MOD may now build Royal Navy ships overseas

Shipbuilding and Politics such unlikely and poor partners as ever, unless there is a war looming of course.

And so it begins with this latest story from the Scotsman newspaper, everyone knows that they can be got cheaper by buying overseas, just ask the Australian Navy (but don't mention the problems and cost over runs) they could even just buy a finished hull and tow  it to a U.K. yard for outfitting and weapons platform fitting but at what cost to this Island Nation which was built on ships and shipbuilding.
For more on this stupid story read here

 It is also not new as they (MOD) have already gone to South Korea for the build of three fleet tankers for the RFA as there is no longer the capacity or expertise to build vessels such as this any more in the U.K. (There words not mine)

850,000 Poppy's each one a life lost

We should never forget

 

Each ceramic poppy represents a life lost in World War I

We should be able to learn from History

 

 

The Arctic Convoys to Russia

 

 

 

 

The Arctic Convoys

 

As we approach the annual remembrance day ceremonies Worldwide (November 11^th) It is poignant at this time that some of the brave or should I say very brave sailors who were allocated to run the gauntlet of voyages from the U.K. to the Northern ports of Russia during the Second World War are at long last to receive some recognition some 70 years after they faced some of the harshest conditions of anyone who spent there wartime experiences at sea.

 

Dozens of veterans who braved freezing conditions to maintain a lifeline between the Soviet Union and the west during the Second World War will finally be honoured at a medal-giving ceremony today.

The Arctic convoys boasted crews of British and other allied navies who sailed vital supplies to soldiers battling against Hitler in the Eastern Front.

Fleets of merchant vessels were flanked by Royal Navy warships and dozens were lost as they were attacked from the air and sea.

The are to be honoured by the Russians at a ceremony which will see so few of the brave still left.

For more on the story from the local Edinburgh Evening News

Leith Ship & The Pirates

 

 

 

 

The Ex Wilson Line Leith Built MV SORRENTO as Al Marjan receiving assistance from the U.S. Navy in this old released photograph taken from USS Whidbey Island

The ex MV SORRENTO was to go on and have many different names over her life span of 43 years as a useful working vessel, same ship with a different name traded around some of the many smaller and somewhat less reputable shipping lines, she was sold on by the Gracechurch line to be re-named as Waybridge in 1983 next in line was the name of Five Stars three years later in 1986 only to change her name again six years on from being called Five Stars she then took on the name Sea Princes in 1992 to trade under this name before yet another name change this time in 1997 to be named as the MV ALBATROS, before she was to take her last and final known name of AL MARJAN in the year 2000.
As the Al Marjan she would end up captured by Somalia Pirates in 2007, read more about the amazing ships history at the Leith Shipyards website



 

 

 

 

 

MV ARGOS Shipwreck

The MV ARGOS was Ship No 216 from the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb Ltd, and we have just been sent some more information and photographs about her and her eventual fate in Argentina.

This was another one of the special ships built at the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb Ltd, she was of a design that the shipyard was becoming very adept at and for work on the Tidal Rivers of South America.

The MV ARGOS was destined for work on the famous River Plate in Argentina. Her owners were Compagnia Argentina de Lanches, Buenos Aires, which was the South American branch of The Forestal Land, Timber & Railways Company of London.

The wreck of the MV ARGOS


You can read a whole lot more about this shipwreck at the Leith Shipyards website

 

Best in Britain

Someone sent me this link to an article in today's Edinburgh Evening News and I just could not resist the temptation to have a wee playful dig at the rest of Britain.

Edinburgh Castle

This of course is not news if you are from this area of the country!

The best looking and best evolved people in Britain live in Edinburgh, Leith and the south-east of Scotland. Outrageous! How can you possibly say that! Biased? Not at all. Just a statement of fact – and a story that goes back 10,000 years.

Don’t believe me then read on in this article from the Edinburgh Evening News.

http://www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com/news/health/why-edinburgh-residents-are-likely-to-be-blue-eyed-1-3577755


One of the most striking inherited traits is massively present in Edinburgh and the south-east where a staggering 57 per cent of all people have blue eyes. That is the highest in Britain where the average is 48 per cent.


Click Here! To learn German!

But here is the other side of the coin so to speak!

