Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
Encyclopedia
The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Limited was a British
shipbuilding company in the Govan
area on the Clyde
in Glasgow
. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Navy
and other navies through the First World War and the Second World War. It also built many transatlantic liners, including record breaking ships for the Cunard Line
and Canadian Pacific
. At the other end of the scale Fairfields built fast cross channel mail steamers and ferries for locations around the world. These included ships for the Bosphorus crossing in Istanbul
and some of the early ships used by Thomas Cook
for developing tourism on the River Nile
.
district of Glasgow
in 1834. John Elder
joined the business in 1852 and it then diversified into shipbuilding as Randolph, Elder and Company, acquiring the Govan Old Shipyard in 1858. The first ship was built in 1861 as No 14.
The business moved to a new yard at the former Fairfield Farm at the Govan riverside in 1868, changing its name to the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, after the old farm, in 1886, at which time it was owned by Sir William Pearce
. The shipyard's imposing red sandstone Drawing Office
s were designed by John Keppie of Honeyman and Keppie and constructed between 1889-1891.
John Carmichael was manager of the Fairfield yard in 1894. He had been born in Govan in 1858, and he had entered Fairfield as an apprentice in 1873. When his apprenticeship was completed seven years later, Sir William appointed him as head draughtsman, and later he was promoted to assistant manager.
Alexander Cleghorn was the Fairfield manager in 1909. The company also established the Coventry Ordnance Works
joint venture with Yarrow Shipbuilders
and others in 1905.
A giant cantilever crane was built for the yard in 1911 by Sir William Arrol & Co.
With a maximum lift capacity of 250 tons, it was recognised for many years as the largest crane in the world. It was employed in lifting the engines and boilers aboard ships in the fitting out basin. The B-listed crane was demolished in 2007 during yard modernisation works.
In 1919 the company became part of the Northumberland Shipbuilding Group, with Alexander Kennedy installed as managing director.
In 1921, Alexander Kennedy was knighted. Sir Alexander became Fairfield chairman in 1930 and remained so until after Fairfield was taken over by Lithgows
of Port Glasgow
in 1935.
The Fairfield West Yard was added in 1920s but closed after ten years due to severe recession and was demolished in 1934. The Fairfield West yard was used by the United States Army Corps of Engineers
in 1944 to build four landing craft.
In 1963, the Fairfield engine building division merged with another Lithgow subsidiary, David Rowan & Company, to form Fairfield Rowan Ltd. The company as a whole was placed in receivership and was subsequently sold by Lithgow's in 1965. The marine engine building subsidiary Fairfield Rowan was closed in 1966, but the shipbuilding operation was reconstituted as Fairfield (Glasgow) Ltd, in what became known as the famous Fairfield Experiment into new ways of improving productivity through attempting new reforms to industrial relations and the application of Scientific management
methods to improve productivity
. The era of the Fairfield experiment was captured by Sean Connery
in his famous documentary The Bowler and the Bunnet
.
Then in 1968 the company became part of Upper Clyde Shipbuilders
, which collapsed in 1971 when a strike and work-in received national press attention. As part of the recovery deal, Fairfields was formed into Govan Shipbuilders
, which was nationalised and subsumed into British Shipbuilders
in 1977. On the breakup of British Shipbuilders under denationalisation in 1988, the former Fairfield yard was sold to the Norwegian Kværner
group and renamed Kvaerner Govan
. The yard passed to BAE Systems Marine
in 1999 and is now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
shipbuilding company in the Govan
Govan
Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....
area on the Clyde
River Clyde
The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....
in Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
. Fairfields, as it is often known, was a major warship builder, turning out many vessels for the Royal Navy
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...
and other navies through the First World War and the Second World War. It also built many transatlantic liners, including record breaking ships for the Cunard Line
Cunard Line
Cunard Line is a British-American owned shipping company based at Carnival House in Southampton, England and operated by Carnival UK. It has been a leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic for over a century...
and Canadian Pacific
CP Ships
CP Ships was a large Canadian container shipping company, prior to being taken over by Hapag Lloyd in late 2005. CP Ships had its head office in the City of Westminster in London and later in the City Place Gatwick development on the property of London Gatwick Airport in Crawley, West Sussex.The...
