naval architecture founded 1880 headquarters river tyne england key people jan veldhuizen managing director number of employees 40 including contractors 2016 website www.swanhunter.com world unicorn built by swan hunter at the wallsend shipyard tyneside in 1973 . tanker ottawa launch wallsend shipyard circa 1964 swan hunter formerly known as swan hunter & wigham richardson is a shipbuilding design engineering and management company 1 based in wallsend tyne and wear . at its apex the company represented the combined forces of three powerful shipbuilding families swan hunter and wigham richardson . known as one of the best known shipbuilders in the world the company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century most famously rms mauretania which held the blue riband for the fastest crossing of the atlantic and rms carpathia which rescued survivors from rms titanic . in 2006 swan hunter ceased vessel construction on tyneside but continues to provide design engineering services . contents 1 history 2 operations 3 ships built by swan hunter 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit swan & hunter was founded by george burton hunter who formed a partnership with the widow of charles sheridan swan the owner of a wallsend shipbuilding business established in 1852 by dr charles mitchell 2 under the name in 1880 . 3 in 1903 c.s. swan & hunter merged with wigham richardson founded by john wigham richardson as neptune works in 1860 specifically to bid for the prestigious contract to build rms mauretania on behalf of cunard . 4 their bid was successful and the new company swan hunter and wigham richardson ltd went on to build what was to become in its day the most famous oceangoing liner in the world . also in 1903 the company took a controlling interest in the wallsend slipway & engineering company which was an early licensed manufacturer of parsons steam turbine engines which enabled mauretania to achieve her great speed . 5 mauretania was launched from wallsend on 20 september 1906 by the duchess of roxburghe . 6 the firm expanded rapidly in the early part of the twentieth century acquiring the glasgow based barclay curle in 1912 . 5 in 1966 swan hunter & wigham richardson merged with smiths dock company to form associated shipbuilders which later became swan hunter group . 7 following the publication of the geddes report recommending rationalisation in british shipbuilding the company went on to acquire clelands shipbuilding company 8 and john readhead & sons in 1967 . 9 meanwhile swan hunter inherited both the naval yard at high walker on the river tyne of vickers armstrongs 8 and the hebburn yard of hawthorn leslie in 1968 . 9 in 1973 further expansion came with the purchase of palmers dock at hebburn from vickers armstrongs . 10 then in 1977 swan hunter group was nationalised as part of british shipbuilders . 7 the flagship of the royal navy hms ark royal was built at swan hunter during this period entering service in 1985 . 11 the company was privatised again in 1987 but decided to close its neptune yard in 1988 . 12 it was then forced to call in the receivers when the uk government awarded the contract for hms ocean to kvaerner govan in 1993 . 13 the receiver took steps to break up the business . 14 however the main shipyard in wallsend was bought out from receivership by jaap kroese a dutch millionaire . 7 the yard subsequently undertook several ad hoc ship repair and conversion projects for private sector customers . 15 a view of the wallsend shipyard shortly after its closure in 2000 swan hunter was awarded the contract to design and build two auxiliary landing ship dock ships for the royal fleet auxiliary with two other ships being built by bae systems naval ships the cost of the two swan hunter ships was to be 210 million including 62 million for lead yard services with an inservice date of 2004 . 16 by july 2006 the costs had risen to 309 million and only one ship had been delivered . as result of this the second ship rfa lyme bay was transferred to bae systems govan in glasgow for completion . 17 in 2001 swan hunter acquired kvaerner s port clarence offshore yard at teesside 18 but then in 2006 sold it to wilton engineering group . 19 in november 2006 after the failure to complete lyme bay within budget and resulting exclusion from future royal navy shipbuilding projects jaap kroese announced that the business was effectively finished and placed the wallsend yard s iconic cranes up for sale . he also said that he was actively looking for a buyer for the land . 20 during this time the lyme bay s earlier sister ship the largs bay was noted as the last ship to be built and fully completed by swan hunter . in april 2007 swan hunter s cranes along with its floating dock and other equipment were sold to bharati shipyards india s second largest private sector shipbuilder . the entire plant machinery and equipment from swan hunter was dismantled and transported to india over six months to be rebuilt at bharati shipyards . 21 swan s performed the conceptual design of pioneering spirit provisionally named pieter schelte the world s largest platform installation decommissioning and pipelay vessel . the basic design of the lifting systems was completed by the end of 2008 and detail design of the hulls by may 2010 . 22 in 2008 the company said it was concentrating on ship design with just under 200 people employed . 1 23 in 2016 jaap kroese died but the company said it would continue with its business of ship design . at the time the company had 40 employees and contractors . 