The same might be true for the other dominant trait in Edinburgh and the south-east. Red hair. Nobody needs a DNA test to tell if they have red hair, just a mirror. But what is hidden is what causes children to inherit the glorious spectrum of tints from strawberry blonde to deep auburn. And that is the recessive gene variant, what both parents must carry if they are to have children with red hair.
In Edinburgh, the Lothians and the Borders, 40 per cent of all people carry it. It is the highest proportion in Britain, which itself has the highest number of carriers in the world per capita.

New York hotel deals Perhaps migration provides an answer. The Northern Isles, the Hebrides and the Atlantic 
coastlands saw significant Viking incursions and settlement after circa 800AD, and in the south-east of Britain, the Anglo-Saxons settled in numbers after circa 400AD. These in-migrations may have significantly diluted the red-hair variants present in the indigenous populations before those dates. And if that’s correct, then one of the most persistent bits of folk DNA about Vikings being redheaded will turn out to be wrong. And it may be significant that south-east Scotland appears to have had little Viking in-migration with comparatively few Norse place names and comparatively little ancestral DNA from Scandinavia.

 Click Here!  To learn Spanish!

New Naval order for Clyde Shipbuilding

So we have some more good news on the shipbuilding front in Scotland at long last the steel is now being cut for the Royal Navy's new offshore patrol vessels, no mere small type of ships but the very latest in new technology at around 2,000 grt's they are not small ships and will be capable of deployment worldwide.
They should keep some of the workforce (the little that is left) working at the upper Clyde shipyard of Scotstoun working at least until the designs are finalised for the Royal Navy's new type 26 Frigates which will be built at the same yard. This may or may not be such good news for the shipyard on the other side of the river at Govan only time will tell, as they continue with work on the second of the Aircraft Carriers being assembled in Scotland.
Be sure to visit the new Shipbuilding Library to find all your shipbuilding books now in a convenient form for you to download direct to your reader.

Work has started on a £348m contract for three Royal Navy warships at BAE Systems' yards at Scotstoun and Govan on the River Clyde in Glasgow.

The offshore patrol vessels will be known as HMS Forth, HMS Medway and HMS Trent. The first will be ready by 2017.

See more at the BBC website

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-29569528

For all your boat plans all in one place choose from hundreds of plans and go ahead and build your own boat or even a model boat if you wish When you click on the link above you will be helping to keep the Blog and the website at www.leithshipyards.com going as a small fee will go towards the upkeep of both site Thank you for your help and support

Old Firm - New Order

Ferguson shipyard secures ferry contract

 

Some good shipbuilding news to report at last from the recently purchased Ferguson Yard on the lower Clyde in Scotland, news that will keep Scotland’s last commercial shipyard going and with the promise of even more orders things are beginning to look up for the small band of Shipbuilders left on the Lower Clyde.

Book with confidence thanks to the Best Price Guarantee from Expedia.com

 

The Ferguson shipyard in Port Glasgow has won its first ferry building contract since being rescued from closure.

Clyde Blowers Capital - owned by the billionaire Jim McColl - bought the yard earlier this month after it went into administration.

It has now secured a £12m contract from the Scottish government to build a third hybrid ferry for CalMac.

More details of the deal will be released later this week.

The yard has previously built two other hybrid ferries - the MV Hallaig and MV Lochinvar - for CalMac.

The new vessel, which will be able to accommodate 150 passengers and 23 cars or two HGVs, is expected to be launched in the spring of 2016, before entering service in the autumn of the same year.

It will use a low carbon hybrid system that combines traditional diesel power with electric battery power and will lead to a reduction in fossil fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

For more on the story see the BBC news website

 

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-29408021

The Thames Tug GENERAL IV

GENERAL IV Ship No 222 built at the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb Ltd and launched in 1936

 

Last heard/seen at Bowling Harbour half sunk just a hull sitting in water now wasting away a bit similar to the state of the SCOT II BEFORE SHE WAS MOVED TO THE Caledonian Canal  (Whatever happened to the rescue attempts to restore the SCOT II)
 

Seems like the same story with the old GENERAL IV very similar lines to the SCOT II as well and looks like there is no one around to attempt a restoration project on this fine old Steam Tug.

You will see a photograph of her here from early this year.
Do not know how she has ended up here but there was another far more recent tug that also sank at Bowling Harbour

https://www.flickr.com/photos/37457215@N02/12072114576/

 

We cannot save then all, but still a shame to see such fine plate work rusting away.

what	where
job title, keywords or company	city, state or zip jobs by

The Irish Lights Ship ALBATROSS

Earn More in One Day Than a Professional Athlete.
Looks like she was or still is up for sale, although she may even have been scraped by the time of writing.

