Henry Robb

Henry Robb
Public
Industry Shipbuilding
Fate Closed
Founded 1918
Defunct 1983
Headquarters Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland
Key people
 Henry Robb

Henry Robb, Limited, known colloquially as Robbs, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based at Leith Docks in Edinburgh. Robbs was notable for building small-to-medium sized vessels, particularly tugs and dredgers.

History

The company was founded on 1 April 1918 by Henry Robb, a former yard manager for Ramage and Ferguson.[1]

Robbs grew by buying berths from Hawthorns in 1924, the business of Cran and Somerville in 1926 and the yards of Ramage and Ferguson in 1934.[1] The site became known as Victoria Shipyard.[2]

Robbs closed its Arbroath and Clyde operations in the 1920s and focused its activities on Leith.[3]

During World War II, Robbs built a large number of naval warships for the Royal Navy, including preparing the designs and building the prototype of the Basset-class anti-submarine / minesweeping trawler.[1] Three Bird-class Corvettes were built for the Royal New Zealand Navy. Ordered in 1939, two of these ships would famously sink the Japanese submarine I-1 in January 1943.

On 26 February 1940 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth toured the shipyard.[4]

Workers at Henry Robb's, portrayed on the Leith Mural

In 1968 Robbs merged with the Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company of Dundee, forming Robb Caledon Shipbuilding,[5] and in 1969 the new company took over the Burntisland Shipbuilding Company in Fife. In 1977, under the provisions of the Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977, Robb Caledon was nationalised as part of British Shipbuilders. The Caledon yard in Dundee closed in 1981. Robb's yard in Leith survived two more years, closing in 1983.[5]

The site of Robb's shipyard is now the Ocean Terminal shopping centre, where the Royal Yacht Britannia is berthed.[6] An early 20th-century pitched roof paint shed that once belonged to the yard, built from rivetted iron plates, survives and is a Category B listed building.[7]

The yard features in the video to the song "Letter From America" (1987) by The Proclaimers, whose father worked in the yard. The overall sentiment of the song stresses the loss of Scotland's traditional industries and the mass emigration of Scots to North America due to circumstances such as the Highland Clearances.

Ships built by Robbs

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

Naval

Flower-class corvettes

Castle-class corvettes

Bird-class corvettes

River-class frigates

Loch-class frigates

Bay-class frigates

Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships

Bustler-class ocean rescue tugs

Hecla-class survey vessel

Wild Duck-class RMAS cable-laying and salvage ships

Merchant

Yard No Name Type Launch Owner/Notes
267 South Steyne Manly ferry 1 April 1938 Port Jackson & Manly Steamship Company
375 MV Kaitawa collier 1949 Union Steamship Company
376 MV Kaiapoi cargo 1949 Union Steamship Company
377 MV Kamona cargo 1949 Union Steamship Company
508 RRS Bransfield ice-strengthened research vessel 4 September 1970 British Antarctic Survey
515 MV Pioneer ferry 4 January 1974 Caledonian MacBrayne
516 S.A. Wolraad Woltemade salvage tug 15 May 1975 South African Marine Corporation
521 MV Borthwick[8] LPG Tanker 1977 Geo. Gibson & Co.
522 MV Claymore ferry 31 August 1978 Caledonian MacBrayne
530[9] THV Patricia lighthouse tender 1982[10] Trinity House
534 MV St Catherine ferry 1983 Sealink/Wightlink
535 MV St Helen ferry 1983 Sealink/Wightlink

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Henry Robb". Grace's Guide: The Best of British Engineering 1750–1960s. 10 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "Hawthorn Shipbuilders". Edin Photo.
  3. ↑ Todd, Daniel (1985). The World Shipbuilding Industry. London: Palgrave Macmillan. p. 117. ISBN 0312892519.
  4. ↑ "Features – Notable Dates in History". Timeline of Scottish History. Scots Independent.
  5. 1 2 "Masts from the past". The Scotsman. Johnston Press. 1 September 2007.
  6. ↑ "Steering its own course". The Scotsman. Johnston Press. 12 June 2007.
  7. ↑ "Leith Docks, paint shed at shipbuilding yard (Ref:72101)". Historic Scotland. 30 March 1994. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  8. ↑ "Geo. Gibson & Co.". British Coastal Shipping Companies. Retrieved 3 July 2010.
  9. ↑ "Ship No 36 to Ship No 40". Leith Built Ships. Retrieved 2 July 2010.
  10. ↑ "Patricia". ShipPhotos.co.uk. Retrieved 2 July 2010.

External links

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