Wood, Skinner & Co.
Wood, Skinner & Co was an English shipyard in Bill Quay , east of Gateshead, on the south bank of the Tyne . It existed from 1883 to 1925.
The shipyard was founded by the merchant William Wood and the shipbuilder James Skinner; Both of them had previously gained extensive work experience at other shipyards. It lay on the banks of the Tyne and began with six slipways on about 115 meters of shore. In the early 1920s the number of slips was increased to eight, the largest of which could accommodate ships up to 165 meters in length. Ship engines were not manufactured in-house but bought from other local companies. The first ship was built in 1885, the Tilsco , measured at 214 GRT , which sailed until 1971, most recently under the Italian flag. In 1897 the company was converted into a limited company.
The shipyard began with iron and steel coastal freighters and small ocean freighters, and very soon gained a good reputation as a manufacturer of coal freighters. Scandinavian shipowners were the buyers of a considerable part of their ships in the first 20 years. The main local customer was the Burnett Steamship Co. in Newcastle, for which a total of 30 ships were built in 32 years.
The economic crisis of 1921 to 1925 made the shipyard difficult to manage, in 1921 and 1922 only two ships were launched , in 1923 four. In 1924 another five ships were built, but in 1925 the shipyard had to go into liquidation . The last of a total of 330 ships built there was the Usworth , measured at 1985 GRT , which was launched on November 27, 1924 and was finally completed in September 1925. The last ship, the construction of which had still started, remained unfinished on the Helgen until the late 1930s before it was demolished again.
literature
- Norman L. Middlemiss: British Shipbuilding Yards . Volume 1: North-East Coast. 1st edition. Shield Publications, Newcastle-upon-Tyne 1993, ISBN 1-871128-10-2 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tilsco , Tyne Build Ships & Shipbuilders.
- ^ Burnett Steamship Co, Newcastle , Mariners.
- ↑ Usworth , Tyne Built Ships & Shipbuilders.