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| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Shipbuilding Naval architecture Offshore installation services |
| Founded | 1880; 145 years ago (1880) |
| Headquarters | Wallsend,Tyne and Wear, England |
Key people | Gerard Kroese, (Director) |
Number of employees | 25 including contractors (2017) |
| Website | swanhunter |
Swan Hunter, formerly known asSwan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson and originally known asC. S. Swan & Hunter, is ashipbuilding design, engineering, and management company,[1] based inWallsend,Tyne and Wear,England.
At its apex, the company represented the combined forces of three powerful shipbuilding families: Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson.
The company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century, most famouslyRMS Mauretania which held theBlue Riband for the fastest crossing of theAtlantic, andRMS Carpathia which rescued survivors fromRMS Titanic.
In 2006Swan Hunter ceased vessel construction on Tyneside, but continues to provide design engineering services.
Shipbuilding began on what would become C. S. Swan & Hunter's Middle Yard in 1873 under Coulson, Cooke & Co. owned by shipbuilderCharles Mitchell. Mitchell had worked underJohn Coutts nearby inLow Walker until 1852 when he started his own business, steadily expanding until breaking ground on the new site with two of his associates in 1873.[2]
However, in 1874 the joint venture failed and Mitchell took over, delegating management to his brother-in-lawCharles Sheridan Swan, taking the name C. S. Swan & Co.[2]
CharlesSheridan Swan died in 1879 in an accident at sea, his son and heir CharlesSheriton Swan was only nine years old.[2] Charles Sheriton Swan would go on to serve an apprenticeship at theWallsend Slipway & Engineering Company which would later be absorbed by the company.[3]
The East Yard was founded on the site of the Wallsend Chemical Works, which underwent a change of ownership in 1883. By 1891, C. S. Swan & Hunter had purchased the land and extended the yard onto it, expanding from three building berths or slipways to six.[4][5] Two of these were large, covered slipways with electric gantry cranes, an innovative construction method for the time.[6]
The site that would become the West Yard was originally that of Schlesinger, Davis & Co. from 1863 until 1893. The site was purchased by C. S. Swan & Hunter in 1897.[7]
John Wigham Richardson founded the Neptune Works nearby in 1860, on the site previously occupied by Coutts.[8]
C. S. Swan & Hunter was founded bySunderland shipbuilderGeorge Burton Hunter, in partnership with Mary, the widow of Charles Sheridan Swan[9][10] in 1880.[11]
Hunter had recently dissolved his partnership with S. P. Austin in Sunderland and entered negotiations with Charles Mitchell and H. F. Swan, brother of Charles Sheridan Swan. They brokered the partnership, placing Hunter as the managing director.[2] Charles Sheriton Swan would later become a director by 1903.[3]
C. S. Swan & Hunter launched the largest cargo steamer then afloat, the 7,323 GRTMilwaukee, in 1896,[12] and quickly broke their own record by launching the 9,041 GRTMonarch the following year forFurness, Withy & Co.[13] The following year they were commissioned to produce another cargo vessel, this one of 8,056 GRT forChristopher Furness, but this was purchased before launch byCunard Line for £115,000, who named the vesselSS Ultonia.[14][15]
Around the time they purchasedUltonia, Cunard placed an order for what was known as an 'intermediate' liner. Not as fast asRMS Lucania, not as large asRMS Oceanic, but fast enough and large enough to pay well. This new ship was namedRMS Ivernia, launched in 1899. She was Cunard's largest ship at time of launch.[16]
The success and flexibility ofIvernia and her sister shipSaxonia (built atJohn Brown & Company,Clydebank), that protected Cunard from fluctuations in seasonal passenger trade, prompted Cunard to order a third, smaller ship of the same class from C. S. Swan & Hunter. This ship was launched in 1902 asRMS Carpathia[17] and was later made famous for her role in the aftermath of thesinking of the RMSTitanic in 1912.[18]
In 1903, C. S. Swan & Hunter merged withWigham Richardson (founded byJohn Wigham Richardson as Neptune Works in 1860), specifically to bid for the important contract to buildRMS Mauretania on behalf ofCunard.[19] Their bid was successful, and the new company, Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd, went on to build what was to become, in its day, the most famous oceangoing liner in the world. Also in 1903, the Company took a controlling interest in theWallsend Slipway & Engineering Company, which was an early licensed manufacturer ofParsons steam turbine engines, which enabledMauretania to achieve her great speed.[20]Mauretania was launched fromWallsend on 20 September 1906 by theDuchess of Roxburghe.[21] The firm expanded rapidly in the early part of the twentieth century, acquiring the Glasgow-basedBarclay Curle in 1912.[20]
