Wallsend Slipway and Engineering Co

The Wallsend Slipway and Engineering Company was formerly an independent company, located on the River Tyne at Point Pleasant, near Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, around a mile downstream from the Swan Hunter shipyard, with which it later merged.

• 1871 It was formed as The Wallsend Slipway Co in November 1871 by a group of Newcastle shipowners, and one shipbuilder, to repair the vessels of their respective fleets, hence the name 'Slipway'. Yard established by Charles Mitchell and named after two 300 foot slipways for the sole purpose of repairing ships.

• 1873 First compound marine engines made. Then later, triple and quadruple expansion steam reciprocating engines were built.

• 1874 William Boyd was appointed managing director and it was Boyd who introduced marine engine building to the firm - this becoming over the next decade its most important activity - which brought the words 'Engineering' into the full title of the firm which then became The Wallsend Slipway and Engineering Co Ltd.

• 1878 Managing Director William Boyd added “& Engineering” to the name of the Company.

• 1881 New boiler making shop erected

• 1897 540 foot dry dock built, extending the size of vessels that could be repaired.

• 1899 See 1899 Shipbuilding Statistics for details of production this year

• 1903 A majority holding was taken by the newly formed Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson

• 1904 Boiler making shop extended to accommodate the gigantic boilers of the Mauretania. The company was making all types of boiler: cylindrical, locomotive, and water-tube (particularly useful for warships). The Company constructed all four turbines of 70,000 s.h.p for the Mauretania.

• 1915 First oil engine was fitted to Abelia owned by Marcus Samuel.

• 1924 Advert mentions them as marine engineers, boilermakers and ship repairers

• The company manufactured Parsons turbines under license for ships including the famous RMS Mauretania and numerous British warships.

• Latterly, the yard was owned by British Shipbuilders. Today, the site is owned by AMEC, who operated it as an offshore facility until placing it in mothballs in January 2005. It was announced in June 2005 that the site was to be sold, probably for redevelopment.

Sources of Information

• [1] Wikipedia
• British Shipbuilding Yards. 3 vols by Norman L. Middlemiss
• 1924 Naval Annual Advert page viii