Smith's Dock Company
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Smith's Dock Company, Limited, often referred to simply as Smith's Dock, was a British shipbuilding company.


History

The company was originally established by Thomas Smith who bought William Rowe's shipyard at St. Peter's in
Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...
in 1810 and traded as William Smith & Co. The company opened its dock in
North Shields North Shields ( ) is a town in the borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. The population of North Shields at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom cens ...
in 1851. One of the first ships to be launched at the yard was ''Termagent'' in 1852. The company changed its name to Smith's Dock Co. in 1891. The company became associated with
South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial area on the south bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Lambeth, central London, England. The South Bank is not formally defined, but is generally understood to be situated betwe ...
,
North Riding of Yorkshire The North Riding of Yorkshire was a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point was at Mickle Fell at . From the Restoration it was used as a lieutenancy area, having b ...
, after opening an operation there in 1907. Smith's Dock increasingly concentrated its shipbuilding business on the
River Tees The River Tees (), in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern-day history of the river has been tied with the industries ...
in South Bank, with its
North Shields North Shields ( ) is a town in the borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. The population of North Shields at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom cens ...
Yard being used mainly for repair work (in particular
oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...
s) from 1909 onwards. Despite the shift of focus, the company's headquarters remained at North Shields. Smith's Dock built many ships that served during 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 ...
, including
trawlers Trawler may refer to: Boats * Fishing trawler, used for commercial fishing * 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, Fir ...
that the
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 ...
requisitioned and converted to
armed 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 First and Second World Wars. Some, known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers", were purpose-built to na ...
s of the
Royal Naval Patrol Service The Royal Naval Patrol Service (RNPS) was a branch of the Royal Navy active during both the First and Second World Wars. The RNPS operated many small auxiliary vessels such as naval trawlers for anti-submarine and minesweeping operations to prot ...
such as , or , in which Lieutenant Richard Stannard ( RNR) won the
Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...
. The yard also built s for the Royal Navy including HMT ''Walnut'', which later became a famous refugee ship in Canada. Of the 20 of this class built for the Royal Navy, four were built by Smith's Dock.


Flower-class corvettes

Smith's Dock are perhaps most famous for preparing the design of the , an
anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapon ...
convoy escort of the Second World War celebrated in the novel ''The Cruel Sea''. In January 1939, William Reed of Smith's Docks Co. was approached by the
British Admiralty The Admiralty was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, department of the Government of the United Kingdom that was responsible for the command of the Royal Navy. Historically, its titular head was the Lord High Admiral of the ...
with a request for a design of a cheap and simple multi-role warship capable of being built in the multitude of small civilian shipyards not usually accustomed to building to naval standards. Smith Docks was highly regarded by the Admiralty because it had designed the Z-class whaler during World War I and was famed for its reputation for the construction of whale-catchers. Reed's resultant design suggestion was based on a larger version of the company's new whaler, , with a number of modifications. The length, for instance, was increased by 30 feet to give a higher speed, and two marine oil-fired boilers were to be fitted as these could be supplied in about 16 weeks instead of water tube boilers which would not be available for at least seven months. On 27 February 1939 the British Admiralty approved William Reed's sketch design and, with war becoming ever more likely, a bulk order was placed with the aim of creating a viable anti-submarine force where none had existed before. The first order, for twenty-six vessels, was soon followed by others, and by the end of 1939 no less than 110 vessels of this kind were under construction at various shipyards around the country (including by some large ones, such as the
Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff Holdings plc is a British shipbuilding and Metal fabrication, fabrication company headquartered in London with sites in Belfast, Arnish yard, Arnish, Appledore, Torridge, Appledore and Methil. It specialises in ship repair, ship ...
yard at Belfast). Smith's Dock built 12 of the total of 196 built of this class.


French Flower-class corvettes

At the outbreak of World War II the ''
Marine nationale The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of France. It is among the largest and most powerful naval forces in the world recognised as being a blu ...
'' (French Navy) needed ships for
anti-submarine warfare Anti-submarine warfare (ASW, or in the older form A/S) is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, submarines, or other platforms, to find, track, and deter, damage, or destroy enemy submarines. Such operations ar ...
(ASW) and, following 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 ...
(RN)'s example, placed orders from Smith's Dock for four corvettes. Following this the ''Marine nationale'' ordered a further 18 ships, to be built at a number of British and French shipyards. These were identical to the British Flower-class corvettes except that French and 13.2 mm anti-aircraft guns were to be fitted. The
Fall of France The Battle of France (; 10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign (), the French Campaign (, ) and the Fall of France, during the Second World War was the German invasion of the Low Countries (Belgium, Luxembourg and the Net ...
in June 1940 brought a drastic change to these building programmes. Of the original four French Flower-class corvettes, ''La Bastiaise'' was mined on builders trials and the others were taken over by the RN on completion. Of the second group, the 12 ships ordered from British yards were taken over by the RN and re-armed with British ordnance; all were renamed and given Flower names in keeping with the class. Orders for six of the second group were placed with Smith's Dock.
Before the ship was commissioned there would be a brief "Contractors Trial" which was followed by "Acceptance Trials"; two days later, on completion of trials, the ship would be formally commissioned, then fully stored and take to sea. These ships could be constructed and commissioned in, on average, just six months.


Merger

In 1966 Smith's Dock merged with
Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson 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 pow ...
to form Associated Shipbuilders, later to become Swan Hunter Group. In 1968, the company completed the first British-built and owned
container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermodal ...
, ''Manchester Challenge'' of 12,039 gross register tons, for operation on
Manchester Liners Manchester Liners was a cargo and passenger shipping company founded in 1898, based in Manchester, England. The line pioneered the regular passage of ocean-going ships along the Manchester Ship Canal. Its main sphere of operation was the transat ...
new container service to ports on the
St Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway () is a system of rivers, locks, canals and channels in Eastern Canada and Northern United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North America, as far inland ...
, Canada. By 1971, the company had delivered three further ships of this design to
Manchester Liners Manchester Liners was a cargo and passenger shipping company founded in 1898, based in Manchester, England. The line pioneered the regular passage of ocean-going ships along the Manchester Ship Canal. Its main sphere of operation was the transat ...
. In 1983 to 1984 Smith's Dock delivered two roll-on-roll-off ships for Brazilian owners. The
South Bank The South Bank is an entertainment and commercial area on the south bank of the River Thames, in the London Borough of Lambeth, central London, England. The South Bank is not formally defined, but is generally understood to be situated betwe ...
shipyard on the
River Tees The River Tees (), in England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea in the North East of England. The modern-day history of the river has been tied with the industries ...
finally closed in February 1987.


Legacy

The yard at North Shields, which had grown over the years to encompass a large site on the north bank of Tyne but was derelict by the 1990s, was then reclaimed when Places for People bought the land in 2006. New housing, as of 2023 comprising the Plateau, a crescent of townhouses, the Smokehouses, two apartments blocks, and a further row of low-rise contemporary terraced homes, has been completed so far. The plan is to eventually construct up to 850 homes, however, the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic recession in the UK has delayed any immediate further development.


See also

*
List of shipbuilders and shipyards A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...


Notes


References

* * * {{British shipbuilders evolution Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United Kingdom Defunct companies based in Tyne and Wear Manufacturing companies established in 1810 Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1987 1810 establishments in England 1987 disestablishments in England British companies established in 1810 North Shields 1966 mergers and acquisitions British companies disestablished in 1987 British Shipbuilders