Day, Summers and Co
Day, Summers and Co of Southampton were shipbuilders, crane makers, and makers of steam engines for marine use.
1834 The firm was founded by William Alltoft Summers in conjunction with Charles Arthur Day and William Baldock, under the title of Summers, Day, and Baldock at Millbrook.
Summers, Groves and Day was also established about this time
1837 they moved to Northam
By 1843 Summers and Day was a partnership of William Alltoft Summers and Charles Arthur Day at the Northam Ironworks [1]. Thomas Summers, cousin of Alltoft, joined the firm.
1845 Partnership - Groves leaves. '...the Copartnership heretofore subsisting between us the undersigned, William Alltoft Summers, John Thomas Groves, and Charles Arthur Day, all of Milbrook, in the county of Southampton, and also of Northam, in the town and county of the town of Southampton, Engineers, Millwrights, Iron Founders, and General Dealers, carrying on business under the style or firm of Summers, Groves, and Day, was this day dissolved by mutual consent (so far only as respects the said John Thomas Groves)...'[2]
Initially established a reputation as a builder of large mail steamers in the 1850s up to the 1870s when the North-east Coast and Clydeside yards took over that market.
1854 Partnership - Baldock leaves. '....the Partnership between the undersigned, William Alltoft Summers, Charles Arthur Day, and William Baldock, in the trades or businesses of Engineers, Millwrights, Ironfounders, and General Dealers, at Northam, in the parish of Saint Mary, in the town and county of the town of Southampton, and elsewhere, under the firm of Summers, Day, and Baldock, was this day dissolved by mutual consent, to take effect as on and from the 31st day of May last; and in future the said trades or businesses will be carried on by the said William Alltoft Summers and Charles Arthur Day, on their own joint account...'[3]
1864-5 Sheer legs for Woolwich Arsenal. The back stay was 144 ft long and weighed about 30 tons.[4]
At some point became C. A. Day and Co.
c.1868 Mr. Altoft Summers retired
1871 Thomas Summers became a partner with Charles Arthur Day and the firm became Day, Summers and Co; the company developed compound steam engines which became a main line of its business.
1872 100-ton sheer legs for Chatham Dockyard[5]
1870s The yard won orders from P and O for mail steamers, this was followed by similar orders from Royal Mail Line and then a series of re-engining orders. The yard then concentrated on building paddle steamers, coasters, yachts, Itchen floating chain bridges, Hythe ferries and sheerlegs.
1874 80-ton sheer legs for Aberdeen.designed and bui
1880s The yard forged a good reputation for its steam yachts.
1882 150-ton sheer legs for the Russian Government[6]
1889 Obituary of Thomas Summers in 'The Engineer'. [7]
1890 Engine for River Itchen Floating Bridge 'Vessel No 8' at Woolston.
1893 Designed and built the steam yacht Lantana for Matthew Cope, of Cardiff. Length over all about 148 ft.[8]
1897 Description and drawings of 60-ton floating sheers designed and constructed by Day, Summers & Co for the Russian Volunteer Fleet. The self-propelled pontoon carrying the sheers was 130 ft. long by 50 ft. broad by 9 ft. 6 in. deep. The after end was constructed as a water-ballast tank, by means of which the trim of the pontoon could be adjusted when heavy weights were being lifted. The tank had a capacity of 100 tons of water and was filled and emptied by means of special centrifugal pumps in the engine-room. The legs were 110 ft. high, with a maximum overhang of 44 ft. from the perpendicular, and at this reach they could lift weights up to 60 tons[9]
1897 Description and illustrations of a 'floating bridge' built to the design and specification, and under the superintendence of Charles W. Murray for the Southampton and Itchen Floating Bridge and Roads Co. The 'bridge' was propelled by means of a steel wire rope on one side only, and powered by a compound grasshopper engine.[10]
1898 Designed the steam yacht Sunflower for Mr. Walter Greene, of Nether Hall; the boats were supplied by Messrs Summers and Payne.[11]
1900s The company became of limited liability status. The yard continued making a variety of small ships: tugs, steam coasters and paddle steamers.
1905 Sheer legs for Chatham Dockyard. Tested with a load of 180 tons. Front legs 160 ft high. Back leg moved in and out by a leadscrew 11.5" diameter, 85 ft long, powered by its own steam engine.[12]
1909 60-ton floating sheer legs for a South American customer.[13]
1911 100-ton Sheer legs for Aberdeen. Powered by electrical equipment from J. J.(?) Holmes and Co of Newcastle. Delivered and tested within 5 months of date of order. This was the 89th set of sheer legs built by the firm, and the second for Aberdeen (see 1874 above).[14]
1920 Took over the contract to build British Kromhout marine oil engines from Plenty and Co. [15]
1928 The yard continued with the above building programme until 1928 when it went into liquidation. It was taken over by Thornycroft.
