View source for Cammell Laird

{{short description|British shipbuilding and repair company}}
{{For|the football team|Cammell Laird 1907 F.C.}}
{{EngvarB|date=April 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Cammell Laird
| logo = cammelllairdlogo.jpg
| type = Private Company
| genre = 
| foundation = 1828
| founder = 
| location_city = [[Birkenhead]]
| location_country = England
| location = 
| locations = 
| area_served = 
| key_people = {{Unbulleted list|David McGinley ([[Chief executive officer|CEO]])|Mike Hill ([[Managing Director|MD]])}}
| industry = [[Shipbuilding]] and ship repair
| products = 
| services = 
| market cap = 
| revenue = {{decrease}} £94.437 [[1,000,000 (number)|million]] (2021)
| net_income = {{increase}} -£4.4 [[1,000,000 (number)|million]] (2021)
| assets = 
| equity = 
| owner = 
| num_employees = >550
| parent = 
| divisions = 
| subsid = 
| homepage = {{URL|cammell-laird.co.uk}}
| footnotes = 
}}

'''Cammell Laird''' is a British [[shipbuilding]] company. It was formed from the merger of '''Laird Brothers''' of [[Birkenhead]] and '''Johnson Cammell & Co''' of [[Sheffield]] at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway [[rolling stock]] until 1929, when that side of the business was separated and became part of the [[Metro-Cammell|Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage & Wagon Company]].

==History==
===Formation from merger of Laird Company and Cammell & Co.===
[[File:Cammell Laird advertisement Brasseys 1915.jpg|thumb|1915 advertisement for Cammell Laird]]
The Laird Company was founded by [[William Laird (shipbuilder)|William Laird]], who had established the Birkenhead Iron Works in 1824. When he was joined by his son, [[John Laird (shipbuilder)|John Laird]] in 1828, their first ship was an iron barge.<ref name=inde>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/cammell-laird-closure-to-end-mersey-shipbuilding-1561143.html|title=Cammell Laird closure to end Mersey Shipbuilding|first=Michael|last=Harrison|work=[[The Independent]]|date=23 October 2011|access-date=25 November 2015}}</ref> John realised that the techniques of making boilers could be applied to making ships. The company soon became pre-eminent in the manufacture of iron ships and also made major advances in propulsion. In 1860, John Laird was joined in the business by his three sons, renaming the company John Laird, Sons & Co. The sons continued the business after their father's death in 1874 as Laird Brothers.<ref name="Grace's">{{cite web|title=Laird Brothers|url=http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/Laird_Brothers|website=Grace's Guide to British Industrial History|publisher=Grace's Guide Ltd|access-date=2 March 2016}}</ref>

Johnson Cammell & Co. was founded by Charles Cammell and Henry and Thomas Johnson: it made, amongst many other metal products, iron wheels and rails for Britain's railways and was based in [[Sheffield]].<ref name=liver>{{cite web|url=http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/archive/displayGuide.aspx?sid=32&mode=html&sorStr=&serStr=&pgeInt=&catStr|title=Sheet No. 26: Shipbuilding on Merseyside|work=Liverpool Museums|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607163821/http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/maritime/archive/displayGuide.aspx?sid=32&mode=html&sorStr=&serStr=&pgeInt=&catStr|archive-date=7 June 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Dkbkpl32.jpg|thumb|right|The layout of Cammell Laird's docks in 1909]]
In 1903 the businesses of Messrs. Cammell and Laird merged to create a company at the forefront of shipbuilding.<ref name=liver/> The company also built a number of vehicles for the [[London Underground]]. An order was placed for 20 trailer cars and 20 control trailer cars in 1919, which were known as [[London Underground 1920 Stock|1920 Stock]], and were the first tube cars to be built with doors operated by compressed air. They ran with converted French motor cars, originally built in 1906. The doors were fitted with a sensitive edge, designed to re-open the door if someone became trapped in it, but the mechanism was too sensitive, and was removed after an initial trial period.{{sfn |Bruce |1968 |pp=36–38}} The cars continued in operation until 1938, eight years after the motor cars were withdrawn, but following withdrawal, five cars became a mobile training school.{{sfn |Bruce |1968 |p=41}} Cammell Laird also built a number of [[London Underground Standard Stock|Standard Stock]] vehicles for the Underground. They were one of five builders approached to build a sample car to a general specification, which were put into service in February 1923, and three of the builders subsequently built production runs.{{sfn |Bruce |1968 |pp=44–45}} The company supplied 41 motor cars and 40 trailer cars in 1923, 25 control trailers in 1924, and a further 48 motor cars in 1925.{{sfn |Bruce |1968 |pp=44–45}}

