A History of Cammell Laird

 

The Laird company was founded by William Laird who had established the Birkenhead Iron Works in 1824 when he set up a boilerworks in Wallasey Pool. When he was joined by his son John Laird as a partner, in 1828, the business was renamed 'Wm Laird & Sons' and their first ship was an iron barge, the Wye, built for the Irish Steam Navigation Company. John realised that the techniques of making boilers could be applied to making ships and in 1832 we had the first ocean going voyage by an iron vessel, the PS Alburkah, designed by John Laird's younger brother McGregor for an expedition to the River Niger, West Africa. The company soon became pre-eminent in the manufacture of iron ships and also made major advances in propulsion and the first iron ship owned by the Royal Navy, HMS Dover, was launched in 1840 but the following year saw the death of William Laird. 

Birkenhead Docks were opened in 1847, the same year as the world's first publicly funded park, Birkenhead Park, the design of which inspired Frederick Law Olmsted on his visit in 1850 in his design of Central Park in New York. The 1850s proved to be a busy period with 15 mortar boats built for the Admiralty during the Crimean War and Lairds moved premises to the Mersey shore as the Wallasey Pool premises were needed for dock space. The Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, established in 1858, saw John Laird appointed to the Board in the same year as the first ever steel ship Ma Robert was launched, built for Dr Livingstone's expedition to the Zambesi.
In 1860, John Laird was joined in the business by his sons, William and John, renaming the company John Laird, Sons & Co. before retiring the following year. Elected as the town's first MP he built a hospital in Park Road North. With the American Civil War commencing in 1861, the company undertook work for the Confederacy which included building the infamous raider CSS Alabama as well as two warships which were seized by the British Government before they could take part in the hostilities. Following the death of John Laird MP in 1874, with Birkenhead becoming a municipal borough in 1877, his son John became its first Mayor. The sons continued the business after their father's death and in 1900 became a public company Laird Brothers.

Johnson Cammell & Co. was founded by Charles Cammell and Henry and Thomas Johnson and made, amongst many other metal products, iron wheels and rails for Britain's railways and was based in Sheffield. In 1903 the businesses Charles Cammell & Co. and Laird Brothers merged to create Cammell Laird & Co. Ltd, a company at the forefront of shipbuilding. The newly formed Tramnmere Bay Development Company, co-owned by Lairds, in 1903 built the Ralph Brocklebank steam tug to operate a barge towing service between Ellesmere Port and Liverpool. Later taken over by the Manchester Ship Canal Company it is now operated by the Daniel Adamson Preservation Society and is the only steam tug still afloat. When John McGregor Laird ceased to be chairman in 1907 it ended the Laird family connection with the yard. In 1909 the yard completed the largest sand pump dredger in the world, Leviathan, and from here onwards, the yard made longer passenger/cargo liners mainly for South American companies.

The Royal Visit on 14 May 1917 - © the artist's estate. Photo credit: Williamson Art Gallery & Museum

During WW1 the yard manufactured 5 Light Cruisers, 6 Destroyers. 2 Escorts and 8 Submarines and saw George V and Queen Mary visit twice, in 1914 and 1917. The company also built a number of vehicles for the London Underground. They were one of five builders approached to build a sample car to a general specification and an order was placed for 20 trailer cars and 20 control trailer cars in 1919, which were known as 1920 Stock and were the first tube cars to be built with doors operated by compressed air, put into service in February 1923. With no further orders from the Navy after 1932, many workers were laid off and unemployment in Birkenhead reached over 10,500 resulting in riots in the town. However in 1934 an order for the Ark Royal was placed and thousands of people saw its launch in 1937. In total Cammell Laird built 106 naval vessels averaging one ship every 21 days during World War Two. This saw the yard's largest ever workforce of 12,000, and as well as building 106 ships, including submarines Ulysses and Undaunted, it repaired 2000 Merchant Ships, 9 Battleships, 11 Aircraft Carriers and 100 other warships.

HMS Ark Royal launched by the Queen Mother on 3 May 1950

 

Between 1829 and 1947, over 1,100 vessels of all kinds were launched from the Cammell Laird slipways into the River Mersey. The HMS Caroline holds the record as the fastest build time of any significant warship (nine months from her keel being laid till her launch). Also, the first all-welded ship, the Fullagar built in 1920, Cunard's second RMS Mauretania, the battleship HMS Prince of Wales in 1941 and the largest vessel to have been built for the Royal Navy up to that time, the HMS Ark Royal in 1950. In 1977 the company was nationalised to become part of British Shipbuilders but was then denationalised in 1985. The last vessel to be built by the old company was HMS Unicorn, which was launched in 1992, and the following year saw the closure of the yard after 170 years of shipbuilding.

see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2021/05/a-history-of-brimstage.html