Robert Napier (engineer)
Robert Napier (21 June 1791 – 23 June 1876) was a Scottish marine engineer known for his contributions to Clyde shipbuilding. Early life Robert Napier was born in Dumbarton at the height of the Industrial Revolution, to James and Jean Napier. James was of a line of esteemed bell-wrights, blacksmiths, and engineers, with a brother (also named Robert) who served as blacksmith for the Duke of Argyll at Inveraray Castle. Napier was educated at the burgh school where he took an interest in drawing, which reflected in his later life in an interest in painting and fine arts. Against his father's hopes that he would become a minister in the Church of Scotland, he developed an interest in the family business. At age sixteen, he was confronted by a Royal Navy press gang who intended to conscript him into service during the Napoleonic Wars. Instead of allowing his son to be conscripted, James Napier signed a contract of formal indenture with his son, making him immune to conscripti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Bell Rock Lighthouse
The Bell Rock Lighthouse, off the coast of Angus, Scotland, is the world's oldest surviving sea-washed lighthouse. It was built between 1807 and 1810 by Robert Stevenson (civil engineer), Robert Stevenson on the Bell Rock (also known as Inchcape) in the North Sea, east of the Firth of Tay. Standing tall, its light is visible from inland. The masonry work on which the lighthouse rests was constructed to such a high standard that it has not been replaced or adapted in 200 years. The lamps and reflectors were replaced in 1843; the original ones are now in the Cape Bonavista Light, lighthouse at Cape Bonavista, Newfoundland, where they are currently on display. The working of the lighthouse has been automated since 24 October 1988. The Northern Lighthouse Board, which has had its headquarters at 84 George Street in Edinburgh since 1832, remotely monitors the light. The lighthouse previously operated in tandem with a shore station, the Bell Rock Signal Tower, built in 1813 at th ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South Asia and Southeast Asia), and later with East Asia. The company gained Company rule in India, control of large parts of the Indian subcontinent and British Hong Kong, Hong Kong. At its peak, the company was the largest corporation in the world by various measures and had its own armed forces in the form of the company's three presidency armies, totalling about 260,000 soldiers, twice the size of the British Army at certain times. Originally Chartered company, chartered as the "Governor and Company of Merchants of London Trading into the East-Indies," the company rose to account for half of the world's trade during the mid-1700s and early 1800s, particularly in basic commodities including cotton, silk, indigo dye, sugar, salt, spices, Potass ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fairfield Shipbuilding And Engineering Company
The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited, was a Scottish shipbuilding company in the Govan area on the Clyde in Glasgow. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Navy and other navies through the First World War and the Second World War. It also built many transatlantic liners, including record-breaking ships for the Cunard Line and Canadian Pacific, such as the Blue Riband-winning sisters RMS ''Campania'' and RMS ''Lucania''. At the other end of the scale, Fairfields built fast cross-channel mail steamers and ferries for locations around the world. These included ships for the Bosporus crossing in Istanbul and some of the early ships used by Thomas Cook for developing tourism on the River Nile. John Elder & Co and predecessors Millwright Randolph & Elliott Charles Randolph founded the company as Randolph & Co. He had been an apprentice at the Clyde shipyard of Robert Napier, and at Willi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Elder (shipbuilder)
John Elder (8 March 1824 – 17 September 1869) was a Scottish marine engineer and shipbuilder. He was born at Glasgow on 8 March 1824. His family was connected with Kinross, where, for several generations, his forefathers had followed the occupation of wrights, for which they seemed to have a special aptitude. He followed his father in constructing marine steam engines and in 1854 established the compound engine as its most efficient form, which made the use of steamships more competitive than sail (also see Maritime history#Age of Steam). He took out numerous patents and expanded the business to employ thousands of workers. Education and apprenticeship He was born in 1824 the son of David Elder and his wife, Grace Gilroy. John's father, David Elder (1785–1866), was a civil engineer who settled in Glasgow, and entered the shipbuilding firm of Mr. Robert Napier, the well-known shipbuilder, under whom, in 1822, he constructed the first marine engine, which was fitted up i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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John Brown & Company
John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish Naval architecture, marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and ''Queen Elizabeth 2 (ship), Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its height, from 1900 to the 1950s, it was one of the most highly regarded, and internationally famous, shipbuilding companies in the world. However thereafter, along with other UK shipbuilders, John Brown's found it increasingly difficult to compete with the emerging shipyards in Eastern Europe and the far East. In 1968 John Brown's merged with other Clydeside shipyards to form the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders consortium, but that collapsed in 1971. The company then withdrew from shipbuilding but its engineering arm remained successful in the manufacture of industrial gas turbines. In 1986 it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Trafalgar House (company), Trafalgar House, which in 1996 was taken over by Kvaerner. The latter closed the Clydebank engine ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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George Thomson (Shipbuilder)
