William Hamilton and Company was a British shipyard

Shipbuilding

Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and floating vessels. It normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation that traces its roots to before recorded history.Shipbuilding and ship repairs, both...

 located in 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...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. The company was purchased by Lithgow Ltd.

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...

, later to become Scott Lithgow

Scott Lithgow

-History:The Company was formed in 1967 by the merger of Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company and Lithgows. Scott Lithgow was based in Port Glasgow and Greenock on the lower Clyde in Scotland. Scott Lithgow was nationalised and subsumed into British Shipbuilders in 1977...

 which was nationalised 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.

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...

 the company built several 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...

, including 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....

s.

The yard built the Pacific Star for the Booth Steamship Company Ltd, which was leased to the Blue Star Line as Blue Star's only tanker.

Some of the merchant ships that Hamiltons built in the Second World War were armed as CAM ship

CAM ship

CAM ships were World War II-era British merchant ships used in convoys as an emergency stop-gap until sufficient escort carriers became available. CAM is an acronym for catapult aircraft merchantman. A CAM ship was equipped with a rocket-propelled catapult launching a single Hawker Sea Hurricane,...

s, including SS Michael E

SS Michael E

SS Michael E was a 7,628 ton CAM ship which was built in 1941 and was sunk on her maiden voyage.-Description:Michael E was built by William Hamilton & Co Ltd, Port Glasgow. Launched in 1941, she was completed in May of that year...

 and SS Primrose Hill

SS Primrose Hill

SS Primrose Hill was completed by William Hamilton & Co in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde in September 1941. She was a CAM ship, armed with a catapult on her bow to launch a Hawker Sea Hurricane....

.

Ships built by William Hamilton Co Ltd

• MV Athelmonarch
• HMIS Carnatic
  HMIS Carnatic (J199)
  HMIS Carnatic was a Bangor class minesweeper which served in the Royal Indian Navy during World War II.-History:HMIS Carnatic was ordered from the William Hamilton and Company originally for the Royal Navy as HMS Newhaven in 1939. However, before she was launched, she was transferred to the Royal...
  
  
• SS Cragoswald – wrecked on the Low Lee rocks, Mount's Bay
  Mount's Bay
  Mount's Bay is a large, sweeping bay on the English Channel coast of Cornwall in the United Kingdom, stretching from the Lizard Point to Gwennap Head on the eastern side of the Land's End peninsula. Towards the middle of the bay is St Michael's Mount...
  
   in April 1911.
• HMS Gossamer
• SS Heathercliff
• HMS Ilfracombe
• HMIS Khyber
  HMIS Khyber (J190)
  HMIS Khyber was a Bangor class minesweeper which served in the Royal Indian Navy during World War II. Khyber was scrapped in 1949.-History:...
  
  
• SS Kingston Hill
  SS Kingston Hill
  SS Kingston Hill was a cargo ship completed by William Hamilton & Co in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde in December 1940 She was managed by Counties Ship Management Co Ltd of London , an offshoot of the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking company....
  
  
• HMIS Kumaon
  HMIS Kumaon (J164)
  HMIS Kumaon was a Bangor class minesweeper which served in the Royal Indian Navy during World War II.-History:HMIS Kumaon was ordered from the William Hamilton and Company originally for the Royal Navy as HMS Middlesbrough in 1939. However, before she was launched, she was transferred to the...
  
  
• HMS Llandudno
• SS Lulworth Hill
  SS Lulworth Hill
  SS Lulworth Hill was a cargo ship completed by William Hamilton & Co in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde in 1940. She was owned by Dorset Steamships Co Ltd and managed by Counties Ship Management Co Ltd of London , both of which were offshoots of the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking...
  
  
• SS Macassa
• SS Marietta E
  SS Marietta E
  SS Marietta E was completed by William Hamilton & Co in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde in June 1940. She was managed by Counties Ship Management Ltd of London, an offshoot of the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking company...
  
  
• HMS Melton
  HMS Melton
  HMS Melton was a of the Royal Navy. The Racecourse class comprised 32 paddlewheel coastal minesweeping sloops.-Great War:Built by William Hamilton and Company in Port Glasgow, Scotland, she was launched in March 1916 with the pennant number 898. As built she was equipped to operate two seaplanes...
  
  
• SS Michael E
  SS Michael E
  SS Michael E was a 7,628 ton CAM ship which was built in 1941 and was sunk on her maiden voyage.-Description:Michael E was built by William Hamilton & Co Ltd, Port Glasgow. Launched in 1941, she was completed in May of that year...
  
  
• SS Mount Ida
  SS Mount Ida
  The SS Mount Ida was a merchant ship built in 1938 by William Hamilton & Co. Ltd of Glasgow. She had a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine which gave a service speed of around...
  
  
• MV Nordenes
• MV Pacific Star
• HMS Pelargonium
• SS Primrose Hill
  SS Primrose Hill
  SS Primrose Hill was completed by William Hamilton & Co in Port Glasgow on the Firth of Clyde in September 1941. She was a CAM ship, armed with a catapult on her bow to launch a Hawker Sea Hurricane....
  
  
• HMIS Rohilkand
• HMS Rothesay
• SS St Andania
• HMS Speedwell
  HMS Speedwell
  Fifteen ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Speedwell:*Speedwell was a galley captured from the French in 1560 and broken up in 1580.*Speedwell was a 40-gun galleon launched in 1573 as the 41-gun Swiftsure...
  
  
• HMS Speedy
  HMS Speedy (J17)
  HMS Speedy was a that saw service in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She was built by William Hamilton & Co. at Port Glasgow, Scotland and completed at J. S. White & Co. at Cowes, Isle of Wight. She was commissioned in 1939...
  
  
• HMS Sphinx
  HMS Sphinx
  Six ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Sphinx or HMS Sphynx, after the mythical creature, the Sphinx: was a 24-gun sixth rate launched in 1748 and sold in 1770. was a 20-gun sixth rate launched in 1775 and broken up in 1811. was a 10-gun Cherokee-class brig-sloop launched in 1815 and...
  
  
• HMS Tenby
• SS The Emperor's Horn(1943)
• MV Valverda (1934) tanker

External links

• Pacific Star - built at William Hamilton
• St Andania - built at William Hamilton
• Nordenes - built at William Hamilton