There are various facts and figures
inscribed on the east side (see photos). The inscription on the west side
reads:
"This inscription commemorates the
site of the Thames Ironworks Ship Building and Engineering Company
Ltd"
Beneath, the inscription
continues:
"Situated nearby at the confluence
of the Lea & Thames at Bow Creek Canning Town."
Above the memorial is a plate from HMS
Warrior that was built at the yard.
Wikipedia gives information about the company:
"The Thames Ironworks and
Shipbuilding Company, Limited was a shipyard and iron works straddling the mouth
of Bow Creek at its confluence with the River Thames, at Leamouth Wharf (often
referred to as Blackwall) on the west side and at Canning Town on the east side.
Its main activity was shipbuilding, but it also diversified into civil
engineering, marine engines, cranes, electrical engineering and motor
cars.
The company notably produced iron
work for Isambard Kingdom Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge over the Tamar in the
1850s, and the world's first all-iron warship, HMS Warrior, launched in
1860.
History
1837–46:
The company
originated in 1837 as the Ditchburn and Mare Shipbuilding Company, founded by
shipwright Thomas J. Ditchburn and the engineer and naval architect Charles
Mare. Originally located at Deptford, after a fire destroyed their yard the
company moved to Orchard Place in 1838, between the East India Dock Basin and
Bow Creek. There they took over the premises of the defunct shipbuilders William
and Benjamin Wallis.
The firm did well and within a few
years occupied three sites covering an area of over 14 acres (5.7
ha).
Ditchburn and Mare were among the
first builders of iron ships in the area; their partnership commenced with the
construction of small paddle steamers of between 50 and 100 tons, before
progressing to cross-Channel vessels and by 1840 were building ships of more
than 300 tons. The company's early customers included the Iron Steamboat Company
and the Blackwall Railway Company, several paddle steamers being constructed for
the latter, including the Meteor and the Prince of Wales, which operated between
Gravesend and the company's station on Brunswick Wharf.
In this period the company was also
awarded several contracts by the Admiralty, including HMS Recruit (a 12-gun
brig) which was one of the first iron warships built. They also constructed the
P & O Company's steamers Ariel and Erin.
1847–56:
Thomas Ditchburn retired in 1847 and the business was carried on by
Charles Mare, under the name of C.J. Mare and Company. He was joined by naval
architect James Ash, who later began his own shipyard at Cubitt
Town.
From 1847 the company grew
considerably and Mare purchased land on the Canning Town side of the River Lea,
a ferry service being established between the two sites.
Mare constructed a yard with
furnaces and rolling mills that could construct vessels of 4,000 tons; because
of the narrowness of the spit at the mouth of the River Lea, the Orchard Place
site was limited to the construction of vessels of less than 1,000 tons. In 1853
the company launched the SS Himalaya for the Peninsular and Oriental Steam
Navigation Company, briefly the world's largest passenger ship before becoming a
naval troopship.
In 1855, the company which by now
had more than 3000 employees, was threatened with closure following Mare's
bankruptcy. It is thought by some that his financial difficulties arose from
delays in payment for completed work or, alternatively, that the company had
miscalculated the cost of building vessels for the Royal Navy. The business did
not lack orders, having in hand six contracts for gunboats and the contract for
Westminster Bridge (which was built in 1862).
1857–1912:
The company's chief creditors moved to keep the company in operation,
and two employees, Joseph Westwood and Robert Baillie were appointed works
managers. The main figure in saving the company was Peter Rolt, Mare's
father-in-law and Conservative MP for Greenwich. Rolt was also a timber merchant
and a descendant of the Pett shipbuilding family.
Rolt took control of the company's
assets and in 1857 transferred them to a new limited company, named the Thames
Ironworks and Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Ltd.. It had a capital of
£100,000 in 20 shares of £5000 each, five of which were held by Rolt who was the
main shareholder and also chairman of the board.
The new company was the largest
shipbuilder on the Thames, its premises described by the Mechanics' Magazine in
1861 as "Leviathan Workshops". Large scale Ordnance Survey maps of the 1860s
show the yard occupying a large triangular site in a right-angled bend on the
east bank of Bow Creek with the railway to Thames Wharf on the third side, and
with a smaller site on the west bank. The main yard had a quay 1,050 feet (320m)
long. To the south-east the yard occupied the north bank of the Thames east of
Bow Creek, with two slips giving direct access to the main river. Today the site
is crossed by the A1020 Lower Lea Crossing and the Docklands Light Railway south
of Canning Town railway station.
By 1863 the company had the
capacity to build 25,000 tons of warships and 10,000 tons of mail steamers
simultaneously. One of its first Admiralty contracts was for HMS Warrior,
launched in 1860, at the time the world's largest warship and the first
iron-hulled armoured frigate. HMS Minotaur followed in 1863, 400 feet (120 m)
long and 10,690 tons displacement.
Work on vessels such as Minotaur
was performed on the Canning Town side of the Lea, and this is where the Thames
Ironworks expanded from less than 10 acres (4.0 ha) in 1856 to 30 acres (12 ha)
by 1891. While the old site at Orchard Place was still the company's official
address until 1909, its presence there was minimal, by the late 1860s the
company having only a 5 acres (2.0 ha) site there.
General shipbuilding on the Thames
came under great pressure due to the cost advantages of northern yards with
closer supplies of coal and iron, and many yards closed following the 1866
financial crisis. Of the survivors, those like the Thames Ironworks were
specialised in warships and liners.
Following the success of HMS
Warrior and HMS Minotaur, orders were placed by navies all over the world, and
vessels were built for Denmark, Greece, Portugal, Russia, Spain and the Ottoman
Empire. The yard also built the Prussian Navy's first iron-hulled warship, the
SMS König Wilhelm in 1868 and the cruiser Afonso de Albuquerque for Portugal in
1884.
In the 1890s philanthropist Arnold
Hills became the managing director. He had originally joined the board of
directors in 1880 at the age of 23. Hills was one of the first business
directors voluntarily to introduce an eight hour day for his workers at a time
when 10 and 12 hour shifts were more common in industrial work.
In 1895 Hills helped to set up a
football club for the Works' employees, Thames Ironworks F.C. and within their
first two years they had entered the FA Cup and the London League. As a result
of the committee's desire to employ professional players, the Thames Ironworks
F.C. was wound up in June 1900 and West Ham United F.C. was formed a month
later.
Merged with the engine builder John
Penn and Sons in 1899 as the Thames Iron Works Ship Building and Engineering
Co.
During its lifetime the yard
produced 144 warships and numerous other vessels. In 1911 Hills petitioned
Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, regarding the lack of new
orders. He was unsuccessful, and the yard was forced to shut in 1912. Within two
years the United Kingdom was at war with the German Empire, with the yard's last
major ship taking part in the Battle of Jutland.
Archaeology:
Part of the company's Limmo Peninsula site was excavated during the
construction of Crossrail in 2012.
Notable
products:
In the 1850s
the company produced iron work for I.K. Brunel's Royal Albert Bridge over the
Tamar at Saltash.
HMS Warrior, launched in 1860, the
World's first all-iron warship. When completed in October 1861, Warrior was the
largest, fastest, most heavily-armed and most heavily-armoured warship in the
world.
In the 1890s the yard built two of the six
British-built battleships that formed the main Japanese battle line in the
Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.
The launch of HMS Albion
in 1898 was marred by an accident when several observers lost their lives
following a bridge collapse.
The last major warship built
by the yard, HMS Thunderer (22,500 tons), was launched in
1911."