Greenwich Shipbuilding

GREENWICH SHIPBUILDING

In 1982 Peter Trigg gave a talk to a local society on the subject of local industry. The following article is taken from some of his notes on Shipbuilding.....

Ships were built on the Thames from very early times and the Royal Dockyards at Deptford and Woolwich were established in the Tudor period to build warships. Some private shipyards also built ships for the Royal Navy and a tradition of high quality assured these yards regular orders from shipowners such as the East India Company.

A hundred and twenty five years ago the Thames had the largest collection of shipyards and associated industries in the world and was producing vessels of all types, the majority not being of iron. Many yards specialised in fast, high quality vessels such as cross channel packets, warships, liners and yachts and the best naval architects, such as Oliver Young were commissioned to design them.

A large number of ships were also sold abroad until the foreign countries concerned were able to set up their own facilities. Most of the Worlds’ navies were supplied, even Germany being a customer.

The largest ships to be built on the Thames, indeed the largest in the world for another forty years, was Brunel's great Eastern constructed at John Scott Russell's yard in Millwall on the Isle of Dogs. She was considered to be the greatest engineering achievement of the time, and, although never a financial success was much ahead of contemporary vessels in design.  Another well known ship, HMS Warrior, launched in 1860 from Bow Creek and her Clyde built sister HMS Black Prince were the first warships to be built entirely in iron and their success finally convinced the Admiralty that the 'wooden wall' was obsolete. Warrior has survived and has now been restored to her original condition.

The follow organisations had their premises in the Deptford, Greenwich and Woolwich areas, many being well established by the 1850s.

CHARLES LUNGLEY  (DEPTFORD)

Lady Derby, Maudslay Son & Foeld

This yard was noteworthy for being one of the first to use a dry dock. Most of the ships were fairly small but of high quality as was his repair work. Marine engines were also built but in spite of this diversity the yard closed as early as 1866.

MAUDSLAY SONS AND FIELD

This firm built marine engines and small steamers at Lambeth but between 1866 and 1873 a number of larger vessels were constructed at east Greenwich. Henry Maudslay is regarded as the pioneer of machine tools and he was responsible for the earliest screw-cutting lathe. An interesting item, built in 1833, and still in use, is the time ball at the Greenwich Observatory.

HUMPHERIES TENNANT AND DYKE LTD.

Situated beside Charles Lungley's yard they built high class marine engines many being for warships. The P&O Company was a major customer and in the 1860s some of the earliest compound engines were supplied by them. The firm lasted until 1908 their final order being a set of turbines totalling 44,000 HP for HMS Invincible. One of the earliest dreadnought warships and the most powerful vessel built on the Thames.

J&G RENNIE

Established by John and George, the sons of the famous civil engineer John Rennie, this concern operated from the Albion Ironworks in Blackfriars and a shipyard at Norman Road, Greenwich. As well as ships and marine engines they built a wide range of equipment and cast iron structures such as the bridge over the Serpentine. Most of the engines they built were quite small and a very ingenious ‘disc’ type was developed as early as 1842 for powering small craft such as naval pinnaces. Screw propulsion was one of their first developments and the success of the screw engine they fitted in the Archimedes in 1838 persuaded I.K.Brunel to adopt this in the Great Britain.

 This article appeared in GIHS Newsletter May 1999