In 1927, they built 160 passenger coaches for use in India. To transport them, Cammell Laird asked Watsons of [[Gainsborough, Lincolnshire|Gainsborough]] to build five dumb barges. The coaches were loaded onto the barges at [[Clifton, Nottingham|Clifton]], near [[Nottingham]] on the [[River Trent]], and towed in pairs downriver by a twin-screwed tug named ''Motorman'', built by [[Henry Scarr]] of [[Hessle]] in 1925. They were taken to [[Kingston upon Hull|Hull]] for export.{{sfn |Taylor |2006 |pp=56–57}} In 1929, the railway rolling stock business of Cammell Laird was spun off and merged to become [[Metro-Cammell|Metropolitan-Cammell Carriage & Wagon Company]].

Between 1829 and 1947, over 1,100 vessels of all kinds were launched from the Cammell Laird slipways into the [[River Mersey]]. Among the many famous ships made by the companies were the world's first steel ship, the ''Ma Roberts'', built in 1858 for Dr. Livingstone's [[Zambezi]] expedition, {{ship|CSS|Alabama}} that was built in 1862 for the [[Confederate States of America]], {{HMS|Caroline|1914|6}} that holds the record fastest build time of any significant warship (nine months from her keel being laid till her launch), the first all-welded ship, the ''Fullagar'' built in 1920, Cunard's second {{RMS|Mauretania|1938|6}}, the aircraft carrier {{HMS|Ark Royal|91|6}} (1937) the battleship {{HMS|Prince of Wales|53|6}} (1941) and the largest vessel to have been built for the Royal Navy up to that time, {{HMS|Ark Royal|R09|6}} (1950).

In 1898, Cammell provided the half-inch armour plate used to fabricate the four Fowler Armoured Road Trains built during the Second Anglo-Boer War. The armoured road train was the first self-propelled, free-roaming, armoured military land vehicle ever built, predating the tanks of World War One by nearly two decades.

===Post 1945 and 1993 closure===
[[Image:Mersey Cammel Ferry SeaCat.jpg|thumb|Cammell Laird's covered submarine building hall and berth cranes, 2006]]
The company was nationalised along with the rest of the British shipbuilding industry as [[British Shipbuilders]] in 1977. The yard was subject to a [[Cammell Laird Shipyard occupation|labour dispute in 1984]] triggered by the yard making nearly 1,000 redundancies.<ref>{{cite news |title=Government pressed to release all papers concerning 1984 Cammell Laird strike |url=https://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/11759264.government-pressed-to-release-all-papers-concerning-1984-cammell-laird-strike/ |access-date=18 August 2021 |work=Wirral Globe |language=en}}</ref> This led to some of the workers occupying a partially built gas rig, ''AV-1''. 37 workers were later arrested,  jailed and sacked for their roles in the protest.

In 1986, it returned to the private sector as part of [[Barrow-in-Furness]]-based [[Vickers Shipbuilding & Engineering]] (VSE). VSE and Cammell Laird were the only British shipyards capable of producing nuclear submarines. In 1993, it completed HMS ''Unicorn'' (S43) – now {{HMCS|Windsor|SSK 877|6}}.<ref name=inde/> After the end of the [[Upholder/Victoria-class submarine|''Upholder''-class submarine]] building programme in 1993, the owners of Cammell Laird, VSE, announced the yard's closure. This was strongly opposed by the workforce through trade union campaigners including the GMB, led by communist firebrand official [[Barry Williams (politician)|Barry Williams]].<ref>{{Cite web|title = OBITUARY: Barry Williams. – Free Online Library|url = http://www.thefreelibrary.com/OBITUARY%25253A+Barry+Williams.-a0135018433|website = www.thefreelibrary.com|access-date = 6 January 2016}}</ref>

===Re-establishment and ship repair===
Part of the shipyard site was leased by the Coastline Group as a ship repair facility. Coastline eventually bought part of the shipyard and adopted the Cammell Laird name, before floating on the London stock exchange in 1997 and acquiring dockyards at [[Teesside]], [[Tyneside]] and [[Cammell Laird Gibraltar|Gibraltar]].

