Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company

The launch of Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. beneath the distinctive gantry cranes of Palmers' yard

Type| Public
Industry| Shipbuilding
Fate| Collapsed 1933
Successor| Armstrong Whitworth
Founded| 1852
Headquarters| Jarrow, UK

Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company Limited, often referred to simply as "Palmers", was a British shipbuilding company. The company was based in Jarrow, County Durham, in north-eastern England, and had operations in Hebburn and Willington Quay on the River Tyne.

## Contents

* 1 History
* 1.1 Early history and growth
* 1.2 Depression and collapse
* 2 Ships built by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company
* 2.1 Naval
* 2.1.1 Battlecruisers
* 2.1.2 Battleships
* 2.1.3 Cruisers
* 2.1.4 Destroyers
* 2.1.5 Monitors
* 2.1.6 River gunboats
* 2.2 Merchant and leisure
* 2.2.1 Cable ships
* 2.2.2 Cargo ships
* 2.2.3 Oil tankers
* 2.2.4 Passenger ships
* 2.2.5 Steam yachts
* 2.2.6 Tugs
* 2.2.7 Cargo vessels
* 3 See also
* 4 Notes
* 4.1 Explanatory footnotes
* 4.2 Citations
* 5 General and cited references
* 6 External links

## History

### Early history and growth

A Reed water tube boiler built by Palmers, as used in their torpedo boat destroyers A triple expansion steam engine built in Palmers' engine works, as used in their torpedo boat destroyers

The company was established in 1852 by Charles Mark Palmer as Palmer Brothers & Co. in Jarrow.[1] Later that year it launched the John Bowes, the first iron screw collier.[1][2] By 1900, the business was known as Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company.[3][Fn 1] At that time, besides building ships, it manufactured and processed its own steel and other metals, and its products included Reed water tube boilers and marine steam engines.[6][Fn 2]

By 1902, Palmers' base at Jarrow occupied about 100 acres (41 hectares) and included 0.75 miles (1.2 kilometres) of the southern bank of the River Tyne, and employed about 10,000 men and boys.[8] In 1910, Sir Charles Palmer's interest in the business was acquired by Lord Furness who, as Chairman, expanded the business by acquiring a lease over a new graving dock at Hebburn from Robert Stephenson and Company.[9] In 1919, Palmers laid down the Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist., which was sunk by a German U-boat in 1941, causing the loss of 84 lives and 200 long tons (203 tonnes) of silver.[10][11]

### Depression and collapse

The Great Depression began in 1929, all but destroying the shipbuilding industry, which did not rebound until the Second World War. In 1931, Palmers posted a loss of £88,867, equivalent to £6,083,000 in 2023. The company received a moratorium from its creditors in order to extend repayment. In January 1933, the majority of the company's unsecured creditors met in London and agreed to extend the moratorium a further six months.[12]

Palmers was unable to survive and collapsed by the end of 1933. The company's blast furnaces and steel works—which covered 37 acres—were put up for auction.[13] The Jarrow yard was sold to National Shipbuilders Securities, which closed it down in order to sell it, causing much unemployment and leading to the Jarrow March.[14][15] After the shipyard closed, following support from the industrialist, Sir John Jarvis, the site was used the engine shop as a steel foundry for another 18 months.[16]

The company retained the yard at Hebburn and was acquired by Armstrong Whitworth, becoming Palmers Hebburn Company.[17] In 1973, Vickers-Armstrongs, successor to Armstrong Whitworth, sold the Palmers Dock at Hebburn to Swan Hunter and developed it as the Hebburn Shipbuilding Dock.[18] This facility was acquired from the receivers of Swan Hunter by Tyne Tees Dockyard in 1994. They sold it to Cammell Laird in 1995. When Cammell Laird entered receivership in 2001, the dock was acquired by A&P Group.[19][20] The yard remains in use as a ship repair and refurbishment facility.[21]

## Ships built by Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Ships built by Palmers included:

### Naval

#### Battlecruisers

* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1912)

#### Battleships

Battleship Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. of 1861, as she appeared from 1866 Battleship Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. of 1915, as seen in the 1930s

* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1861)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1910)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1906)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1892)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1915)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1892)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1901)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1870)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1856)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1870)

#### Cruisers

Cruiser Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. of 1886, as seen in the 1890s

* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1885)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1918)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1886)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1897)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1890)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1897)
* missing name Royal Canadian Navy (1891)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1891)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1885)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1886)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1928)

#### Destroyers

Torpedo boat destroyer Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist., built by Palmers and launched in 1899, became the first warship to be powered only using fuel oil in 1904. Destroyer Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. of 1932, as seen in 1933

* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1896)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1896)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1903)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1896)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1903)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1932)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1932)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1903)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1903)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1903)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1897)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1897)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1897)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1895)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1900)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1895)
* missing name Royal Canadian Navy (1932)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1900)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1899)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1895)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1904)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1899)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1896)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1905)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1900)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1904)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1905)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1896)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1918)

#### Monitors

Monitor Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. in 1915

* missing name 20px Victorian Navy (1868)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1915)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1871)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1915)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1915)

#### River gunboats

River gunboat Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. of 1876

* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1877)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1877)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1877)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1876)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1876)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. 20px Austro-Hungarian Navy (1889)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1876)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1877)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1876)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1876)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1876)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1877)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Royal Navy (1877)

### Merchant and leisure

SS John Bowes of 1852, the first iron screw collier Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. of 1922

#### Cable ships

* missing name Atlantic Telegraph Company (1923)

#### Cargo ships

* Anne Thomas Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1882)
* Anthony Radcliffe Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1893)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. Alfred Holt and Company (1922)
* Clarrisa Radcliffe Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1889)
* Douglas Hill Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1890)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. British-India Steam Navigation Company (1919)
* Gwenllian Thomas Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1882)
* Iolo Morganwg Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1882)
* John Bowes Charles Palmer (1852)[22]
* Kate Thomas Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1884)
* Lady Palmer Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1889)
* Mary Thomas Evan Thomas Radcliffe (1889)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. (1900)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. China Mutual Steam Navigation Company (1922)
* SS Reigate Surrey Steamship Co Ltd, London (1901) (renamed Anversoise 1911)
* Slavic Prince (Prince Line Ltd, Newcastle) (1918)

#### Oil tankers

* British Ardour British Tanker Company (1928)
* British Aviator British Tanker Company (1924)
* British Captain British Tanker Company (1923)
* British Chemist British Tanker Company (1925)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. British Tanker Company (1929)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. British Tanker Company (1922)
* British Freedom British Tanker Company (1928)
* British General British Tanker Company (1922)
* British Honour British Tanker Company (1928)
* British Industry British Tanker Company (1927)
* British Inventor British Tanker Company (1926)[23]
* British Justice British Tanker Company (1928)
* British Light British Tanker Company (1917)
* British Loyalty British Tanker Company (1928)
* British Mariner British Tanker Company (1922)
* British Officer British Tanker Company (1922)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. British Tanker Company (1922)
* British Science British Tanker Company (1931)
* Script error: The function "ship_prefix_templates" does not exist. British Tanker Company (1922)
* British Splendour British Tanker Company (1931)
* British Strength British Tanker Company (1931)
* British Yeoman British Tanker Company (1923)

#### Passenger ships

* missing name (1860)
* missing name (1864)[24]
* missing name (1896)
* missing name (1868)[25]

#### Steam yachts

* Xantha Henry Paget, 2nd Marquess of Anglesey (1867)

#### Tugs

* PT Northumberland G. Wascoe, Shields, 1852 Yard number 1[26][27]

#### Cargo vessels

* S.S. Socotra, 1897

## See also

* List of shipbuilders and shipyards

## Notes

### Explanatory footnotes

1. ↑ Some 19th-century and later sources refer to the company as "Palmer's Shipbuilding and Iron Company", with an apostrophe, but in Some Account of the Works of Palmers Shipbuilding & Iron Company Limited, which was compiled by the business's company secretary Malcom Dillon and published in 1900, the name is given throughout as "Palmers ...", without the apostrophe.[4][5][3]
2. ↑ "A speciality of [Palmers' engine works] is the manufacture of the 'Reed' water-tube boiler, the invention of Mr J. W. Reed, manager of the engine works department, which has been adopted with well-known results in ... high-speed [torpedo boat destroyers] ..., and also in vessels constructed for the Admiralty on the Clyde. It may be observed that nearly 25 miles [40 km] of tubes are used in the manufacture of the boilers and machinery of each 30-knot destroyer."[7]

