I've bought a book called Tyneside in the 2nd World War. Written by a local man. There were a few shipyards along the Tyne, and I was surprised to see that many of the workers were women and teenage boys. Welding riveting caulking etc. I haven't finished reading it yet, but I believe the Tyne shipyards kept going throughout the war, repairing and building ships. In spite of the very heavy bombing in the area. One of my uncles was an engineer at one of the yards, can't remember which one, not Swan Hunters. I wonder if the young lads were volunteers, or conscripts?
At the start of the war my father, then a 15 year old school leaver, worked at Harland & Wolff, Belfast. I have his Indenture papers somewhere but I know that he was apprenticed for 5 yrs, as a Fitter. However he volunteered for Irish Guards aged 18. (NI was not subject to conscription.) He also mentioned that when the shipyard was bombed during the Belfast Blitz, none of the apprentices were allowed to return to work until clearance work had been carried out. Belfast Blitz Luftwaffe interview
Fantastic stories, dbf .Thanks Shows what young people can do if the time needs them. And congratulations to your father, I've heard of Harland and Wolff.
Dad would've ended up in H&W, war or no war. His parents arranged the apprenticeship for him, his father having worked there previously as a clerk. My husband's grandfather also worked in H&W but died in 1943 as a result of infection contracted after a work accident. Hot rivets fell out of a bucket above him burning him badly. Harland and Wolff - Wikipedia "The shipyard was busy in the Second World War, building six aircraft carriers, two cruisers (including HMS Belfast) and 131 other naval ships; and repairing over 22,000 vessels. It also manufactured tanks and artillery components. It was in this period that the company's workforce peaked at around 35,000 people. However, many of the vessels built in this era were commissioned right at the end of World War II, as Harland and Wolff were focused on ship repair in the first three years of the war. The yard on Queen's Island was heavily bombed by the Luftwaffe in April and May 1941 causing considerable damage to the shipbuilding facilities and destroying the aircraft factory."
I know that Vickers-Armstrong had a factory there (at Elswick) that built Valentine tanks and then Archer tank destroyers. I am guessing that would be at least one of the tank factories involved. edit: a whole lot of photos there: Armstrong Vickers: Workshop of the World
HMS Kelly was repaired at Palmers Shipyard in Hebburn in 1940 after losing her bows, there were other yards at Wallsend (Swan Hunters), there was the Naval Yard at Walker More info at : Tyne Built Ships & Shipbuilders
GLASGOW SHIPYARD: SHIPBUILDING IN WARTIME GLASGOW SHIPYARD: SHIPBUILDING IN WARTIME, GLASGOW, LANARKSHIRE, SCOTLAND, UK, 1944 Two young boys working in the shipyard Category: photographs Related period: Second World War (production), Second World War (content) Creator: Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer Catalogue number: D 20810 Part of MINISTRY OF INFORMATION SECOND WORLD WAR OFFICIAL COLLECTION GLASGOW SHIPYARD: SHIPBUILDING IN WARTIME, GLASGOW, LANARKSHIRE, SCOTLAND, UK, 1944 Informal portrait of a shipyard worker. Category: photographs Related period: Second World War (production), Second World War (content) Creator: Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer Catalogue number: D 20829 Part of MINISTRY OF INFORMATION SECOND WORLD WAR OFFICIAL COLLECTION GLASGOW SHIPYARD: SHIPBUILDING IN WARTIME, GLASGOW, LANARKSHIRE, SCOTLAND, UK, 1944 Informal portrait of a welder in the shipyard. Category: photographs Related period: Second World War (production), Second World War (content) Creator: Ministry of Information Photo Division Photographer Catalogue number: D 20852 Part of MINISTRY OF INFORMATION SECOND WORLD WAR OFFICIAL COLLECTION
MEN AND WOMEN BEHIND BRITAIN'S SHIPS. MAY 1945, YARROW'S NAVAL SHIPYARD, GLASGOW. Object description Mary McCleod, of the Outer Hebrides, who came down to Clydeside as a shipyard worker, welding on the deck of a destroyer. Category: photographs Related period: Second World War (production), Second World War (content) Catalogue number: A 29109 Part of ADMIRALTY OFFICIAL COLLECTION MEN AND WOMEN BEHIND BRITAIN'S SHIPS. MAY 1945, HARLAND AND WOLFF'S SHIPYARD, GOVAN, GLASGOW. William Perry of Glasgow, marking beams. He has worked in the yard for 29 years. Category: photographs Related period: Second World War (production), Second World War (content) Catalogue number: A 29127 Part of ADMIRALTY OFFICIAL COLLECTION
IN A BRITISH SHIPYARD: EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY, UK, 1943 A portrait of a young apprentice fitter at a shipyard, somewhere in Britain. Category: photographs Related period: Second World War (production), Second World War (content) Creator: Beaton, Cecil, Ministry of Information official photographer Catalogue number: DB 149 Part of MINISTRY OF INFORMATION SECOND WORLD WAR OFFICIAL COLLECTION IN A BRITISH SHIPYARD: EVERYDAY LIFE IN THE SHIPBUILDING INDUSTRY, UK, 1943 A portrait of a young apprentice fitter as he sits on a large pile of cables at a shipyard, somewhere in Britain. Category: photographs Related period: Second World War (production), Second World War (content) Creator: Beaton, Cecil, Ministry of Information official photographer Catalogue number: DB 153 Part of MINISTRY OF INFORMATION SECOND WORLD WAR OFFICIAL COLLECTION CECIL BEATON PHOTOGRAPHS: TYNESIDE SHIPYARDS, 1943 A boy, who is an apprentice fitter, sits on some canisters posing for the photographer. Category: photographs Related period: Second World War (production), Second World War (content) Creator: Beaton, Cecil, Ministry of Information official photographer Catalogue number: DB 151 Part of MINISTRY OF INFORMATION SECOND WORLD WAR OFFICIAL COLLECTION Search objects | Imperial War Museums
Real good stories, let me add one from Germany. A 14 year old carpenter apprentice worked in a POW camp repairing fences and ramming wooden barriers underneath the perimeter fence to avoid these Brits to dig tunnels. At the age of 16, he was fisent east to fight the Russians.