George Thomson (25 March 1815 – 29 June 1866) was a Scottish marine engineer and shipbuilder, born at Partick, Glasgow. He served his apprenticeship with a Mr. Graham in Partick before entering the works of Mr. Robert Napier, where he quickly gained the best knowledge in marine engineering available. He then went into business with his brother James and the firm of James & George Thomson was born. The Thomsons started with engine building then expanded into shipbuilding in 1851. They produced over forty steamers including the ''Russia'', one of the top ships crossing the Atlantic. They then moved to Govan and later to a new works at Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ..., increasing staff from 1,500 to over 4,000 at the new works. After James' early reti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Steam Yacht
A steam yacht is a class of luxury or commercial yacht with primary or secondary steam propulsion in addition to the sails usually carried by yachts. Origin of the name The English steamboat entrepreneur George Dodd (1783–1827) used the term "steam yacht" to describe the steamer ''Thames'', ex ''Duke of Argyle''. Her service on the river had first been advertised on 22 June 1815 as "Thames Steam Yacht", intended to emphasise how luxurious these vessels were. Earliest steam yachts The first two private steam yachts known were: * ''Endeavour'', a wooden paddle steamer registered 28 January 1828 by builders Rawlinson and Lyon, Lambeth, 75’6” x 12’ x 7’2”, 25 tons with a 20 HP Maudslay, Sons and Field, Maudslay patent oscillating engine with two cylinders 20in. dia. X 2 ft. stroke, and registered to the eminent English engineer Henry Maudslay, London on 21 February 1828, who used her as his private steam yacht. The eminent Scottish engineer James Nasmyth mentions a ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Thomas Assheton Smith (1776–1858)
Thomas Assheton Smith (the younger) (2 August 1776 – 9 September 1858) was an English landowner and all-round sportsman who was notable for being one of the outstanding amateur cricketers of the early 19th century. He was a Tory politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1821 to 1837. He was also known for his pioneering work on the design of steam yachts in conjunction with the Scottish marine engineer Robert Napier. Early life Smith was born in Queen Anne Street, Cavendish Square, Westminster, London. He was the second son of Elizabeth ( Wynn) Smith and Thomas Assheton Smith I (1752–1828), who made his fortune in the Welsh slate industry and was a noted patron of cricket in the early years of Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) from the 1787 English cricket season. He had five sisters and an elder brother, John, who was expelled from the family after marrying a servant, paving the way for Thomas to become his father's heir. His younger brother, William, saw action at Trafa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Regatta
Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other water-borne craft for as long as such watercraft have existed. A regatta is a series of boat races. The term comes from the Venetian language, with ''regata'' meaning "contest, contention for mastery"(from ''regatare'' ("compete, haggle, sell at retail"), possibly from ''recatare'') and typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas. A regatta often includes social and promotional activities which surround the racing event, and except in the case of boat type (or "class") championships, is usually named for the town or venue where the event takes place; for example “valley field”. Although regattas are typically amateur competitions, they are usually for ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Northern Yacht Club
Northern Yacht Club is a yacht club in North Sydney, Nova Scotia (Canada). The club has hosted the Snipe Western Hemisphere & Orient Championship The Snipe Western Hemisphere and Asia Championship is an international sailing regatta in the Snipe class. The fleet of winning skipper is awarded the Hayward Western Hemisphere Trophy, donated by Commodore John T. Hayward, of Tulsa, Oklahoma. 3 ... in 1976, Worlds in 1979 and Junior Worlds in 1982. External linksWebsite {{Canada-org-stub Yacht clubs in Canada Yacht clubs in Nova Scotia ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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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, North Ayrshire, Irvine and Dumbarton, with a focus on Scotland's shipbuilding heritage. Irvine - The Linthouse The museum's Linthouse building is located at Irvine Harbour, situated within the List of Category A listed buildings in North Ayrshire, category A listed former Engine Shop of Alexander Stephen and Sons, which was salvaged and relocated from their derelict Linthouse shipyard in Glasgow in 1991. The Linthouse engineering shop is now home to a collection of significant vessels including MV ''Kyles'' and Clyde puffer, MV ''Spartan'' which are listed on the National Historic Ships UK register. A highly significant vessel built of iron in 1872 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Paisley, MV ''Kyles'' is the oldest iron Clyde built vessel still afloat in the UK. It entered the museum's collection in 1984. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |