Difference between revisions of "Cammell, Laird and Co"
| Line 99: | Line 99: | ||
A large number of pressed steel bogies were supplied to the home railways for carriage stock, and a number of carriage underframes have been ordered for the [[Indian State Railways]]. The steel works, boiler furnace and plate departments have only worked intermittently throughout the year. The slump in shipbuilding was reflected in the number of corrugated furnaces made, which was somewhat less that in the preceding twelve months. The year was probably the worst within memory for the Lancashire boiler trade, and the tonnage from the plate department was slightly below that of 1924. There were however, encouraging signs of an improvement in the cotton industry, upon which the Lancashire boiler trade depended to a large extent. As so many renewals were necessary as soon as normal conditions were obtained, some improvement in this department was confidently anticipated in the coming year."<ref>[[The Engineer 1926/01/01]]</ref> | A large number of pressed steel bogies were supplied to the home railways for carriage stock, and a number of carriage underframes have been ordered for the [[Indian State Railways]]. The steel works, boiler furnace and plate departments have only worked intermittently throughout the year. The slump in shipbuilding was reflected in the number of corrugated furnaces made, which was somewhat less that in the preceding twelve months. The year was probably the worst within memory for the Lancashire boiler trade, and the tonnage from the plate department was slightly below that of 1924. There were however, encouraging signs of an improvement in the cotton industry, upon which the Lancashire boiler trade depended to a large extent. As so many renewals were necessary as soon as normal conditions were obtained, some improvement in this department was confidently anticipated in the coming year."<ref>[[The Engineer 1926/01/01]]</ref> | ||
1926 [[William Lionel Hichens|W. L. Hichens]] was chairman of the company.<ref>[[The Engineer 1926/04/02]]</ref> | 1926 - April. [[William Lionel Hichens|W. L. Hichens]] was chairman of the company.<ref>[[The Engineer 1926/04/02]]</ref> | ||
1926 Received an order from [[London and North Eastern Railway]] for two additional Sentinel-Cammell coaches and thirty-four all steel luggage brake vans. The firm's associated company, the [[Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Co]] has also received an order from the [[Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Co]] for four articulated trains comprising thirty-two coaches in all.<ref>[[The Engineer 1926/07/16]]</ref> | 1926 - July. Received an order from [[London and North Eastern Railway]] for two additional Sentinel-Cammell coaches and thirty-four all steel luggage brake vans. The firm's associated company, the [[Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Co]] has also received an order from the [[Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Co]] for four articulated trains comprising thirty-two coaches in all.<ref>[[The Engineer 1926/07/16]]</ref> | ||
1926 - December. They restarted their tire mills at Penistone.<ref>The Engineer 1926/12/24</ref> | |||
1927 See [[The Basic Industries of Great Britain by Aberconway: Chapter IX: Part 3|Aberconway]] for information on the company and its history | 1927 See [[The Basic Industries of Great Britain by Aberconway: Chapter IX: Part 3|Aberconway]] for information on the company and its history | ||
Revision as of 13:52, 22 June 2015
Cammell, Laird and Co. of Birkenhead, Cheshire and Cyclops Steel and Iron Works, Sheffield.
Cammell, Laird and Co. was formed in 1903 when the Sheffield company Charles Cammell and Co took over the Birkenhead years of Laird Brothers. This enabled the new company to manufacture armoured warships within its own jurisdiction, which was an arrangement favoured by the Royal Navy at the time. It continued trading until 1953.
1903 Company name changed. The business of the Mulliner and Wigeley Co was acquired[1], and later that year, the business of shipbuilders and engineers, Laird Brothers of Birkenhead, was purchased and the name was changed to its present title. [2]
1900s After establishing itself, the new company set out on a programme of modernisation. More land was acquired at the Southern end of the Birkenhead yard. The area of the yard was increased to 98.5 acres and it had the largest private wet dock in Britain. However, this period of expansion also happened at almost exactly the same moment as the freight slump. Consequently, only small ships were built at this time. Financial losses were made on all ships up to 1909. William, John and Henry Laird had died, and the company was now managed by their sons J. Macgregor Laird (son of John, senior partner), Roy M. Laird and J. W. P. Laird. Ratsey Bevis was also a fourth director. [3]
1905 Coventry Ordnance Works was set up by a consortium of British shipbuilding firms John Brown, Cammell, Laird and Co and Fairfield in order to compete with the duopoly of Vickers and Armstrong Whitworth.
1907 In Sheffield, constructed a turbine under licence from Parsons Marine Steam Turbine Co[4].
1909 The yard completed the largest sand pump dredger in the world: Leviathan. From here onwards, the yard made longer passenger/cargo liners mainly for South American companies. Later, passenger liners were made for Norwegian-Amerika line.
1909 The Solway Works was sold to the Workington Iron and Steel Co Ltd [5]
1912 The largest floating dock in the world was completed for the Admiralty in 1912. It was 640 feet long and weighed 32,000 tons. By 1912, there were no longer any members of the Laird family on the board, the Chairman became William Lionel Hitchens who remained in post until 1940.
