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Smith's Dock Company

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Smith's Dock Company
TypePrivate
IndustryShipbuilding
Founded1810
Defunct1987
FateAcquired
SuccessorSwan Hunter
HeadquartersSouth Bank, UK

Smith's Dock Company, Limited, often referred to simply as Smith's Dock, was a British shipbuilding company.

History

The company was originally established by Thomas Smith who bought William Rowe's shipyard at St. Peter's in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1810 and traded as William Smith & Co.[1] The company opened its dock in North Shields in 1851.[1] One of the first ships to be launched at the yard was Termagent in 1852.[1] The company changed its name to Smith's Dock Co. in 1891.[1]

The company became associated with South Bank, North Riding of Yorkshire, after opening an operation there in 1907.[2] Smith's Dock increasingly concentrated its shipbuilding business on the River Tees in South Bank, with its North Shields Yard being used mainly for repair work (in particular oil tankers) from 1909 onwards.[3] Despite the shift of focus, The company's headquarters remained at North Shields.

Smith's Dock built many ships that served during the Second World War, including trawlers that the Admiralty requisitioned and converted to armed trawlers of the Royal Naval Patrol Service such as HMT Amethyst, or HMT Arab, in which Lieutenant Richard Stannard (RNR) won the Victoria Cross.

The yard also built Tree-class trawlers for the Royal Navy including HMT Walnut, which later became a famous refugee ship in Canada.[4] Of the 20 of this class built for the Royal Navy, 4 were built by Smith's Dock.

Tree-class trawlers
Name Pennant Laid down Launched Completed
HMT Rowan T119 13 June 1939 12 August 1939 14 December 1939
HMT Walnut T103 15 June 1939 12 August 1939 13 December 1939
HMT Wisteria T113 19 July 1939 10 November 1939 16 February 1940
HMT Whitehorn T127 25 July 1939 10 November 1939 28 February 1940

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Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is also the most populous city of North East England. Newcastle developed around a Roman settlement called Pons Aelius and the settlement later took the name of a castle built in 1080 by William the Conqueror's eldest son, Robert Curthose.

North Shields

North Shields

North Shields is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is 8 miles (13 km) north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth.

North Riding of Yorkshire

North Riding of Yorkshire

The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres).

River Tees

River Tees

The River Tees, in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for 85 miles (137 km) to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has been tied with the industries on Teesside in its lower reaches, where it has provided the means of import and export of goods to and from the North East England. The need for water further downstream also meant that reservoirs were built in the extreme upper reaches, such as Cow Green.

Oil tanker

Oil tanker

An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries. Product tankers, generally much smaller, are designed to move refined products from refineries to points near consuming markets.

Fishing trawler

Fishing trawler

A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets that are pulled along the bottom of the sea or in midwater at a specified depth. A trawler may also operate two or more trawl nets simultaneously.

Royal Naval Patrol Service

Royal Naval Patrol Service

The Royal Naval Patrol Service (RNPS) was a branch of the Royal Navy active during both the First and Second World Wars. The RNPS operated many small auxiliary vessels such as naval trawlers for anti-submarine and minesweeping operations to protect coastal Britain and convoys.

HMT Amethyst

HMT Amethyst

HMT Amethyst was a naval trawler requisitioned by the Admiralty prior to the Second World War. She was sunk in the second year of the war.

HMT Arab

HMT Arab

HM Trawler Arab was a trawler launched in 1936. At the outbreak of World War II, she became a naval trawler serving in the Royal Naval Patrol Service. Lieutenant Richard Been Stannard won the Victoria Cross (VC) while serving as her commander during the Namsos campaign in 1940. The Admiralty returned her to her owners in 1945 and she remained in commercial service until she was scrapped at Ghent in 1963.

Richard Been Stannard

Richard Been Stannard

Captain Richard Been Stannard, was a British sailor, officer in the Royal Naval Reserve (RNR), and a recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Stannard was awarded the first VC to the RNR in the Second World War.

Royal Naval Reserve

Royal Naval Reserve

The Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) is one of the two volunteer reserve forces of the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom. Together with the Royal Marines Reserve, they form the Maritime Reserve. The present RNR was formed by merging the original Royal Naval Reserve, created in 1859, and the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve (RNVR), created in 1903. The Royal Naval Reserve has seen action in World War I, World War II, the Iraq War, and War in Afghanistan.

SS Walnut

SS Walnut

SS Walnut was a refugee ship converted from a British minesweeping Tree-class trawler which carried Baltic refugees from Sweden to Canada in 1948. The refugees' arrival at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia led to a controversy which played an important role in shaping Canada's postwar refugee policies.

Flower-class corvettes

1941 Flower-class corvette
1941 Flower-class corvette

Smith's Dock are perhaps most famous for preparing the design of the Flower-class corvette, an anti-submarine convoy escort of the Second World War celebrated in the novel The Cruel Sea.

