Furness Shipbuilding Company

The yard was initially established as an emergency shipyard to repair ships damaged in the war. It was incorporated as a private company in 1917 and covered an 85-acre site on the north bank of the River Tees at Haverton Hill, opposite Middlesbrough. As completed it included 50 acres reclaimed from tidal land with 2,500 feet of river frontage, with twelve building berths and a fitting-out basin measuring 1,000 feet by 250 feet. It operated as a subsidiary within the Furness, Withy Shipping Company, with the first ship being laid down in March 1918, before the yard had been completed. It initially built ships for the British Government and foreign companies as well as ships for Furness,…