W. B. Thompson and Co
W. B. Thompson and Co of Tay Foundry, Dundee were shipbuilders.
Founded by William Bruce Thompson
1874 Thompson started the Caledon Shipyard; the first vessel built was a composite steam yacht for the Earl of Caledon, who consented to give his name to the yard.
The business flourished, and many notable steamers and sailing ships were built in it.
1881 Mr. Thompson extended his interests to the Clyde, and for five years carried on a yard at Whiteinch, where he built some very large steel ships. He also carried through a number of important salvage operations.
The Dundee business was conducted under the name of W. B. Thompson and Co., Ltd.
1886 Description and engravings of a small triple-expansion engine displayed in operation at the Edinburgh exhibition. It was designed for use on board a steam trawler or steam yacht—a vessel of, say, 80 ft. in length by 15 ft. beam, and 7 ft. in depth. Several sets of engines of this type had been made at the Tay Foundry, Dundee. '.... a special feature being the mode of driving the valves. It is claimed that there are something like forty journals fewer to look after than is the case in an ordinary triple-expansion engine in which link motion is used. .... only three eccentrics are required for the three cylinders[1]
By 1889, of Lilybank Engine Works and Foundry, Dundee
1894 Antwerp Exhibition. Showed a model of a pleasure steamer.[2]
1896 The yard and the Lilybank engine works were taken over by the Caledon Shipbuilding and Engineering Co