Ailsa Shipbuilding Company

Ailsa Shipbuilding Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Troon and Ayr, Ayrshire.

Steam yacht Andria. Launched 18 Feb 1897

Ailsa Shipbuilding Company

Former type	Private
Industry	Shipbuilding
Fate	Closed
Founded	1885
Defunct	2000
Headquarters	Troon and Ayr, Ayrshire, Scotland

History

The company was founded in 1885 by the 3rd Marquess of Ailsa along with Peter James Wallace and Alexander McCredie.

In 1902 the Ailsa yard fitted out the polar exploration ship Scotia for the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 1902-04. The Scotia sailed from Troon for the South Atlantic on 2 November 1902.[1]

The company built paddle steamers for various companies around the UK, including the New Medway Shipping Company's PS Medway Queen, the only estuary paddle steamer left in the UK.

During the First World War, the shipyard built the Royal Navy's first paddle minesweeper of the Racecourse class.[2]

During the Second World War, Ailsa built vessels for the Navy, including several Bangor-class minesweepers.

In 1977 Ailsa was nationalised and subsumed into the British Shipbuilders Corporation. In 1981, the assets of Ailsa and those of Ferguson Brothers were merged to form Ferguson-Ailsa, Limited. This grouping was split and privatised in 1986, the Ailsa yard being acquired by Perth Corporation as Ailsa & Perth, Limited.

Ailsa stopped large-scale shipbuilding in 1988 and finally closed as a shipbuilder in 2000.[3] The yard has recently been used for ship repair work and the fabrication of large concrete sections for a pier improvement programme in Grimsay, Western Isles.[4]

Ships built by Ailsa Shipbuilding Company

This transport-related list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

Yard No	Name	Type	Launch	Notes
4	SS Lady Ailsa	Cargo ship	4 January 1888	renamed Belgian Prince
53	SV Dalblair	Steel sailing vessel 3-masted barque	1895 Dalblair was a steel ship of 1,474 tons built in 1895 in Scotland (town of Troon) by the Ailsa Shipbuilding Company. Crash reports mention that the vessel left Cardiff for Mauritius with a cargo of coal on 14 November 1901. After 82 days at sea, on 4 February 1902 the ship reached the south east seas of Mauritius	see link [5]
	Tobruk	Italian Navy gunboat	Built 1897 as yacht Evona - since 1912 RN Tobruk
70	SS Hebrides	Passenger ship	24 March 1898
78	Katoomba	Patrol ship	28 December 1898	renamed USS Emeline
297	HMS Ascot	Minesweeper	26 January 1916
298	HMS Atherstone	Minesweeper	4 April 1916
294	HMS Aphis	Gunboat	15 September 1915
299	HMS Chelmsford	Minesweeper	14 June 1916
334	HMS Aberdare	Minesweeper	29 April 1918
335	HMS Abingdon	Minesweeper	11 June 1918
336	HMS Albury	Minesweeper	21 November 1918
338	HMS Alresford	Minesweeper	17 January 1919
345	HMS Appledore	Minesweeper	15 August 1919
396	SS Sillonian	Passenger vessel	17 November 1925
439	HMS Clacton	Minesweeper	19 December 1941
437	HMS Hythe	Minesweeper	4 September 1941
452	HMS Loch Tarbert[6]	Frigate	19 October 1944
453	HMS Loch Veyatie[7]	Frigate	8 October 1945
388	PS Medway Queen	Paddle steamer	23 April 1924
487	HMS Ockham	Minesweeper	12 May 1959
488	HMS Ottringham	Minesweeper	22 January 1958
	HMS Raider	Patrol & Training vessel	January 1988
432	HMS Rye	Minesweeper	19 August 1940
473	HMS Bottisham	Minesweeper	16 February 1953
474	HMS Brantingham	Minesweeper	4 December 1953
481	MV Bute	Ferry	28 September 1954
480	MV Cowal	Ferry	20 January 1954
483	HMS Elsenham	Minesweeper	25 May 1955
484	HMS Etchingham	Minesweeper	9 December 1957
496	MV Glen Sannox	Ferry	30 April 1957
499	MV Lochalsh (II)	Ferry	1957	renames Scalpay
508	MV Cerdic Ferry	Ferry	16 February 1961
507	MV St. Clair	Passenger	29 April 1960
509	MV Doric Ferry	Ferry	27 October 1961
510	MV Kyleakin	Ferry	1961	renamed Largs
517	MV Bowbelle	Aggregate dredger	11 May 1964	Involved in the sinking of the Marchioness on the River Thames in 1989. Renamed Billo in 1992 and Bom Rei in 1996. Sank off the coast of Madeira in March 1996.[8]
529	MV Glenachulish	Ferry	1969
	MV Graemsay[9]	Ferry	1996
530	MV Iona	Ferry	22 January 1970	renamed Pentalina-B
531	MV Coruisk	Ferry	26 June 1969
533	MV Mona's Queen	Diesel ferry	22 December 1971
547	MS Lady of Mann	Ferry	4 December 1975	renamed Panagia Soumela
551	MV Isle of Cumbrae	Ferry	23 December 1976
552	MV Saturn	Ferry	30 June 1977
554	MV Lochmor	Ferry	11 June 1979
571	RV Corystes	Research vessel	1988
	HMS Tracker	Patrol & training vessel	January 1998
	Triton	Motor yacht	1902	now Madiz
	HMS Warrior	Yacht	4 February 1904
592	MV Lochnevis	Ferry	8 May 2000[10]
Sources: Miramar[11]

Archives

The Ailsa Shipbuilding Company archives are maintained by the University of Glasgow Archives Services.[12]

References

1. "William S. Bruce". South Pole.com. Archived from the original on 19 April 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
2. "HM Ships As extracted from Jane's Fighting Ships for 1919". Retrieved 28 March 2009.
3. Ayrshire shipyard closing BBC News, 18 August 2000
4. "Huge concrete box due for harbour". BBC News. 21 August 2007. Retrieved 28 March 2009.
5. "Sailing Vessel DALBLAIR built by Ailsa Shipbuilding Co. Ltd. in 1895 for Ship "Dalblair" Co (J. Campbell, mgr)., Cargo". www.clydeships.co.uk. Retrieved 6 February 2017.
6. "HMS Loch Tarbert". Naval-History.Net. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
7. "HMS Loch Veyatie". Naval-History.Net. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
8. "Scottish Built Ships", www.clydeships.co.uk. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
9. "MV Graemsay". FerryPhotos. Archived from the original on 2 May 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
10. "History - Lochnevis". Ships of Calmac. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
11. "Shipyard search results for "1015"". Miramar. Retrieved 5 October 2009.
12. "Records of Ailsa Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd, Troon, East Ayrshire, Scotland". from Glasgow University Archive Catalogue. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 28 March 2009.