Fleming and Ferguson was a Scottish

marine engineering Marine engineering is the engineering of boats, ships, submarines, and any other marine vessel. Here it is also taken to include the engineering of other ocean systems and structures – referred to in certain academic and professional circ ...

and

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 that traded between 1877 and 1969.

History

1877–1914

William Y. Fleming and Peter Ferguson (1840–1911) founded the company in Paisley,

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 ...

in 1877, making

marine steam engine A marine steam engine is a steam engine that is used to power a ship or boat. This article deals mainly with marine steam engines of the reciprocating type, which were in use from the inception of the steamboat in the early 19th century to thei ...

s. In 1885 they expanded into shipbuilding by taking over the business and Phoenix Shipyard of H. McIntyre & Co., which had built 122 ships since 1877, including for Campbell of

Kilmun Kilmun () is a linear settlement on the north shore of the Holy Loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It takes its name from the 7th-century monastic community founded by an Irish monk, St Munn (Fintán of Taghmon). The ruin of a 12th-century chur ...

. Fleming and Ferguson became a private company in 1895 and a public

limited company In a limited company, the Legal liability, liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a c ...

in 1898. In 1903 the Ferguson family withdrew from the business and set up their own shipyard,

Ferguson Shipbuilders Ferguson may refer to: Places Australia * Ferguson, Western Australia, a locality in the Shire of Dardanup Canada * Ferguson, British Columbia * Mount Ferguson (Ontario), a mountain in Temagami, Ontario * Ferguson Highway, in Northern Ontario * ...

, at

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow (, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recent census in 2011 s ...

. However, Fleming and Ferguson survived their departure and developed a World-class reputation for reciprocating engines and small ships. In 1889 Fleming and Ferguson built the

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

with quadruple-expansion engines. By 1894 Fleming and Ferguson were also making

water-tube boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-generat ...

s, which were featured in an article in '' The Engineer''. The firm also built reciprocating engines for non-marine use. In 1904 it supplied two inverted

triple-expansion engine A compound steam engine unit is a type of steam engine where steam is expanded in two or more stages. A typical arrangement for a compound engine is that the steam is first expanded in a high-pressure (HP) Cylinder (engine), cylinder, then ha ...

s for a water company in

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

. In the 1890s the company entered the specialist market for "knock down" vessels. These were bolted together at the shipyard, all the parts marked with numbers, disassembled into many hundreds of parts and transported in kit form for final reassembly with rivets. This elaborate method of construction was used to provide inland vessels for export. In 1898 it built the stern wheel paddle steamer and exported it in sections for reassembly at

Maryborough, Queensland Maryborough ( ) is a city and a Suburbs and localities (Australia), suburb in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the suburb of Maryborough had a population of 15,287 people. Geography Maryborough is located on the Mar ...

in Australia. The firm's main specialisms were vessels such as

dredgers Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing dam ...

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

floating crane Floating may refer to: * a type of dental work performed on horse teeth * use of an isolation tank * the guitar-playing technique where chords are sustained rather than scratched * ''Floating'' (play), by Hugh Hughes * Floating (psychological phe ...

lighthouse tender A lighthouse tender is a ship specifically designed to maintain, support, or tend to lighthouses or lightvessels, providing supplies, fuel, mail, and transportation. The work is often carried out by ships which also act as buoy tenders. In ...

s and, in 1904, the

icebreaker An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters, and provide safe waterways for other boats and ships. Although the term usually refers to ice-breaking ships, it may also refer to smaller ...

. Occasionally it also built

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 ...

s. In peacetime it also took one

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...

order, the

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine, military aircraft or land vehicle deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for ins ...

built in 1901 for service in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. In 1914 it had a workforce of 1,000.

First World War

In 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 ...

it built the s and (both 1917) and ; s and (both 1917), , and (both 1918) and and several ''Strath''-class

naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the World War I, First and World War II, Second World Wars. Some, known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers ...

Second World War

In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

it built the s , and (all 1942), (1943) and (1944); s , , , , , , , and ; s , and ; ; naval trawlers HMS ''Kerrera'', HMS ''Cava'', HMS ''Eriskay'' and HMS ''Bardsey'' and numerous LCTs.

1945–69

In 1946 Fleming and Ferguson built the

East African Railways and Harbours Corporation The East African Railways and Harbours Corporation (EAR&H) is a defunct company that operated railways and harbours in East Africa from 1948 to 1977. It was formed in 1948 for the new East African High Commission by merging the Kenya and Ugan ...

stern wheel paddle steamer , which plied the

Albert Nile The White Nile ( ') is a river in Africa, the minor of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the larger being the Blue Nile. The name "White" comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. In the stri ...

in Uganda. In 1964 the American Marine and Machinery Co. Inc. bought Fleming and Ferguson. The company's final ship was a dredger that it built speculatively. Fleming and Ferguson ceased trading before completing the vessel so Hugh Maclean of

Renfrew Renfrew (; ; ) is a town west of Glasgow in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. It is the historic county town of Renfrewshire. Called the "Cradle of the Royal Stewarts" for its early link with Scotland's former royal house, Renfrew gaine ...

completed her. The dredger, yard number 804, was eventually named ''Bled'' and exported to

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

Surviving ships

Surviving Fleming and Ferguson products include the floating steam cranes ''

Hikitia ''Hikitia'' is a self-propelled floating steam crane in Wellington Harbour, New Zealand. She is thought to be the only working steam crane of her type in the world. She is also the sister ship to the '' Rapaki'', formerly of the Port of Lytt ...

'' and '' Rapaki'' (both 1926) and dredger (1929), all in New Zealand; dredger (1961) (now called ''UCO 1'' and registered in

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

) and

research vessel A research vessel (RV or R/V) is a ship or boat designed, modified, or equipped to carry out research at sea. Research vessels carry out a number of roles. Some of these roles can be combined into a single vessel but others require a dedicated ...

''Andusandhani'' (1963) on the

Hooghly River The Hooghly River (, also spelled ''Hoogli'' or ''Hugli'') is the westernmost distributary of the Ganges, situated in West Bengal, India. It is known in its upper reaches as the Bhagirathi. The Bhagirathi splits off from the main branch of the G ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

References

{{Reflist Defunct shipbuilding companies of Scotland Marine engine manufacturers Companies based in Paisley, Renfrewshire Engine manufacturers of the United Kingdom