Seawind Barclay Curle is a British

shipbuilding Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

company.

History

The company was founded by Robert Barclay at Stobcross in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

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 () 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 burgh's absorp ...

. It was incorporated in 1884 as ''Barclay Curle''. In 1912, Barclay Curle acquired the nearby Elderslie Shipyard in

Scotstoun Scotstoun () is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, west of Glasgow City Centre. It is bounded by Garscadden and Yoker to the west, Victoria Park, Jordanhill and Whiteinch to the east, Jordanhill to the north and the River Clyde (and Braehead ...

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. 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' 1909 AEG turbine factory in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

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 The River Clyde (, ) is a river that flows into the Firth of Clyde, in the west of Scotland. It is the eighth-longest river in the United Kingdom, and the second longest in Scotland after the River Tay. It runs through the city of Glasgow. Th ...

, along with those at Finnieston,

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 ...

and

Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...

. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the Barclay Curle yard built several s for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

. 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 o ...

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 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 wa ...

under the

Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977 The Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977 (c. 3) 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 Br ...

and transferred production to naval weapon systems by

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

( Sea Dart and Sea Wolf missiles) 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 () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, and at Appledore,

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

. 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 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 Partick