BOOK REVIEW | Leith-Built Ships, Volume 4: Robb Caledon [Leith Division] 1965-1984

This series of books tracing the history of shipbuilding in the Scottish port of Leith, perhaps less familiar than that on the Clyde and Tyne, has been a fascinating microcosm of a British industry that has deteriorated almost to the point of extinction.

In this volume, where the reader will sadly know from the start that it is all going to end badly, the author Ron Neish follows the fortunes and misfortunes of shipyards known for their ability to build an astonishing variety of smaller but frequently very sophisticated vessels.

The author, who began his career in the Henry Robb shipyard in Leith in 1971, writes with affection for the shipyard and the personnel who shaped his thinking and gave him valuable experience that he would take all around the world.

He is thus able to say with some conviction that in the period that was covered by this book, "place had never progressed since wartime and in fact that a lot of the machinery the guys had to work on was from the previous century……. and this was at a time when the industry was struggling to survive in a world market and wondering why the Japanese and others were streets ahead when it came to delivery times and costs."

Regrettably, such observations would apply to 95 per cent of British shipbuilding at this time.

During this period, however, the yard was able to win orders and deliver such a huge variety of different ship types: the world’s most powerful salvage tug, small cargo liners and containerships, ferries and Ro-Ros, offshore craft, dredgers and some highly specialist ships for the Royal Navy.

They built harbour craft and a gas tanker, and a lighthouse tender for Trinity House. They built “one-off” designs – always the hardest to make a profit on. Rarely did a series come along and while some might suggest their versatility was a strength, historians of shipbuilding in more recent times will probably remark that this was a contributor to the demise of shipbuilders in such a difficult era.

One should not forget the economic climate of the times and the maritime chaos unleashed after 1973, the runaway inflation that made an estimator’s job a nightmare, and the intrusion of politics. The nationalisation of the shipyards with this hitherto independent is just a unit in British shipbuilders, where, in the words of the author, "the small yards had no voice."

It is a fascinating tale of industry with a special focus on the ships that emerged from the Forth, before that day in 1984 when the doors closed on the shipyard for the final time.

The author, who curiously lives on the Isle of Wight and sees the very last ferry on a daily basis, confesses that he finds it hard to be objective about the closure. But he perhaps sums up what went wrong when he writes, "the place had been too slow to change and too slow to embrace changes in working practices and technology; and it had been given too little investment…… it was dying a slow death."

In such an analysis, the Leith yard was far from being alone.

Leith-Built Ships, Volume 4 is beautifully produced by its publisher Whittles. It is well-illustrated and includes a complete list of all the ships built since 1918 by Henry Robb, Shipbuilders and Engineers.

Author: Ron Neish

Published by Whittles of Dunbeath in Caithness, Scotland

Web: www.whittlespublishing.com