George Philip and Son Ltd, Shipbuilders and the Commissioners of Irish Lights
by Derek Blackhurst
GEORGE PHILIP settled in Dartmouth in 1854
and obtained employment as a foreman shipwright with a Mr Kelly who
rented a small yard on the River Dart at Sandquay, Dartmouth. On
Kelly's retirement in 1858 Philip took over the yard. Shortly
afterwards he took his son Alexander (Alec) into the firm. They
built fishing vessels and a small number of wooden schooners, small
launches, and yachts. Alec had served his time with Laird & Co.
at Birkenhead, and it was he who introduced iron ship building to
the firm. By 1857 the firm was manufacturing its own engines. The
firm was under-capitalised, like so many in those days, and faced
bankruptcy on many occasions.
George Philip died in 1874 and the yard passed to Alec, assisted by his sons George Nowell Philip and John Nowell Philip. The yard was the middle yard of three at Sandquay. Access was a problem and gradually Philip took over the adjacent yards.
When Alec died in 1899, his two sons ran the firm until it was converted to a private limited liability company in 1905. The company prospered and during the First World War undertook a great deal of naval and government work. Expansion at Sandquay was not possible, so in 1918 Philip purchased the Noss Shipyard on the opposite bank of the river, recently vacated by Simpson Strickland. To pay for this they were assisted by the shipbuilders Swan Hunter, who took a controlling interest in the firm.
The Noss yard was modernised and in 1924 a floating dock was purchased. The inter-war years saw a large number of yachts and tugs built both for home and abroad.
A NEW VENTURE in 1935 was the construction of a lightship for Trinity House. From then on lightvessels were a regular sight in the river awaiting tugs to take them to their destinations. A total of eight were built for Trinity House before 1939 when the war interrupted production.
The company changed to a public limited company in 1937.
During the Second World War nearly 200 craft of various types were built including mine-layers, mine sweepers, corvettes, and a fleet of smaller craft. New slips and workshops were erected at Sandquay and Noss to cope with the workload. The yard was badly bombed by enemy planes in 1942 with the loss of 20 lives and many injured.
With the return of peace the yard settled back into its previous pattern of building tugs, pleasure craft, and lightvessels. The first post-war lightvessel, completed in 1946, was No 1 for Trinity House, part of a batch of five for this authority. Orders for further vessels followed.
In September 1952 the Commissioners of Irish Lights placed their first order with Philip's. This order was for a lightvessel 119 ft long with a beam of 25 ft and a moulded depth of 15 ft. Unlike Trinity House who numbered their lightships, the Commissioners gave their vessels names, and this first vessel from Philip's was named Gannet at her launch on 6th May 1954. She was handed over in June the same year and left the Dart under tow by the Commissioners' tender Isolda. After conversion to an automatic lightfloat in 1980 Gannet is still in service.
The Gannet was followed by two further lightvessels of similar size, launched in 1955. They were the Osprey and Shearwater, both of which gave over 20 years of service before their disposal.
A further order from the Commissioners to Philip's was placed in December 1956, when the lighthouse tender Atlanta was ordered. She ran her trials in November 1959 before being handed over on the 30th of that month. She served the Commissioners for 32 years until her sale in 1988 to Falcon Shipping Co Ltd of the Isle of Man, who renamed her Taria. She gave her new owners three years further service before going to the breakers in 1991.
During this period the yard was kept busy with orders for tugs and a number of passenger ferries for various owners. The Commissioners of Irish Lights again placed an order for two new lightvessels in September 1957 and these were launched on 21st April 1959 and 2nd February 1960, being named Kittiwake and Skua respectively. Both were converted to automatic lightfloats in 1981 and both are still in service.
THE DEPRESSION which hit British shipbuilding in the mid-1960s was a very bad blow to Philip's. They had experimented with diversification but were not successful. Orders for private yachts were not sufficient to keep the yard fully working and so a decision was taken in 1963 to cease steel ship building. The yard at Sandquay was converted into a marina for private yachts. Ownership of the yard and subsidiary companies changed hands in 1965 and again in 1969.
The yard had been operated during this spell with a very much reduced workforce on the repair of small craft, mainly fishing vessels and yachts. The marina was developed and a hotel complex was opened on the site. Several quite prestigious vessels were built, among them was the ferry Shannon Heather which was launched in 1968 for the Shannon Car Ferry Co and the yacht British Steel, build in 1969-70, in which the yachtsman Chay Blyth sailed single handed the 'wrong way' around the world. The yard built a trawler for local owners in 1995 and completed two steel fishing vessels in 1999, but in October 1999 decided to discontinue ship and boat building owing to the state of the fishing industry.
