Short Brothers of Sunderland

Short Brothers Limited was a British shipbuilding company formed in 1850 and based at Pallion, Sunderland since 1869. The company closed in 1964 when it failed to invest to build bigger ships.^[1]

19th century[edit]

In 1850 George Short founded a shipyard at Hylton^[1] to build small wooden ships for local users. In 1860 Short moved the yard downriver to Pallion and his four sons became partners in the business.^[1] In 1871 the yard built its first iron-hulled ship the High Stretfield and the company started using the name Short Brothers.^[1] John Y Short became a distinguished naval architect and at the 1878 Paris Exhibition he was awarded a gold medal.^[1]

In 1883 Short's built a cargo liner for James Knott's Prince Line of Newcastle upon Tyne.^[1] This was the beginning of a 35-year relationship in which Short's supplied Prince Line with a total of 37 ships.^[1] They included the passenger liner SS Spartan Prince, built in 1897, which spent its early years of service carrying thousands of Italian migrants to the USA.^[2]

In 1895 John Y Short made a substantial investment in John Thomas North's Nitrate Producers' Steamship Company Ltd ("Anglo Line").^[1] Short's went on to supply the line with 30 ships, starting with SS Colonel J.T. North^[1] and continuing until at least 1929.^[2]

From 1897 Short's undertook contract work for several Tyneside shipyards.^[1] In 1900 John Y Short died, his brother Joseph took over and the business was converted from a partnership into a limited company, Short Brothers Limited.^[1] The yard now employed 1,500 people.^[1]

20th century[edit]

In the First World War the yard built 14 barges for the Admiralty, plus merchant ships including four cargo ships to the War Shipping Controller's standard B type design.^[1] After the war Short's built its first two turbine steamers;^[1] the 7,607 GRT sister ships TS Sandown Castle (1921) and TS Sandgate Castle (1922) for Union-Castle Line.

During the 1920s shipbuilding declined.^[1] Short's workforce struck in 1923 and 1926 and the yard closed in June 1930.^[1]

In 1933 Short's reopened to build SS Arcwear, a tramp steamer designed by Joseph Isherwood.^[1] She was the first of Isherwood's new "arcform" design, which increased cargo capacity by 10% and increased speed, but also reduced fuel consumption.^[1] Arcwear was launched in November 1933 and made her maiden voyage in 1934.^[1] Her fuel economy and speed exceeded expectations but she rolled badly in heavy weather and did not even move smoothly in calm weather.^[1] Only a few further arcform cargo ships and tankers were built.^[1] In 1938 Short's closed again, despite having a tramp ship still under construction.^[1]

In the summer of 1939 Short's reopened again.^[1] During the Second World War it built mostly tramp steamers, plus two tankers and one LCT.^[1] Under the direction of the Ministry of War Transport by the end of 1944 Short's switched from building ships to its own design to assembling partly prefabricated government standard C-type cargo ships.^[1] By the end of the war Short's was employing about 900 people.^[1]

In 1946 John H Short was company chairman and H.S. Short, great-grandson of the founder, joined the board of directors.^[1]

In the early 1960s the Short family did not want to invest in lengthening the yard's berths to build bigger ships.^[1] Therefore, after Short's launched the universal bulk carrier MV Carlton on 17 October 1963 and completed her in January 1964, they closed the business with the loss of 300 jobs.^[1]

1889 – SS Magnus Mail – hull 184
1892 – SS Hindustan
1910 – SS Cacique
1918 – SS Clan Macvicar
1927 – SS Laristan – hull 425
1940 – SS Empire Summer
1941 – SS Empire Sun
1941 – SS Empire Burton – hull 466
1941 – SS Empire Lightning
1941 – SS Empire Wycliff
1941 – SS Empire Story
1942 – SS Empire Bardolph – hull 474
1942 – SS Empire Southey
1942 – SS Empire Keats
1942 – SS Empire Webster
1942 – SS Empire Envoy
1943 – SS Empire Friendship
1943 – SS Empire Camp
1943 – SS Empire Stuart
1943 – SS Empire Duchess
1943 – SS Empire Cromer – hull 480
1944 – SS Empire Lagos
1945 – SS Empire Nairobi
1945 – SS Empire Honduras
1945 – SS Empire Dominica
1946 – MV Empire Tedburgh
1952 – MV Burutu Palm

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac "Short Brothers of Sunderland". The Best of British Engineering 1750s – 1960s. Grace's Guide. 29 January 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2011.
^ ^a ^b Searle, Peter. "Page 055 The Shipbuilders – page 021". The Sunderland Site. Peter Searle. Retrieved 29 June 2011.

External links[edit]

Media related to Short Brothers, Sunderland at Wikimedia Commons

[Grace-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac "Short Brothers of Sunderland". The Best of British Engineering 1750s – 1960s. Grace's Guide. 29 January 2009. Retrieved 29 June 2011.

[Searle055-2] Searle, Peter. "Page 055 The Shipbuilders – page 021". The Sunderland Site. Peter Searle. Retrieved 29 June 2011.

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