The LS ALBATROSS sits at a quayside somewhere in Kent her fate at this time unknown
Photo credit from shipspotters website and if the owner contacts us we shall credit the photograph


Takes a real will and very deep pockets to take on a large project such as converting or even partially restoring such a large ship

Check out this link to see the ship in better times when she was used to train Irish Sea Cadets

 

Shipwright's

 

 

 

 

 

The Shipwrights

 

It is clear for anyone who knows the Shipwrights Build Ships, they always have done and I don’t care what names they give the trades today it is Shipwrights who build ships.

Yes the Platers have had a large part to play in the process of shipbuilding for the past 100 years or so but the Shipwrights have been around since before recorded time so I thought it well past time to give the Shipwrights of Leith there own page on the website at Leith Shipyards.

For the record while I am at it and controversial it may well be but “Welders” do not build ships they are a relative newcomer to the shipbuilding process and although some are very highly skilled in the trade they are no matter how you look at it in the end just a “Service Trade” only been around for the past 60 years or so in the shipbuilding process, most yards still stuck to tradition and riveted there ships up into the 1960’s as the welded ship had a slight stigma attached deserved or otherwise, the riveted ship had the seams that cannot be replicated today with most welded ships ending up looking like half starved carcasses of a dead horse ribs, depending on how the light hits the shell.

So once more for the sake of clarity the Shipwrights build Ships, Platers mark and shape Plates and all the rest are service trades.

 

Leith Shipwrights


 

 

The Leith Shipyards at the beginning of World War One

As Europe descended into death and destruction once more 100 years ago this month

We take a very quick snapshot back in time when there were three main shipyards all situated next to each other facing into what is now known as the western harbour at Leith Docks.

From West to East we had the smallest of the three shipyards namely the yard of

J. Cran & Co was engaged in the building primarily of Steam Fishing Trawlers and Tugs and they were about to launch the Steam Fishing Trawler ANWORTH while building was going on of a Tug called the VIGOREAUX

The next shipyard in line was the shipyard of Hawthorns & Co who had taken over the old shipyard of S &H Morton two years before.

Hawthorns had a couple of small Cargo Vessels on the stocks at the outbreak of WWI

The shipyard had an order book of Steam Fishing Trawlers to be built as well.

While last but by no means least the Leith Shipyard of Ramage & Ferguson Ltd Shipbuilders had just launched three large steam passenger/cargo ships with the last one launched in the December of 1914 was named as  CHAKDINA the second ship of an order by the BI Line and a ship that would survive WWI only to be involved in tragedy during the Second World War when sinking during an attack in the Mediterranean while full of wounded New Zealand and Allied Soldiers who had been fighting in the fearsome battle for Tobruk.

The shipyards would soon be involved in the repair of many battle scarred vessels from fighting around the British Isles and further a-field if the ship could be brought into Leith at all they could repair her.

Interestingly enough no warships were built at the Leith Shipyards during World War One although many Landing Craft were, unlike the part played by the Leith Shipyard of Henry Robb (the shipyard that over time took over the three shipyards mentioned)

during the Second World War.

http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/remembrance/ww1-centenary

The 4th of August 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the day Britain entered one of the costliest conflicts in history – the First World War – with fighting continuing until the 11th of November 1918, Armistice Day.

The Royal British Legion was founded by British veterans in the aftermath of the First World War and is at the forefront of Centenary commemorations. As we come together in Remembrance of events a century ago, we are reminded of the important welfare work the Legion continues to provide today and will need to provide in the future.

For more on the commemorations of this terrible conflict please visit the British Legion website above.

The Centenary of the First World War

The 4th of August 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of the day Britain entered one of the costliest conflicts in its history, the First World War, which ended on Armistice Day, 11th November 1918.

Almost everyone in the UK has an ancestor directly affected by the First World War. The losses were felt across every UK town and village as the lives of nearly one million lives men and women were sacrificed in service of the British Empire.

The Royal British Legion will be joining in the commemoration of all those who served and sacrificed from British, Dominion and Imperial forces from countries including the UK, Republic of Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa.

Remember to buy a Poppy.

Sign of the Times?

