Our islands have a great heritage of constructing ocean-going vessels. But their shipbuilding glory days are fading – except where the RNLI is concerned

At the end of the 1800s, the UK was constructing over half of the world’s shipping. It was a golden era: shipbuilding towns were growing and Britain’s Merchant Navy was the largest in the world. British ‘tramp’ steamers and cargo liners traded around the globe. Cunard and the White Star Line dominated the lucrative north Atlantic route to New York with majestic passenger ships built in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

‘There is not a Briton anywhere who ought not to feel proud that this launch has placed Great Britain firmly at the forefront of marine architecture,’ said Sir Charles McLaren, Chairman of John Brown & Co at Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, at the launching of the Lusitania. Built for the Cunard line, she was the world’s largest passenger ship. She had a maximum speed of 26 knots, was 239m long and weighed 31,550 tonnes. In October 1907 the Lusitania crossed the Atlantic in 4 days and 19 hours, earning the Blue Riband – an unofficial accolade held by whichever liner had crossed the ocean in the quickest time. It was an achievement celebrated as a victory for the British shipbuilding industry – German ships had previously held the Riband for nearly a decade.

A year later, the White Star Line ordered the construction of a passenger ship to rival Cunard’s Lusitania. The new liner, to be named Titanic, was constructed by Harland and Wolff in Belfast. At 269m and 46,328 tonnes, she became the largest active liner in the world when she sailed on 10 April 1912. Yet, just 4 days later, the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank – 1,517 people were lost. ‘If the largest, most modern “unsinkable” ship was lost on her maiden voyage, what hope was there for others?’ writes Richard De Kerbrech in Ships of the White Star Line. ‘The travelling public lost confidence in the company and its ships.’

Ships of war

In May 1915, a year after the outbreak of the First World War, Lusitania set out from New York. As she neared Queenstown off the south of Ireland, she was struck by a torpedo from a German U-boat and began to sink. The news quickly reached the shore and a voluntary crew made up of farmers and fishermen launched Courtmacsherry Harbour's pulling (oar-driven) lifeboat. Named Kezia Gwilt, she was the first rowing boat on scene and her crew helped recover survivors. But 1,198 of the 1,959 people aboard the liner died. The tragedy turned public opinion against Germany in several countries not yet at war with her including, crucially, the US.

The hostilities permanently altered the face of the British shipbuilding industry.Shipbuilders that had previously built passenger liners turned to warship construction, while those who already produced warships prospered. JI Thornycroft had played a key role in developing high-speed craft at the turn of the century and its yard in Southampton, Hampshire, completed its first Royal Navy ship in 1906. The firm went on to build 37 destroyers in the buildup to the war and a further 26 during.

Similarly, Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company in Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, was busy producing battleships, destroyers and cruisers. Around 80% of the town’s working population were employed by the yard. But, by 1936, the jobless men of Jarrow were marching on London.

Eclipse

Following the end of the First World War in 1918, there was an inevitable slump in demand for naval ships. Meanwhile, competition had increased from abroad: foreign yards had begun to develop improved techniques and facilities, including the use of covered yards allowing work to be carried out regardless of the weather.

Some British yards including Harland and Wolff and John Brown & Co, fell back to building passenger liners. Thornycroft also managed to stay afloat by fulfilling some of the few remaining warship orders from the Admiralty – and building destroyers for export. But, overall, there was not enough work to go around, and many yards began to struggle in the 1920s. The beginning of the Depression in 1929 added further woe.

In response, the National Shipbuilders Security (NSS) was formed in 1930. It aimed to increase the competitiveness of the industry by closing down some shipyards and encouraging investment in others. By 1937, the NSS had closed 28 firms. Among them was Palmers of Jarrow, which sparked a protest that saw 200 men march 300 miles from the town to Parliament, demanding poverty relief and employment.

It was not long, though, until war loomed again. A renewed demand for battleships meant a return to profitability for several British firms, throughout the Second World War – and beyond. There was a growth in export trade following the end of the war, competition from Japan and Germany having initially been removed.

But those two nations soon caught up, building millions of tonnes of shipping between 1948 and 1958. They began to dominate along with the US, where the world’s first supertankers were being built (see page 28 to learn the fate of one such vessel). Slowly but surely, Britain was losing its position as a shipping world leader.

Faster, cheaper

The rise of air travel in the late 1950s was a further blow, as it caused a decline in demand for the ocean liners that had once formed the business backbone for many British yards. Yard closures and job losses increased in the early 1960s. Thornycroft responded by joining forces with Vosper & Co, to become Vosper Thornycroft. Shipbuilders based on the Clyde, such as John Brown & Co, amalgamated into Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd, but this collapsed in 1971. The Government advanced loans to shipyards in a bid to preserve jobs and, aided by a boom in orders for oil tankers, there was a reprieve – but it was only temporary. The increase in oil prices in 1974 caused the tanker market to collapse.

