Ailsa Shipbuilding Company
Ailsa Shipbuilding Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Troon and Ayr, Ayrshire.
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Shipbuilding |
| Fate | Closed |
| Founded | 1885 |
| Defunct | 2000 |
| Headquarters | Troon and Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland |
History
The company was founded in 1885 by the 3rd Marquess of Ailsa along with Peter James Wallace and Alexander McCredie.
In 1902 the Ailsa yard fitted out the polar exploration ship Scotia for the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 1902-04. The Scotia sailed from Troon for the South Atlantic on 2 November 1902.[1]
The company built paddle steamers for various companies around the UK, including the New Medway Shipping Company's PS Medway Queen, the only estuary paddle steamer left in the UK.
During the First World War, the shipyard built the Royal Navy's first paddle minesweeper of the Racecourse class.[2]
During the Second World War, Ailsa built vessels for the Navy, including several Bangor-class minesweepers.
In 1977 Ailsa was nationalised and subsumed into the British Shipbuilders Corporation. In 1981, the assets of Ailsa and those of Ferguson Brothers were merged to form Ferguson-Ailsa, Limited. This grouping was split and privatised in 1986, the Ailsa yard being acquired by Perth Corporation as Ailsa & Perth, Limited.
Ailsa stopped large-scale shipbuilding in 1988 and finally closed as a shipbuilder in 2000.[3] The yard has recently been used for ship repair work and the fabrication of large concrete sections for a pier improvement programme in Grimsay, Western Isles.[4]
Ships built by Ailsa Shipbuilding Company
| Yard No | Name | Type | Launch | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | SS Lady Ailsa | Cargo ship | 4 January 1888 | renamed Belgian Prince | |
| 53 | SV Dalblair | Steel sailing vessel 3-masted barque | 1895
Dalblair was a steel ship of 1,474 tons built in 1895 in Scotland (town of Troon) by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company. Crash reports mention that the vessel left Cardiff for Mauritius with a cargo of coal on 14 November 1901. After 82 days at sea, on 4 February 1902 the ship reached the south east seas of Mauritius |
see link [5] | |
| Tobruk | Italian Navy gunboat | Built 1897 as yacht Evona - since 1912 RN Tobruk | |||
| 70 | SS Hebrides | Passenger ship | 24 March 1898 | ||
| 78 | Katoomba | Patrol ship | 28 December 1898 | renamed USS Emeline | |
| 297 | HMS Ascot | Minesweeper | 26 January 1916 | ||
| 298 | HMS Atherstone | Minesweeper | 4 April 1916 | ||
| 294 | HMS Aphis | Gunboat | 15 September 1915 | ||
| 299 | HMS Chelmsford | Minesweeper | 14 June 1916 | ||
| 334 | HMS Aberdare | Minesweeper | 29 April 1918 | ||
| 335 | HMS Abingdon | Minesweeper | 11 June 1918 | ||
| 336 | HMS Albury | Minesweeper | 21 November 1918 | ||
| 338 | HMS Alresford | Minesweeper | 17 January 1919 | ||
| 345 | HMS Appledore | Minesweeper | 15 August 1919 | ||
| 396 | SS Sillonian | Passenger vessel | 17 November 1925 | ||
| 439 | HMS Clacton | Minesweeper | 19 December 1941 | ||
| 437 | HMS Hythe | Minesweeper | 4 September 1941 | ||
| 452 | HMS Loch Tarbert[6] | Frigate | 19 October 1944 | ||
| 453 | HMS Loch Veyatie[7] | Frigate | 8 October 1945 | ||
| 388 | PS Medway Queen | Paddle steamer | 23 April 1924 | ||
| 487 | HMS Ockham | Minesweeper | 12 May 1959 | ||
| 488 | HMS Ottringham | Minesweeper | 22 January 1958 | ||
| HMS Raider | Patrol & Training vessel | January 1988 | |||
| 432 | HMS Rye | Minesweeper | 19 August 1940 | ||
| 473 | HMS Bottisham | Minesweeper | 16 February 1953 | ||
| 474 | HMS Brantingham | Minesweeper | 4 December 1953 | ||
| 481 | MV Bute | Ferry | 28 September 1954 | ||
| 480 | MV Cowal | Ferry | 20 January 1954 | ||
| 483 | HMS Elsenham | Minesweeper | 25 May 1955 | ||
| 484 | HMS Etchingham | Minesweeper | 9 December 1957 | ||
| 496 | MV Glen Sannox | Ferry | 30 April 1957 | ||
| 499 | MV Lochalsh (II) | Ferry | 1957 | renames Scalpay | |
| 508 | MV Cerdic Ferry | Ferry | 16 February 1961 | ||
| 507 | MV St. Clair | Passenger | 29 April 1960 | ||
| 509 | MV Doric Ferry | Ferry | 27 October 1961 | ||
| 510 | MV Kyleakin | Ferry | 1961 | renamed Largs | |
| 517 | MV Bowbelle | Aggregate dredger | 11 May 1964 | Involved in the sinking of the Marchioness on the River Thames in 1989. Renamed Billo in 1992 and Bom Rei in 1996. Sank off the coast of Madeira in March 1996.[8] | |
| 529 | MV Glenachulish | Ferry | 1969 | ||
| MV Graemsay[9] | Ferry | 1996 | |||
| 530 | MV Iona | Ferry | 22 January 1970 | renamed Pentalina-B | |
| 531 | MV Coruisk | Ferry | 26 June 1969 | ||
| 533 | MV Mona's Queen | Diesel ferry | 22 December 1971 | ||
| 547 | MS Lady of Mann | Ferry | 4 December 1975 | renamed Panagia Soumela | |
| 551 | MV Isle of Cumbrae | Ferry | 23 December 1976 | ||
| 552 | MV Saturn | Ferry | 30 June 1977 | ||
| 554 | MV Lochmor | Ferry | 11 June 1979 | ||
| 571 | RV Corystes | Research vessel | 1988 | ||
| HMS Tracker | Patrol & training vessel | January 1998 | |||
| Triton | Motor yacht | 1902 | now Madiz | ||
| HMS Warrior | Yacht | 4 February 1904 | |||
| 592 | MV Lochnevis | Ferry | 8 May 2000[10] | ||
| Sources: Miramar[11] | |||||
Archives
The Ailsa Shipbuilding Company archives are maintained by the University of Glasgow Archives Services.[12]
References
- "William S. Bruce". South Pole.com. Archived from the original on 19 April 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
- "HM Ships As extracted from Jane's Fighting Ships for 1919". Retrieved 28 March 2009.
- Ayrshire shipyard closing BBC News, 18 August 2000
- "Huge concrete box due for harbour". BBC News. 21 August 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
- "Sailing Vessel DALBLAIR built by Ailsa Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. in 1895 for Ship "Dalblair" Co (J. Campbell, mgr)., Cargo". www.clydeships.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
- "HMS Loch Tarbert". Naval-History.Net. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- "HMS Loch Veyatie". Naval-History.Net. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- "Scottish Built Ships", www.clydeships.co.uk. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
- "MV Graemsay". FerryPhotos. Archived from the original on 2 May 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- "History - Lochnevis". Ships of Calmac. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
- "Shipyard search results for "1015"". Miramar. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
- "Records of Ailsa Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Troon, East Ayrshire, Scotland". from Glasgow University Archive Catalogue. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2009.