Leith Built Ships Vol 3 Henry Robb Ltd 1945 to 1965 by R. O. Neish Review 10th February 2023
Leith Built Ships, Vol III: Henry Robb Ltd (1945-1965) by R. O. Neish is available now from Whittle Publishing and many good bookshops.
This book is the third in a series of books by the author that covers the history of shipbuilding in Leith, and by default of the time period covered in this book, there is only one shipbuilder left, the iconic Henry Robb Ltd. This book, like the previous two in this series, has been carefully researched and with over 160 black and white photographs (many of them in print for the first time), there is something in this book for everyone, no matter what your level of maritime interest might be.
One of the main sources of information for this book (and earlier ones) is a wonderful historical book in the author’s personal collection, The Shipyard Build Book of Henry Robb Ltd which details every ship built by the yard from No 1 to the last ship built, No 535. This treasure trove of information plus the author’s first hand experiences of working in the shipyard and his continued involvement with shipbuilding give the reader an insight into an industry that is now sadly gone forever from not only Leith shipyards but many others across the country.
If you want your facts about the ships then you will love this book, as we continue in this volume working our way through that Shipyard Build Book with some information on each ship and what happened to it over the years of its working life. If however (like myself), facts and figures on ships are not really your thing then don’t despair as there is so much more to this book, and R. O. Neish is skilled enough as an author to be able to include the many factual references a book like this needs whilst still making the text an entertaining read.
For myself, coming from Leith, this book is about much more than just ships, it is about a way of life that saw proud traditions of many different skills being handed down from one generation to another, working men who were proud of these skills and who always did their best work, and it is these men who made Henry Robb Ltd famous around the world for the build quality of the vessels that they made and launched from Leith.
This book is not just about production data, it is also about the men who made these ships and the many more who sailed upon them across the world during their working lifetimes, and collected memories from some of these working men, across all trades, on land and at sea are what really bring these ships alive for me.
As you read some of these memoirs you quickly realise that to the men and women who sailed waters on them they were not simply things of steel and wood (and much more), that these ships were truly alive in some way with each having its own distinct personality and temperament that everyone on board got to know and to love, and maybe even curse at on the odd occasion. The quality of build on these ships was what kept everyone aboard them safe and everyone respected the fact that their lives and the ship that they were sailing upon were interwoven together.
The shipyard and its workforce and management are of course the life-force of this book as, without them, none of the myriad forms of ships built over the years would ever have sailed the seas, and the rise in fortunes of the yard from the immediate post war period to the obvious signs of troubles ahead in the late 1950s and early 1960s is also covered here. Times were changing both in the way that ships were being built, and new production methods such as welding slowly replacing riveting were not only changing the skill sets required in the production of ships, but also the number of men required to build them and for shipbuilders and ship owners this relentless pursuit of profit at the bottom line was a never ending quest that with hindsight was not in the long term interests of anyone. This book also covers the period that Henry Robb shipbuilders moved from being a shipbuilder in family hands to one with outside shareholders who of course all wanted one thing, as large a return on their investments as possible. No matter who owned Henry Robb shipyards though, it is clear that that division, almost mistrust, between workers and yard owners never went away during the company’s long working history, and harsh working conditions, often hard fought for rates of pay and limited job stability (hired when needed for orders) of much of the workforce certainly did nothing to help bring the two sides together over the years,
Many things during the 1945-1965 period that this book covers were out of the control of the shipyards and Henry Robb Ltd, as we find out, was unable to deal with the much larger ships that were now starting to be ordered at other shipyards across the world. The days of ships, often built for special tasks (such as carrying concrete or coal) were starting to come to an end, and containerised ships were eventually to completely change the way that cargo was loaded, shipped and unloaded across the world. The days of people travelling as passengers on many of these ships (even the cargo ones) was also soon to be under threat from jet aircraft travel that offered these passengers the opportunity to get to their destinations in hours instead of days or weeks. I am sure though that many people found out the hard way that how you get to your destination is more important than simply getting there.
For me, many interesting facts and stories are in this book, and the author and those sharing their memories bring to life the world of Leith dockyards and ships in a unique way to make this book fact filled at one level, but simply an enjoyable read at another level.