Many of the vessels built by George Philip and Son Ltd are still afloat after more than forty years-an indication of the quality of workmanship and materials employed.
George Philip died in 1874 and the yard passed to Alec, assisted by his sons George Nowell Philip and John Nowell Philip. The yard was the middle yard of three at Sandquay. Access was a problem and gradually Philip took over the adjacent yards.
When Alec died in 1899, his two sons ran the firm until it was converted to a private limited liability company in 1905. The company prospered and during the First World War undertook a great deal of naval and government work. Expansion at Sandquay was not possible, so in 1918 Philip purchased the Noss Shipyard on the opposite bank of the river, recently vacated by Simpson Strickland. To pay for this they were assisted by the shipbuilders Swan Hunter, who took a controlling interest in the firm.
The Noss yard was modernised and in 1924 a floating dock was purchased. The inter-war years saw a large number of yachts and tugs built both for home and abroad.
A NEW VENTURE in 1935 was the construction of a lightship for Trinity House. From then on lightvessels were a regular sight in the river awaiting tugs to take them to their destinations. A total of eight were built for Trinity House before 1939 when the war interrupted production.
The company changed to a public limited company in 1937.
During the Second World War nearly 200 craft of various types were built including mine-layers, mine sweepers, corvettes, and a fleet of smaller craft. New slips and workshops were erected at Sandquay and Noss to cope with the workload. The yard was badly bombed by enemy planes in 1942 with the loss of 20 lives and many injured.
With the return of peace the yard settled back into its previous pattern of building tugs, pleasure craft, and lightvessels. The first post-war lightvessel, completed in 1946, was No 1 for Trinity House, part of a batch of five for this authority. Orders for further vessels followed.
In September 1952 the Commissioners of Irish Lights placed their first order with Philip's. This order was for a lightvessel 119 ft long with a beam of 25 ft and a moulded depth of 15 ft. Unlike Trinity House who numbered their lightships, the Commissioners gave their vessels names, and this first vessel from Philip's was named Gannet at her launch on 6th May 1954. She was handed over in June the same year and left the Dart under tow by the Commissioners' tender Isolda. After conversion to an automatic lightfloat in 1980 Gannet is still in service.
The Gannet was followed by two further lightvessels of similar size, launched in 1955. They were the Osprey and Shearwater, both of which gave over 20 years of service before their disposal.
A further order from the Commissioners to Philip's was placed in December 1956, when the lighthouse tender Atlanta was ordered. She ran her trials in November 1959 before being handed over on the 30th of that month. She served the Commissioners for 32 years until her sale in 1988 to Falcon Shipping Co Ltd of the Isle of Man, who renamed her Taria. She gave her new owners three years further service before going to the breakers in 1991.
During this period the yard was kept busy with orders for tugs and a number of passenger ferries for various owners. The Commissioners of Irish Lights again placed an order for two new lightvessels in September 1957 and these were launched on 21st April 1959 and 2nd February 1960, being named Kittiwake and Skua respectively. Both were converted to automatic lightfloats in 1981 and both are still in service.
THE DEPRESSION which hit British shipbuilding in the mid-1960s was a very bad blow to Philip's. They had experimented with diversification but were not successful. Orders for private yachts were not sufficient to keep the yard fully working and so a decision was taken in 1963 to cease steel ship building. The yard at Sandquay was converted into a marina for private yachts. Ownership of the yard and subsidiary companies changed hands in 1965 and again in 1969.
The yard had been operated during this spell with a very much reduced workforce on the repair of small craft, mainly fishing vessels and yachts. The marina was developed and a hotel complex was opened on the site. Several quite prestigious vessels were built, among them was the ferry Shannon Heather which was launched in 1968 for the Shannon Car Ferry Co and the yacht British Steel, build in 1969-70, in which the yachtsman Chay Blyth sailed single handed the 'wrong way' around the world. The yard built a trawler for local owners in 1995 and completed two steel fishing vessels in 1999, but in October 1999 decided to discontinue ship and boat building owing to the state of the fishing industry.
Many of the vessels built by George Philip and Son Ltd are still afloat after more than forty years-an indication of the quality of workmanship and materials employed.