shipbuilding. Transport over water is a necessity in most parts of the world. Since time immemorial ships have been constructed in any place with a suitable shoreline, easily procured supplies of timber, and an available workforce. The improvement in ship design and construction has been a process of evolution, slow at first, but gathering speed over the centuries, leading ultimately to the sophisticated ships of the 21st century. It is interesting to compare the simplest dugouts still to be found in less developed parts of the world and to appreciate that the design of even these humble craft has variations brought about by experience in operation. Following on from carved logs, dugouts, and similar craft, early shipbuilders in many Middle Eastern lands produced vessels constructed with papyrus, and elsewhere craft, like the coracle and the kayak, were formed of animal skins stretched over timber framework.

Wooden Shipbuilding.

Well over 1,500 years ago, the skill of building ships with wooden planks was developed, a method that continued until the middle of the 19th century for commercial ships and which is still in use today for smaller vessels. Methods of construction have altered little over a thousand years: The shape of the ship is constrained by frames (or ribs) covered with a shell of thinner planks, the plank edges being secured and caulked to prevent leakage. The ship has a spine, or keel, on which the frames are set up and which in turn support the beams, longitudinals, and other parts. Timber is a flexible material, able to yield and adapt to complex shapes, and with centuries of experience, methods of construction have become fairly standard throughout the world.

The western tradition of shipbuilding evolved over a period of about 500 years. During it the sailing ship became a fairly efficient vehicle, but also one in which the layout and rigging have a form which is constrained by conventions understandable to multilingual, international crews. Hence, over the years, improvements and developments were accepted on a worldwide scale.

For several reasons, wooden vessels cannot be constructed in the traditional way with a waterline length much in excess of 80 metres (260 ft). As the ratios of the various dimensions, such as length to breadth, are fairly constant, this length limitation made it difficult to improve cargo-carrying capacity, and a plateau in efficiency was reached. Any small improvements came about by manipulation of the key proportions of ships. This often made them unseaworthy, a situation exacerbated by the elementary knowledge of naval architecture at that time. Also wooden ships often had a fairly short lifespan if maintenance was lacking, or if they were laid up for lengthy periods. A further problem came through demand for timber outstripping supply in many countries during the 18th century. At this time, industrial shipyards were being created in Europe, and for the first time there came an appreciation that shipbuilding was an assembly business requiring detailed planning, material control, ample manpower, and safe access to water. The stage was set for iron.

Iron and Steel Shipbuilding.

The introduction of iron into shipbuilding was the industry's most dramatic change ever. In Britain the Vulcan was the first vessel to be built in it and Brunel's Great Britain was the first large iron-built ocean liner. The form of a ship's construction altered little, but the methods changed overnight. From a technical point of view there was practically no limit to the length, speed, and carrying capacity of a ship, its size being limited only by its ports of call. In addition, the basic principle that doubling a ship's length increased its carrying capacity eightfold made iron ships highly profitable, while improved hull strength enabled the fitting of heavy steam machinery, with adequately sized coal bunkers. As iron is a tough and unyielding material, the shipyards had to retool to enable them to produce component parts to the highest precision standards. New engineering techniques had to be introduced and shipyards were equipped with rollers, shears, punches, and frame-bending furnaces, while lofting departments became dedicated to the making of accurate full-scale templates for construction. Design and drawing offices were introduced as were specialist ordering departments for the procurement of all necessary materials. The tasks within a shipyard also had to be redefined and new trades, like plater, riveter, and driller, introduced and integrated into the labour force—not always an easy task.

For a short time in the mid-19th century, some owners ordered vessels of composite construction. This led to slightly longer hulls and to ones which did not ‘sweat’ in the tropics. This method was used to build many clipper ships during the 1850s and 1860s, and remained in use to a limited extent in yachtbuilding into the early 20th century.

