Appledore Shipbuilders facts for kids
| Private limited company | |
| Industry |
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| Founded | 1855 |
| Headquarters |
Appledore, Devon, England
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| Parent | InfraStrata |
Appledore Shipbuilders is a company that builds and repairs ships. It's located in Appledore, a town in North Devon, England. For a long time, this shipyard has been an important place for making all sorts of vessels, from small military boats to huge superyachts.
History
The Appledore shipyard started way back in 1855. It was built next to the River Torridge. A special dry dock, called the Richmond Dry Dock, was added in 1856 by William Yeo. It got its name from Richmond Bay in Canada, where William Yeo's family had their ships.
In the early 1900s, Philip Kelly Harris ran the company. It was known as P.K. Harris & Sons. Then, in 1963, its name changed to Appledore Shipbuilders.
In 1964, a company called Court Line bought Appledore Shipbuilders. Court Line was involved in shipping and airlines. A brand new shipyard was built in Appledore. It cost about £4 million and opened in 1970. However, Court Line went out of business in 1974. Appledore Shipbuilders then became owned by the government and was part of British Shipbuilders.
By the late 1980s, Appledore and the Ferguson yards were the only shipyards still owned by the government. In 1989, Langham Industries bought Appledore Shipbuilders.
In the late 1990s, Appledore helped finish two large sail training ships. These were the Prince William and the Stavros S Niarchos. They were built for the Tall Ships Youth Trust.
Appledore also built two patrol boats for the Irish Naval Service. These were the LÉ Róisín, finished in 1999, and the LÉ Niamh, finished in 2001. In 2010, Ireland ordered two more large patrol vessels from Babcock, to be built at Appledore. The first, Samuel Beckett-class offshore patrol vessels, was ready in 2014. Ireland then ordered a third ship in 2014 and a fourth in 2016.
In 2003, the Appledore shipyard faced financial trouble. In 2004, DML bought it. The company was renamed Appledore Shipbuilders (2004) Limited. During this time, the shipyard mostly worked on installing equipment for luxury yachts.
In 2007, Babcock International Group bought DML, which included the Appledore Shipyard. They renamed it Babcock Marine Appledore'. A contract with the Royal Navy helped keep 300 jobs at Appledore until 2015. The Appledore yard built parts for the two new aircraft carriers. The front sections for HMS Queen Elizabeth were finished in 2010. They were then moved to another shipyard to be put together with other parts. From 2012, Appledore built similar sections for Queen Elizabeths sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales.
In November 2018, Babcock announced that the shipyard would close. It shut down on March 15, 2019. The last ship built there was the LÉ George Bernard Shaw, another vessel for the Irish Naval Service.
In August 2020, InfraStrata, which owns the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, bought the Appledore shipyard for £7 million. The shipyard was then renamed H&W Appledore.
Ships built at Appledore
The company has built over 350 different ships. These include military boats, cargo ships, luxury yachts, ferries, and vessels that support the oil industry. Here are some examples:
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This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
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See Also
- Harland and Wolff
