Brooke Marine

Brooke Marine Ltd. was founded by John Walter Brooke and was based in Suffolk, East Anglia, England. Originally, Brooke had been a foundryman and went into the boatbuilding business in 1911. Initially the company made yachts and speedboats and it was renamed as Brooke Marine Construction Co. Ltd in 1934. However in 1940 it became part of the dowsett Group in 1940 and was renamed again, Brooke Marine Ltd.

Shipbuilding

• World War I - The company mainly made small tugs and naval craft.
• 1950s - The yard was modernised and refurbished and made hopper barges, and coasters.
• 1960s - The yard began making larger vessels during the 60s but still retained its core business of smaller ships such as fire-fighting tugs. in the late 60s, the yard also made oil rig supply vessels and slavage vessels.
• 1970s - the key work of the yard during the 70s was a series of stern trawlers for the ranger Fishing Co. ltd. This led on to trawler work for Norwegian and Icelandic companies. In July 1977 rhe yard was nationalised and became part of British Shipbuilders Ltd. Work was started on a naval coaster training crast of the "Archer" class.
• 1980s - In 1985 the yard's own management team succesfully made a private buy-out. unfortunatley the following year, a lack of orders led to the yard being closed. It reopened as a yacht builder in 1987 under the name Brooke Yachts International Ltd.

Sources of Information

British Shipbuilding Yards. 3 vols by Norman L. Middlemiss