History

The company was founded in 1885 by the 3rd Marquess of Ailsa

Archibald Kennedy, 3rd Marquess of Ailsa

Archibald Kennedy, 3rd Marquess of Ailsa was a Scottish peer, the son of Archibald Kennedy, 2nd Marquess of Ailsa.He married Hon. Evelyn Stuart, daughter of Charles Stuart, 12th Lord Blantyre, on 7 March 1871...

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In 1902 the Ailsa yard fitted out the polar exploration ship Scotia for the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition

Scottish National Antarctic Expedition

The Scottish National Antarctic Expedition , 1902–04, was organised and led by William Speirs Bruce, a natural scientist and former medical student from the University of Edinburgh. Although overshadowed in prestige terms by Robert Falcon Scott's concurrent Discovery Expedition, the SNAE completed...

 of 1902-04. The Scotia sailed from Troon for the South Atlantic on 2 November 1902.

The company built paddle steamer

Paddle steamer

A paddle steamer is a steamship or riverboat, powered by a steam engine, using paddle wheels to propel it through the water. In antiquity, Paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses were wheelers driven by animals or humans...

s for various companies around the UK, including the New Medway Shipping Company's PS Medway Queen

Medway Queen

The PS Medway Queen is a paddle driven steamship, the only estuary paddle steamer left in the United Kingdom. She was one of the "little ships of Dunkirk", making a record 7 trips and rescuing 7000 men in the evacuation of Dunkirk....

, the only estuary paddle steamer left in the UK.

During the First World War

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

, the shipyard built the Royal Navy's

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 first paddle minesweeper of the Bird class

Bird class minesweeper

The Bird class minesweeper was a naval trawler built to Admiralty specifications so it could function as a minesweeper. Forty-five were built. The RNZN ships were also referred to as corvettes....

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During the Second World War

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Ailsa built vessels for the Navy, including several Bangor class minesweeper

Bangor class minesweeper

The Bangor-class minesweepers were a class of minesweepers operated by the Royal Navy , Royal Canadian Navy and Royal Indian Navy during World War II....

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In 1977 Ailsa was nationalised and subsumed into the British Shipbuilders Corporation

British Shipbuilders

British Shipbuilders Corporation was a public corporation that owned and managed the shipbuilding industry in England and Scotland from 1977 and through the 1980s...

. In 1981, the assets of Ailsa and those of Ferguson Brothers

Ferguson Shipbuilders

Ferguson Shipbuilders Limited is a shipyard located in Port Glasgow on the River Clyde in Scotland. It is the last remaining shipbuilder on the lower Clyde, and is currently the only builder of merchant ships on the river - the company's mainstay has long been Roll-on/roll-off ferries.-History:The...

 were merged to form Ferguson-Ailsa, Limited. This grouping was split and privatised in 1986, the Ailsa yard being acquired by Perth Corporation

Perth, Scotland

Perth is a town and former city and royal burgh in central Scotland. Located on the banks of the River Tay, it is the administrative centre of Perth and Kinross council area and the historic county town of Perthshire...

 as Ailsa & Perth, Limited.

Ailsa stopped large-scale shipbuilding in 1988 and finally closed as a shipbuilder in 2000. The yard has recently been used for ship repair work and the fabrication of large concrete sections for a pier improvement programme in Grimsay

Grimsay

Grimsay is a tidal island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.Grimsay is the largest of the low-lying stepping-stones which convey the Oitir Mhòr causeway, a five mile arc of single track road linking North Uist and Benbecula via the western tip of Grimsay...

, Western Isles.

Ships built by Ailsa Shipbuilding Company

Yard No	Name	Type	Launch	| Notes
334		Minesweeper	29 April 1918
335		Minesweeper	11 June 1918
336		Minesweeper	21 November 1918
338		Minesweeper	17 January 1919
294		Gunboat	15 September 1915
345		Minesweeper	15 August 1919
297		Minesweeper	26 January 1916
298		Minesweeper	4 April 1916
473		Minesweeper	16 February 1953
474		Minesweeper	4 December 1953
481		Ferry	28 September 1954
508		Ferry	16 February 1961
299		Minesweeper	14 June 1916
439		Minesweeper	19 December 1941
571		Research Vessel	1988
480		Ferry	20 January 1954
509		Ferry	27 October 1961
483		Minesweeper	25 May 1955
484		Minesweeper	9 December 1957
496		Ferry	30 April 1957
		Ferry	1996
70		Passenger ship	24 March 1898
437		Minesweeper	4 September 1941
530	MV Iona MV Pentalina-B MV Pentalina-B was a fast and extremely versatile ferry operated on a variety of Scottish routes. Launched in 1970 as MV Iona, she was the first drive-through roll-on/roll-off ferry built for the David MacBrayne Ltd fleet. She was the first ship in the company's history to have bridge-controlled...	Ferry	22 January 1970	renamed Pentalina-B
551		Ferry	23 December 1976
78	Katoomba USS Emeline (SP-175) USS Emeline was a yacht acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was outfitted with military equipment, including 3-inch guns, and was commissioned as a patrol craft, assigned to protect shipping in the North Atlantic Ocean. She saved the lives of survivors of shipwrecks, and provided...	Patrol ship	28 December 1898	renamed USS Emeline
4		Cargo ship	4 January 1888	renamed Belgian Prince
547		Ferry	4 December 1975	renamed Panagia Soumela
554		Ferry	11 June 1979
592		Ferry	8 May 2000
452		Frigate	19 October 1944
453		Frigate	8 October 1945
388		Paddle Steamer	23 April 1924
533		Diesel Ferry	22 December 1971
487		Minesweeper	12 May 1959
488		Minesweeper	22 January 1958
		Patrol & Training vessel	January 1988
432		Minesweeper	19 August 1940
552		Ferry	30 June 1977
507		Passenger	29 April 1960
		Patrol & Training vessel	January 1998
	Triton	Motor Yacht	1902	now Madiz Madiz Madiz is an elegant 57 metre twin screw steel yacht built on the River Clyde in Scotland, in 1902. In 2006, she broke a record in the shipping industry by being the only ship in the world to be in class "+100A1" with Lloyd's Register of Shipping, 100 years after the date of its building.-Current...
		Yacht	4 February 1904
Ferry	4th May 1954	Ferry Gibraltar to Tangier till 1986		Sources: Miramar

Archives

The Ailsa Shipbuilding Company archives are maintained by the University of Glasgow Archives Services

Archives of the University of Glasgow

The Archives of the University of Glasgow maintain the historical records of the University of Glasgow back to its foundation in 1451. Its earliest record is a charter dating from 1304 for the lands of the earliest mention of record-keeping in the University is in 1490 when it is recorded in...

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