 | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Shipbuilding |
| Founded | 1711 |
| Defunct | 1993 |
| Fate | Merged intoScott Lithgow (1967) |
| Successor | Trafalgar House |
| Headquarters | Greenock, Scotland |
| Parent |
|
| Subsidiaries | Greenock Dockyard Co. |
Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited, often referred to simply asScotts, was a Scottishshipbuilding company based inGreenock on theRiver Clyde. In its time in Greenock, Scotts built over 1,250 ships.
John Scott founded the company in 1711. He built herring busses and small craft. He was succeeded by his son William Scott (1722–1769) and another son. In 1765 they built their first square-rigged vessel. William's son John (1752–1837) expanded the shipyard to a major shipbuilding company.[1]
The Scott family took over the Greenock Foundry in 1790. In 1791, Scott & Co. builtBrunswick, of 624-ton (bm), for theNewfoundland trade. She andCaledonia, built in 1794, were the largest ships built in Scotland in their years. They marked the beginning of increased activity by Scott & Co., particularly with respect to large, ocean-going ships.[2]
C. G. Scott started building at Cartsdyke Dockyard in 1850, as Scott & Company.[3]
John Scott (II) andRobert Scott bought the adjacent yard ofRobert Steele & Company in 1883, to create the Cartsburn Dockyard, which was laid out for naval shipbuilding. By 1900,John Swire & Company were major shareholders and Henry Scott was a director of Swire Scotts. In 1900–1901, he specified and oversaw construction of Swire'sTaikoo Dockyard in Hong Kong.[4]
In 1925, Scotts took over Ross & Marshall's Cartsdyke Mid Yard. In 1934, they exchanged their Cartsdyke East yard for Cartsdyke Mid yard withGreenock Dockyard Ltd. In June 1965, the Company took over Scott's & Sons (Bowling) Ltd,[3] and in December 1965, Scott's merged with theGreenock Dockyard Company[3] and the Cartsburn and Cartsdyke Dockyards were fully integrated in 1966. In 1967, the Company merged withLithgows to formScott Lithgow Ltd, operating as Scotts Shipbuilding Co (1969) Ltd.[3] Scott Lithgow Ltd was absorbed into the nationalisedBritish Shipbuilders in 1977.[3]
Cartsdyke Shipyard was closed in 1979 and Cartsburn in 1984. In 1983, the Scott Lithgow company and yards were sold toTrafalgar House.[3] No further shipbuilding was undertaken and the 270-year-old Scott shipbuilding company finally ceased trading in 1993. Between 1988 and 1997, the Cartsburn and Cartsdyke shipyards were gradually demolished and redeveloped as insurance offices, computer warehouses and fast food restaurants.[5]
In 2011, Greenock'sMcLean Museum and Art Gallery celebrated the tercentenary of Scotts' foundation.[6]
Notable vessels built included the earlyRoyal Mail Steam Packet Company linersClyde,Dee,Solway andTweed in 1841, SSThetis of 1857, whichJohn Scott (1830–1903) financed himself to test his theory about high pressure steam in the compound engine, which worked at about 120lbf/in2 inThetis,[7] the early tankerNarragannsett in 1903, the barqueArchibald Russell, theBritish S-class submarines, in 1914, the cruiserHMS Glasgow in 1937, and the drilling shipBen Ocean Lancer in 1977.[8]
Principal customers of Scotts were Alfred Holt & Co (Blue Funnel Line) (88 ships),The China Navigation Company / John Swire Ltd (95 ships - including MS Changsha and MS Taiyuan[9]) and theRoyal Navy (114 ships). Scotts Assistant Manager James Richardson devised an early "Snorkel" for submarines, for which they were granted British Patent No.106330 of 1917. It was not taken up by theAdmiralty for use by the Royal Navy.[10][11]
Pictures of some Scotts-built vessels were painted by the Greenock marine artistWilliam Clark. (Glasgow Museum of Transport). A painting of the launch in 1818 from Scotts yard of the wood shipChristian was painted by the Anglo-US marine artistRobert Salmon. (Glasgow Museum of Transport).[12]
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