After experiencing financial difficulties, partly due to the late withdrawal from a £50&nbsp;million refit contract for the cruise ship ''[[Grand Classica|Costa Classica]]'' cruise ship by [[Costa Crociere]], the company was forced to enter receivership in April 2001, and the [[Birkenhead]], Teesside and Tyneside shipyards owned by Cammell Laird shiprepair were acquired by the [[A&P Group|A&P Shiprepair Group]] in 2001.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/resource_base/Mergers_home/mergers_fta/mergers_fta_advice/a-and-p|title=Acquisition by A&P Group Holdings Ltd of assets of Cammell Laird Group plc |work=[[Office of Fair Trading]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070916100642/http://www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/resource_base/Mergers_home/mergers_fta/mergers_fta_advice/a-and-p|archive-date=16 September 2007}}</ref> Cammell Laird Gibraltar, the [[Gibdock|Royal Dockyard]] facility in [[Gibraltar]], was disposed of through a local [[management buyout]].

===Second rebirth as Cammell Laird Shiprepair===
[[File:Ship under repair, Cammell Laird 300809.JPG|thumb|A {{sclass|Fort Victoria|replenishment oiler|1}} undergoing refit work at Cammell Laird, 2009]]
A&P Group sold its Birkenhead subsidiary (A&P Birkenhead) to [[Northwestern Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders]] in 2005.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oceanlinermuseum.co.uk/Cammell%20Laird%20Shipbuilders%20to%20the%20World.htm|title=Cammell Laird: Shipbuilders to the World (1824–1993)|work=Ocean Liner Museum|access-date=25 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813173212/http://www.oceanlinermuseum.co.uk/Cammell%20Laird%20Shipbuilders%20to%20the%20World.htm|archive-date=13 August 2006|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref> [[Peel Group|Peel Holdings]], owners of the [[Mersey Docks and Harbour Company]] and 50% owners of Northwestern Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders, purchased the Cammell Laird shipyard site and surrounding land in January 2007, to facilitate the proposed [[Wirral Waters]] development, although Northwestern Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders continue to maintain a long-term lease on the shipyard facilities, which will form an integral part of the regeneration scheme.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-29333222_ITM?email=aml6@dykes.me.uk&library=|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120720183222/http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-29333222_ITM?email=aml6@dykes.me.uk&library=|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 July 2012|title=Wirral Waters scheme|work=Planning (UK)|date=12 January 2007}}</ref>

In 2007, it was announced that the occupiers of [[Mersey Docks and Harbour Company#Cammell Laird Dock|Cammell Laird Dock]], Northwestern Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders, had acquired the rights to the Cammell Laird name.<ref name="liverpooldailypost.co.uk">{{cite news|url=http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2007/10/24/cammell-laird-name-returns-to-the-mersey-64375-19999926/|title=Cammell Laird name returns to the Mersey|first=Bill|last=Gleeson|work=Liverpool Daily Post|date=24 October 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011055448/http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2007/10/24/cammell-laird-name-returns-to-the-mersey-64375-19999926/|archive-date=11 October 2008}}</ref> On 17 November 2008, Northwestern Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders officially renamed itself Cammell Laird Shiprepairers & Shipbuilders Limited, stating that recent economic success had made the time right, and that "Cammell Laird is an internationally recognised brand which carries tremendous goodwill when bidding for contracts."<ref name="liverpooldailypost.co.uk"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2008/11/17/cammell-laird-name-returns-on-river-mersey-100252-22275256/ |title=Cammell Laird name returns on River Mersey |access-date=18 November 2008 |first=Neil|last=Hodgson|date=17 November 2008|work=[[Liverpool Echo]]}}</ref>

In February 2008, it was announced that the company had won a £28m [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] contract to overhaul the [[Royal Fleet Auxiliary]] ship {{RFAux|Fort Rosalie|A385|6}}.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/7270417.stm|title=Shipyard wins new naval contract|work=[[BBC News]]|date=29 February 2008|access-date=25 November 2015}}</ref>

In January 2010, it was announced that Lairds had received a £44m order for the flight decks of the Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier {{HMS|Queen Elizabeth|R08|6}}.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2010/01/25/cammell-laird-wins-50m-royal-navy-warship-contract-100252-25676005/ |title=Cammell Laird wins £50m Royal Navy warship contract|access-date=25 January 2010 |date=25 January 2010|work=[[Liverpool Echo]]}}</ref>

In May 2012, it was announced that complete shipbuilding was set to return to the yard with the awarding of preferred bidder status for two new car ferries for [[Dunoon]]-based operator, [[Western Ferries]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2012/05/02/shipbuilding-to-return-to-cammell-laird-for-first-time-in-20-years-in-multi-million-pound-western-ferries-deal-100252-30883405/ |title=Shipbuilding to return to Cammell Laird for first time in 20 years in multi-million pound Western Ferries deal|access-date=4 May 2012 |date=2 May 2012|first=Tony|last=McDonough|work=[[Liverpool Echo]]}}</ref> Construction of {{MV|Sound of Seil}} and {{MV|Sound of Soay}} began in October 2012.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.clbh.co.uk/commercial-marine/commercial-projects/western-ferries |title=Western Ferries|access-date=22 June 2013 |work=Cammell Laird| date=12 February 2013 }}</ref>