Well the time has finally come when I need to set some adverts onto this Blog and in time you will also see them appear on my website as well.

It is an expensive business the upkeep of the website and up to now all the cost has been carried by me.

So perhaps with some little advertising revenue coming in it may help offset some of the cost of keeping the website up to date and enable me to keep it going as there is so much more to go onto the website.

Up to now partly due to time constraints I have only put some small pieces onto the Leith Shipyards website about the 4 previous Shipyards that eventually morphed into the shipyard known as the Henry Robb yard.

So please help to support the website by clicking through on any of the advert that you may find of interest as any little helps.

There are also many more job adverts on the Blog and will be on the website and if we can help to even get one person a job then wouldn’t that be a fine thing.

Your support and interest during this journey is much appreciated.

 

A scene from a once busy Leith Shipyard around the mid 1970's
and the Hibs also had a pretty good team in them days as well 7-0 springs to mind.



The new maritime E-library is now open at Ships and the Sea





 

 

QUEEN ELIZABETH Floats

HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH was floated out from her building dock last week and pleased to say she floats.

While the dock was flooded she was carefully monitored by the guy’s from the “Dim Squad” (Dimensional Control) although just what this fine body of men were going to do if she began to heel over is left to the imagination, I just cannot see them being able to run around placing side shores to prop her up.

Not quite as spectacular as a traditional slipway launch but an important event in the life of the ship all the same, she will now be berthed at the quayside in the large basin at Rosyth Dockyard and all her outfitting will continue for another two or three years before she begins commissioning trials so more work for the men for some time to come, which is all good news as far as the workers are concerned.

The second ship of the class HMS PRINCE OF WALES is due to begin assembly in the same dry dock in a couple of months.

 

The new Aircraft Carrier HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH floats out from her assembly dock at Rosyth

 

It would be interesting to know how level in the water she sits just to know if her ballast calculations were correct as she was floated out, this was always a very nervous time for a shipyard and the Naval Architects responsible for the ships calculations at the time of launch, more importantly if she was being launched down a slipway than a simple float out a real squeaky bum time to put things mildly.

Queen Victoria Cruise Liner (The Loftsmans collection)


Just for a size comparison the new Aircraft Carrier QUEEN ELIZABETH is slightly longer than the Cunard Cruise ship QUEEN VICTORIA shown above during a visit to the Firth of Forth

 

As Time Goes by: the Changing Face of Leith’s Shoreline

We feature another article from our guest feature writer Jenni Buxton and while we agree with a lot of what she writes we don't necessarily endorse or agree with all of it.
All things must pass after all be it for the better or the worse, change has to happen.

Old Leith from the ediburghs-war.ed.ac.uk website



 

As Time Goes by: the Changing Face of Leith’s Shoreline

 

Although the shipbuilding traditions of Leith Docks generally resides in the shadow of the traditions of the Clyde, the East Coast shipyard has just as proud a history that is as much a backdrop to north Edinburgh’s present as it ever has been in the past. Initially a hub of the British Empire’s wine trade, secondly a world power in steamship construction and now, as Leith rises out of the more home-grown shadow cast by the so-called ‘trainspotting generation’ of the 90s, the shipyard’s image is once again being reimagined as an important, iconic reminder of Leith’s history and a symbol of Scottish growth and prosperity.

 

Leith Shipyard’s Proudest Moment

Perhaps the proudest moment in the history of the shipyard's of Leith at the old Menzies yard on the Water of Leith was the construction of the legendary steam boat, Sirius. Built at Leith in 1837, the Sirius was intended to run the London to Cork route for the Saint George Steam Packet Company. However, proving itself early on to be a masterpiece of craftsmanship, the Sirius was chartered to cross the Atlantic by the British and American Steam Navigation Company. By arriving in New York a day ahead of the Great Western, a ship designed by none other than the great industrialist Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the Sirius became the first steamship to make the Atlantic crossing. Legend has it that in the last two days of the 18 day crossing, the Sirius ran out of coal and had to be powered by timber and resin. [1]

Nearly 200 years on, the achievements of the Leithers that built the Sirius are still talked about in the pubs on the Walk and the stands of Easter Road to this day, highlighting the reverberation of spirit and community that the shipyard inspires.