In the 1860s there was another change in material that was as significant as had been the one from wood to iron. This was the introduction of steel, an alloy of iron, which, though much more vulnerable to corrosion than iron, was stronger and lighter and it increased a ship's cargo capacity by as much as 10%. Such an improvement in earning power more than outweighed any increase in production costs, with the further benefit that the machine tools and systems for iron could be adapted to it. The Rotomahana, built at Dumbarton by William Denny in 1879, is credited with being the first large merchant ship to be built in mild steel and was the first steel ocean-going ship. Initially, steel was extremely expensive but by the 1880s a number of ships had been built in it, and by 1890 it was being used in every British shipyard. Europe and North America made the changeover somewhat later, completing it by 1900.

Ship Manufacture.

Despite the introduction of new processes, new materials, and advanced ship designs, the traditional processes of a shipyard have altered little over the years.

First, the design settles the dimensions and overall appearance of the ship, and from this the detailed plans are generated. After careful investigation of the suppliers, and their ability to meet stipulated dates and costs, materials have to be ordered. Some, like steel, are ordered in bulk; others, like machinery, as individual items. The plans have to be submitted to a Classification Society, like Lloyd's Register, for acceptance, and also to statutory bodies like the UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency or the US Coast Guard. Their approval of a design is mandatory and there must also be a plan for an ongoing inspection during construction, and then for the lifetime of the ship. Most countries of the world have accepted a new concept, known as State Port Control, where their maritime authorities can carry out random inspections of any ship and detain it if it fails to meet international standards laid down by the International Maritime Organization.

The steelwork plans have to be transferred to some form of templates, or, as is now current practice, to computer-controlled machine tools. All parts are sub-assembled and then placed in assembly units, which can be as large as 500 tonnes, with most of the piping, wiring, and other small parts included. When these are moved to the erection berth or building dock they should require little work apart from assembly and the testing of the systems, and final paintwork. The Classification Society inspections continue throughout and all watertight compartments must be tested under a head of water.

The task of final outfitting includes placing main machinery aboard and then testing in dock conditions. Following float out or the traditional launching, the ship is prepared for exhaustive full-scale trials, often lasting several days. Indeed in many large ships a small team of test engineers will remain aboard for the first voyage to ensure all contractual obligations are fulfilled.

Modern Systems of Production.

The number of people employed in a shipyard has fallen significantly and large portions of the traditional shipbuilding tasks are subcontracted out. A current example, from a north German shipyard, is that steel is sourced from another country and brought to the yard for primary cutting. It is then sent to another European country for machining and preparation, before being returned to the yard for painting and assembly. Almost every other task in the establishment is by subcontracted labour, and all parts, including the main engines, are brought to the shipyard by sea or land.

The computer has entered every field in shipbuilding and a very small group of people can plan and control the complex tasks of a ship's construction, from design and materials ordered, through to construction and delivery. The time scales required for construction have been greatly reduced, although the ‘gestation period’, when the design concepts are evaluated, has risen. This is because lengthy periods of planning and analysis are required for a ship that may be constructed in just a few months, something which adds weight to the commercial advantage of repeat orders and standardized ships.

Geographical Disposition of Shipyards.

In the years up to the introduction of iron, shipyards were found in all places blessed with readily available timber supplies and adequate water for launching. Labour requirements were less problematical as from time immemorial shipyards could depend on groups of itinerant shipwrights, something that continues to this day in the replica ship market. Shipbuilding sites were to be found on every part of the European coast and later in North America and Russia, all countries with an abundance of timber. With the demise of wooden shipbuilding, such sites became few and far between, although some are found still in Indonesia and other parts of South-East Asia.

The introduction of iron made it economical to set up of shipyards near iron suppliers, and therefore in areas adjacent to coalfields. Examples include the River Clyde—which saw the founding of nearly 400 shipyards in a mere 200 years—and those based in the north-east of England on the Tyne, Wear, and Tees rivers. Despite the reduction in the use of coal, and the gradual centralization of iron and then steel smelting, European shipyards remained viable until the end of the Second World War (1939–45). Since then rationalization in Europe and North America has led to a vast reduction in shipbuilding sites in these areas, while, at the same time, they increased elsewhere, particularly in the Far East.

