IceTitan447 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (7 years 4 months 3 weeks 2 days 6 hours ago) and read 1196 times:
John Brown & CO built such ships as the Queen Mary, Sea Princess, what happened to the actual John Brown & CO? Did they get merged with another builder? or do they cease to exist?
Last, the QE2 was built by Upper Clyde shipbuilder, is this the new John Brown & CO?
I did a Google search and I didn't really find anything saying what happened to JB&CO
AeroWesty From United States of America, joined Oct 2004, 19252 posts, RR: 63 Reply 1, posted (7 years 4 months 3 weeks 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 1182 times:
"By the mid 1960s, John Brown & Co, warned that its shipyard was uneconomic and potentially faced closure.
The last passenger liner order came from Cunard with RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, but the yard had since merged into Upper Clyde Shipbuilders, which collapsed amidst much controversy in 1971. The last true ship to be built at the yard, the bulk carrier, Alisa, was completed in 1972. The Clydebank facility continued to operate under various owners until 2001, constructing oil platforms in support of the North Sea oil fields."
Kiwiandrew From New Zealand, joined Jun 2005, 8435 posts, RR: 14 Reply 3, posted (7 years 4 months 3 weeks 2 days 5 hours ago) and read 1171 times:
Quoting Brendan03 (Reply 2): Such a shame that the english don't ships anymore... I guess gone are the true days of Luxury Liners... I guess Roger waters said it best,
The english ?? GKirk will get you for that comment laddie ... while the english did have some shipbuilding yards such as Cammell Laird the great shipyards were all Scottish with John Brown and Co being no exception .
Quoting Brendan03 (Reply 2): "If it wasn't for the 'nits' being so good at building ships, The yards would still be open on the clyde"
actually it was 'Nips' , rather non PC I know , and in any event not strictly accurate as I think the Japanese shipbuilding industry has pretty much gone the way of the Scottish one
Moderation in all things ... including moderation ;-)
yes, ... Sorry - Sorry, Too busy freaking out over a whitetail above my door to actually stop and think before I post
Quoting Kiwiandrew (Reply 3): and in any event not strictly accurate as I think the Japanese shipbuilding industry has pretty much gone the way of the Scottish one
Where are they building them now? Is Harland and Woolf (Sp?) still operating? Gotta love their contributions to the Luxury Cruise Liner world
Brendan03 From Australia, joined Aug 2005, 951 posts, RR: 3 Reply 8, posted (7 years 4 months 3 weeks 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 1147 times:
That really does suck... I can imagine how much of a blow to the economy it would have been... We had a Steal Mill closed down in Newcastle and moved off shore... not sure Newcastle (North of sydney) has really recovered from it since...
Brendan03 From Australia, joined Aug 2005, 951 posts, RR: 3 Reply 10, posted (7 years 4 months 3 weeks 2 days 4 hours ago) and read 1140 times:
Quoting Kiwiandrew (Reply 9): I am very happy to report that QE2 was built at John Brown & Co , Clydebank
Lol, just saw that in the initial post... Mybad, Sorry - I remember reading about the QM one time about that they made the river wider and deeper so when they took the ship out to sea it could get down the river and it end up dragging along the riverbed anyway (Or was that the QE2?)
I've seen the QE2 about 3 times now... my first time was at Station Pier, Melbourne (AU) - There were forklifts buzzing around reloading the ship with food and what not for the next run, One forklift was buzzing around directly underneath us and... *BANG* - He lost his load and about 100litres of milk went pouring across the pier... I found it quite comical myself, I kept expecting cats to appear suddenly from nowhere and start licking it up (I guess I've been watching too many cartoons)
BlackandWhite From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2003, 110 posts, RR: 0 Reply 11, posted (7 years 4 months 3 weeks 23 hours ago) and read 1105 times:
In reply to Brendan 03 the Singer factory which was pulled down about 20/30 ago was in Clydebank, its former site is now occupied by the Clydebank Shopping Centre and a light industrial estate. Its name lives on in a railway station on the Glasgow suburban line to Helensburgh.
The original QM or contract no 534 was launched on 26Sep 1934 and did require dredging work on the Clyde, but still required the right tidal conditions to enable a succesful launch as she had to partly enter the River Cart opposite her launch basin, several hundreds of people assembled there to watch the lauch and many got a firsthand example of "archimedes principle".
Bill142 From Australia, joined Aug 2004, 8326 posts, RR: 9 Reply 13, posted (7 years 4 months 3 weeks 8 hours ago) and read 1068 times:
Quoting Kiwiandrew (Reply 6): the QM2 was built in France ( who would have believed Cunard getting a ship built in France ?!)