At Easter Road they Play Since 1875 Hibernian Football Club has been an integral part of sporting life in the City of Edinburgh and Port of Leith; its early history up to 1946 has been brilliantly documented in The Making of Hibernian trilogy by Alan Lugton. John Campbell's At Easter Road they Play is the first part of a new trilogy that brings the history up to date, picking up the story from 1946 and covering what was the most successful part of the club's history when Hibernian won three Championship titles and became the first British club to play in the European Cup, reaching the semi-final. Packed with anecdotal tales of the times, it gives a fascinating insight into life at the club when the Famous Five were in their heyday right through to the mid-sixties when a young lad by the name of Joe Baker burst onto the scene. A game-bygame, goal-by-goal account of the many highs and numerous lows, At Easter Road they Play takes the reader on a fantastic journey back to the days when massive crowds flocked to Easter Road to see Hibernian play. For any Hibs fan that lived through those heady days this book will bring back to life a host of happy memories whilst at the same time allowing those fans who were perhaps too young or not even born at the time to see just how different football was back then when compared to the modern day game.

Leith Docks and the Wine Trade

Long before paddle steamers, the port at Leith was one of the UK’s great trading ports, and though many of the later problems that were associated with the ‘trainspotting generation’ came from alcohol, the alcohol trade was a key factor for the areas early growth. As early as the twelfth century, all the wine for the Stuart kings that resided at Holyrood palace was brought in through Leith Docks and in the days of Mary Queen of Scots, the famous French wines that she became fond of during her time there were imported through Leith. This trade increased over the next 200 years and Sherry from Spain and Port from Portugal were added to the haul.

Leith became one of the biggest importers of the finest qualities of wine in the whole of the United Kingdom. The mass storage of wine in Leith was even noted by Sir Walter Scott who talks of coopering (the art of barrelling alcohol for storage) at Leith’s docks:

“Peter Puncheon that was cooper to the queen’s stores at the Timmer Burse (or Timber Bush) at Leith.”

By the Time of Bonnie Prince Charlie in the early 17^th century, the list of wines coming into Leith included claret, burgundy, champagne, sherry, port and even some wines from as far afield as Australia. [2] With the export of whisky and the import of wine you could well say that Leith’s was built on alcohol, and though that might have been a proud thing to say a couple of hundred years ago, it could well be a source of shame given the recent stereotype of the area that came out of the 90s.

Ecstasy Lloyd from Leith has a transfiguring passion for the unhappily married Heather. Together they explore the true nature of house music and chemical romance. Will their ardour fizzle and die or will it ignite and blaze like a thousand suns? Ecstasy follows them and others through the backstreets of Edinburgh, stifling suburban sitting rooms and the bright lights of London. Exhilarating and dazzling, this is Welsh at his very best.

The More Recent History of the Leith Shipyard

The shipyards recent image was summed up in the Proclaimer’s music video for ‘Letter from America’ in 1987, lamenting the closure of industry across Scotland and the migration of once proud industrial workers to America and Canada in search of work. In the video, Henry Robb’s Shipyard, once a bustling hive of activity, looms over Leith, rendered desolate by mass unemployment and the destruction of industry. Though still a symbol of community pride, that pride was slipping as alcoholism and drug abuse began to tarnish the reputation of the region leading to the stain of the character of the ‘trainspotting generation’ of the 90s. The young heroin addicts that Irvine Welsh’s bestselling novel is based on were the sons and daughters of proud shipbuilders at the Henry Robb yards, the unemployment of the closure of industry, coupled with Leith’s history of importing opiates led to this near epidemic. Aida Edemariam and Kirsty Scott recently pointed out that this generation, though now in their forties, are still dying younger than their peers from other parts of the UK. [3]

Released in 1993, the harrowing story of Trainspotting drew attention to the drug and alcohol problems that were rampant in Edinburgh [4], and in particular Leith at this time and the derelict Shipyards became a depressing symbol of this social degredation.

 

Back on track

Though this generation changed the image of the shipyard throughout the 90s to one of decay, in the last decade it has managed to brush its self off and rise like a phoenix from the flames again. With world class drug and alcohol rehabilitation centres and community groups [5] helping more and more people with problems of addiction back to their feet the problem is beginning to show signs of decline. [6] Alcohol abuse, though still a problem across all Scotland, is under some degree of control and the Leith shoreline is home to modern gastro-pubs, restaurants and wine bars that are using alcohol to restore a pride to the shipyards more reminiscent of the booming times of the alcohol trade in the 17^th century.

