J & W Dudgeon

J & W Dudgeon was a Victorian shipbuilding and engineering company based in Cubitt Town, London, founded by John and William Dudgeon.

HMS Abyssinia
Masted turret ship HMS Neptune

John and William Dudgeon had established the Sun Iron Works in Millwall in the 1850s, and had a reputation for advanced marine engines.[1] In 1862 they set up as shipbuilders at a yard to the south of Cubitt Town Pier. They initially specialised in building blockade runners for the American Civil War, at times employing up to 1500 men.[2]

The yard, with 344 feet (105 m) of river frontage, stretched nearly 600 feet (180 m) inland to Manchester Road.[3] The first ship built there was the 150-foot Flora, the first twin-screw steamer to cross the Atlantic Ocean.[1] The firm survived the 1866 crash of Overend Gurney, with enough orders to take over the disused yard to the south in 1869. This gave a combined river frontage of 500 feet (150 m).[3]

In 1874 the company was severely damaged by the bungled launching of the large warship Independencia for the Brazilian government,[4] repairs and refitting eventually being done by Samuda Brothers, just down the river. The ship was eventually acquired by the Royal Navy, as HMS Neptune. William Dudgeon died in 1875 and the yard closed.[5] John Dudgeon was subsequently judged to be 'of unsound mind' and was admitted to an asylum in Edinburgh.[3]

By 1882 the site had become an oil storage wharf, with tanks below ground level. By 1913 it had 27 oil storage tanks with a combined capacity of over 14,000 tons.[3] It remained in this use until the 1960s, by which time it had nearly 100 tanks, some of 20,000 gallons.[6]

In 1969 an explosion in an oil storage tank being demolished at the site (then known as Dudgeon's wharf) killed five firemen.[7]

The site was later developed for housing and is known as Compass Point.[8]

Ships
Ship GRT Yard No Date of Launch
SS Flora30525 September 1862[9]
Annie3701863
Coya515August 1863[10]
Apelles10306 May 1863
Dee3241863
Kate4771863
Vesta3701863
Ceres3741863
Don39023 May 1863
Hebe44991863
SS Far East125931 October 1863[11]
SS Experiment1863
SS Edith5371864
Atalanta3801864
PS Avalon61426 March 1864[12]
PS Zealous61323 April 1864[13]
SS Run Her4811864
SS Rattlesnake4321864
SS Virginia6141864
SS Louisa Ann Fanny6801865
SS Mary9021865
SS Ruahine1504March 1865
SS John Wells3931865
SS Mary Augusta6801865
SS Ravensbury66623 May 1864[14]
SS Handig Vlug1381865
SS Bolivar9331866
SS Zeeland16 June 1866
SS George Reed1701866
SS Thames1031866
SS Liguria1986028 July 1866
SS Henda1431867
SS Assunta1431867
HMS Viper122821 December 1867[15]
SS Eugenie14318 April 1867
SS Spindrift1711869
SS Conchita1811869
SS Manuelita5051869
SS Pepita1811869
SS PO1698June 1870
SS Eleanor1698August 1870
SS Italo-Platense169830 December 1869
SS Plemmtannikov1870
SS Aleksey1870
HMS Abyssinia290019 February 1870
SS La Pampa1698754 April 1870
SS King Masaba2811871
SS Lulio67013 October 1870
HMS Hecate348030 September 1871[16]
PS Richard Young7181871
SS Salgir498July 1872
SS Pasages79128 May 1872
SS Fair Penang1051872
SS Tenasserim257020 April 1872
SS Khoper861November 1872
SS Alma498September 1872
SS Gauthiod7301873
SS Union245March 1873
SS Enterprise604April 1873
SS Chatham2781873
SS Svithiod734June 1873
SS Santander221310313 December 1872
SS Langkat276November 1874
SS Brahestad233May 1874
SS Calais3091874
SS South Western65712 September 1874[17]
SS Guernsey54512131 January 1874
SS The Miner1874
SS Duckenfield36813115 May 1875
HMS Neptune931010 September 1874

References
  1. Kevin Foster (February 1991). "Where they lie: C.S.S. Tallahassee" (PDF). Newsletter 6. The Confederate Naval Historical Society. pp. 4–7. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  2. Hostettler, Eve (1986). "Ship building and related industries on the Isle of Dogs". Dockland. NELP/GLC. pp. 139–140. ISBN 0-7168-1611-3.
  3. Hermione Hobhouse (General Editor) (1994). "Cubitt Town: Riverside area: from Newcastle Drawdock to Cubitt Town Pier". Survey of London: volumes 43 and 44: Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  4. "Naval and Military Intelligence". The Times (28142). 24 October 1874. p. 5, col. E.
  5. "Money-Market and City Intelligence". The Times (28450). 19 October 1875. p. 6.
  6. "5 firemen killed in explosion". The Times (57615). 18 July 1969. p. 1.
  7. "Dudgeon's Wharf". London Fire Journal. 24 December 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  8. Hermione Hobhouse (General Editor) (1994). "Modern Docklands: Docklands housing". Survey of London: volumes 43 and 44: Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  9. "Launch of the Flora". East London Observer. England. 4 October 1862. Retrieved 30 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. "Sydney direct in 70 days". London Daily News. England. 14 September 1863. Retrieved 30 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. "For Sale. The Winn-Screw steamer Far East". Liverpool Daily Post. England. 12 February 1870. Retrieved 3 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. "Harwich. The Continental Traffic". The Suffolk Chronicle. England. 2 April 1864. Retrieved 3 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. "Great Eastern Railway". London Evening Standard. England. 27 April 1864. Retrieved 29 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. "Launch of the Ravensbury". Essex Standard. England. 1 June 1864. Retrieved 30 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. "HMS Viper at Naval Database website". Retrieved 23 September 2008.
  16. "Thames versus Clyde Shipbuilding". Greenock Advertiser. Scotland. 10 October 1871. Retrieved 30 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. "Launch at Messrs. Dudgeon's". East London Observer. England. 19 September 1874. Retrieved 30 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.


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