Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
![]() Launch of HMS Queen Mary beneath the distinctive gantry cranes of Palmers' yard | |
Type | Public |
---|---|
Industry | Shipbuilding |
Founded | 1852 |
Fate | Collapsed 1933 |
Successor | Armstrong Whitworth |
Headquarters | Jarrow, UK |
Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, often referred to simply as "Palmers", was a British shipbuilding company. The Company was based in Jarrow, County Durham, in north-eastern England, and also had operations in Hebburn and Willington Quay on the River Tyne.
History[]
Early history and growth[]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Palmers_Reed_boiler.jpg/220px-Palmers_Reed_boiler.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/Palmers_triple_expansion_engine.jpg/220px-Palmers_triple_expansion_engine.jpg)
The company was established in 1852 by Charles Mark Palmer as Palmer Brothers & Co. in Jarrow.[1] Later that year it launched the John Bowes, the first iron screw collier.[1][2] By 1900 the business was known as Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company.[3][Fn 1] At that time, besides building ships, it manufactured and processed its own steel and other metals, and its products included Reed water tube boilers and marine steam engines.[6][Fn 2] By 1902 Palmers' base at Jarrow occupied about 100 acres (41 hectares) and included 0.75 miles (1.2 kilometres) of the southern bank of the River Tyne, and employed about 10,000 men and boys.[8] In 1910 Sir Charles Palmer's interest in the business was acquired by Lord Furness who, as Chairman, expanded the business by acquiring a lease over a new graving dock at Hebburn from Robert Stephenson and Company.[9] In 1919 Palmers laid down the SS Gairsoppa, which was sunk by a German U-boat in 1941, causing the loss of 84 lives and 200 long tons (203 tonnes) of silver.[10][11]
Depression and collapse[]
The Great Depression, which began in 1929, all but destroyed the shipbuilding industry, which would not rebound until the Second World War. In 1931, Palmers posted a loss of £88,867 (equivalent to £6,083,000 in 2019). The company received a moratorium from its creditors in order to extend repayment. In January 1933, the majority of the company's unsecured creditors met in London and agreed to extend the moratorium a further six months.[12]
However, Palmers' was unable to survive and collapsed by the end of the year. The company's blast furnaces and steel works—which covered 37 acres—were put up for auction.[13] The Jarrow yard was sold to National Shipbuilders Securities, which closed it down in order to sell it, causing much unemployment and leading to the Jarrow March.[14] After the shipyard closed, following support from the industrialist, Sir John Jarvis, the site was used the engine shop as a steel foundry for another 18 months.[15]
The company retained the yard at Hebburn and was subsequently acquired by Armstrong Whitworth, becoming Palmers Hebburn Company.[16] In 1973, Vickers-Armstrongs, successor to Armstrong Whitworth, sold the Palmers Dock at Hebburn to Swan Hunter and developed it as the Hebburn Shipbuilding Dock.[17] This facility was acquired in turn from the receivers of Swan Hunter by Tyne Tees Dockyard in 1994, which sold it to Cammell Laird in 1995. When the latter entered receivership in 2001, the dock was acquired by A&P Group.[18][19] The yard remains in use as a ship repair and refurbishment facility.[20]
Ships built by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company[]
![]() | This list is incomplete; you can help by . (March 2013) |
Ships built by Palmers included:
[]
Battlecruisers[]
- HMS Queen Mary
Royal Navy (1912)
Battleships[]
![HMS Defence, a battleship of 1861, as she looked after 1866](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/20/HMS_Defence_%281861%29_after_1866.jpg/220px-HMS_Defence_%281861%29_after_1866.jpg)
![refer to caption](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/86/HMS-Resolution.jpg/220px-HMS-Resolution.jpg)
- HMS Defence
Royal Navy (1861)
- HMS Hercules
Royal Navy (1910)
- HMS Lord Nelson
Royal Navy (1906)
- HMS Resolution
Royal Navy (1892)
- HMS Resolution
Royal Navy (1915)
- HMS Revenge
Royal Navy (1892)
- HMS Russell
Royal Navy (1901)
- HMS Swiftsure
Royal Navy (1870)
-
Royal Navy (1856)
- HMS Triumph
Royal Navy (1870)
Cruisers[]
![the cruiser HMS Orlando of 1886](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5c/HMSOrlando1897.jpg/220px-HMSOrlando1897.jpg)
-
