Rankin and Blackmore
Eagle Foundry, Baker Street, Greenock, were makers of steam engines for marine use.
1862 The Eagle Foundry of Johnstone and Leitch was bought by Daniel Rankin and Edward Blackmore, who quickly diversified from the manufacture of sugar making machinery into marine engines and boilers.
1886 Description and engravings of the engine for the steel screw yacht Rionnag-na-Mara, built to the order of Mr. A. G. Pirie, of Leckmelm, Rossshire, and London, by John Reid and Co., Port Glasgow. The engine was of the six-cylinder “disconnective” quadruple-expansion type patented by John F. and Matthew Rankin, with three high-pressure cylinders placed tandem fashion over the first and second intermediate and low-pressure cylinders; the respective diameters being 7 in., 7 in., 7 in., 16in., 22 in., and 34 in., and the stroke of pistons 24 in. The reason why six cylinders were adopted in this case instead of the four-cylinder arrangement which the makers at first proposed to the owner, was that Mr. Pirie particularly desired to have an engine which would run so slowly (say not more than 15 revolutions, as against 30 in his former yacht) that he might be able to fish direct from the yacht instead of from a small boat. [1]
1886 Description and engraving of diagonal engine for paddle steamer Ozone (Built by Napier, Shanks, and Bell, Yoker, for the the Bay Excursion Company, of Melbourne) [2]
1887 New engines for Steam Yacht Myrtle illustrated and described at some length. 'The new engines are of the four-cylinder "disconnected" quadruple-expansion type working tandem on two cranks, patented by Messrs. John F. and Matthew Rankin, and the cylinders are 12 in., 17 in., 24 in., and 34 in. in diameter, all having a piston stroke of 24 in. Indeed these dimensions are almost identical with those of the engines of the Rionnag-na-Mara (which were illustrated in Engineering, April 9. 18S6, and of the success of which this orderwas an outcome), but with four cylinders instead of the six-cylinder three-crank arrangement,....'[3]
1889 See 1889 Shipbuilding Statistics for detail of the marine engines produced.
1890 Description and engraving of a 'disconnective' quadruple-expansion engine erected by Rankin and Blackmore, of Greenock, at the City Roller Mills, Limerick, belonging to James Bannatyne and Sons. The cylinders were 12 in., 16 in., 22 in., and 28 in. in diameter respectively, all having a piston stroke of 36 in. The valve gear was of the usual slide-valve pattern, for all the cylinders except the high-pressure one, which was fitted with Proell’s automatic expansion gear and governor, constructed by Thomas McCulloch and Sons, of Kilmarnock. 350 IHP at 75 rpm[4]
1914 Incorporated as a private company, Rankin and Blackmore Limited.
1923 Lithgows bought Rankin and Blackmore, marine engineers, Greenock.
1925 See Aberconway for information on shipbuilding h.p produced in 1904 and 1925
1946 Built engines for 'PS Bristol Queen' of Bristol.
1961 Engineers, boiler makers and ironfounders, specialising in ships' engines and steering gear. [5]
1962 Closure announced.
1967 Voluntary liquidation.
See Also
Sources of Information
- John Shields, Clyde Built: A history of Shipbuilding on the River Clyde (1949), p.136
- L. A. Ritchie, The Shipbuilding Industry: A Guide to Historical Records (1992)
- National Records of Scotland BT2/1968/327
- Edinburgh Gazette 31st March 1967
- Stationary Steam Engines of Great Britain by George Watkins. Vol 10