In January 1939, William Reed of Smith's Docks Co. was approached by the British Admiralty with a request for a design of a cheap and simple multi-role warship capable of being built in the multitude of small civilian shipyards not usually accustomed to building to naval standards. Smith Docks was highly regarded by the Admiralty because it had designed the Z-class whaler during World War I and was famed for its reputation for the construction of whale-catchers. Reed's resultant design suggestion was based on a larger version of the company's new whaler, Southern Pride, with a number of modifications. The length, for instance, was increased by 30 feet to give a higher speed, and two marine oil-fired boilers were to be fitted as these could be supplied in about 16 weeks instead of water tube boilers which would not be available for at least seven months.

On 27 February 1939 the British Admiralty approved William Reed's sketch design and, with war becoming ever more likely, a bulk order was placed with the aim of creating a viable anti-submarine force where none had existed before. The first order, for twenty-six vessels, was soon followed by others, and by the end of 1939 no less than 110 vessels of this kind were under construction at various shipyards around the country (including by some large ones, such as the Harland and Wolff yard at Belfast). Smith's Dock built 12 of the total of 196 built of this class.[5]

French Flower-class corvettes

At the outbreak of World War II the Marine nationale (French Navy) needed ships for anti-submarine warfare (ASW) and, following the Royal Navy (RN)'s example, placed orders from Smith's Dock for four corvettes. Following this the Marine nationale ordered a further 18 ships, to be built at a number of British and French shipyards. These were identical to the British Flower-class corvettes except that French 100 mm (3.9 in) and 13.2 mm anti-aircraft guns were to be fitted.[6]

The Fall of France in June 1940 brought a drastic change to these building programmes. Of the original four French Flower-class corvettes, La Bastiaise was mined on builders trials and the others were taken over by the RN on completion.

Of the second group, the 12 ships ordered from British yards were taken over by the RN and re-armed with British ordnance; all were renamed and given Flower names in keeping with the class.[7]

First order
Ship Builder Completed Fate
La Bastiase Smith's Dock 22 June 1940 Sunk by mine, 22 June 1940
La Malouine Smith's Dock 30 July 1940 Transferred to RN as
HMS La Malouine (K46)
La Dieppoise Smith's Dock 26 August 1940 Transferred to RN as
HMS Fleur de Lys (K122)
La Paimpolaise Smith's Dock 26 September 1940 Transferred to RN as
HMS Nasturtium (K107)

Orders for six of the second group were placed with Smith's Dock.

Flower-class corvettes – Marine nationale* & Royal Navy
Name Pennant Laid down Launched Completed
HMS Snowdrop* K67 10 April 1940 19 July 1940 16 January 1941
HMS Sunflower K41 24 May 1940 19 August 1940 25 January 1941
HMS Tulip* K29 30 May 1940 4 September 1940 18 November 1940
HMS Verbena* K85 29 June 1940 17 October 1940 19 December 1940
HMS Veronica* K37 9 July 1940 17 October 1940 18 February 1941
HMS Wallflower* K44 23 July 1940 14 November 1940 7 March 1941
HMS Zinnia* K98 20 August 1940 28 November 1940 30 March 1941
Flower-class corvettes – Wartime orders under the 1939 and 1940 UK War Programmes
Name Pennant Laid down Launched Completed
HMS Stonecrop K142 4 February 1941 12 May 1941 30 July 1941
HMS Vetch K132 15 March 1941 27 May 1941 11 August 1941
HMS Sweetbriar K209 4 April 1941 26 June 1941 8 September 1941
HMS Thyme K210 30 April 1941 25 July 1941 23 October 1941
HMS Snowflake K211 19 May 1941 22 August 1941 22 August 1941

Before the ship was commissioned there would be a brief "Contractors Trial" which was followed by "Acceptance Trials"; two days later, on completion of trials, the ship would be formally commissioned, then fully stored and take to sea. These ships could be constructed and commissioned in, on average, just six months.

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Flower-class corvette

Flower-class corvette

The Flower-class corvette was a British class of 294 corvettes used during World War II by the Allied navies particularly as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the Battle of the Atlantic. Royal Navy ships of this class were named after flowers.

Corvette

Corvette

A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloop-of-war.

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations are typically carried out to protect friendly shipping and coastal facilities from submarine attacks and to overcome blockades.

French Flower-class corvette

French Flower-class corvette

French Flower-class corvettes were those ships of the Flower class built for, or operated by, the French Navy and Free French Naval Forces in World War II. At the outbreak of the war, four anti-submarine warfare ships were ordered from a British shipyard, and a further 18 ships were later ordered from several British and French shipyards. Following the Fall of France in June 1940, the ships in Britain were taken over by the Royal Navy, while those in France fell into German hands. Eight other Flowers were later transferred to the Free French Naval Forces.