Print edition: £17.99
978-184995-507-2
240 x 170mm
192 pages
liberally illustrated with over 160 b/w photographs
Softback
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
This book is the third in a series of books by the author that covers the history of shipbuilding in Leith, and by default of the time period covered in this book, there is only one shipbuilder left, the iconic Henry Robb Ltd. This book, like the previous two in this series, has been carefully researched and with over 160 black and white photographs (many of them in print for the first time), there is something in this book for everyone, no matter what your level of maritime interest might be.
One of the main sources of information for this book (and earlier ones) is a wonderful historical book in the author’s personal collection, The Shipyard Build Book of Henry Robb Ltd which details every ship built by the yard from No 1 to the last ship built, No 535. This treasure trove of information plus the author’s first hand experiences of working in the shipyard and his continued involvement with shipbuilding give the reader an insight into an industry that is now sadly gone forever from not only Leith shipyards but many others across the country.
If you want your facts about the ships then you will love this book, as we continue in this volume working our way through that Shipyard Build Book with some information on each ship and what happened to it over the years of its working life. If however (like myself), facts and figures on ships are not really your thing then don’t despair as there is so much more to this book, and R. O. Neish is skilled enough as an author to be able to include the many factual references a book like this needs whilst still making the text an entertaining read.
For myself, coming from Leith, this book is about much more than just ships, it is about a way of life that saw proud traditions of many different skills being handed down from one generation to another, working men who were proud of these skills and who always did their best work, and it is these men who made Henry Robb Ltd famous around the world for the build quality of the vessels that they made and launched from Leith.
This book is not just about production data, it is also about the men who made these ships and the many more who sailed upon them across the world during their working lifetimes, and collected memories from some of these working men, across all trades, on land and at sea are what really bring these ships alive for me.
As you read some of these memoirs you quickly realise that to the men and women who sailed waters on them they were not simply things of steel and wood (and much more), that these ships were truly alive in some way with each having its own distinct personality and temperament that everyone on board got to know and to love, and maybe even curse at on the odd occasion. The quality of build on these ships was what kept everyone aboard them safe and everyone respected the fact that their lives and the ship that they were sailing upon were interwoven together.
The shipyard and its workforce and management are of course the life-force of this book as, without them, none of the myriad forms of ships built over the years would ever have sailed the seas, and the rise in fortunes of the yard from the immediate post war period to the obvious signs of troubles ahead in the late 1950s and early 1960s is also covered here. Times were changing both in the way that ships were being built, and new production methods such as welding slowly replacing riveting were not only changing the skill sets required in the production of ships, but also the number of men required to build them and for shipbuilders and ship owners this relentless pursuit of profit at the bottom line was a never ending quest that with hindsight was not in the long term interests of anyone. This book also covers the period that Henry Robb shipbuilders moved from being a shipbuilder in family hands to one with outside shareholders who of course all wanted one thing, as large a return on their investments as possible. No matter who owned Henry Robb shipyards though, it is clear that that division, almost mistrust, between workers and yard owners never went away during the company’s long working history, and harsh working conditions, often hard fought for rates of pay and limited job stability (hired when needed for orders) of much of the workforce certainly did nothing to help bring the two sides together over the years,
Many things during the 1945-1965 period that this book covers were out of the control of the shipyards and Henry Robb Ltd, as we find out, was unable to deal with the much larger ships that were now starting to be ordered at other shipyards across the world. The days of ships, often built for special tasks (such as carrying concrete or coal) were starting to come to an end, and containerised ships were eventually to completely change the way that cargo was loaded, shipped and unloaded across the world. The days of people travelling as passengers on many of these ships (even the cargo ones) was also soon to be under threat from jet aircraft travel that offered these passengers the opportunity to get to their destinations in hours instead of days or weeks. I am sure though that many people found out the hard way that how you get to your destination is more important than simply getting there.
For me, many interesting facts and stories are in this book, and the author and those sharing their memories bring to life the world of Leith dockyards and ships in a unique way to make this book fact filled at one level, but simply an enjoyable read at another level.
Print edition: £17.99
978-184995-507-2
240 x 170mm
192 pages
liberally illustrated with over 160 b/w photographs
Softback
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com