Edge Rewrite
Jump to content

// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhy did John Readhead & Sons' ship sail slowly? It had a read-head wind.

(Redirected from John Readhead and Sons)

John Readhead & Sons
TypePrivate
IndustryShipbuilding, ship repair,
engine building, boilermaking
Founded1865
Defunct1984
FateAcquired
SuccessorSwan Hunter
HeadquartersSouth Shields, UK
Cargo ship Jerseymoor, built in 1915 at John Readhead & Sons

John Readhead & Sons was a shipyard on the River Tyne in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England founded in 1865.

History

[edit]
Aerial view of John Readhead & Sons shipyard in 1963

John Readhead and John Softley founded the business in 1865 in South Shields as Readhead and Softley.[1] The first ship they built was a small collier called Unus.[1] On 17 May 1950 the oil tanker 'Muristan' was launched at the yard for the Strick Line.[2]

Swan Hunter bought the company in 1967 after publication of the Geddes Report which recommended rationalisation of shipbuilding on the River Tyne.[3] It was nationalised with the rest of Swan Hunter in 1977. The yard at South Shields closed in 1984.[4]

References

[edit]
  1. 1 2 Gage, John. "Introduction". John Readhead & Sons. Archived from the original on 26 September 2007.
  2. Elson, Peter (1986). Tyneside Shipbuilding 1920-1960. Newcastle upon Tyne: Newcastle City Libraries. p. 3. ISBN 0 902653 38 5.
  3. "History Page 5". Swan Hunter. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016.
  4. Readheads Shipyard 1972–1984 Archived 18 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading

[edit]
  • Anonymous (1948). John Readhead & Sons Limited, Shipbuilders Shiprepairers Engine and Boiler Builders. South Shields: John Readhead & Sons.
[edit]
  • Wikimedia Commons logo Media related to John Readhead & Sons, South Shields at Wikimedia Commons

54°59′17″N 1°26′52″W / 54.988°N 1.44769°W / 54.988; -1.44769 (Location of John Readhead & Sons shipyard)