Cartsburn Shipbuilding Yard

Location type

Works

Name and dates

Cartsburn Shipbuilding Yard (1883-1983)

Served by the Glasgow, Paisley and Greenock Railway.

Description

Scott & Co bought the Cartside Ship Yard and Cartsdyke West Yard from Robert Steele & Co in 1883. The two yards and the timber yard in between were merged to form the Cartsburn Shipbuilding Yard. The timber ponds between the yards were to be rebuilt as a fitting out basin in 1904.

Around 1925 Scott & Co purchased Ross & Marshallâ??s yard and its Cartsdyke Slip, allowing expansion to the east.

In 1934 the company swapped their Cartsdyke Shipbuilding Yard (the east yard) with the Greenock Dockyard company to gain the Mid Cartsdyke Yard. This allowed the creation of a single unified complex.

In 1961 the West Cartsdyke berths were rebuilt in concrete with a pier for cranes down the centre. The company could now build heavier ships; tankers and bulk carriers.

Finally in 1966 the Cartsdyke Shipbuilding Yard was bought and the Mid Cartsdyke yard was rebuilt as a fabrication site on the former slips with the West Cartsdyke and Cartsdyke slips on either side. This merging of sites created a single shipyard stretching from Victoria Harbour east to the James Watt Dock.

The last ship was launched was in 1981 and an oilrig in 1983. Subsequently the entire site was demolished in 1988. The disused dry dock of the Cartside site remains today. It is possibly the oldest dry dock on the Clyde.

The combined site was served by rail from Victoria Harbour, a line running east round the south end of the dry dock to reach plating sheds and fitting out basins. The company had its own locomotives to operate the internal lines.

Tags

Shipyard
05/11/2022

Chronology Dates

  /  /1934Scotts Shipbuilding & Eng Co Ltd
Scotts swap their Cartsdyke Shipbuilding Yard (Cartsdyke East) for Mid Cartsdyke Shipbuilding Yard (owned by the Greenock Dockyard Co Ltd). This allowed Scotts to create a shipyard which combined, from west to east, Cartsdyke Graving Dock, Cartsburn Shipbuilding Yard and Mid Cartsdyke Shipbuilding Yard. (The mid yard had been located between two Scotts owned sites.)
  /  /1980Scott-Lithgow Ltd
MV Myrmidon launched from the Cartsburn/Cartsdyke yards, (Cartsburn Shipbuilding Yard, Mid Cartsdyke Shipbuilding Yard & Cartsdyke Shipbuilding Yard (Cartsdyke East)), the last cargo ship launched here.
  /  /1981Scott-Lithgow Ltd
HMS Challenger launched from the Cartsburn/Cartsdyke yards, (Cartsburn Shipbuilding Yard, Mid Cartsdyke Shipbuilding Yard & Cartsdyke Shipbuilding Yard (Cartsdyke East)), the last Royal Navy ship (and ship altogether) launched here.
  /  /1983Scott-Lithgow Ltd
Sea Explorer, a self propelled semi-submersible drilling rig, is launched from the Cartsburn/Cartsdyke yards, (Cartsburn Shipbuilding Yard, Mid Cartsdyke Shipbuilding Yard & Cartsdyke Shipbuilding Yard (Cartsdyke East)), the last launch ever here.
  /  /1988Scott-Lithgow Ltd
Cartsburn Shipbuilding Yard, Mid Cartsdyke Shipbuilding Yard & Cartsdyke Shipbuilding Yard (Cartsdyke East) demolished.

Books


Caley to the Coast: Rothesay by Wemyss Bay (Oakwood Library of Railway History)