In 1977, the state again responded with a major intervention: the Labour Government bought the industry into public ownership, creating British Shipbuilders. ‘With nationalisation, the long eclipse of Britain’s shipbuilding was tacitly recognised,’ writes Antony Slaven in The shipbuilding industry: a guide to historical records. But 6 years later the Conservative Government privatised British Shipbuilders. Without Government support, many merchant shipyards disappeared, and the subsequent end of the Cold War reduced naval orders too. As the end of the 20th century neared, the UK shipbuilding industry all but disappeared.

Today, South Korea and China dominate the global shipbuilding industry. South Korea produced more ships than the rest of the world combined in 2008, while Chinese shipbuilding is rapidly expanding. ‘From a cheap manufacturing base … China has become what Great Britain was becoming 2 centuries earlier: the workshop of the world,’ writes Richard Woodman in The history of the ship.

Harland and Wolff is one of the few surviving names from the UK’s shipbuilding heyday, although it has diversified into other areas of engineering, including the manufacture of wind turbines. Vosper Thornycroft became VT Group in 2002, and last year joined forces with BAE Systems (which owned what was left of the former Upper Clyde Shipbuilders yards) to form BVT, now the UK’s leading builders of warships.

In July, the first of a new generation of destroyers, HMS Daring, was commissioned, having been built by BVT in several sections at different UK yards. As the Lifeboat went to print, the same company began construction of the first of two UK aircraft carriers at a shipyard on the Clyde – a project that represents today’s only major activity in an industry once led by UK firms.

Specialist skills

A glowing exception to the trend of decline in UK shipbuilding can be found in the thriving world of RNLI lifeboats.

The charity’s lifesaving craft evolved from rowing and sailing boats to those powered by steam, motor and waterjet. Wood gave way to aluminium, steel, plastic and carbon. Nowadays, crew may occupy computerised wheelhouses and impact-absorbing seats. Engines grow ever more powerful, responsive and efficient. But such innovation is inevitably costly.

Lifeboats were once built to the RNLI’s exacting requirements by external shipyards but now more and more work is being carried out by the charity’s own in-house specialists. The hulls of B class and Tamar class lifeboats are made by a subsidiary of the RNLI, SAR Composites Ltd, in Lymington, Hampshire, while the charity’s B and D class lifeboats are built, refitted and repaired at its own Inshore Lifeboat Centre (ILC) in East Cowes, Isle of Wight. All-weather lifeboat refits and repairs are carried out at Headquarters in Poole as well as several commercial yards around the UK and RoI.

Lean manufacturing

In 2008, the RNLI’s Engineering and Supply department, under the leadership of Director David Brook, undertook a review of working practices and adopted a new approach to production flow and quality. ‘Lean manufacturing’ was invented by the Japanese company Toyota and applied to dramatic effect in its car factories. It has now had an impressive impact in the RNLI’s boatyards, increasing efficiency and eliminating waste.

Refits of Atlantic 75s and 85s now take 12 weeks instead of 18, and that of D classes 2 weeks, down from 9–10 weeks, without any compromise on quality. As a result, the RNLI’s fleet of relief lifeboats can safely be reduced in size. The physical space and time saved at the ILC has in turn allowed lifeguard inshore rescue boats to be constructed under licence from Arancia of New Zealand, saving on expensive imports.

All in all, the average time taken to complete a task has fallen by 35%, paperwork has reduced by 50%, and savings to the Institution have already reached £2M.

Assuring supply

Until early 2009, the construction of lifeboat hulls was outsourced to Green Marine so when the company was put up for sale, the RNLI had a difficult decision to make. Green Marine was the only manufacturer in the UK with the capabilities required by the RNLI and the materials used were only made by a few companies in the world. Should the RNLI look for an alternative source of hulls for its lifeboats, which might mean going abroad, or make an even bolder move?

After gaining the go ahead of its Trustees, the RNLI took on Green Marine’s lifeboat hull facility itself in April this year, under the name SAR Composites Ltd – the supply of lifeboat hulls is assured. Operations Manager Paul Halliwell describes what has happened since: ‘We have already reorganised the shop floor areas to enable a “Leaner” approach to manufacturing. Curing ovens have been constructed and we’ve used them successfully. We are now developing our processes for greater efficiencies.’

As the RNLI’s founder Sir William Hillary said: ‘With courage nothing is impossible’. The charity has demonstrated both courage and foresight to adapt in sometimes-unexpected ways to secure its future and so make the best use of its supporters’ donations.

[See page 12 for news of how the RNLI plans to extend the operational life of its Severn class lifeboats. Readers of the supplement Offshore can find out more about the materials and techniques used in building modern lifeboats.]