With modern methods of production and good transport infrastructures, the need to be near raw material supplies has vanished and shipyards now survive on their technical and commercial competence.

Worldwide Production.

During the 19th century timber ships continued to be built but on an ever-decreasing scale, and by 1900 even the large North American yards were in decline. Britain enjoyed a head start in iron shipbuilding, and then with the changeover to steel, so that by 1913 British shipyards were the dominant force in the world. In that year, when British shipbuilding was at its peak, the industry produced 61% of the world's ships, with the River Clyde alone producing an amazing 23%. In that year the Clyde delivered more than one new ship every day of the year. The First World War (1914–18) ensured that the shipyards of both the United States and the United Kingdom were working at full stretch. During this period many of Britain's former customers, unable to obtain tonnage quickly in the profitable wartime market place, set up new shipyards themselves and even started to compete for Britain's former customers. Despite the Depression years, when shipyards throughout the world were struggling to survive, some wonderful ocean liners, including the Empress of Britain, Normandie, Queen Mary, and Queen Elizabeth, were produced for the passenger trades. However, closures—mostly of small and undercapitalized yards—were commonplace and when hostilities began again in 1939 the shipbuilding industry was poorly placed to produce what was required. As in the First World War, both the British and the American shipbuilding industries contributed in a superb manner to the Allied cause with the Americans, as they had during the First World War, concentrating on mass-produced war-standard cargo ships such as the Liberty and Victory ships, as well as on standard tankers, known as T2s, producing them in astonishing numbers. Untrammelled by tradition, they capitalized on the known but under-utilized processes of welding and prefabrication-processes which are now accepted in every shipyard in the world.

In 2001, the number of merchant vessels completed was around 1,700 worldwide: totally 31 million gross tonnes. The largest shipbuilders are now in the Far East, with the People's Republic of China growing fast, the Republic of Korea producing 37% of the world's production, and Japan 38%.

New Techniques, New Types of Ship.

Construction techniques, ship design, and construction materials developed dramatically in the final decades of the 20th century, allowing for a great increase in the size of existing vessels and the introduction of new types of ship. The greatest increase in size has been in the tanker trade, with ships now being built which can carry over 500,000 tonnes of crude oil. Container ships are also increasing in size, but the most interesting statistics come from cruise liners. Here, not only have passenger numbers increased, but the amount of space for each passenger has increased more than twofold.

In the area of new designs, two in particular stand out. The first, the underwater vehicle, has given access to the deepest parts of the ocean. Whether manned or unmanned, it has opened up new avenues of research for scientists in oceanography, marine archaeology, and the offshore oil and gas industry. The second is the continuing development of the surface effect ship.

See also moulding; mould-loft; moulds.

Fred M. Walker

SHIPBUILDING

SHIPBUILDING. Shipbuilding in the United States began out of necessity, flourished as maritime trade expanded, declined when industrialization attracted its investors, then revived in World War II. Shipyards grew from barren eighteenth-century establishments with a few workers using hand tools even for "large" ships (200 tons) to huge twentieth-century organizations where thousands of employees use ever-changing technology to build aircraft carriers of 70,000 tons. Today the United States no longer leads the world in ship production, but it is still a major force in marine technology and engineering.

American shipbuilding began when Spanish sailors constructed replacements for ships wrecked on the North Carolina coast in the 1520s. Other Europeans launched small vessels for exploration and trade. In the 1640s the trading ventures of Massachusetts built vessels that established New England as a shipbuilding region. By the 1720s, however, New England shipyards faced competition from Pennsylvania and later from other colonies with growing merchant communities, such as Virginia, where slave labor boosted production.