. At the other end of the scale Fairfields built fast cross channel mail steamers and ferries for locations around the world. These included ships for the Bosphorus crossing in Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
and some of the early ships used by Thomas Cook
Thomas Cook
Thomas Cook of Melbourne, Derbyshire, England founded the travel agency that is now Thomas Cook Group.- Early days :...
for developing tourism on the River Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
.
History
The business was founded by Charles Randolph, who began trading as a millwright under the name Randolph & Elliott, building engines and machinery in the TradestonTradeston
Tradeston is a district in the Scottish city of Glasgow adjacent to the city centre on the south bank of the River Clyde.-Geography:Tradeston is bounded by the River Clyde to the north, the Glasgow to Paisley railway line on the east and south and the Kingston Bridge and M8 motorway to the west...
district of Glasgow
Glasgow
Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...
in 1834. John Elder
John Elder (shipbuilder)
John Elder , was a Scottish marine engineer and shipbuilder. He was born at Glasgow on 8 March 1824. His family was connected with Kinross, where, for several generations, his forefathers had followed the occupation of wrights, for which they seemed to have a special aptitude. His father, David...
joined the business in 1852 and it then diversified into shipbuilding as Randolph, Elder and Company, acquiring the Govan Old Shipyard in 1858. The first ship was built in 1861 as No 14.
The business moved to a new yard at the former Fairfield Farm at the Govan riverside in 1868, changing its name to the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, after the old farm, in 1886, at which time it was owned by Sir William Pearce
Sir William Pearce, 1st Baronet
Sir William Pearce, 1st Baronet was a British shipbuilder, under whose management the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Govan on the River Clyde became the leading shipbuilding company in the world...
. The shipyard's imposing red sandstone Drawing Office
Design studio
A Design Studio or Drawing Office is a workplace for Designers and Artisans engaged in conceiving, designing and developing new products or objects...
s were designed by John Keppie of Honeyman and Keppie and constructed between 1889-1891.
John Carmichael was manager of the Fairfield yard in 1894. He had been born in Govan in 1858, and he had entered Fairfield as an apprentice in 1873. When his apprenticeship was completed seven years later, Sir William appointed him as head draughtsman, and later he was promoted to assistant manager.
Alexander Cleghorn was the Fairfield manager in 1909. The company also established the Coventry Ordnance Works
Coventry Ordnance Works
Coventry Ordnance Works was a British manufacturer of heavy guns, particularly naval artillery. The firm was based in the English city of Coventry.-History:...
joint venture with Yarrow Shipbuilders
Yarrow Shipbuilders
Yarrow Limited , often styled as simply Yarrows, was a major shipbuilding firm based in the Scotstoun district of Glasgow on the River Clyde...
and others in 1905.
A giant cantilever crane was built for the yard in 1911 by Sir William Arrol & Co.
Sir William Arrol & Co.
Sir William Arrol & Co. was a leading Scottish civil engineering business founded by William Arrol and based in Glasgow. It built some of the most famous bridges in the United Kingdom including the Forth Bridge and Tower Bridge in London.-Early history:...
With a maximum lift capacity of 250 tons, it was recognised for many years as the largest crane in the world. It was employed in lifting the engines and boilers aboard ships in the fitting out basin. The B-listed crane was demolished in 2007 during yard modernisation works.
In 1919 the company became part of the Northumberland Shipbuilding Group, with Alexander Kennedy installed as managing director.
In 1921, Alexander Kennedy was knighted. Sir Alexander became Fairfield chairman in 1930 and remained so until after Fairfield was taken over by Lithgows
Lithgows
Lithgows Limited, was a British shipbuilding company based in Kingston, Port Glasgow, on the River Clyde in Scotland.-Founding:The Company was established by Joseph Russell and his partners Anderson Rodger and William Lithgow who leased the Bay Yard in Port Glasgow from Cunliffe & Dunlop and...
of Port Glasgow
Port Glasgow
Port Glasgow is the second largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16617 persons...
in 1935.
