Seawind Barclay Curle is a British

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to befo ...

company.

History

Crane at Barclay Curle shipyard,disused now

The company was founded by Robert Barclay at Stobcross in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

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 ...

during 1818.Grace's Guide: Barclay Curle
In 1862, the company built a large engineering works at Stobcross in Glasgow. In 1876, the company moved their yard down the river to

Whiteinch Whiteinch ( gd, Innis Bhàn) is an area in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated directly north of the River Clyde, between the Partick and Scotstoun areas of the city. Whiteinch was at one stage part of the burgh of Partick, until that ...

. It was incorporated in 1884 as ''Barclay Curle''. In 1912, Barclay Curle acquired the nearby Elderslie Shipyard in Scotstoun from John Shearer & Sons, to take the excess orders that the firm's existing Clydeholm yard in Whiteinch could not handle. Barclay Curle itself was acquired in 1912 by

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. At its apex, the company represented the combined forces of three powe ...

. On 11 November 1911 they launched from the Clydeholm yard MS ''Jutlandia'' for the Danish merchant fleet, the first British-built oil-engined vessel designed for ocean service. In 1913, the North British Diesel Engine Works was built at the company's Clydeholm Shipyard in Whiteinch, a seminal modernist building designed by Karl Bernhard and supervised by John Galt that was influenced by

Peter Behrens Peter Behrens (14 April 1868 – 27 February 1940) was a leading German architect, graphic and industrial designer, best known for his early pioneering AEG Turbine Hall in Berlin in 1909. He had a long career, designing objects, typefaces, and ...

' 1909 AEG turbine factory in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

and continues to stand today. In 1920 a large Titan Crane was constructed on the quayside adjacent to the engine works at the Clydehom Yard by Sir William Arrol & Co. to enable transfer of engines for fitting out of ships berthed alongside. It remains one of four examples to remain on the River Clyde, along with those at

Finnieston Finnieston is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, situated on the north bank of the River Clyde roughly between the city's West End and the city centre. Finnieston is home to the SECC and SSE Hydro, where many musical concerts, sporting events a ...

, Clydebank and Greenock. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the Barclay Curle yard built several s for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

. The Swan Hunter owned Barclay Curle ceased building ships in its Clydeholm Shipyard at Whiteinch, Glasgow in 1968, focusing its operations on its Tyneside yards. The Elderslie Dockyard, which lay further west on the other side of Scotstoun and operated by Barclay Curle, was acquired by

Yarrow Shipbuilders Yarrow Shipbuilders Limited (YSL), often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde. It is now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships, owned by BAE Systems, which has also op ...

in 1974. The North British Diesel Engine Works continued and was purchased by the marine engineering company Sulzer until it was nationalised as part of British Shipbuilders under the

Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977 The Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that nationalised large parts of the UK aerospace and shipbuilding industries and established two corporations, British Aerospace and British S ...

and transferred production to naval weapon systems by

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. Formed in 1977, in 1999 it purchased Marcon ...

(

Sea Dart Sea Dart, or GWS.30 was a Royal Navy surface-to-air missile system designed in the 1960s and entering service in 1973. It was fitted to the Type 42 destroyers (United Kingdom and Argentina), Type 82 destroyer and s of the Royal Navy. Originally ...

and

Sea Wolf missile The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

s) in the late 1970s, finally becoming an industrial estate in the mid-1980s. As part of the Seawind Group, the company is no longer based in Glasgow but retains ship repair facilities in

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Mersey Estuary and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wi ...

, and at Appledore,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

. The company records of the Barclay Curle company are held by Glasgow City Archives.National Archives

References

External links

Shipbuilding Archives
of Glasgow Library. Includes Barclay Curle archives {{authority control Defunct shipbuilding companies of Scotland 1818 establishments in Scotland Marine engine manufacturers Companies based in Glasgow Defunct companies of Scotland Former defence companies of the United Kingdom Companies based in Plymouth, Devon Manufacturing companies established in 1818 British companies established in 1818 River Clyde Engine manufacturers of the United Kingdom Scottish shipbuilders Partick