The Rise and Fall of British Shipbuilding This is the story of how, from modest beginnings, Britain rose throughout the 19th century to become the greatest shipbuilding nation in the world. It begins with the age of sail, then moves on to the days of iron-hulled steamers. It shows how conflicts arose between the traditional shipwrights and the new men who came from the metal industries, leading to the infamous demarcation disputes. It is also the story of men like Brunel and Armstrong, geniuses who were always looking for change and development. It is also the story of decline in the 20th century, when yards were no longer as innovative as their foreign competitors and the British merchant fleet shrank from being the biggest in the world at the start of the century to ranking number 38 at the end of it. It is a story of great achievements and tragic collapse.

Looking to the future of Leith Docks

With new industries in computer software design and a solid reputation as an area for the burgeoning industry of game design, employment is beginning to creep back into the area. As well as the government building at Victoria Quay, [7] Leith Docks are also managing to keep the proud maritime traditions going by earning a strong reputation as a supporting dock for offshore development and acting as an important destination for the northern European cruise industry. [8] After a difficult few decades, the shipyards at Leith are once again becoming a modern icon of regeneration and pride.

1. "Sirius." Encyclopaedia Britannica, accessed on 20/07/2014, http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/546617/Sirius
2. "The Story of Leith," Electric Scotland, accessed on 20/07/2014, http://www.electricscotland.com/history/leith/32.htm
3. Aida Edemariam and Kirsty Scott, "What Happened to the Trainspotting Generation?" The Guardian online, August 15 2009, accessed 20/07/2014, http://www.theguardian.com/society/2009/aug/15/scotland-trainspotting-generation-dying-fact
4. "Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse," Helpguide Scotland, Accessed on 20/07/2014, http://www.helpguide.org/mental/alcohol_abuse_alcoholism_signs_effects_treatment.htm
5. "Turning Point Leith," Turning Point, accessed on 20/07/2014, http://www.turningpointscotland.com/what-we-do/substance-misuse/turning-point-leith/
6. "Treatment Programs for Alcohol Abuse," Treatment4Addiction, accessed on 20/07/2014, http://www.treatment4addiction.com/treatment/alcohol/
7. "Victoria Quay," The Scottish Government, accessed on 20/07/2014, http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/Locations/victoria-quay
8. "Port of Leith," Forth Ports, accessed on 20/07/2014, http://www.forthports.co.uk/leith-edinburgh/

This more modern photograph is from 2011 and not so much has changed really as far as the architectural look of the Shore anyway.

Find all the books you will ever need at the E-Library Ships and the Sea

Council buys Custom House for Leith "Maritime" Museum

Well at last as someone who is amongst the first to slag off the Edinburgh Council, credit where it's due as they have at last done something positive and purchased the old Custom House in Leith and although they do not mention "Maritime Museum" with any luck and some vision the majority of the building will be set aside to celebrate the rich and very long maritime history of the Port of Leith.

The old Custom House in Leith, Scotland shown her in this Edinburgh Evening News Photograph

This classic old building just lends itself to being the home of a Maritime Museum

Perhaps now a lot of the hidden from public sight memorabilia and material will at last be shown along with much of the material hidden away in private collections.

Book with confidence thanks to the Best Price Guarantee from Expedia.com I do not for a minute understand why some people with the knowledge and information they have gathered over time would not wish to show material in such a magnificent setting, with the proviso that the "Edgits" are kept well away from the running and setting up such a worthwhile project.
While the council are to be congratulated with this one they do not have a very good track record of success now do they?


The following is From the Edinburgh Evening News

THE bid to establish a dedicated Leith Museum has taken a giant leap forward after the city sealed a deal to buy the Custom House from the National Museums Scotland.

Culture chiefs agreed to pay £650,000 for the building after a six-year campaign by residents to save the landmark. to read more



 

HMS DIANTHUS Flower Class Corvette

HMS DIANTHUS

Flower Class Corvettes The ‘ShipCraft’ series provides in-depth information about building and modifying model kits of famous warship types. Lavishly illustrated, each book takes the modeller through a brief history of the subject class, highlighting differences between sister-ships and changes in their appearance over their careers. This includes paint schemes and camouflage, featuring colour profiles and highly-detailed line drawings and scale plans. The modelling section reviews the strengths and weaknesses of available kits, lists commercial accessory sets for super-detailing of the ships, and provides hints on modifying and improving the basic kit. This is followed by an extensive photographic gallery of selected high-quality models in a variety of scales, and the book concludes with a section on research references - books, monographs, large-scale plans and relevant websites.This volume includes all the features of the regular series but the extent has been doubled to include far more detailed drawings of a class of ship that was built in huge numbers and in many variations. Mainstay of the Atlantic battle against the U-boats, Flower class corvettes were used by the British, Canadian, French and US Navies.