Royal Navy (1885)
- HMS Dauntless
Royal Navy (1918)
- HMS Orlando
Royal Navy (1886)
- HMS Pegasus
Royal Navy (1897)
-
Royal Navy (1890)
- HMS Pyramus
Royal Navy (1897)
- HMCS Rainbow
Royal Canadian Navy (1891)
-
Royal Navy (1891)
-
Royal Navy (1885)
- HMS Undaunted
Royal Navy (1886)
- HMS York
Royal Navy (1928)
Destroyers[]
![HMS Spiteful, launched in 1899: it became the first warship to be powered only using fuel oil in 1904.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/HMS_Spiteful_under_way.jpg/220px-HMS_Spiteful_under_way.jpg)
![HMS Diana in 1933](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/78/HMS_Diana_%28H49%29.jpg/220px-HMS_Diana_%28H49%29.jpg)
- HMS Bat
Royal Navy (1896)
- HMS Chamois
Royal Navy (1896)
- HMS Cherwell
Royal Navy (1903)
- HMS Crane
Royal Navy (1896)
- HMS Dee
Royal Navy (1903)
- HMS Diana
Royal Navy (1932)
- HMS Duchess
Royal Navy (1932)
- HMS Erne
Royal Navy (1903)
- HMS Exe
Royal Navy (1903)
- HMS Ettrick
Royal Navy (1903)
- HMS Fawn
Royal Navy (1897)
- HMS Flirt
Royal Navy (1897)
- HMS Flying Fish
Royal Navy (1897)
- HMS Janus
Royal Navy (1895)
- HMS Kangaroo
Royal Navy (1900)
- HMS Lightning
Royal Navy (1895)
- HMCS Margaree
Royal Canadian Navy (1932)
- HMS Myrmidon
Royal Navy (1900)
- HMS Peterel
Royal Navy (1899)
- HMS Porcupine
Royal Navy (1895)
- HMS Rother
Royal Navy (1904)
- HMS Spiteful
Royal Navy (1899)
- HMS Star
Royal Navy (1896)
- HMS Swale
Royal Navy (1905)
- HMS Syren
Royal Navy (1900)
- HMS Ure
Royal Navy (1904)
- HMS Wear
Royal Navy (1905)
- HMS Whiting
Royal Navy (1896)
- HMS Wryneck
Royal Navy (1918)
Monitors[]
![HMS Marshal Ney in 1915](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0e/HMSMarshalNeyUnderwayPortsideView1915.jpg/220px-HMSMarshalNeyUnderwayPortsideView1915.jpg)
- HMVS Cerberus
Victorian Navy (1868)
- HMS General Wolfe
Royal Navy (1915)
- HMS Gorgon
Royal Navy (1871)
- HMS Marshal Ney
Royal Navy (1915)
- HMS Marshal Soult
Royal Navy (1915)
River gunboats[]
![river gunboat HMS Spey of 1876](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/HMS_Spey_%281876%29.jpg/220px-HMS_Spey_%281876%29.jpg)
-
Royal Navy (1877)
-
Royal Navy (1877)
-
Royal Navy (1877)
-
Royal Navy (1876)
-
Royal Navy (1876)
-
Austro-Hungarian Navy (1889)
-
Royal Navy (1876)
-
Royal Navy (1877)
-
Royal Navy (1876)
-
Royal Navy (1876)
-
Royal Navy (1876)
- HMS Trent
Royal Navy (1877)
-
Royal Navy (1877)
Merchant and leisure[]
![SS John Bowes of 1852](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d2/SS_John_Bowes.jpg/220px-SS_John_Bowes.jpg)
![SS Meriones of 1922](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Postcard_of_SS_Meriones_dated_1923.jpg/220px-Postcard_of_SS_Meriones_dated_1923.jpg)
Cable ships[]
Cargo ships[]
- Anne Thomas
Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1882)
- Anthony Radcliffe
Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1893)
- Automedon
Alfred Holt and Company (1922)
- Clarrisa Radcliffe
Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1889)
- Douglas Hill
Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1890)
- Gairsoppa
British-India Steam Navigation Company (1919)
- Gwenllian Thomas
Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1882)
- Iolo Morganwg
Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1882)
- John Bowes
Charles Palmer (1852)
- Kate Thomas
Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1884)
- Lady Palmer
Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1889)
- Mary Thomas
Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1889)
- Meriones
China Mutual Steam Navigation Company (1922)
Oil tankers[]
- British Ardour
British Tanker Company (1928)
- British Aviator
British Tanker Company (1924)
- British Captain
British Tanker Company (1923)
- British Chemist
British Tanker Company (1925)
- British Chivalry
British Tanker Company (1929)
- British Corporal
British Tanker Company (1922)
- British Freedom
British Tanker Company (1928)
- British General
British Tanker Company (1922)
- British Honour
British Tanker Company (1928)
- British Industry
British Tanker Company (1927)
- British Inventor
British Tanker Company (1926)
- British Justice
British Tanker Company (1928)
- British Light
British Tanker Company (1917)
- British Loyalty
British Tanker Company (1928)
- British Mariner
British Tanker Company (1922)
- British Officer
British Tanker Company (1922)
- British Premier
British Tanker Company (1922)
- British Science
British Tanker Company (1931)
- British Sergeant
British Tanker Company (1922)