### Citations

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Building for the world". The Journal. 22 May 2007. http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/newcastle-campaigns/st-oswalds-hospice/2007/05/22/building-for-the-world-61634-19266366/.
2. ↑ Dillon 1900, pp. 16–7.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Dillon 1900.
4. ↑ Gibbs 1896, p. 8.
5. ↑ Anon. 1899, p. 475.
6. ↑ Dillon 1900, pp. 28–50.
7. ↑ Dillon 1900, pp. 33–4.
8. ↑ Anon. 1902, pp. 613, 616.
9. ↑ "Christopher Furness, Obituary". The Times. 11 November 1912. http://www.dmm.org.uk/archives/a_obit16.htm.
10. ↑ "Shipwreck of SS Gairsoppa reveals £150m silver haul". BBC News. 26 September 2011. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15061868.
11. ↑ C. Michael Hogan; Peter Saundry (21 May 2012). Cleveland, Cutler J. ed. "SS Gairsoppa recovery". Encyclopedia of Earth (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). http://www.eoearth.org/article/SS_Gairsoppa_recovery?topic=49523. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
12. ↑ "Palmers' Moratorium". Sunderland Daily Echo and Shipping Gazette. 14 January 1933. http://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000640/19330114/126/0004.
13. ↑ "Steel Works to be Sold at Auction". The Times: p. 11. 10 July 1934.
14. ↑ Evening Chronicle ("Charles Palmer").
15. ↑ Evening Chronicle, May 29, 2004.
16. ↑ "Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company". Grace's Guide. https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Palmers_Shipbuilding_and_Iron_Co.
17. ↑ Crockett, Margaret; Foster, Janet (October 2005). "Report on the Access to Shipbuilding Collections in North East England (ARK) Project". Tyne & Wear Archives. http://www.tyneandweararchives.org.uk/pdf/arkrep.pdf.
18. ↑ "Swan Hunter History: Naval ships". swanhunter.com. 2010. http://www.swanhunter.com/history_p6.html.
19. ↑ "Shipbuilder: Palmers Hebburn Co Ltd, Hebburn (1934 – 1973)". Tyne Built Ships. n.d.. http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/PalmerDD.html.
20. ↑ "UK north east yards extend dock capacity". Motor Ship. 1995. http://www.readabstracts.com/Transportation-industry/Western-yards-go-it-alone-Conversions-and-coatings-keep-yards-busy.html.
21. ↑ "New owner for A&P Tyne shipyard". The Journal. 2 March 2011. http://www.thejournal.co.uk/business/business-news/new-owner-ap-tyne-shipyard-4435816.
22. ↑ "Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Co - Graces Guide". https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Palmers_Shipbuilding_and_Iron_Co.
23. ↑ "Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Co - Graces Guide". https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Palmers_Shipbuilding_and_Iron_Co.
24. ↑ SS Helvetia, 1864.
25. ↑ SS Nevada
26. ↑ "Palmer Tyne shipbuilder Jarrow Willington Quay". http://www.tynetugs.co.uk/Palmer.html.
27. ↑ "Tyne tug Northumberland 1852". http://www.tynetugs.co.uk/northumberland1852.html.

## General and cited references

* Anon. (1899). "Launches and Trial Trips". The Marine Engineer 20: 474–6. OCLC 10460390. https://archive.org/stream/marineengineera09unkngoog#page/n512/mode/2up.
* Anon. (1902). "Palmer's Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Jarrow-on-Tyne". Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers: 613–6. OCLC 863604422. https://archive.org/stream/proceedings190235inst#page/612/mode/2up.
* Cuthbert, Jim; Smith, Ken (2004). Palmers of Jarrow 1851–1933. Tyne Bridge Pub.. ISBN 1-85795-196-4.
* Dillon, Malcolm (1900). Some Account of the Works of Palmers Shipbuilding & Iron Company Limited. Franklin. OCLC 68103311. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924030901890#page/n7/mode/2up.
* Evening Chronicle. "Charles Palmer" (blog). Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England: NCJ Media Ltd, a subsidiary of Reach plc. http://www.wiki-north-east.co.uk/topics/charles-palmer.
* Evening Chronicle (29 May 2004). "Collier Who Steamed Into North Legend" (blog). Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Northumberland, England: NCJ Media Ltd, a subsidiary of Reach plc. https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/collier-who-steamed-north-legend-1619012.
* Friedman, Norman (2009). British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War. Barnsley, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-049-9.
* Gibbs, Frederick T. M. (1896). The Illustrated Guide to the Royal Navy and Foreign Navies; Also Mercantile Marine Steamers Available as Armed Cruisers and Transports, &c.. Waterlow Bros. & Layton. OCLC 12714917. https://archive.org/stream/cu31924030753614#page/n23/mode/2up.
* Johnston, Ian; Buxton, Ian (2013). The Battleship Builders – Constructing and Arming British Capital Ships (Hardback). Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-1-59114-027-6.
* SS Helvetia. 3,318 gross. Built in 1864 at Jarrow-on-Tyne by Palmer's Shipbuilding & Iron Co. Ltd. Norway Heritage: Passenger Lists and Emigrant Ships from Norway, blog of Børge Solem, Rissa, Norway. https://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=helv1.
* Wilkinson, Ellen (1939). The Town That Was Murdered, The Life-Story of Jarrow. Victor Gollancz Ltd.

## External links

* {{UK National Archives ID}} template missing ID and not present in Wikidata.

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