 

Tax Disc style ships crest

HMS DIANTHUS Car Window Sticker

For anyone interested they would make a nice present to be shown on your car and help keep the name and memory of this famous old Flower class Corvette built at the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb Ltd in Scotland and launched in 1940

 

 

 

 

 

For more info contact the website and we shall put you in touch with the supplier.

 

Please note that the supply or make of these stickers has nothing to do with the website we just happen to think they may be of interest so showing them here on the Blog.

 

 

"Letter From America" - Leith Shipyards and The Proclaimers

This contribution is from our featured writer Jenny Buxton as there is just not enough time to keep contributing to the Blog on a daily basis and this we feel will help to keep the Blog relevant and interesting.

The views expressed are the writers alone and are not necessarily the views of Leith Built Ships (although we do agree with some of them?)

 

 

"Letter From America" - Leith Docks and The Proclaimers

In 1987, Leith Docks were treated to an experience quite unlike anything else it had undergone in its long career – and that’s saying quite something, as all manner of curios passed through the Robbs yard during its lifetime. With a musical accompaniment and a blisteringly poignant set of lyrics, images of the shipyard were broadcast into the living rooms of hundreds. Thanks to Scottish twin duo ‘The Proclaimers’ [1], Henry Robb's shipyard, right at the end of its life, had a brush with pop-stardom.
 

Ecomonic Depression

It was used in the video to ‘Letter From America’, a song which speaks of economic migration from Scotland due to unemployment, depression, and even enforced eviction – all experiences with which Scotland has had a long experience. Leith Docks featured heavily in the video as an example of the kind of traditional Scottish industry which was, in the eighties, being lost – necessitating the emigration of former employees. At the time, the shipyard had been closed for four years and was falling derelict. As such, it stood as a painful and marked reminder of all that Scotland had lost and was in the process of losing. This was the era in which “Trainspotting” [2]  - that seminal novel of disaffected Scottish youth – is set. The era of Thatcherism, of job-losses, of clashes between all-powerful money-worshipping capitalists and the working man, of anger, of riots, of growing consumerism and shrinking opportunities. The Herald describe the eighties as an era in which “Scotland’s industrial heartlands were ripped out and thrown on the scrapheap” [3], and a lot of anger remains today at what is still seen as an irrevocable loss to Scotland.
 

 

 

 

Family Connection

Henry Robb’s yard was used in the video to the track partly because the father of Charlie and Craig Reid who make up the Proclaimers had worked in the yard. Indeed, the pair were born in Leith, and thus had a strong association with the yard. The working class, working man’s culture into which they were born, and which was being steadily eroded by the economic policies of the time as they grew up, would strongly influence their music. Much of their tracks are politically motivated, with a strong Scottish-cultural influence, and the depression of the eighties certainly left its mark on the brothers. Craig told the Scotsman in a recent interview, “We know what it’s like to have no money and to be at the mercy of other people….I remember spending the whole day with Charlie at the DSS, queuing for housing benefit, crowded in like cattle, and you had no say, no economic power” [4]. The family moved around in search of work as places like Robb’s closed and evicted their employees, leaving the twins well-placed to pen a track like ‘Letter From America’, which harkens to economically enforced Scots migration.
 

