Description
Smith’s Dock Co. was originally established by Thomas Smith,, who bought William Rowe’s shipyard at St. Peter’s, Newcastle upon Tyne in 1810 but traded as William Smith & Co. The company opened its dock in North Shields in 1851. The company changed its name to Smith’s Dock Co. in 1891.
In 1907, the company became associated with South Bank on the River Tees at Middlebrough, after opening an operation there ,Smiths Dock increasingly concentrated its shipbuilding business at South Bank, with its North Shields Yard being used mainly for repair work (in particular oil tankers) from 1909 onwards. Despite this shift of focus, the Company’s headquarters remained at North Shields.
Smiths Dock built many ships that served during WWII, including vessels that the Admiralty requisitioned and converted to armed trawlers of the Royal Naval Patrol Service . The yard also built Tree class trawlers, but Smiths 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 as the fictional HMS Compass Rose in the novel “The Cruel Sea”.
In 1966 Smith’s Dock merged with Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson to form Associated Shipbuilders, later to become Swan Hunter Group. In 1968, the company completed the first British-built and owned container ship, the Manchester Challenge of 12,039 gross tons, for operation on Manchester Liners new container service to ports in Canada. By 1971, the company had delivered three further ships of this design to Manchester Liners. In 1983 and ,1984 Smith Dock´s delivered two Roll-on-roll-off ships for Brazilian Owners, but the South Bank shipyard on the Tees finally closed in February 1987.
In the brief “boom” period following the end of the Great War, as recession began to loom, businesses in the threatened sectors like engineering and shipbuilding, indulged in quite lavish high quality publicity material in the chase after diminishing orders. (see also:
With their monthly magazine, Smith’s Dock killed two birds with one stone. Operating on two sites some miles apart, keeping the employees at both informed as to the activities of the business as a whole, and keeping existing customers up to date with latest developments. As a bonus there was an attractive publication which could be sent to potential clients.
Little expense was spared in making it a quality production, and these two issue were tied into the Company’s presence on a large display stand at the British Empire Exhibition at the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, with dozens of ship models.
The April issue makes the claim that the Company is “The Largest Dry Dock Owners and Ship Repairers in the World” and gives a thorough history of the three sites being operated at that time, with copious illustrations of vessels built or repaired.
The Exhibition did not open until near the end of April and the lead time for production of the magazine would have precluded even pictures of the partially completed structures, which were quickly made by pouring concrete into shuttering with decorative moulds. The October issue is largely dedicated to coverage of the Exhibition, but includes brief features on the history of tools, development of steam power, railways, and shipbuilding. The main attraction however is the superb collection of photographs of the Wembley site.
Other British Empire Exhibition Items:
PREVIEW BELOW – MAY TAKE A WHILE TO LOAD.
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