William Denny and Brothers Limited, often referred to simply as Denny, was a Scottish shipbuilding company.

History

The shipbuilding interests of the Denny family date back to William Denny (born 1779), for whom ships are recorded being built in

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

as far back as 1811 such as the sailing sloop ''Alpha''.) By 1823 the company name had changed to William Denny & Son. The first ship it built under this name was the paddle steamer ''Superb''. From 1845 the company became Denny Brothers (this being William jnr, Alexander and

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

), and in 1849 the firm was reconstituted as William Denny & Brothers, this being William, James and Peter Denny. Although the Denny yard was situated near the junction of the River Clyde and the River Leven, the yard was on the Leven. The founder developed the company's interests in ship owning and operation with interests in the British & Burmese Steam Navigation Company, the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company and La Platense Flotilla. The Company built all types of ships but were particularly well known as producers of fine cross-channel

steamships A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...

and

ferries A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water tax ...

. It was a pioneer in the development of the ship's stabiliser in conjunction with

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

-based Brown Brothers & Company. In 1913 the Channel steamer ''Paris'' was one of the first ships to use geared turbine engines utilising new

Michell Michell is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Anthony Michell (1870–1959), Australian mechanical engineer * Bert S. Michell (c.1882–1938), American horse racing trainer * Charles Collier Michell (1793–1851), British soldier ...

tilting-pad

fluid bearing Fluid bearings are bearings in which the load is supported by a thin layer of rapidly moving pressurized liquid or gas between the bearing surfaces. Since there is no contact between the moving parts, there is no sliding friction, allowing flu ...

. It also undertook experimental work in hovercraft and

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

-type aircraft. A marine engineering company, also based in

, was formed by Peter Denny, John Tulloch and John McAusland in 1850 as Tulloch & Denny. In 1862 the company was renamed Denny & Co. The company manufactured a wide range of types of marine engines and was absorbed into William Denny & Brothers in 1918. HMS Jaguar F37

Dennys were always innovators and were one of the first commercial shipyards in the world to have their own experimental testing tank: this is now open to the public as a museum. William Denny & Company went into voluntary liquidation in 1963.

Denny ship model experiment tank

Inspired by the work of eminent naval architect William Froude, Denny's completed the world's first commercial example of a ship testing tank in 1883. The facility was used to test models of various ships and explored various propulsion methods, including propellers, paddles and vane wheels. Experiments were carried out on models of the Denny-Brown stabiliser and the Denny hovercraft to gauge their feasibility. Tank staff also carried out research and experiments for other companies:

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

-based

Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the W ...

decided to fit a

bulbous bow A bulbous bow is a protruding bulb at the bow (or front) of a ship just below the waterline. The bulb modifies the way the water flows around the hull, reducing drag and thus increasing speed, range, fuel efficiency, and stability. Large ships w ...

on the liner after successful model tests in the Denny Tank. After the Denny yard closed, the test tank facility was taken over by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited and used for the testing of submarines until the early 1980s. Re-opened as part of the

Scottish Maritime Museum The Scottish Maritime Museum is an industrial museum with a Collection Recognised as Nationally Significant to Scotland. It is located at two sites in the West of Scotland in Irvine and Dumbarton, with a focus on Scotland's shipbuilding heritage ...

in 1982, it retains many of its original features, including the 100m long ship testing tank. The towing carriage is still in working order and is demonstrated from time to time, but all instrumentation has been removed and so the tank cannot currently be used for hydrodynamic research and testing.

Denny-built vessels

Some significant Denny-built vessels include: * ''SS Margery'' (1814) for James McCubbin, first steamship on east coast, first on Thames and first to cross the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

* ''SS Greenock'' (1815) for James McCubbin, first steamship in

and first on

River Mersey The River Mersey () is in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it has formed par ...

* ''

Cutty Sark ''Cutty Sark'' is a British clipper ship. Built on the River Leven, Dumbarton, Scotland in 1869 for the Jock Willis Shipping Line, she was one of the last tea clippers to be built and one of the fastest, coming at the end of a long period ...

'' (1869); completed by Denny's after the liquidation of her contracted builders, Scott & Linton; preserved in a dry dock at

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, London * (1892); a

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, i ...

steamer and now a floating restaurant * (1899); excursion steamer on

Loch Katrine Loch Katrine (; or ) is a freshwater loch in the Trossachs area of the Scottish Highlands, east of Loch Lomond, within the historic county and registration county of Perthshire and the contemporary district of Stirling. The loch is about ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

* (1901); excursion steamer and the first commercial ship powered by steam turbines * ; an ocean liner built for the Cunard Line. Existed under multiple roles and ownerships for over 80 years before finally being scrapped in Japan. * (1893) A cross-channel ferry which sank in 1895 after collision with another LBSCR vessel, the cargo ship Lyon. * (1896) A cross-channel ferry, built as an almost exact replacement for SS Seaford. It was severely damaged by a torpedo from a German U-boat in 1916. At least 50 passengers died. * A cross-channel ferry which was involved in a collision with the windjammer Preußen 8 nautical miles (15 km) south of Newhaven, resulting in its total loss. *; a

refrigerated The term refrigeration refers to the process of removing heat from an enclosed space or substance for the purpose of lowering the temperature.International Dictionary of Refrigeration, http://dictionary.iifiir.org/search.phpASHRAE Terminology, ht ...

cargo liner that was the first commercial ship to be powered by a combination of reciprocating steam engines and a low-pressure steam turbine *; a cross-channel packet boat that was converted into a seaplane tender in 1914, sold to Filipino owners in 1933 and sunk by a mine in 1941 * '' Delta King'' (1924–26); currently a hotel, theatre, and restaurant in

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* '' Delta Queen'' (1924–26); currently a hotel at Chattanooga,

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

* (1933); A Clyde turbine steamer that was once a floating restaurant in London. Now undergoing restoration next to the

Glasgow Science Centre Glasgow Science Centre is a visitor attraction located in the Clyde Waterfront Regeneration area on the south bank of the River Clyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Queen Elizabeth II opened Glasgow Science Centre on 5 July 2001. It is one of Scotland's ...

. *; a Clyde paddle steamer that was converted into a minesweeper in 1939, a pub and restaurant in 1969 and was destroyed by fire in 1980 * (1937); built for the Southern Railway, and the World's last coal-fired sea-going paddle steamer when withdrawn from service in 1969. Undergoing preservation at the Island Harbour Marina on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

. * (1938); a former Denny-owned tug and tender on the Clyde * (1938); an Isle of Wight ferry that in 1974 became the Clyde ferry MV ''Sound of Sanda'' * (1950); a former Mersey ferry berthed at Woolwich, London * MV ''Fenerbahçe'' (1953); a former passenger ferry, now a museum ship in

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Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

* (1957); Leopard class frigate, now BNS ''Ali Haider'' in Bangladesh Navy * Denny D2 Hoverbus; an early attempt to build a hovercraft for use as a passenger vehicle * (1961) Last vessel built by William Denny and Brothers. She was a

Roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

Road/Rail ferry built for

New Zealand Railways Department The New Zealand Railways Department, NZR or NZGR (New Zealand Government Railways) and often known as the "Railways", was a government department charged with owning and maintaining New Zealand's railway infrastructure and operating the railway ...

Company flag

The company's flag consisted of a blue elephant against a white field. This image was taken from the civic arms of Dumbarton, and it also served to symbolise the strength and solidity of the company's products.

References

External links