The Fairfield West Yard was added in 1920s but closed after ten years due to severe recession and was demolished in 1934. The Fairfield West yard was used by the United States Army Corps of Engineers
United States Army Corps of Engineers
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 38,000 civilian and military personnel, making it the world's largest public engineering, design and construction management agency...
in 1944 to build four landing craft.
In 1963, the Fairfield engine building division merged with another Lithgow subsidiary, David Rowan & Company, to form Fairfield Rowan Ltd. The company as a whole was placed in receivership and was subsequently sold by Lithgow's in 1965. The marine engine building subsidiary Fairfield Rowan was closed in 1966, but the shipbuilding operation was reconstituted as Fairfield (Glasgow) Ltd, in what became known as the famous Fairfield Experiment into new ways of improving productivity through attempting new reforms to industrial relations and the application of Scientific management
Scientific management
Scientific management, also called Taylorism, was a theory of management that analyzed and synthesized workflows. Its main objective was improving economic efficiency, especially labor productivity. It was one of the earliest attempts to apply science to the engineering of processes and to management...
methods to improve productivity
Productivity
Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of production. Productivity is a ratio of what is produced to what is required to produce it. Usually this ratio is in the form of an average, expressing the total output divided by the total input...
. The era of the Fairfield experiment was captured by Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
in his famous documentary The Bowler and the Bunnet
The Bowler and the Bunnet
The Bowler and the Bunnet was a Scottish television documentary programme on STV, directed and presented by Sean Connery. It is the only film ever directed by Connery....
.
Then in 1968 the company became part of Upper Clyde Shipbuilders
Upper Clyde Shipbuilders
Upper Clyde Shipbuilders was a British shipbuilding consortium created in 1968 as a result of the amalgamation of five major shipbuilders of the River Clyde in Scotland...
, which collapsed in 1971 when a strike and work-in received national press attention. As part of the recovery deal, Fairfields was formed into Govan Shipbuilders
Govan Shipbuilders
Govan Shipbuilders Ltd was a British shipbuilding company based on the River Clyde at Glasgow in Scotland. It operated the former Fairfield Shipyard and took its name from the Govan area in which it was located.-History:...
, which was nationalised and subsumed into British Shipbuilders
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 1977. On the breakup of British Shipbuilders under denationalisation in 1988, the former Fairfield yard was sold to the Norwegian Kværner
Kværner
Kværner was a Norway-based engineering and construction services company in existence between 1853 and 2005 when it was merged with Aker ASA. The Kværner name was used in the subsidiary Aker Kværner until April 3, 2008 when it changed name to Aker Solutions. Kværner re-emerged on 6...
group and renamed Kvaerner Govan
Kvaerner Govan
Kvaerner Govan Ltd, located at Govan in Glasgow on the River Clyde, was a shipyard subsidiary formed in 1988 when the Norwegian group Kvaerner Industrier purchased the Govan Shipbuilders division of the nationalised British Shipbuilders corporation...
. The yard passed to BAE Systems Marine
BAE Systems Marine
BAE Systems Marine Ltd. was the shipbuilding subsidiary of BAE Systems, formed in 1999, which manufactured the full range of naval ships; nuclear submarines, frigates, destroyers, amphibious ships....
in 1999 and is now part of BAE Systems Surface Ships.
Ships built
Some of the better-known ships built by Fairfield's include:- Battlecruisers:
- HMS IndomitableHMS Indomitable (1907)HMS Indomitable was an of the British Royal Navy. She was built before World War I and had an active career during the war. She tried to hunt down the German ships Goeben and Breslau in the Mediterranean when war broke out and bombarded Turkish fortifications protecting the Dardanelles even...