The typical eighteenth-century urban shipyard was a small waterfront lot with few if any permanent structures. Rural yards, where land was cheap and theft less of a problem, often had covered sawpits, storage sheds, and wharfs. The labor force consisted of about half a dozen men, sawyers and shipbuilders as well as apprentices, servants, or slaves. Work was sporadic, and accidents, sometimes fatal, were common. Yet from such facilities came 40 percent of Great Britain's oceangoing tonnage on the eve of the Revolution. After Independence, shipbuilding stagnated until European wars in the 1790s enabled American shipyards to launch neutral vessels for their countrymen and merchant ships or privateers for French and British buyers.

During the Golden Age of American shipbuilding, from the mid-1790s through the mid-1850s, shipping reached its highest proportional levels, the navy expanded, and the clipper ship became a symbol of national pride. New technology entered the shipyard: the steam engine supplied supplementary power for some sailing vessels and the sole power for others; iron first reinforced and then replaced some wooden hulls. Many shipowners, attracted to the promised economy of size, ordered larger ships that required more labor, raw materials, and technology. Meanwhile, a transportation revolution compelled coastal vessels to connect with and compete with canal

barges, inland river trade, and railroads. At this time, many New England merchants turned to manufacturing for higher and steadier returns.

By the late 1850s, the glory days had begun to fade. Maine and Massachusetts shipyards launched more tonnage than anyone else, but they did not construct steam-ships, while builders outside New England recognized that the future belonged to steam, not sail. The Civil War promoted naval construction, with both sides making remarkable innovations, but the war devastated commercial shipbuilding. Confederate raids on Union ships convinced some Yankee merchants to sell their ships to foreign owners. By 1865, American tonnage in foreign trade was half that of the late 1850s; at the end of the decade it was down to a third.

In 1880, Pennsylvania shipyards launched almost half of what the top ten states constructed. Iron, not steam, now represented the future; most shipyards could not afford the transition from wood to iron. Massachusetts build-ers held on by mass-producing small boats for offshore fishing schooners. Capital investments per yard many times greater than those of other states allowed Pennsylvania and Delaware yards to succeed. With yards in six of the ten states producing at a rate of less than two vessels per year, many establishments did not survive the introduction of iron.

Two successful shipyards of the period, William Cramp and Sons in Philadelphia and Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Virginia, embraced the new technology and benefited from the naval modernization program of the 1890s. Naval contracts proved vital to these builders' success, and the strength of the navy depended upon such shipyards.

When the United States entered World War I, it undertook an unprecedented shipbuilding program. After the war, builders watched maritime trade decline through

the 1920s as the coastal trade gave way to trains and trucks and quotas restricted the once profitable immigrant trade. The Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company survived by performing non-maritime work such as building traffic lights. Relief did not come until the 1930s, when the U.S. government began ordering aircraft carriers to serve the dual purpose of strengthening the navy and providing jobs for the unemployed.

At the outbreak of World War II, Great Britain asked the United States to mass-produce an outdated English freighter design that had many deficiencies but possessed the all-important virtue of simplicity. Thanks to new welding techniques and modular construction, the "Liberty" ship became the most copied vessel in history. More than 2,700 were built—many completed in less than two months, some in a few weeks. This remarkable feat, accomplished by a hastily trained workforce using parts produced across the nation, was directed by Henry Kaiser, who had never before built a vessel. American shipyards also produced 800 Victory ships (a faster, more economical freighter), more than 300 tankers, and hundreds of other warships. American shipbuilding, a key factor in the Allied victory, increased 1,000 percent by war's end, making the United States the world's undisputed maritime power.

Following World War II, America abandoned maritime interests and focused on highways, factories, and planes. During the 1950s, Japanese, European, and Latin American shipbuilders outperformed American shipyards, while American Atlantic passenger liners succumbed to passenger jets. A nuclear-powered freighter, Savannah, proved both a commercial and public relations failure. While Americans pioneered development of the very economical container ship, it was quickly adopted by foreign competitors. Despite technical advances, shipbuilding continued to decline in the face of waning public and private support.

