This famous shipbuilding name was first established in 1865, as a partnership between John Readhead and John Softley near South Shields harbour in an area known as the Lawe. John Readhead had been a millwright but changed direction aged 32 when he trained as a shipwright in the Lawe yard of Thomas Marshall. He did this for 15 years before starting his own company.
Shipbuilding
1865 - Readhead & Softley started trading on 1st March.The Company completed a small collier brig, and an iron screw steamer. The barque Lizzie Leslie was the first ship ever classed by Lloyd’s register as 100A1.
1870 - The steam tug Washington was built and worked the river until 1952 after 82 years service. Many other ships produced by the yard had phenomenally long working lives of 80-90 years.
1872 – Readhead’s partnership with Softley was dissolved. 87 small craft had been built.
1876 - Engine for Paddle Tug 'President' at Newcastle upon Tyne
1881 – John Readhead moved upriver to the western part of South Shields next to Tyne Dock as the Lawe yard had become too small. The Company had a long association with Edward Hain of St. Ives, Cornwall which had begun at the Lawe Yard and continued at the West Yard. Hain commissioned 85 tramps over a period of 84 years. It is considered to be one of the greatest shipowner/shipbuilder links of British maritime history.
1894 - Alderman John Readhead J.P. died on 9th March aged 76 and his four sons, James, Robert, John and William carried on the family business. James was in charge of the shipyard and Robert was in charge of the engine works.
1909 – John Readhead & Sons was incorporated with £300,000 in shares mainly held by the brothers. The Yard came under Admiralty control during the Great War and 20 tramps were constructed including six WAR ‘B’ types and the refuelling tanker Oletta which was the only deep-sea tanker ever built by the yard.
1917 – King George V visited the yard as part of a tour of Tyneside.
1917 – Hain (who had been a key customer) were taken over by P&O and they began using other yards for their ships.
1920 – Royal visitors, Princess Marie Louise and Prince Albert were shown around the yard by James Readhead.
1922 - James Readhead was knighted.
1926 - Frank Strick, owner of Strick Line, began a long association with the Readhead's, eventually becoming their main customer with 44 orders between 1927 and 1931.
1930 – Sir James Readhead died on 18th March aged 77. Sir James Halder Readhead succeeded him as Chairman.
1931 – the whole workforce was laid off except for apprentices during the Great Depression. The yard remained effectively closed for five years until 1936.
1936 – Strick Line placed an order for two cargo liners and orders began to pick back up again with five orders for cargo-liners from Bank Line Ltd, four from Strick Line and a tramp for Sir Arthur Sutherland.
1937 – The Company acquired Smiths Docks Co. Ltd old dry docks, which meant that the building berths were separated from the repair yard. The repair yard had managed to keep going during the Depression, aiding the Company’s cash flow. During the War the repair yard was very busy dealing with damage to vessels from torpedoes and mines. No. 2 dry dock suffered severe buckling of the dock gates, caused by German air raid damage on the night of April 9th/10th 1941. This can still be seen today.
1940 – Sir James H. Readhead died and was succeeded by Christopher Southall (Chairman) and Harold Towers, son-in-law of Sir James as Managing Director.
1945 – between 1939-1945 the Company produced 31 tramps, two special repair ships for the Navy and two coastal tankers. In addition six ships were completed for private owners.
1945-1966 – 66 cargo liners and tramps were secured for well-known ship owners. The yard developed a new design known as a ‘strengthened raised quarter-decker’, which featured a five hold engines-aft design suited for the heavy-grain and sugar trades. In 1965 the yard was modernised and this led to further orders.
1968 – The Readhead yard was taken over by Swan Hunter Shipbuilders Ltd on 1st January as a result of the merger recommendations of the Geddes Report.
1977 – The Tyne Yards were nationalised on 1st July. The South Shields yard concentrated on repair work as part of Tyne Shiprepair Ltd.
1982 – The South Shields yard was closed by British Shipbuilders in 1982. It was then leased back to the Readhead workforce who had formed their own company.
1984 – the company got into financial difficulties and was taken over by Tyne Dock Engineering Co. Ltd.
The shipbuilding yard has since been stripped but is still in business as McNulty Marine for North Sea Oil modification work.
Sources of Information
Stationary Steam Engines of Great Britain by George Watkins. Vol 10