1914 Manufacturers of all kinds of Steel, Files, Tyres, Axles, Springs, Buffers, Rails and Accessories, Forgings and Castings for all purposes, Armour and projectiles. Engineers and Boilermakers. Shipbuilding in all its branches.[6]
1914 The train ferry Leonard was launched on 17th January; it served as a floating bridge for the crossing of the Lawrence River and Quebec by the National Transcontinental Railway Company of Canada. The bridge itself was completed in 1920 and Leonard became redundant, being later converted into a tanker.
WWI During the War, the yard made submarines as well as liners and continued manufacturing ships for Norway (who were neutral during the War and therefore exempt from the British Governments restriction on manufacturing for other countries). In addition five light cruisers of "C" class, six destroyers, two escorts and eight submarines were built during the war.
WWI During the War, the Birkenhead yard refitted and converted several steamers for war service, the yard also made seaplane carriers, and repaired over 500 ships. In addition, three "WAR" standard tramps were completed towards the end of the war along with two "AO" type tankers.
1915 Cammell Laird founded the National Projectile Factory at Nottingham [7].
1917 Nottingham factory was reorganised to produce 18 pounder and 6 inch field guns, and became a National Ordnance Factory
1920s The vessel Fullagar was one of the first to use new welding techniques in its construction. There are articles and illustrations of this engine in The Engineer in Jan & Feb. [8]
1920 Mr R. S. Johnson joined the company board and assists Sir G. J. Carter at The Birkenhead Works.[9]
In the early 1920s the yard won a number of contracts to build battleships, destroyers and liners. Most of the work carried out by the yard at this time was for the Admiralty.
Between 1920 and 1930 over 44 passenger/cargo liners, banana ships and cargo ships were completed too.
1923 Read more about the details of the Penistone Works - Yorkshire Steel and Iron Works - here.
1924 Advert says they are steelmakers, shipbuilders, engineers, railway carriage and wagon makers. Works at Sheffield, Nottingham, Penistone and Birkenhead. [10]
1925 Annual Review "Like other firms, Cammell Laird and Co. suffered from foreign competition and price-cutting during the past year, and in the annual review of their activities they dealt with this point, and with the depression in shipbuilding. Railway materials such as tires, axles and springs, had always been one of the company's chief lines of production, and the demand for them was fairly satisfactory. The new tire plant at Penistone was admirably adapted to very rapid and economic production, and the Cyclops Works (Sheffield) turned out axles with equal facility. During 1925 the railway rolling stock industry continued to suffer from the effects of the general trade depression. Conditions improved slightly in comparison with the previous year. Competition from continental manufacturers, possessing as they did strong advantages in respect of wages, cost of material etc. remained very keen.
In such circumstances, the steel carriage and wagon works of the firm at Nottingham were well employed during the year, while several important orders, which were to serve to keep the factory bust for some time to come, were now in hand. There was a slight improvement in the rolling stock business of the Leeds Forge Co, but owing to keen foreign competition prices remained very low. In spite of abnormal conditions, however the company was successful in securing a number of important orders, both for home and foreign railways. The plant for the production of pressed steel parts for rolling stock has been fairly well-employed.
A large number of pressed steel bogies were supplied to the home railways for carriage stock, and a number of carriage underframes have been ordered for the Indian State Railways. The steel works, boiler furnace and plate departments have only worked intermittently throughout the year. The slump in shipbuilding was reflected in the number of corrugated furnaces made, which was somewhat less that in the preceding twelve months. The year was probably the worst within memory for the Lancashire boiler trade, and the tonnage from the plate department was slightly below that of 1924. There were however, encouraging signs of an improvement in the cotton industry, upon which the Lancashire boiler trade depended to a large extent. As so many renewals were necessary as soon as normal conditions were obtained, some improvement in this department was confidently anticipated in the coming year."[11]
1926 - April. W. L. Hichens was chairman of the company.[12]
1926 - July. Received an order from London and North Eastern Railway for two additional Sentinel-Cammell coaches and thirty-four all steel luggage brake vans. The firm's associated company, the Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Co has also received an order from the Midland Railway Carriage and Wagon Co for four articulated trains comprising thirty-two coaches in all.[13]
1926 - December. They restarted their tire mills at Penistone.[14]
1927 See Aberconway for information on the company and its history
1927 Also see Aberconway for information on the company and its history
1927 Also see Aberconway for information on the company and its history.
1927 Robert S. Johnson, who had previously been a director of Workman, Clark and Co was appointed Managing Director following the death of Sir George Carter. He remained in control of the Birkenhead yard upon becoming chairman in 1942 until his death in 1951. Johnson's son Robert W. Johnson was then appointed as Managing director and maintained control over the into the 1960s.
