
17 April
2019
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Johnston, Ian; Buxton, Ian (2013).
The Battleship Builders - Constructing and Arming British Capital Ships
. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press.
ISBN
978-1-59114-027-6
.
External links
[
edit
]
54°59′12″N
1°31′43″W
/
54.98675°N 1.52856°W
/
54.98675; -1.52856
Modern timeline of British shipbuilding companies, 1960?present
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