Govan Shipbuilders Ltd (GSL) was 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 befor ...

company based on the

River Clyde The River Clyde ( gd, Abhainn Chluaidh, , sco, Clyde Watter, or ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde in Scotland. It is the ninth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third-longest in Scotland. It runs through the major cit ...

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 country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It operated the former Fairfield Shipyard and took its name from the

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric?: ''Gwovan'?''; Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of south-west City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south ba ...

area in which it was located.

History

The company was formed in 1972 by way of a purchase of the former Fairfield Shipyard in Govan from Sir Robert Smith, Liquidator of

Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS) was a Scottish shipbuilding consortium, created in 1968 as a result of the amalgamation of five major shipbuilders of the River Clyde. It entered liquidation, with much controversy, in 1971. That led to a "work-in" ...

(UCS), itself a product of the amalgamation of several Clydeside yards;

Fairfields Fairfields is a district and civil parish that covers a large new development area on the western flank of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. As the first tier of Local Government, the parish council is responsible for the people who liv ...

, Alex Stephens,

Charles Connell and Company Charles Connell and Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Scotstoun in Glasgow on the River Clyde. History The company was founded by Charles Connell (1822-1894) who had served an apprenticeship with Robert Steele and Co befor ...

, Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd. and John Browns. Between 1973 and 1980

Scotstoun Marine Ltd {{more citations needed, date=May 2008 Scotstoun Marine Ltd was a shipbuilding company in Glasgow, Scotland, on the River Clyde, formed in 1972 to operate the former shipyard of Charles Connell and Company following the collapse of Upper Clyde S ...

, a subsidiary of Govan Shipbuilders, also operated the former Connell shipyard in Scotstoun. In 1977 the Company was nationalised by the

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

government of

James Callaghan Leonard James Callaghan, Baron Callaghan of Cardiff, ( ; 27 March 191226 March 2005), commonly known as Jim Callaghan, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1976 to 1980. Callaghan is ...

under the

Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 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 subsumed into

British Shipbuilders British Shipbuilders (BS) was a public corporation that owned and managed the shipbuilding industry in Great Britain from 1977 through the 1980s. Its head office was at Benton House in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. History The corporation was ...

. Between 1973 and 1988, a total of 53 ships were built by Govan Shipbuilders at the Govan (former Fairfield) shipyard. Investment in plant equipment at the yard during this period included expansion of the steel fabrication facilities and the installation of four 80 ton travelling rope luffing cranes in 1975 by

Clarke Chapman Clarke Chapman is a British engineering firm based in Gateshead, which was formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange. History The company was founded in 1864 in Gateshead by William Clarke (1831–1890). In 1865 Clarke took in a partner, ...

, servicing the yard's three

slipway A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving small ...

s, in order to increase the size of units that could be prefabricated. An additional three 80 ton cranes from

were dismantled and transferred to Govan after the Scotstoun yard closed in 1980; they remain distinctive due to their blue paintwork. In 1988 the Govan Shipbuilders was sold to the Norwegian group Kvaerner Industries and was renamed

Kvaerner Govan Kvaerner Govan Ltd (KGL), located at Govan in Glasgow on the River Clyde, was a shipyard subsidiary formed in 1988 when the Norwegian group Kværner Industrier purchased the Govan Shipbuilders division of the nationalised British Shipbuilders co ...

.Privatising Defence Industries
NATO, 1994

References

External links

The Clyde-built ships data base - lists over 22,000 ships built on the Clyde

Faifield Shipyard, Govan - Clyde Waterfront Heritage
History of Glasgow Defunct shipbuilding companies of Scotland Manufacturing companies based in Glasgow Defunct companies of Scotland Former defence companies of the United Kingdom Govan Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1972 British companies established in 1972 1972 establishments in Scotland Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1988 British companies disestablished in 1988 1988 disestablishments in Scotland British Shipbuilders {{shipbuilding-stub