A Deep Scar

The eighties were a period which have left a deep scar upon not only the Scots national consciousness, but also the economic viability of Scotland as a whole. Arguably, the destruction of the shipyards and other manufacturing and industrial enterprises began a process of wholesale denigration which would be furthered twenty years later, with the 2008 recession from which we are only now emerging. Deprived of steady income at dockyards and the like, a whole swathe of society learned instead to rely upon high-interest loans and state handouts for survival. When the credit industry collapsed in 2008, it took with it not only a whole host of jobs and industries which relied upon it for survival, it also pulled the (already threadbare) rug out from beneath the feet of struggling Scots. Austerity measures like benefit cuts rendered the situation yet more desperate. Unable to turn to places like Henry Robb’s shipyard to get work, these people slipped between the cracks, often ending up desperate and homeless. The Scottish Government state that, as of 2014, “recovery in the Scottish economy is progressing and consolidating” [5], and the credit industries are beginning to reach out to people once again, with sites like CompareNI offering “many secured and unsecured loans” [6] to those in need of a cash injection, but for many this comes too little too late. It’s a recovery, furthermore, led almost entirely by consumer activity rather than industrial activity. Instead of pulling itself up through its own industrial infrastructure, Scotland is being wonkily hauled back into the black through patchy and irregular consumer spending patterns. It is not an ideal situation.
 

Sorely Missed

In its heyday, Robb’s shipbuilding company employed thousands, and left all of those employees with a viable trade which they could ply anywhere in the world, should they so wish. These skilled people were a great boon to whatever country they lived in. Unfortunately, as the Scottish shipyards steadily fell to Thatcher’s onslaught, that country was Scotland less and less. Although many Scots emigrants sent money home - banks lie HSBC [7] which provided international transfer services did particularly well during the eighties - the dearth of opportunities for people to use their skills naturally lead to an evacuation of those skills from Scotland. They have never returned. Places like Robb’s yard at Leith Docks are sorely missed.

Australian Migrant Ships In 1945 Arthur Calwell announced a new immigration policy for Australia requiring an influx of 70,000 migrants a year, and it was hoped that all of them would come from Britain. When insufficient Britons applied the Australian government looked to Italy and Greece and then to refugee camps across Europe. This book looks at the ships that brought these migrants to Australia - some that were never designed to carry passengers or to travel great distances - and their place in maritime and Australian history.

[1] The Proclaimers

[2] Irvine Welsh, "Trainspotting", Random House

[3] Ian MacWhirter, "Can Scotland escape the killer zombies?", Herald Scotland, Feb 2013

[4] Janet Christie, "Interview: The Proclaimers still have miles to walk", The Scotsman, July 2013

[5] The Scottish Government, "State of the Economy - April 2014: Summary Of Key Conclusions"

[6] Compare, "Compare Loans"

[7] HSBC, "International Payments"

HMS QUEEN ELIZABETH

The sum of the parts makes for a pretty impressive weapons platform built around the British Isles in the few remaining shipyards and put together in Fife, Scotland

Lets forget about the politics and the build problems encountered while building the Royal Navy's largest ever ship, to hell with the cost of the vessel as well, as the cost would only have been wasted by the useless politicians on something else anyway, at least this project kept alive some skills and shipbuilding know how in a country that used to build ships.
So the day has finally arrived when the  new Aircraft Carrier is named, not launched mind you as she will have a what they call now "A Float Off" as she was assembled in dry dock.
It is a strange feeling for shipbuilders at the launch or in this case naming ceremony as they can already see there jobs on the line, the harder the Shipwrights, Platers and Welders work then the faster they face un-employment, just all part of the job of a shipbuilder.
Despite all the politics involved in this particular build it is still a great occasion when you see a ship completed although this one will still have 3 or 4 years outfitting work ahead of her before she is ready to accept aircraft (if they ever complete the aircraft due to fly from her)
This is also a time for the politicians and there assembled flunky's and upper management of the concerned shipyards to do a lot of back slapping and hand wringing again having had little to do with the building of a ship, politics and shipbuilding you just cant separate.
Its the guys who built and assembled this mighty ship who deserve the pat on the back, and yes there were many problems during her construction and some which I am very qualified to speak on as I was involved for a couple of years in her construction, You see I am a shipbuilder, so it would be hoped that they now have the experience behind them and the second carrier will be assembled much better and will in fact prove to be the better built of the two aircraft carriers, strange then that there is still talk of this better second one being mothballed or even sold off at a cut down price........see politics and shipbuilding they go hand and hand.
For a lot more on this story of the naming of the ship at the Rosyth Dockyard in Scotland (Note - It is not a shipyard) see the story in the Scotsman newspaper.

I could not direct you to the BBC and there stories on the ship as they still don't seem to know the difference between a Ship and a Boat.(perhaps a sign of the times)
The ignorance today in the U.K. about shipbuilding or should I say about the lack of shipbuilding knowledge is a bit scary for an Island Nation but again that's politics and this blog is about Shipbuilding.