In 1966, Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson merged withSmiths Dock Company to formAssociated Shipbuilders, which later becameSwan Hunter Group.[22] Following the publication of theGeddes Report recommending rationalisation inBritish shipbuilding, the Company went on to acquireClelands Shipbuilding Company[23] andJohn Readhead & Sons in 1967.[24] Meanwhile, Swan Hunter inherited both the Naval Yard atHigh Walker on theRiver Tyne ofVickers-Armstrongs[23] and theHebburn Yard ofHawthorn Leslie in 1968.[24] In 1973 further expansion came with the purchase ofPalmers Dock atHebburn fromVickers-Armstrongs.[25]
Then in 1977, Swan Hunter Group wasnationalised as part ofBritish Shipbuilders.[22] The former flagship of theRoyal Navy,HMS Ark Royal was built at Swan Hunter during this period, entering service in 1985.[26]
The Company wasprivatised again in 1987 but decided to close its Neptune Yard in 1988.[27] It was then forced to call in the receivers when the UK government awarded the contract forHMS Ocean toKvaerner Govan in 1993.[28] The receiver took steps to break up the business.[29] However, the main shipyard inWallsend was bought out from receivership by Jaap Kroese, a Dutchmillionaire.[22] The yard subsequently undertook several ad-hoc ship repair and conversion projects for private-sector customers.[30]
In 2000, Swan Hunter was awarded the contract to design and build two (Auxiliary) Landing Ship Dock ships for theRoyal Fleet Auxiliary with two other ships being built byBAE Systems Naval Ships: the cost of the two Swan Hunter ships was to be £210 million including £62 million for lead yard services, with an inservice date of 2004.[31] By July 2006, the costs had risen to £309 million and only one ship had been delivered. As a result of this, the second shipRFA Lyme Bay was transferred toBAE Systems Govan in Glasgow for completion.[32]
In 2001, Swan Hunter acquiredKværner'sPort Clarence offshore yard atTeesside[33] but then in 2006 sold it to Wilton Engineering Group.[34]
In November 2006, after the failure to completeLyme Bay within budget and resulting exclusion from future Royal Navy shipbuilding projects,Jaap Kroese announced that the business was effectively finished and placed the Wallsend Yard's iconic cranes up for sale. He also said that he was actively looking for a buyer for the land.[35] During this time,Lyme Bay's earlier sister ship,Largs Bay, was noted as the last ship to be built and fully completed by Swan Hunter. In April 2007, Swan Hunter's cranes, along with its floating dock and other equipment, were sold toBharati Shipyards,India's second-largest private-sector shipbuilder. The entire plant machinery and equipment from Swan Hunter was dismantled and transported to India over six months to be rebuilt at Bharati Shipyards.[36]
Swan's performed the conceptual design ofPioneering Spirit, provisionally namedPieter Schelte, the world's largest platform installation/decommissioning and pipelay vessel. The basic design of the lifting systems was completed by the end of 2008, and detailed design of the hulls by May 2010.[37]
In 2008, the company said it was concentrating on ship design with just under 200 people employed.[1][38]
In 2016, Jaap Kroese died but the company said it would continue with its business of ship design. At the time, the company had 40 employees and contractors.[39]
Also in 2016, Swan Hunter was relaunched into the subsea industry by Gerard Kroese, the eldest son of former owner Jaap Kroese. Swan Hunter started to offer specialist equipment, design, engineering & project management services to the offshore renewables and subsea oil & gas energy markets.[40] On 12 October 2016, the company announced the issue of a letter of intent for the design and build of a basket carousel loading tower.[41] The company announced further equipment pool growth through a 15Te tensioner and 450Te reel drive system.[42] Swan Hunter announced loading tower readiness on 5 May 2017[43] with completion of mobilisation onto EMAS Chiyoda Subsea's multi-lay vessel 'Lewek Constellation' shortly thereafter.[44]
The Company owned three main yards:
All three were on the north side ofRiver Tyne. The company also owned theWallsend Slipway & Engineering Company, the yard that built the engines for the Mauretania, from 1903 until the 1980s. At various times Swan Hunter also ownedPalmers Hebburn Yard,Hawthorn Leslie Hebburn Yard andReadheads atSouth Shields which were all on the south side of theRiver Tyne.
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Naval vessels
Commercial vessels
Cable ships
Bulk Carrier
Research Vessels
Tankers
On 1 May 2006, British pop-duoPet Shop Boys performed their soundtrack to the 1925 Soviet silent-filmBattleship Potemkin alongside theRoyal Northern Sinfonia at the shipyard.[58]
54°59′12″N1°31′43″W / 54.98675°N 1.52856°W /54.98675; -1.52856
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