24 operations edit the company owned three main yards the neptune yard at walker on tyne inherited from wigham richardson opened in 1860 and closed in 1988 the wallsend west yard at wallsend inherited from charles sheridan swan opened in 1842 and closed in 2006 the naval yard at high walker inherited from vickers armstrongs opened in 1912 and closed during the 1980s all three were on the north side of river tyne . the company also owned the wallsend slipway & engineering company the yard that built the engines for the mauretania from 1903 until the 1980s . at various times swan hunter also owned palmers hebburn yard hawthorn leslie hebburn yard and readheads at south shields which were all on the south side of the river tyne . ships built by swan hunter edit this list is incomplete ; you can help by expanding it . see also category ships built by swan hunter naval vessels centaur class aircraft carrier hms albion invincible class aircraft carriers hms ark royal hms illustrious colossus class aircraft carrier hms vengeance nairana class escort carrier hms vindex king george v class battleship hms anson 1942 town class light cruiser hms edinburgh 1938 crown colony class cruisers hms gambia 1940 hms mauritius 1941 acorn class destroyer hms hope battle class destroyers hms barfleur hms corunna hms gabbard hms trafalgar daring class destroyer hms daring hunt class destroyers hms bolebroke hms border hms calpe hms eridge hms exmoor hms farndale hms grove hms hambledon hms heythrop hms hursley hms holderness tribal class destroyer hms somali a class destroyers hms codrington b class destroyers hms brilliant hms bulldog e class destroyers hms esk hms express h class destroyers hms hunter hms hyperion j class destroyer hms janus k class destroyer hms khartoum m class destroyers hms marmion 1915 hms martial 1915 hms mary rose 1915 hms matchless 1914 hms menace 1915 hms nessus 1915 hms nestor 1915 hms pasley 1916 u and v class destroyers wwii hms grenville hms ulster hms vigilant hms virago v class destroyers wwi hms vimiera hms violent hms vittoria type 82 destroyer hms bristol type 42 destroyers hms newcastle hms glasgow hms exeter hms york type 14 or blackwood class anti submarine frigates hms russell hms pellew type 22 frigates hms chatham hms coventry hms sheffield type 23 frigates hms marlborough hms westminster hms northumberland hms richmond hastings class sloop hms scarborough ness class combat stores ship rfa lyness rfa stromness rfa tarbatness fort victoria class replenishment oiler rfa fort george rover class tanker ship s rfa black rover 1973 rfa gold rover 1973 bay class landing ships rfa largs bay rfa lyme bay completed by bae systems commercial vessels abukir 1920 achiever circa 1984 afrique 1907 antarctic 1913 atlantic causeway 1969 atlantic conveyor 1970 augustina 1927 aurania 1916 ascania 1911 badagry palm 1 1956 bamenda palm 1 1958 bello 1930 british admiral 1917 british character 1941 british colony 1927 british diligence 1937 british dominion 1928 british empress 1917 british endurance 1936 british fame 1936 british fusilier 1923 british governor 1926 british gratitude 1942 british grenadier 1922 british gunner 1922 british harmony 1941 british hussar 1923 british influence 1939 british motorist 1924 british petrol 1925 british pluck 1928 british resolution 1937 british respect 1943 british sailor 1918 british scout 1922 british star 1918 british tenacity 1939 british thrift 1928 british union 1927 british virtue 1945 british viscount 1921 ca larsen 1913 rms carpathia 1902 city of canterbury 1922 25 city of lyons 1926 city of paris 1922 derbyshire 1976 dimboola 1912 qsmv dominion monarch 1938 tss dover 1965 duntroon 1935 dwarka 1947 elmina palm 1957 enugu palm 1958 franconia 1910 frontenac 1928 ghandara circa 1976 ibadan palm 1959 ikeja palm 1961 ilesha palm 1961 ilorin palm 1959 sir parkes 1951 imbricaria 1935 ivernia 1899 kano palm 1958 katsina palm 1957 kowloon bridge 1973 kyle 1913 rms laconia 1911 rms laconia 1921 lagos palm 1961 ts leda 1952 lida 1938 lobito palm 1960 matadi palm 1970 rms mauretania 1906 megantic 1962 mitra 1912 mytilus 1916 neverita 1944 opopo palm 1942 port adelaide 1911 port alma 1928 port auckland 1949 port brisbane 1949 port chalmers 1933 port elliot 1910 port fairy 1928 port gisborne 1927 port halifax 1937 port hobart 1925 port huon 1927 port jackson 1937 port lincoln 1946 port macquarie 1944 port napier 1940 port new plymouth 1960 port phillip 1942 port pirie 1947 port sydney 1955 port townsville 1935 port victor 1942 port vindex 1944 victoria 1902 prince george 1910 prince rupert 1910 tev rangatira 1971 spartan 1890 stephano 1965 toiler 1910 26 vikingen iii 1929 vistafjord 1972 volo 1938 waterford 1912 cable ships alert all america ariel bullfinch bullfrog bullhead cambria colonia dominia edward wilshaw emile baudot guardian iris john w. mackay lord kelvin marie louise mackay monarch pacific guardian 1984 patrol recorder sir eric sharp launched 1988 renamed cs it intrepid st. margarets stanley angwin telconia bulk carrier hoegh duke 1984 robkap iv 1977 research vessels css acadia 1913 hmcs cartier later renamed hmcs charny rrs james clark ross polar survey tankers shell supplier 1946 velutina 1950 velletia 1952 helix 1953 helcion 1954 heldia 1955 helisoma 1956 volvula 1956 llanishen 1957 zaphon 1957 varicella 1959 solen 1961 ottawa 1964 sir winston churchill 1964 clementine churchill 1965 narica 1967 nacella 1968 esso northumbria 1969 esso hibernia 1970 texaco great britain 1971 london lion 1972 world unicorn 1973 windsor lion 1974 tyne pride 1975 everett f. wells 1976 bp achiever 1983 see also edit list of shipbuilders and shipyards references edit a b history . retrieved 21 march 2016 . history . retrieved 21 march 2016 . history . retrieved 21 march 2016 . history of the atlantic cable & submarine telegraphy swan hunter & wigham richardson ltd. . retrieved 21 march 2016 . a b history . retrieved 21 march 2016 . maxtone graham john 1972 page 25 the only way to cross . new york collier books isbn 978 0 7607 0637 4 a b c fears for tyneside tradition as swan hunter ship is towed to govan for completion guardian 15 july 2006 a b tyne &