Giants of the Clyde
The great ships and the great yards
Published on 30. May 2017
136 pages
978-1-78530-143-8 (ISBN)
Description
There is barely a corner of the five great oceans where Clyde-built is not recognised as the ultimate shipbuilding accolade. As late as the 1950s, around a seventh of the total of the world's sea going tonnage was built on the Clyde. It is not a particularly wide river, nor spectacularly long - it is certainly no Mississippi or Amazon - but its fame is legendary.
From the many yards on its banks, north and south, en route from the gentle hills of Lanarkshire to the Firth of Clyde, came engineering innovation and fabled names in shipping - iconic vessels like the Cutty Sark and the Delta Queen, fearsome warships like the mighty Hood, and the cream of the world's great liners, the Cunard Queens and the beautiful white Empress vessels. All that and cargo carrying workhorses that opened up the world.
More recent times have seen the phoenix-like revival of Ferguson Shipbuilders, the last remaining yard on the Lower Clyde, saved from closure by industrialist Jim McColl and now investing in the hybrid technology of the future that has thrown a lifeline to this once great yard.
This is the fascinating, often turbulent, story of a great river, its great ships and the folk who built them.
From the many yards on its banks, north and south, en route from the gentle hills of Lanarkshire to the Firth of Clyde, came engineering innovation and fabled names in shipping - iconic vessels like the Cutty Sark and the Delta Queen, fearsome warships like the mighty Hood, and the cream of the world's great liners, the Cunard Queens and the beautiful white Empress vessels. All that and cargo carrying workhorses that opened up the world.
More recent times have seen the phoenix-like revival of Ferguson Shipbuilders, the last remaining yard on the Lower Clyde, saved from closure by industrialist Jim McColl and now investing in the hybrid technology of the future that has thrown a lifeline to this once great yard.
This is the fascinating, often turbulent, story of a great river, its great ships and the folk who built them.
More details
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
05/2017
Black and White Publishing
€16.50
Article exhausted; check different version
Person
Robert Jeffrey is a long-serving Glasgow journalist and the former managing editor of the Herald group of newspapers. His many best-sellers include Glasgow's Hard Men, Blood on the Streets, Glasgow's Godfather and Crimes Past.
Content
- Intro
- Contents
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 Smoke, Noise, Clamour, Clatter and the Ding Dong of Hammer on Metal
- 2 Billowing Sails, Tea Races and Weel Done, Cutty Sark!
- 3 Aircraft, Hovercraft and the Famous Irrawaddy Flotilla
- 4 Triumph, Tragedy and Up the Clyde on a Banana Boat
- 5 Supertankers, a Super Salesman and Blue-Sky Thinking
- 6 The Legendary Waverley and Other Icons
- 7 A Short Bus Ride into History and Death Under the Waves
- 8 A Long Life from Arran Speedster to Minesweeper and Back
- 9 Sparks and Flying Rivets -The Hard Life of the "Hudder Oan"
- 10 Under Fire on a Seagoing Classroom in the Sun
- 11 Bowler Hats, Battleships and Ballrooms
- 12 The Blue Riband, Submarine Attack and Political Fury
- 13 Trouble on the Drawing Board and Financial Storms
- 14 A Secret Dash from Bombs on Clydebank to the Safety of the Big Apple
- 15 Picnics on the West Coast and a Real Titan
- 16 Ferries in "Boxes" and the Latest in Warships
- 17 Tugs, Dredgers and the Pong of the Clyde
- 18 Glass Cases, Model Ships and Wee Jaunts Round the Harbour
- 19 No "Bevvying", Great Speeches and the Fight for a Dream
- 20 The Flitting to End All Flittings and Surgical Success
- 21 Splashing Paddles, Steam and Happy Days "Doon The Watter"
- 22 Little Giants Anchored in Clydeside Memory
- 23 A Despot, Days of Drama and a New Destiny
- Selected Sources and Suggested Further Reading