- British Splendour
British Tanker Company (1931)
- British Strength
British Tanker Company (1931)
- British Yeoman
British Tanker Company (1923)
Passenger ships[]
- SS Connaught (1860)
- (1896)
Steam yachts[]
Tugs[]
|}
See also[]
- List of shipbuilders and shipyards
References[]
Footnotes[]
- ^ Some 19th-century and later sources refer to the company as "Palmer's Shipbuilding and Iron Company", with an apostrophe, but in Some Account of the Works of Palmers Shipbuilding & Iron Company Limited, which was compiled by the business's company secretary Malcom Dillon and published in 1900, the name is given throughout as "Palmers ...", without the apostrophe.[4][5][3]
- ^ "A speciality of [Palmers' engine works] is the manufacture of the 'Reed' water-tube boiler, the invention of Mr J. W. Reed, manager of the engine works department, which has been adopted with well-known results in ... high-speed [torpedo boat destroyers] ..., and also in vessels constructed for the Admiralty on the Clyde. It may be observed that nearly 25 miles [40 km] of tubes are used in the manufacture of the boilers and machinery of each 30-knot destroyer."[7]
Notes[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Building for the world". The Journal. 22 May 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- ^ Dillon 1900, pp. 16–7.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Dillon 1900.
- ^ Gibbs 1896, p. 8.
- ^ Anon. 1899, p. 475.
- ^ Dillon 1900, pp. 28–50.
- ^ Dillon 1900, pp. 33–4.
- ^ Anon. 1902, pp. 613, 616.
- ^ "Christopher Furness, Obituary". The Times. 11 November 1912. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- ^ "Shipwreck of SS Gairsoppa reveals £150m silver haul". BBC News. 26 September 2011. Archived from the original on 26 November 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
- ^ C. Michael Hogan (Lead Author); Peter Saundry (Topic Editor) (21 May 2012). Cleveland, Cutler J (ed.). "SS Gairsoppa recovery". Encyclopedia of Earth. Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment. Archived from the original on 4 November 2013. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
- ^ "Palmers' Moratorium". Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette. 14 January 1933. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
- ^ "Steel Works to be Sold at Auction". The Times. 10 July 1934. p. 11.
- ^ Charles Palmer Archived 8 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company". Grace's Guide. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
- ^ Crockett, Margaret; Foster, Janet (October 2005). "Report on the Access to Shipbuilding Collections in North East England (ARK) Project" (PDF). Tyne & Wear Archives. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- ^ "Swan Hunter History: Naval ships". swanhunter.com. 2010. Archived from the original on 22 February 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- ^ "Shipbuilder: Palmers Hebburn Co Ltd, Hebburn (1934 – 1973)". Tyne Built Ships. n.d. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
- ^ "UK north east yards extend dock capacity". Motor Ship. 1995. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- ^ "New owner for A&P Tyne shipyard". The Journal. 2 March 2011. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
- ^ "Palmer Tyne shipbuilder Jarrow Willington Quay".
- ^ http://www.tynetugs.co.uk/northumberland1852.html
Bibliography[]
- Anon. (1899), "Launches and Trial Trips", The Marine Engineer, 20: 474–6, OCLC 10460390
- Anon. (1902), "Palmer's Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Jarrow-on-Tyne", Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers: 613–6, OCLC 863604422
- Cuthbert, Jim; Smith, Ken (2004). Palmers of Jarrow 1851-1933. ISBN 1-85795-196-4.
- Dillon, Malcolm (1900), Some Account of the Works of Palmers Shipbuilding & Iron Company Limited, Franklin, OCLC 68103311
- Gibbs, Frederick T. M. (1896), The Illustrated Guide to the Royal Navy and Foreign Navies; Also Mercantile Marine Steamers Available as Armed Cruisers and Transports, &c., Waterlow Bros. & Layton, OCLC 12714917
- Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
- Johnston, Ian; Buxton, Ian (2013). The Battleship Builders - Constructing and Arming British Capital Ships (Hardback). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-027-6.
- Wilkinson, Ellen (1939). The Town That Was Murdered, The Life-Story of Jarrow. Victor Gollancz Ltd.
External links[]
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