Today, Japan, Korea, and China build over 90 percent of the world's commercial tonnage; the U.S. share is only 0.2 percent. Since 1992, U.S. shipyards have averaged fewer than nine new commercial ships per year of 1,000 tons or more. Submarines and aircraft carriers are still under construction, although in reduced numbers; guided-missile destroyers and support vessels are on the rise. Modern maritime technology requires significant resources and expertise. Unlike the colonial years, when every seaport, however small, had a few shipyards, today the nation has just half a dozen major shipyards in total. The United States still enjoys an abundance of materials, skilled labor, and engineering ingenuity. It requires only large-scale public and private support to reignite interest in this once flourishing industry.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chapelle, Howard I. The National Watercraft Collection. Washington, D.C.: United States National Museum, 1960. 2d ed., Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1976.

Goldenberg, Joseph A. Shipbuilding in Colonial America. Charlottesville, Va.: University Press of Virginia, 1976.

Hutchins, John G. B. The American Maritime Industries and Public Policy, 1789–1914. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1941.

Pedraja, René de la. The Rise and Decline of U.S. Merchant Shipping in the Twentieth Century. New York: Macmillan, 1992.

JosephGoldenberg

See alsoArmored Ships ; Clipper Ships ; Packets, Sailing ; Savannah ; Steamboats .

shipbuilding was a widely scattered industry before the 18th cent., ships normally varying between 50 and 100 tons. For four centuries the Thames and Medway were the principal shipbuilding rivers for large ships and the location of the main naval dockyards. Technical innovations threw the advantage to the Tyne, Wear and Tees, Mersey, and Clyde with relatively deep water, cheap coal and iron, and expertise in building marine engines.

The Clyde was a latecomer as a major shipbuilding river. The main hull-builders were downriver at Greenock and Port Glasgow. Deepening the river served both commerce and industry, for Glasgow's engine-builders came to dominate British shipbuilding. Labour costs in the new shipyards were lower than on the Thames, and technical innovations gave the Clyde major advantages. In 1813–14 this region produced only 4.5 per cent of the British tonnage, and this market share remained relatively constant until the 1840s. In the production of iron river steamers the Clyde falteringly led the way in the early 19th cent. but between 1840 and 1870 produced two-thirds of British steam tonnage. Early marine engines used fuel prodigally; Glasgow engineers solved this problem and also improved boilers and methods of construction and propulsion: the screw propeller replaced the paddle in the 1840s; compound engines were installed from 1853, dramatically cutting coal consumption; iron hulls increased the scale of shipping, reducing freight costs and encouraging the growth of international trade. Glasgow became the home base for many shipping lines, including Cunard, and their orders tended to go to Clyde yards.

Steam and iron eclipsed wood and sail in the 1850s. Steam tonnage, which in 1850 represented under 7 per cent of British output, accounted for 70 per cent by 1870. About 24,000 of 47,500 men working in shipbuilding in 1871 were resident in Scotland, all but a few employed in the Clyde yards. They produced at least one-third of British tonnage—mostly specialist vessels—every year from 1870 to 1914. The Wear initially challenged the Clyde, producing about one-third of Britain's merchant tonnage in the 1830s, but the north-east increasingly specialized in lower-cost tramp shipping. Belfast was essentially an extension of Clyde capacity, and by 1914 one firm, Harland and Wolff, dominated its shipbuilding just as Cammell Laird on the Mersey and Vickers-Armstrong at Barrow controlled regional output.

The integration of iron, steel, coal, and shipbuilding as major exporting industries explains why the economy which made shipbuilding regions prosperous before 1914 should be a source of economic weakness after 1920. The long decline of shipbuilding had a downward multiplier effect on these regional economies which became the depressed areas of inter-war Britain.

Demand for capital goods declined rapidly after 1920, but shipbuilding suffered most. World capacity had been grossly inflated during the First World War, but peacetime demand was reduced by the decline in world trade. In 1933 launchings from British yards fell to 7 per cent of the 1914 figure. Foreign orders for new ships were markedly reduced. Britain was slow to move into the production of motor vessels which were most in demand; foreign governments provided subsidies to retain orders within their own boundaries. In 1930 ‘National Shipbuilders' Security Limited’ was formed to reduce the number of shipyards and excess capacity. By 1937, 28 firms had been bought and closed, with a capacity of about 3,500,000 tons. The government in 1935 sponsored an ineffective ‘scrap and build’ scheme whereby owners were subsidized to scrap 2 tons of shipping for every new ton they ordered.

