Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Company (Chinese:

Chinese language

The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...

 太古船塢) was a dockyard located in the present-day Taikoo Shing

Taikoo Shing

Taikoo Shing, or Tai Koo Shing , is a private residential in Quarry Bay, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It forms a part of the Swire Properties's Island East residential and retail branding, along with TaiKoo Place, the adjacent Cityplaza retail and office complex and EAST, a lifestyle business...

 and part of Taikoo Place

Taikoo Place

TaiKoo Place is a commercial complex in Quarry Bay, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong. It consists of 10 office towers: Devon House, Dorset House, PCCW Tower, Warwick House, Cornwall House, Somerset House, Lincoln House, Oxford House, Cambridge House and One Island East. The Island East development...

 of Quarry Bay

Quarry Bay

Quarry Bay is an area beneath Mount Parker in the Eastern District of Hong Kong Island, in Hong Kong. The western portion of the area was also formerly known as Lai Chi...

 on the north shore of Hong Kong Island

Hong Kong Island

Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It has a population of 1,289,500 and its population density is 16,390/km², as of 2008...

 in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

.

History

The idea that John Swire & Sons should have their own dockyard in Hong Kong to service, repair, adapt and build vessels for CNCo was first put forward when the Sugar Refinery was established at Quarry Bay and surplus land remained on that site. The suggestion was made several times during the late Nineteenth Century but was opposed by John Samuel Swire as uneconomic and too far outside their usual interests. The need, however, for adequate, reliable and easily available overhaul facilities in the East increased and the Dockyard was eventually begun in 1900-01 at Quarry Bay. It was registered in Britain with John Swire & Sons appointed as London Managers, Butterfield & Swire Eastern Managers and Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Co as Expert Advisers. The first ship for CNCo was built by 1910, but it was sixteen years before there was a profit on the working account and twenty before a dividend was declared. The Dockyard's chief competitor was the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company from whom the new firm faced considerable hostility for many years until a working agreement was reached between them in 1913.

Beginning in Colonial Hong Kong

Colonial Hong Kong

In the 19th century the British, Dutch, French, Indians and Americans saw Imperial China as the world's largest untapped market. In 1840 the British Empire launched their first and one of the most aggressive expeditionary forces to claim the territory that would later be known as Hong Kong.In a few...

, Whampoa Dockyard Company and "Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Company" were crucial for the economy.
Together with the United Kingdom

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...

, these 2 docks in Hong Kong would build the largest ships in the world during that period of time .
Simultaneously, China had multiple dockyards such as Shanghai Dock & Engineering Company in 1906, Tung Hwa Shipbuilding Works in 1910 and the Shanghai Dockyards Ltd in 1937. Though Hong Kong's dockyards always gave the British complete freedom in ship construction.

During the 1930s, Shanghai

Shanghai

Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...

 would experience difficult times through events such as the Battle of Shanghai

Battle of Shanghai

The Battle of Shanghai, known in Chinese as Battle of Songhu, was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and the Imperial Japanese Army of the Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War...

 within the Second Sino-Japanese War

Second Sino-Japanese War

The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...

. Hong Kong's Taikoo Dockyard would continue its own government training schools, which were later superseded by Hong Kong's Technical College

Hong Kong Polytechnic University

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University specialises in professional education in Hong Kong. The University’s teaching units are grouped under six faculties and two schools; the Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles, Faculty of Business, Faculty of Construction and Environment, Faculty of...

.

By World War II

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...

, other countries finally began building larger ships than Hong Kong.

In 1940 the British company went into voluntary liquidation so that a new one could be opened and registered in Hong Kong and the Dockyard continued to expand after the Second World War despite the destruction caused by the Japanese during their occupation from 1942-1945.

The Swire Group subsequently decided to use the land to develop a large private housing estate

Private housing estate

A private housing estate is a term in Hong Kong that refers to a housing estate developed by a private developer, as opposed to a public housing estate built by the Hong Kong Housing Authority or the Hong Kong Housing Society. It usually is characterised with a cluster of high-rise buildings,...

, Taikoo Shing. Closing in the early 1970s, the operation later merged with Whampoa Dockyard of Hutchison Whampoa

Hutchison Whampoa

Hutchison Whampoa Limited or HWL of Hong Kong is a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest companies listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. HWL is an international corporation with a diverse array of holdings which includes the world's biggest port and telecommunication operations in 14...

 to form a Hong Kong United Dockyard

Hong Kong United Dockyard

Hong Kong United Dockyard or simply United Dockyard is a dockyard in Shek Wan, on the Tsing Yi Island of Hong Kong. HUD was formed in 1973 from the merger of Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock and Taikoo Dockyard . It is jointed owned by Hutchison Whampoa and Swire...

 at the west coast of Tsing Yi Island.

References

Ships built

• Po Yong 1941 for China Navigation Company
• Shuntien 1934 for China Navigation Company
• Taishan 1925 for Jardine Matheson Company
• Whang Pu 1920 for China Navigation Company
• Wuchang 1914 for China Navigation Company
• Wusueh 1931 for China Navigation Company