Fairfields Shipyards

The launch of HMS DRAGON in this posed picture

Another fine use for some of the shipbuilding heritage and history in Scotland has arrived with the opening of the former head offices and old drawing office of the Fairfields shipbuilding company.

The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company opened its new Govan yard in 1864 and was named after the once agricultural land it occupied.
Fairfields would become the greatest shipyard in a city that was responsible for 20 per cent of global production by 1913.

At its peak, the industry on the Clyde employed 100,000 staff at more than 40 yards.



While shipbuilding of course continues at the Govan yard on a somewhat smaller scale the The A-listed former Fairfields head offices and drawing rooms, which had lain empty for several years, were bought in 2009 by social enterprise Govan Workplace.

The refurbished buildings now provide office space for local businesses and is home to the Fairfield Heritage centre.

Surely a better use than turning it into another shopping centre?

Read more: http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/heritage/in-pictures-fairfields-the-home-of-scottish-shipbuilding-1-3896110#ixzz3mz3l8Msf

HMS HERALD-Updates

The photo above is from a booklet kindly sent to me some time ago by the then Commanding Officer of HMS HERALD I. M. Bartholomew, Commander Royal Navy, on the occasion of HMS HERALD celebrating 21 years of service in the Royal Navy in 1995.

(If the Commander should see this would he be so good to contact the BLOG

We now arrive at the ships built at the Leith Shipyards of Robb Caledon (Henry Robb) from around the late 1960's and into the 1970's with some fine and well known ships built in the yard at this time including Ship No 508 BRANSFIELD which was an Antarctic Survey Ship Ice strenghtend for work in the Antarctic in support of the British Antarctic Survey teams down there.

Also the launch of the biggest tug built in the U.K. at the time the mighty tug LLOYDSMAN Ship No 509

built for the famous United Towing Company of Hull.

Then onto a couple of Ro-Ro Container ships one of which tradically went down with the loss of one of her crew in the North Sea she was called the M.V.HERO Ship No 511

Then the next launch at the yard was the Oceanographic survey ship for the Royal Navy

 HMS HERALD and some of her story is started below.

HMS HERALD was an order from the M.o.D. Navy for a Hydrographic Survey ship to be built at the Leith Shipyards of Robb Caledon.

She seemed to take forever to build and she was on the stocks for a couple of years, this was mainly due to changes that were forced on the yard by the navy team that was in attendance at the yard, no sooner would a deck level be complete and along would come the navy and insist that this deck or bulkhead would have to come out or be moved due to all the constantly changing gear that she was being fitted with.

M.V.KONINI

M.V.KONINI (At her trials in the River Forth)

Ship No 457

The second vessel ordered by the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand, built alongside the M.V.KUMALLA

She was 2007 GRT, with a length B.P. of 250 feet with a beam of 41 feet and 6 inches, and a design draught of 25 feet and 3 inches.

She was similar in size to Navua and Kaimai and was used on the East Coast coastal service. On the introduction of ro-ro ships she and her sisters became redundant and she was sold to Singapore interests in 1971.

M.V.KUMALLA

M.V.KUMALLA

Ship No 456

Was another small coaster for work in the New Zealand coastal trade, ordered by the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand, she was 1,865 tons. With a LBP of 235 feet and a beam of 45 feet. She was a single screw cargo vessel built by Robb at Leith as the Kumalla for the Union Steamship Co of New Zealand and registered at Melbourne Australia.

She was launched from the yard on 9th of November 1956 and she worked the New Zealand coast until being sold in August 1972 to Hetherington Kingsbury and renamed Cobargo and given Sydney registry. Sold, renamed Jihad in 1978 and sold again in 1979 to South Sea Freighters Ltd of Port Vila (Willam M & Keith M.Trueman) who renamed her Bismarck Sea. Was active out of Singapore 1981 and sold on a few times more before being scrapped in 1986.