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This work aims to facilitate the study of the shipbuilding industry by making available information on the present location of shipbuilding archives. The brief histories of about 200 businesses are offered.
Shipbuilding was a most unlikely success story in Belfast and its prosperity was created by a strange mixture of entrepreneurial ability, timing, technical expertise and employment patterns. It was the last of the 'main' industries to develop in Belfast but in terms of wealth-creation and prestige, it was perhaps the greatest of the city's employers. By the start of the twentieth century Belfast had become one of the main centres of the British shipbuilding industry and, in some years before the First World War, the city's yards were producing up to 10% of British merchant shipping output. But how did the town develop into one of the world's great shipbuilding centres? This book offers the first history of the whole spectrum of the Belfast shipbuilding industry. It is the story of the yards and the ships. Beyond that it explores the social conditions and workplace environment of the tens of thousands whom this great industry embraced.
This book, first published in 1985, presents a comprehensive overview of the world shipbuilding industry. It contrasts the conditions which foster its development in newly-industrialised countries such as Japan, South Korea and Brazil with the problems leading to its decline in Western Europe and North America. The book discusses the supply and demand factors peculiar to shipbuilding and notes the inherent instability of the industry due to the conditions placed upon it by the economic environment. Reactions to this instability are examined from the point of view of both shipbuilding enterprises and governments. The book concludes by assessing current trends and discussing likely future developments. It is shown that much will depend on shipping costs, industrial organisation and the level of state support.
From modest beginnings, Britain rose throughout the nineteenth century to become the greatest shipbuilding nation in the world, yet by the end of the following century the British merchant fleet ranked just 38 in the world. The glory days of sail had given way to the introduction of the steam age. Traditional shipwrights had railed against new industrial methods resulting in the infamous demarcation disputes. Talented men, like Brunel and Armstrong, had always sought change and development, but too many shipbuilders were relying on old technologies. From building mighty battleships and extravagant ocean liners, the nation became complacent and its yards were eventually no longer as innovative as their foreign competitors. In the twenty-first century, British shipbuilding has shrunk to a mere fraction of its former size and has become almost totally dependent on government contracts. The popularity of and fascination with this subject has prompted a new edition of Anthony Burton's successful book. With fresh images and a new, final chapter, the story of the rise and cataclysmic fall of British shipbuilding has been brought right up to date.
Shipbuilding in the United Kingdom provides a systematic historical account of the British Shipbuilders Corporation, first looking at this major industry under private enterprise, then under state control, and finally back in private hands. The chapters trace the evolution of public policy regarding shipbuilding, ship repair, and large marine engine building through the tenures of radically different Labour and Conservative governments, and through the response of the board of the British Shipbuilders Corporation, trade unions, and local management also. The book benefits from comprehensive archival research and interviews from the 1990s with leading players in the industry, as well as politicians, shipbuilders, trade union leaders, and senior civil servants. This authoritative monograph is a valuable resource for advanced students and researchers across the fields of business history, economic history, industrial history, labour history, maritime history, and British history.
This 1960 volume offers a description, in non-technical language, of the state of the British shipbuilding industry.