They had to find a shipyard which was big enough and had the financial ability to build it as untill Cunard took delivery the shipyard was responsible for all payments. They were also stuck with the ship if Cunard rejected it.
Kiwiandrew From New Zealand, joined Jun 2005, 8435 posts, RR: 14 Reply 14, posted (7 years 4 months 3 weeks 8 hours ago) and read 1067 times:
Quoting Bill142 (Reply 13): They were also stuck with the ship if Cunard rejected
by the sounds of things Cunard must be wishing they had rejected her ... she seems to have had a fairly high number of problems since they took delivery ... or have they just been the normal teething problems that any ship has ?
Moderation in all things ... including moderation ;-)
Gkirk From UK - Scotland, joined Jun 2000, 24627 posts, RR: 58 Reply 15, posted (7 years 4 months 3 weeks 8 hours ago) and read 1067 times:
Quoting Brendan03 (Reply 2): Such a shame that the english don't ships anymore...
Although the English did build some ships, ship building in the UK was a largely Scottish industy (and Belfast also I suppose). They were shut down due to the cheap Eastern European workers.
Bloody foreigners, staying at home, stealing our jobs
When you hear the noise of the Tartan Army Boys, we'll be coming down the road!
Sunshine79 From UK - England, joined Jan 2006, 1758 posts, RR: 33 Reply 16, posted (7 years 4 months 3 weeks 8 hours ago) and read 1061 times:
A little fact for you all, Sunderland used to be the biggest shipping town in the world. Ship building is what Sunderland is famous for. Now, no ships are made here now, which was our biggest industry and employment
Gkirk From UK - Scotland, joined Jun 2000, 24627 posts, RR: 58 Reply 17, posted (7 years 4 months 3 weeks 8 hours ago) and read 1061 times:
Quoting Sunshine79 (Reply 16): A little fact for you all, Sunderland used to be the biggest shipping town in the world. Ship building is what Sunderland is famous for. Now, no ships are made here now, which was our biggest industry and employment
Now the biggest industry in Sunderland is unemployment
When you hear the noise of the Tartan Army Boys, we'll be coming down the road!
Sunshine79 From UK - England, joined Jan 2006, 1758 posts, RR: 33 Reply 18, posted (7 years 4 months 3 weeks 8 hours ago) and read 1054 times:
Quoting Gkirk (Reply 17): Now the biggest industry in Sunderland is unemployment
Yes cos other towns took the bloody work from us. Saying that, now we are forced to work in call centres, cos there isn't really any other work for us here (apart from the Nissan factory)
No wonder I'm moving to sunnier climes this time next year.
Gkirk From UK - Scotland, joined Jun 2000, 24627 posts, RR: 58 Reply 19, posted (7 years 4 months 3 weeks 8 hours ago) and read 1053 times:
Quoting Sunshine79 (Reply 18): Yes cos other towns took the bloody work from us. Saying that, now we are forced to work in call centres, cos there isn't really any other work for us here (apart from the Nissan factory)
And now the foreigners are stealing the call centre jobs also
When you hear the noise of the Tartan Army Boys, we'll be coming down the road!
Cunard is owned by the Carnival Corporation. So there we have it - the QM2 - a ship named after a British Queen, registered in Southampton but with a crew from 40 different nations, built in France and ultimately owned by the Americans. Makes you proud to be British
Quoting Gkirk (Reply 15): They were shut down due to the cheap Eastern European workers
I think you will find it was the Far East and entrenched attitudes of the unions that did for British shipbuilding. We couldn't compete with the yards in Korea or Japan on price or delivery, particularly at a time when the shipping industry was turning to super sized tankers and bulk carriers to cut costs.
Sunshine79 From UK - England, joined Jan 2006, 1758 posts, RR: 33 Reply 22, posted (7 years 4 months 3 weeks 6 hours ago) and read 1029 times:
Quoting Gkirk (Reply 19): And now the foreigners are stealing the call centre jobs also
They can't steal mine, I'm in the sales department, and a company cannot switch their sales department offshore as it has to be regulated and kept within the UK.
Bill142 From Australia, joined Aug 2004, 8326 posts, RR: 9 Reply 24, posted (7 years 4 months 2 weeks 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 987 times:
Quoting Kiwiandrew (Reply 14): by the sounds of things Cunard must be wishing they had rejected her ... she seems to have had a fairly high number of problems since they took delivery ... or have they just been the normal teething problems that any ship has ?
I know nothing about ship building but I would imagine some of the problems are to be expected. When you look at it, its not an item thats mass produced so there's really no prototype to test and iron the kinks out.
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