Rearmament and the Second World War revived shipbuilding, and after 1945 the world dollar shortage drove shipowners to order in Britain. World trade expanded and kept the boom going, but increasingly foreign yards benefited from this exceptional demand. The Clyde produced a third of British tonnage in the early 1950s (although demand was greatest for tankers and cargo ships); the Wear and Tees a quarter and the Tyne about one-sixth; Belfast, the Mersey, and Barrow nearly one-quarter. In 1956 Britain was third in export sales behind Germany and Japan; by 1977 she produced 4 per cent of world output (compared with 60 per cent in 1910–14), and British owners were ordering ships from overseas. Asia, with its low labour costs and modern equipment, became the most significant continent for ship production. The government responded by further rationalization under British Shipbuilders (1977), a public corporation. Technically backward, the industry was faced with closures and redundancies until the government returned firms to private ownership and a process of private investment in the 1980s. Shipbuilding survives but subject to intense foreign competition. See also merchant navy.

John Butt

shipbuilding. Wooden sailing ships were built at various locations around the coast of Ireland before 1800. The occupation returns of the 1841 census indicate that, although Belfast was by far the most important shipbuilding centre in employment terms, the industry remained relatively rural based and widely dispersed.

In the second half of the century, the more capital‐intensive production techniques required for the construction of iron‐ and steel‐hulled ships led to larger units of production, and external economies led to regional concentration. By the late 19th century most UK mercantile tonnage was launched on the Clyde, on the north‐east coast of England, and on the Lagan. The industry in Ireland was concentrated in Belfast, dominated by the two shipbuilding giants of Harland & Wolff and Workman, Clark & Company. In the years 1906–14 Harland & Wolff and Workman Clark between them produced 10 per cent of UK output and 6 per cent of world output.

Most ports retained the capacity to construct traditional small vessels such as brigantines, schooners, and smacks. Construction of larger vessels over 200 gross tons was confined to a few locations other than Belfast. In the first half of the 19th century Cork was an important shipbuilding centre. The Cork firm of Andrew & Michael Hennessy built the first steamship in Ireland in 1815, and Robert J. Lecky & Company launched an iron‐hulled vessel in 1845. However, the industry in Cork went into decline from the mid‐1860s. In the mid‐century Waterford firms such as Pope & Co., Albert White & Co., and Charles Smith established a high reputation for construction of sailing vessels. Iron steamships of up to 2,000 tons were constructed by the Neptune Iron Works in Waterford between 1847 and 1880. There was little shipbuilding in Dublin in the 19th century. The firm of Walpole & Webb built iron ships in the 1860s; subsequently Bewley, Webb & Company undertook repair work. No large vessels were constructed in Derry between 1846 and the foundation of the Foyle Shipyard in 1882; it went out of business in 1892.

In the 20th century, the Dublin Dockyard Company revived shipbuilding in the city in 1901; the Londonderry Shipbuilding & Engineering Company had a brief existence between 1899 and 1904; on the same site in 1912 the North of Ireland Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Ltd. was set up. With the downturn in demand after the First World War, shipbuilding operations in Dublin and Derry ceased in the early 1920s and the two Belfast firms encountered financial difficulties; Workman Clark ceased operations in 1935. Harland & Wolff survived the hard inter‐war years and continues to be a major European shipbuilder. Belfast has retained its almost complete domination of Irish shipbuilding until the present day.

Bibliography

Anderson, E. B. , Sailing Ships of Ireland (1951)
Workman Clark (1928) Ltd., Shipbuilding at Belfast 1880–1933 (n.d.)

FG/ and Frank Geary

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