GALLIONS REACH

It is really amazing the interest that the old ships of the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb seem to generate, stories come in all the time that such and such a ship has been found rusting away, usually half sunk, and we now have some information on the Dredger GALLIONS REACH Ship No 229 which it seems is resting half sunk against a wharf in Greece, after being salvaged from her sinking in the River Tees in 1971, she must have been sold on to Greek owners for use around the coast as intended. Our thanks go to Pam for finding her and letting us know, along with supplying some photographs as well.


No doubt as in the life of most ships she became too expensive to upkeep and now she awaits her inevitable fate at the hands of the breakers, perhaps to be turned into razor blades or some other commodity, better this than the way she is now rusting away in the sun.

So along with the dredger WANGANUI it now looks like both ships await the burning torches of the ship breakers.

There are many more ships out there in the 4 corners of the world that we have still to track down and as long as there are people out there interested in ships then we shall find out what happened to most of them, and the story will be updated on the Leith Shipyards website as we go along.

PORT WAIKATO – Update



The PORT WAIKATO at anchor in the Chatham Islands circa 1949

Ship No 113
This is the ship that was built twice and we now have some great stories from Trevor Gibson, who sailed on her for a couple of years after the end of World War II.


Amazing to see how some things have changed in that time.

The coaster PORT WAIKATO was the vessel tasked with keeping the small Islands off New Zealands coast supplied with all of lifes little essentials and she was a means of the Islanders getting there livestock to market.



Loading sheep, can you imagine the outcry today.

LEITH SHIPYARDS CONTINUE

It’s only right I suppose that what was once a thriving shipyards should now continue in some form or other but in a different medium, in this age of the internet the Leith Shipyards story continues in the shape of the website at www.leithshipyards.com where as much good information and histories about the many ships built in the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb will be laid out for posterity.


There is of course so much more to the website than the ships built in Leith, as this is a site for anyone with an interest in ships or the sea.

As it is an ongoing and ever changing subject, more information and interesting stories come to light all the time and they are in turn included into the website, including updates to the Naval Ships pages where the feature recently has been on the “Flower Class Corvettes” built in the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb, a fascinating story as those little fighting ships helped the British Isle ability to continue on with the fight against tyranny just as much as the famous “Spitfire” but without the glory and proper recognition.

HMS LOTUS Ship No 317

So this and so much more is all included at the website, and the maritime shop is building as well with lots of new museum quality fully assembled models along with some great maritime artwork, not to mention maritime books as well.

Museum quality fully assembled model of the Cutty Sark
For price and shipping see http://www.leithshipyards.com/

HENRY ROBB SHIPBUILDERS & ENGINEERS Ltd – CLOSED

The oldest ship still afloat (we think) built at the yards, The Lightship ALBATROSS seen in this photo painted in green for an art contest. She was Ship No 30 built in 1924.

With this now being the month of April it is perhaps fitting that this post about the yard is sent out in the same month that British Shipbuilders was to closed the yard officially the year was 1984. (Robb Caledon shipbuilders as they were then known)

After lingering on and completing the work in the yard, all but an experimental small submarine that is, (which was taken out of the yard under cover by the authorities) there was nothing left, but empty promises from a government that did not give a toss what was to happen to a small shipyard in Scotland.


All the protests and petitions to government were ignored, so after more than ½ million tons of steel had been shaped and formed into all makes of specialised ship types, barges, pontoons and lighters, the shipyard was closed down and the commercial property developers along with the Forth Ports authority rubbed their hands and wondered what to do with the huge piece of land that had built and launched so many ships over a time frame of around 65 years.

Then with the signature of some government flunky 600 years of shipbuilding in Leith was consigned to history. The stories and history of the ships and the yard will continue though on the website perhaps also fitting in today’s world that their will be a virtual shipyard now at http://www.leithshipyards.com/

This blog will also of course continue to feature anything of interest with regard to the ships built in Leith, and in general feature shipbuilding and ships in today’s fast and constantly changing world.

Ship No 535 the final ship built at the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb.

(People associated with ships and the sea are a superstitious bunch so note how the numbers of the last ship add up to 13? could not mean anything, could it.)

ALBATROSS “Lost now found again”

With the news from one of the crew of the tug Sea Trojan, that was towing the ALBATROSS to her new home on the River Medway, close to the historic royal dockyard at Chatham.


The “oldest” surviving ship from the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb is to be used as a Houseboat/bed & breakfast on the river, what a great use for an old ship that has not only stood the test of time but the worst weather over many years that the volatile Irish sea could throw at her.

We wish her new owner well and hope to get some photographs of her to show on the www.leithshipyards.com website where you will see many updates on the ships built in Leith and so much more.

ALBATROSS “Found then Lost”

Mast and Lantern from the LightShip ALBATROSS (Photo by Peter Goulding)
Seen here being used as Monument outside some housing development in Dublin.

With the news that the oldest existing ship built in the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb was tied up in a basin in Dublin, our local contact (Thanks Peter) went down to where she was to try and get some photographs of ALBATROSS but she had mysteriously flown! After some questioning of locals it was discovered that she had been towed away the previous weekend, it would appear she had been bought and was being taken to London to be berthed some where on the river Thames to undergo a re-furb and the intention is to use her as a floating pub/restaurant, so with time we shall see how this new use for her pans out.

Found- Henry Robb “Oldest” Ship

It looks like we have managed to track down what may well now be the oldest surviving ship built in the Leith Shipyards of Henry Robb.


She is the Lightship ALBATROSS Ship No 30 and built for the Irish Lighthouse commission in 1924, with the help of a German lightship enthusiast we know now that she is still afloat and although without her light lantern she is at a berth in Dublin, Ireland. We hope to have some photographs to show soon.

We will bring more info soon, and you will be able to find out more about this 87 years old ship on the website at www.leithshipyards.com where a lot more info and photographs have now been put onto the site.