- HMS New ZealandHMS New Zealand (1911)HMS New Zealand was one of three s built for the defence of the British Empire. Launched in 1911, the ship's construction was funded by the government of New Zealand as a gift to Britain, and she was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1912...
- HMS RenownHMS Renown (1916)HMS Renown was the lead ship of her class of battlecruisers of the Royal Navy built during the First World War. She was originally laid down as an improved version of the s. Her construction was suspended on the outbreak of war on the grounds she would not be ready in a timely manner...
- HMS Indomitable
- Battleships:
- HMS CommonwealthHMS Commonwealth (1903)HMS Commonwealth, was a of the British Royal Navy. Like all ships of the class she was named after an important part of the British Empire, namely the Commonwealth of Australia.-Technical characteristics:...
- HMS ValiantHMS Valiant (1914)HMS Valiant was a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship of the British Royal Navy. She was laid down at the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Govan on 31 January 1913 and launched on 4 November 1914...
- HMS Howe
- HMS Commonwealth
- Destroyers:
- HMS CameleonHMS Cameleon (1910)HMS Cameleon was an Acorn class destroyer of the Royal Navy, built in 1910 and sold for scrap in 1921....
- HMS Cameleon
- Torpedo boat destroyers:
- HMAS Parramatta
- Aircraft carriers:
- HMS ImplacableHMS Implacable (R86)HMS Implacable was an Implacable-class aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy.- History :She was laid down at Fairfields Shipyard on Clydeside three months after her sister-ship Indefatigable and was clearly destined for the British Pacific Fleet once worked up...
- HMS TheseusHMS Theseus (R64)HMS Theseus was a Colossus-class light fleet aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy. She was laid down in 1943 by Fairfield at Govan, and launched on 6 July 1944.-Workup and initial service:...
- HMS Implacable
- Passenger ships:
- SS Campania
- RMS LucaniaRMS LucaniaRMS Lucania was a British ocean liner owned by the Cunard Steamship Line Shipping Company, built by Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Govan, Scotland, and launched on Thursday, 2 February 1893....
- SS LeicestershireSS HeraklionThe SS Heraklion was a car ferry operating the lines Piraeus - Chania and Piraeus - Irakleio between 1965 and 1966. The ship capsized and sank on 8 December 1966 in the Aegean Sea, resulting in the death of over 200 people.-Background:...
- SS VolturnoSS Volturno (1906)SS Volturno was an ocean liner that burned and sank in the North Atlantic in October 1913. She was a Royal Line ship under charter to the Uranium Line at the time of her fire. After the ship issued SOS signals, eleven ships came to her aid and rescued 520 passengers and crewmen. About 130...
- Clyde paddle steamer:
- PS Jeanie DeansPS Jeanie DeansPS Jeanie Deans was a Clyde paddle steamer, built in 1931 for the London and North Eastern Railway. She was a popular boat, providing summer cruises from Craigendoran until 1964.-History:...
, 1931
- PS Jeanie Deans
See also
- Ocean liners built for Canadian Pacific Steamships:
- RMS Empress of Britain
- RMS Empress of Ireland
- RMS Empress of Asia
- RMS Empress of Russia
- RMS Empress of CanadaRMS Empress of Canada (1922)RMS Empress of Canada was an ocean liner built in 1920 for the Canadian Pacific Steamships by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland. This ship -- the first of two CP vessels to be named Empress of Canada -- regularly traversed the trans-Pacific route...
- RMS Empress of JapanRMS Empress of Japan (1930)RMS Empress of Japan was an ocean liner built in 1929-1930 by Fairfield Shipbuilding & Engineering Company at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland for Canadian Pacific Steamships . This ship -- the second of two CP vessels to be named Empress of Japan -- regularly traversed the trans-Pacific route...
Further reading
- Payne, Peter Lester. (1967). Studies In Scottish Business History. London: Routledge. 10-ISBN 0-714-61349-5; 13-ISBN 978-0-714-61349-9 (cloth)