1928 Merger of companies in the steel industry announced, involving parts of Vickers, Vickers-Armstrongs and Cammell, Laird and Co[15]. This would involve all of the steel interests of the 3 contributing groups, except for interests in guns, ammunition and tanks. A new company would be created to take over these interests: the English Steel Corporation Ltd. The constituent parts from Cammell, Laird and Co were:
- Cyclops Steel and Iron works,
- Sheffield, Grimesthorpe works, Sheffield,
- The Yorkshire Steel and Iron works, Penistone
1929 The railway business was merged with Metropolitan Carriage, Wagon and Finance Co to form Metro Cammell.
1930s The yard made a wide variety of ships during the 30s including tankers, ferries, Great Lakes traders, deep sea tankers and a coastal tanker. However, as with many other companies, the yards closed for two years between 1931-33 and it was only thanks to the Admiralty bringing some orders forward that it was able to reopen again. The Depression hit the yard badly, and in 1932 the company's capital had to be reduced by £3.5M. However, things picked up again from 1934/5 when a number of Admiralty orders re-stimulated the market. One of these orders was the Ark Royal, the largest vessel ever launched from the yard at a cost of £3M in 1937. From 1935-39 the Birkenhead yard completed over 20 merchant ships. On 1st June 1939 the yard's new "T" class submarine HMS Thetis sank and 99 naval and yard workers were killed.
1936 The Nottingham ordnance factory was purchased by the Government. Throughout World War Two it produced 2 pounder guns and 5.5 inch shells
WWII - The yard made a number of battleships, destroyers, sloops and submarines, in total 106 ships were manufactured during the war. This amounted to a warship every 20 days during the six and a half years of war. The repair yard also repaired over 2000 vessels of varying types.
1950s In the post-war years, the yard mainly made tanker and cargo-liner/bulk carriers although it did also make an aircraft carrier and a passenger liner too. From 1947-1982, the yard made over 60 tankers. Other important output included 39 cargo-liners (1946-66) and 15 ferries (1946-68). Finally, the yard had a consistent naval output for the twenty years of 1950-70.
1953 Private Company.
1956 Patent Shaft and Axletree Co was purchased from the Holding and Realization Agency by Cammell, Laird and Co (75%) and Metro Cammell (25%)[16].
1965 Cammell, Laird and Co split into two different companies: Cammell Laird (Shipbuilders and Engineers) became a dedicated shipbuilder whereas Cammell Laird (Shiprepairers) Ltd. focused on ship repairs. The company was based at Birkenhead on the Mersey in England.
1960s The new ship repairing company constructed a new large dry-dock which enabled it to keep in the forefront of repairing. There was a brief financial crisis in the late 1960s but this was averted thanks to intervention from the then Labour Government, who took a 50% share in the company who were then renamed Cammell Laird Shipbuilders. The Laird Group retained the other 50% but by this stage, the yard’s customers were edgy about ordering from them.
1961 Employed 12,000 persons. Holding company for two subsidaries engaged in steel manufacturing, shipbuilding and engineering. [17]
1961 Shipbuilders and engineers, undertaking important contracts for the British, Dominion and Foreign Governments. 12,000 employees. [18]
1970s The shipbuilding arm of the company offered six standard designs: two cargo liners, two bulk carrier and two tanker sizes which were known as StaT32 and StaT55.It went on to build a number of these for Norwegian, South American and Dutch companies. On 1st July 1977 Cammell Laird Shipbuilders was nationalised and became a member of British Shipbuilders
1980s The yard moved away from building tankers and towards constructing oil rigs and warships in the 80s. There was a "sit in" by workers at the yard which led to the whole of the workforce being laid off and the yard was effectively closed. There was a split in the workforce between those on strike and a group of "back to work" committee members who marched into the yard everyday. Work at the yard began building up again in the mid 80s. In 1985 the yard was merged with the Barrow yard of Vickers. It was then privatised later in the same year and became a subsidiary of VSEL.
1990s The last ship to be launched at the yard was Unicorn. Vickers decided to close the yard in October 1990 and this came into effect on 30th July 1993 when the yard was then placed on a "care and maintenance" basis. In 1994, the dry-docks came under new ownership and are back in operation again.
1980s Lairds moved into security products.
1989 Laird disposed of its rapid transit train manufacturing company, Metro Cammell
1994 Moved into electronics - see Laird
See Also
Sources of Information
- ↑ The Times, Mar 31, 1904
- ↑ The Stock Exchange Year Book 1908
- ↑ British Shipbuilding Yards. 3 vols by Norman L. Middlemiss
- ↑ The Times, 30 October 1907
- ↑ [1] Wagon Cards
- ↑ 1914 Whitakers Red Book
- ↑ History of Royal Ordnance, Nottingham [2]
- ↑ The Engineer of 6th Feb 1920 p142 and others
- ↑ The Engineer 1920/05/28
- ↑ 1924 Naval Annual Advert page xxxv
- ↑ The Engineer 1926/01/01
- ↑ The Engineer 1926/04/02
- ↑ The Engineer 1926/07/16
- ↑ The Engineer 1926/12/24
- ↑ The Times, 18 December 1928
- ↑ The Times, Wednesday, May 30, 1956
- ↑ 1961 Guide to Key British Enterprises
- ↑ 1961 Dun and Bradstreet KBE