French corvette La Bastiaise

French corvette La Bastiaise

La Bastiaise was a Flower-class corvette of the French Navy. The ship was built by the British shipyard Smiths Dock in their Middlesbrough shipyard, and was completed in June 1940, just before the French Armistice with Germany. She was sunk by a mine on 22 June 1940 during sea trials.

Naval mine

Naval mine

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any vessel or a particular vessel type, akin to anti-infantry vs. anti-vehicle mines. Naval mines can be used offensively, to hamper enemy shipping movements or lock vessels into a harbour; or defensively, to protect friendly vessels and create "safe" zones. Mines allow the minelaying force commander to concentrate warships or defensive assets in mine-free areas giving the adversary three choices: undertake an expensive and time-consuming minesweeping effort, accept the casualties of challenging the minefield, or use the unmined waters where the greatest concentration of enemy firepower will be encountered.

HMS La Malouine (K46)

HMS La Malouine (K46)

HMS La Malouine was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy, serving during the Second World War. Originally ordered by the French Navy under the same name, following the fall of France, the ship was seized by the United Kingdom and commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1940. The corvette remained in service until being broken up in 1947.

HMS Snowdrop (K67)

HMS Snowdrop (K67)

HMS Snowdrop was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War.

HMS Sunflower (K41)

HMS Sunflower (K41)

HMS Sunflower was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy. She served during the Second World War.

HMS Tulip (K29)

HMS Tulip (K29)

HMS Tulip was a Flower-class corvette that served in the Royal Navy. The corvette was launched by Smiths Dock Company on 4 September 1940 and was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 18 November 1940.

HMS Verbena (K85)

HMS Verbena (K85)

HMS Verbena was a Flower-class corvette of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She was launched in 1940, served in the Battle of the Atlantic, and was scrapped in 1951.

HMS Veronica (K37)

HMS Veronica (K37)

HMS Veronica was a Flower-class corvette, built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War, and was in service in the Battle of the Atlantic. In 1942 she was transferred to the United States Navy as part of the reverse Lend Lease arrangement and renamed USS Temptress, the name ship of the Temptress-class gunboats. With the end of hostilities she was returned to the Royal Navy and sold into mercantile service.

Merger

In 1966 Smith's Dock merged with Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson to form Associated Shipbuilders, later to become Swan Hunter Group.[8]

In 1968, the company completed the first British-built and owned container ship, Manchester Challenge of 12,039 gross register tons, for operation on Manchester Liners new container service to ports on the St Lawrence Seaway, Canada.[9] By 1971, the company had delivered three further ships of this design to Manchester Liners.

In 1983 to 1984 Smith's Dock delivered two roll-on-roll-off ships for Brazilian owners.

The South Bank shipyard on the River Tees finally closed in February 1987.[10]

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Swan Hunter

Swan Hunter

Swan Hunter, formerly known as Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, is a shipbuilding design, engineering, and management company, based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, England.

Container ship

Container ship

A container ship is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal freight transport and now carry most seagoing non-bulk cargo.

Manchester Liners

Manchester Liners

Manchester Liners was a cargo and passenger shipping company founded in 1898, based in Manchester, England. The line pioneered the regular passage of ocean-going vessels along the Manchester Ship Canal. Its main sphere of operation was the transatlantic shipping trade, but the company also operated services to the Mediterranean. All of the line's vessels were registered in the Port of Manchester, and many were lost to enemy action during the First and Second World Wars.

River Tees

River Tees

The River Tees, in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for 85 miles (137 km) to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has been tied with the industries on Teesside in its lower reaches, where it has provided the means of import and export of goods to and from the North East England. The need for water further downstream also meant that reservoirs were built in the extreme upper reaches, such as Cow Green.

Source: "Smith's Dock Company", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2022, June 30th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith's_Dock_Company.

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References

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d "From bustling docks to a new community". Evening Chronicle. 13 February 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  2. ^ "The Sound of Silence". Evening Gazette. 18 April 2002. Retrieved 5 April 2009.
  3. ^ Smith's Dock Monthly. April 1924. pp. 186, 193. {{cite magazine}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  4. ^ "SS Walnut 1948 - Voyaged to Freedom". Ship Statistics. Retrieved 3 April 2016.
  5. ^ "World War II Database".
  6. ^ Chesneau 1980, p. 277.
  7. ^ Elliott 1977, p. 188.
  8. ^ "Fears for Tyneside tradition as Swan Hunter ship is towed to Govan for completion". Guardian. 15 July 2006. Retrieved 4 April 2009.
  9. ^ Stoker 1985, p. 43
  10. ^ "Kirkleatham Museum". Archived from the original on 26 September 2008. Retrieved 4 April 2009.

Bibliography

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