Before my father was called up in July 1940, he was a fitter's mate at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead, where my grandfather was also employed. They both worked on the aircraft carrier Ark Royal (launched 1937) and on the battleship Prince of Wales (launched 1939). On the Ark, they helped install the anti-aircraft guns and my grandfather later went out on the carrier’s sea trials. Cammell Laird, founded in 1824 as the Birkenhead Ironworks, was in its heyday one of the world’s most famous shipyards and built many warships. It launched a ship every 20 days during the Second World War. In August 1940, while being fitted out at the wet basin in Laird’s, the Prince of Wales was damaged by a German bomb, but was quickly repaired. The Ark Royal was sunk by a U-boat in the Mediterranean in November 1941. The Prince of Wales was sunk by the Japanese in the South China Sea in December 1941, along with the battlecruiser Repulse during the battle for Singapore. After the war, my father worked on the second aircraft carrier named Ark Royal, launched at Laird’s in 1950. After many ups and downs, Cammell Laird is once again in business and in July this year launched the polar research ship Sir David Attenborough, aka Boaty McBoatface.
THE LAUNCHING OF HMS VENERABLE. 30 DECEMBER 1943, CAMMEL LAIRD'S YARD, BIRKENHEAD. THE LAUNCH OF THE 8,OOO TON AIRCRAFT CARRIER BY MRS HERBERT MORRISON. Water-borne the VENERABLE is towed to the fitting out yard. Category: photographs Related period: Second World War (production), Second World War (content) Creator: Parnall, C H (Lt) Catalogue number: A 21189 Part of ADMIRALTY OFFICIAL COLLECTION Search objects | Imperial War Museums
This is a celebrated picture of the 1950 Ark Royal taken by Edward Chambre Hardman from Holt Hill, Birkenhead, looking down on Laird's yard. He entitled it The Birth of the Ark Royal ... Birth of the Ark Royal by E. Chambré Hardman
HA96 wrote: "Real good stories, let me add one from Germany. A 14 year old carpenter apprentice worked in a POW camp repairing fences and ramming wooden barriers underneath the perimeter fence to avoid these Brits to dig tunnels. At the age of 16, he was fisent east to fight the Russians." Conscription of young teenagers - yet another example of the disregard of human life by those 'in charge' at times of war.
Seeing the young lady with the welding gear reminds me of when one of our process operators had a disagreement regarding the definition of skill.This was between an operator running an electrical generating unit and a maintenance fitter. We had fitters who tuned up coal pulversing mills..... tensioning up the mill rollers and minor servicing.The operator was driving a 100 Mw generating unit and a fitter declared he was more skillful than the operator.The operator turned round and said don't be silly, my wife as a young woman had 6 weeks training on welding,then she was on the line welding tanks at Chilwell.(Nottingham) Proof that training is the key.Ascertain the aptitude for the role, then train to achieve ability for the particular role....fundamental in harnessing labour as those involved in war production proved.
Just seen that photo on page 201 of the NT book "125 Treasures" that I bought last week. It really is a remarkable image. The Birth of the Ark Royal, E.Chambré © Hardman Collection at National Trust (ntprints.com) The Birth of the 'Ark Royal' 967084 | National Trust Collections Then & Now here . Edward Chambre Hardman: Birth of the Ark Royal (chesterwalls.info)
A noteworthy shipyard is J L Thompson's North Sands yard in Sunderland. Their design gave rise, firstly, to the Ocean class cargo vessels that were built in the United States, then the Canadian Parks and Forts, and finally, with modified boilers and accomodation, the Liberty ship (possibly named after Thompson's Empire Liberty of 1941). Interestingly the number of (wo)man hours required to build this type of ship was far less in the British yards than it was in the US yards. Of course the American's later overtook the British yards, by some margin.