1966 The yard became part of Vosper Thornycroft.
1987 The company ceased trading.
1892 Account of the Business
NORTHAM IRON WORKS
In these works Messrs. Day Brothers, who trade under the well-known name of Messrs. Day, Summers and Co., have an establishment where they can build and engine steam vessels of considerable size. There is a good deal that is interesting at the Northam Iron Works, but we do not propose here to give any detailed description of the arrangements. These works date back to a very early period in the history of iron shipbuilding and marine engineering, and their owners are evidently proud of their antiquity. The original title of the firm was Summers, Day, and Baldock, it having been founded in 1834 by the father of the present owners in conjunction with Mr. William Summers and Mr. William Baldock. Subsequently the title of the firm became Summers and Day, and then C. A. Day and Co., until in 1871 the present title was adopted. Since 1834 there have been built at these works 103 vessels (including 27 steam yachts) and engines of over 100,000 indicated horse-power.
In the machine shop there is a vertical and horizontal planing machine by Butterfield, of Keighley, which probably was the first of Its kind on the south coast, possibly the first ever made ; It is still in work, and is of course a most useful tool, enabling a job of considerable size to be undertaken. Another notable tool in this department is the lathe upon which are cut the big screws used in the patent shears for the construction of which this firm is famous. In the 150-ton shears made for the Russian Government, the leading screw by which the adjustable back leg is shifted is 60 ft. long and 10 in. in diameter. It has a square thread 2½ in. pitch, the space being 1¼ in. and the thread 1¼ in.
The boiler shop is fitted with hydraulic riveting machines, flanging machines, and a vertical shell drilling and tapping machine by Shanks and Co. It is served by a rope-driven overhead traveller by Craven Brothers. There are other departments such as copper-smiths' shops, brass foundry, &c. In the iron foundry there are three cupolas. The firm make their own coke and use the waste heat for drying stoves.
Messrs. Day, Summers, and Co. do a good deal of special work, such as light-draught steamers, floating bridges, &c. The patent sheerlegs and patent hauling-up slips associated with their name are well known. At the present time there is refitting at their works a. paddle-wheel steamer which was built at another establishment for the Channel excursion traffic. The vessel has tri-compound inclined engines and was expected to make a very high speed. Her trials were not a success, chiefly because she vibrated to such an extent that it was impossible to work her up to her speed. She was brought to these works, where the hull has been strengthened by web frames, stringers, &c. ; and the paddle-wheels have been replaced by a pair of larger diameter and with narrower floats, no less than 6 ft. being taken off the width of each wheel. The old floats were also made with two convex surfaces, being formed of bent plates, the space between being filled up with wood. These floats are being replaced by some of curved single plates. Another vessel being refitted in the yard is the screw steamer Diana, belonging to the South-Western Railway Company. She is being re-engined and boilered, with tri-compound engines, which are to work at 160 lb., there being forced draught, on the closed stokehold principle, which is to go to 1 in. on the water gauge. The designed speed is to be 16½ knots. Further on is to be seen a floating bridge built for the Itchen Ferry Company, and further on, in the mud, the old cigar boat of Ross Winans.
See Also
Sources of Information
- L. A. Ritchie, The Shipbuilding Industry: A Guide to Historical Records (1992)
- Stationary Steam Engines of Great Britain by George Watkins. Vol 10
- British Shipbuilding Yards. 3 vols by Norman L. Middlemiss
- ↑ 1889 Obituary Institution of Civil Engineers Minutes of the Proceedings
- ↑ [1] Gazette Issue 20475 published on the 30 May 1845
- ↑ [2] Gazette Issue 21587 published on the 25 August 1854
- ↑ The Practical Mechanic's Journal, February 1865
- ↑ 'Engineering' magazine 23rd August 1872
- ↑ The Engineer of 13th January 1882
- ↑ The Engineer of 26th April 1889 p352
- ↑ Engineering 1893/05/19
- ↑ Engineering 1897/08/13
- ↑ Engineering 1897/11/26
- ↑ The Engineer 1898
- ↑ 'Engineering' magazine 21st July 1905
- ↑ 'Engineering' magazine 23rd April 1909
- ↑ 'Engineering' magazine 5th May 1911
- ↑ The Engineer of 5th March 1920 p260