Smith's Dock Company


Smith's Dock Company, Limited, often referred to simply as Smith's Dock, was a British shipbuilding company.

History

The company was originally established by Thomas Smith who bought William Rowe's shipyard at St. Peter's in Newcastle upon Tyne in 1810 and traded as William Smith & Co. The company opened its dock in North Shields in 1851. One of the first ships to be launched at the yard was Termagent in 1852. The company changed its name to Smith's Dock Co. in 1891.
The company became associated with South Bank in Middlesbrough on the River Tees in Northeast England, after opening an operation there in 1907. Smith's Dock increasingly concentrated its shipbuilding business at South Bank, with its North Shields Yard being used mainly for repair work from 1909 onwards. Despite the shift of focus, The Company's headquarters remained at North Shields.
Smith's Dock built many ships that served during the Second World War, including trawlers that the Admiralty requisitioned and converted to armed trawlers of the Royal Naval Patrol Service such as, or, in which Lieutenant Richard Stannard won the Victoria Cross.
The yard also built s for the Royal Navy including HMT Walnut, which later became a famous refugee ship in Canada. Of the 20 of this class built for the Royal Navy, 4 were built by Smith’s Dock.
NamePennantLaid downLaunchedCompleted
HMT RowanT11913 June 193912 August 193914 December 1939
HMT WalnutT10315 June 193912 August 193913 December 1939
HMT WisteriaT11319 July 193910 November 193916 February 1940
HMT WhitehornT12725 July 193910 November 193928 February 1940

Flower-class corvettes

Smith's Dock are perhaps most famous for preparing the design of the, an anti-submarine convoy escort of the Second World War celebrated in the novel The Cruel Sea.
In January 1939, William Reed of Smith's Docks Co. was approached by the British Admiralty with a request for a design of a cheap and simple multi-role warship capable of being built in the multitude of small civilian shipyards not usually accustomed to building to naval standards. Smith Docks was highly regarded by the Admiralty because it had designed the Z-class whaler during World War I and was famed for its reputation for the construction of whale-catchers. Reed's resultant design suggestion was based on a larger version of the company's new whaler,, with a number of modifications. The length, for instance, was increased by 30 feet to give a higher speed, and two marine oil-fired boilers were to be fitted as these could be supplied in about 16 weeks instead of water tube boilers which would not be available for at least seven months.
On 27 February 1939 the British Admiralty approved William Reed's sketch design and, with war becoming ever more likely, a bulk order was placed with the aim of creating a viable anti-submarine force where none had existed before. The first order, for twenty-six vessels, was soon followed by others, and by the end of 1939 no less than 110 vessels of this kind were under construction at various shipyards around the country.
Smith's Dock built 12 of the total of 196 built of this class.

French Flower-class corvettes

At the outbreak of World War II the Marine nationale needed ships for anti-submarine warfare and, following the Royal Navy 's example, placed orders from Smith's Dock for four corvettes. Following this the Marine nationale ordered a further 18 ships, to be built at a number of British and French shipyards. These were identical to the British Flower-class corvettes except that French and 13.2 mm AA guns were to be fitted.
The Fall of France in June 1940 brought a drastic change to these building programmes. Of the original four French Flower-class corvettes, La Bastiaise was mined on builders trials and the others were taken over by the RN on completion.
Of the second group, the 12 ships ordered from British yards were taken over by the RN and re-armed with British ordnance; all were renamed and given Flower names in keeping with the class.
ShipBuilderCompletedFate
La BastiaseSmith's Dock22 June 1940Sunk by mine, 22 June 1940
La MalouineSmith's Dock30 July 1940Transferred to RN as
La DieppoiseSmith's Dock26 August 1940Transferred to RN as
HMS Fleur de Lys
La PaimpolaiseSmith's Dock26 September 1940Transferred to RN as
HMS Nasturtium

Orders for six of the second group were placed with Smith's Dock.

NamePennantLaid downLaunchedCompleted
*K6710 April 194019 July 194016 January 1941
HMS SunflowerK4124 May 194019 August 194025 January 1941
*K2930 May 19404 September 194018 November 1940
*K8529 June 194017 October 194019 December 1940
*K379 July 194017 October 194018 February 1941
HMS Wallflower*K4423 July 194014 November 19407 March 1941
*K9820 August 194028 November 194030 March 1941

NamePennantLaid downLaunchedCompleted
K1424 February 194112 May 194130 July 1941
K13215 March 194127 May 194111 August 1941
HMS SweetbriarK2094 April 194126 June 19418 September 1941
K21030 April 194125 July 194123 October 1941
HMS SnowflakeK21119 May 194122 August 194122 August 1941

Before the ship was commissioned there would be a brief "Contractors Trial" which was followed by "Acceptance Trials"; two days later, on completion of trials, the ship would be formally commissioned, then fully stored and take to sea. These ships could be constructed and commissioned in, on average, just six months.
In 1966 Smith's Dock merged with Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson to form Associated Shipbuilders, later to become Swan Hunter Group.
In 1968, the company completed the first British-built and owned container ship, Manchester Challenge of 12,039 gross register tons, for operation on Manchester Liners new container service to ports on the St Lawrence Seaway, Canada. By 1971, the company had delivered three further ships of this design to Manchester Liners.
In 1983 to 1984 Smith's Dock delivered two roll-on-roll-off ships for Brazilian owners.
The South Bank shipyard on the River Tees finally closed in February 1987.