In April 2014, the government authorised procurement of a [[Royal Research Ship]] for the [[British Antarctic Survey]], at an estimated cost of £200&nbsp;million. Cammell Laird won the construction contract in 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/merseyside-beats-global-competition-to-build-200-million-polar-research-ship|title=Merseyside beats global competition to build £200 million polar research ship|work=UK Government|date=12 October 2015|access-date=6 May 2016}}</ref> The vessel, named {{ship|RRS|Sir David Attenborough}} began sea trials in 2020; she took her maiden voyage to [[Antarctica]] in November 2021.<ref>{{cite news |title=Britain's new polar ship, the Sir David Attenborough, set for sea trials |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-boat-attenborough/britains-new-polar-ship-the-sir-david-attenborough-set-for-sea-trials-idUKKBN2761YG?edition-redirect=uk |access-date=18 August 2021 |work=Reuters |date=22 October 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
[[File:Cammell Laird from Harrison Way.jpg|thumb|right|The shipbuilding hall with RRS ''Sir David Attenborough'' under construction]]

It was announced in October 2017 that Cammell Laird had struck a 'teaming agreement' with [[BAE Systems]] to bid for Ministry of Defence contracts to build the Royal Navy's [[Type 31 frigate|Type 31e frigates]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Cammell Laird strikes 'Teaming Agreement' with BAE Systems in bid to build warships |url=http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/15604098.Cammell_Laird_strikes____Teaming_Agreement____with_BAE_Systems_in_bid_to_build_warships/ |website=Wirral Globe|access-date=20 October 2017|language=en}}</ref>

In 2018, [[Red Funnel]] chose the shipyard to construct a £10m cargo ferry, {{MV|Red Kestrel}}. Construction of the ferry began with a formal [[keel laying]] ceremony on 31 May and the vessel entered service a year later.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Woolven |first1=James |title=PICTURES: Construction officially begins for Red Funnel's new freight ship |url=http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/16263481.PICTURES__Construction_officially_begins_for_Red_Funnel_s_new_freight_ship/ |website=[[Isle of Wight County Press]] |access-date=2 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Ferry firm's new, British-built, 74m vessel, costing £10m, will be named Red Kestrel |url=http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/16262479.ferry-firms-new-british-built-74m-vessel-costing-10m-will-be-named-red-kestrel/ |website=Daily Echo |publisher=[[Southern Daily Echo|Daily Echo]] |access-date=13 July 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Red Kestrel Enters Service {{!}} Red Funnel |url=https://www.redfunnel.co.uk/en/corporate-info/media-pr/press-release-library/red-kestrel-enters/ |website=www.redfunnel.co.uk |access-date=4 December 2019}}</ref>

In October 2018 it was announced that the yard had won 'Lot 3' of an MOD contract to maintain the four new {{sclass2|Tide|tanker|4}} of tankers for the RFA in a deal worth an estimated £262m. A new contract worth £357m was also announced that would see Cammell Laird continue to maintain the five RFA ships it currently supports.<ref name="RFA Contract">{{cite web |title=Cammell Laird wins two Royal Fleet Auxiliary contracts worth £619m - Liverpool Business News |url=https://lbndaily.co.uk/cammell-laird-wins-two-royal-fleet-auxiliary-contracts-worth-619m/ |website=Liverpool Business News |access-date=7 October 2018 |date=7 October 2018}}</ref>

The yard was named as part of a consortium to build the Royal Navy's new [[Type 26 Frigate]] in September 2023.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McDonough |first1=Tony |title=Cammell Laird secures work on £7.9bn warships |url=https://lbndaily.co.uk/cammell-laird-secures-work-on-7-9bn-warships/ |access-date=22 September 2023 |work=Liverpool Business News |date=14 September 2023}}</ref> BAE System are the primary contractor, but Cammell Laird will be used to build sections of HMS ''Birmingham''.

==In popular culture==
The shipyard is referenced in [[Jules Verne|Jules Verne's]] novel ''[[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas]]'' as "Laird's of Liverpool".<ref>{{cite news |last1=Weston |first1=Alan |last2=Koncienzcy |first2=Rebecca |title=Uncovering links between Birkenhead and father of science fiction |url=https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/uncovering-links-between-birkenhead-father-24613705 |access-date=7 August 2022 |work=Liverpool Echo |date=31 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref> (though it is located in Birkenhead, not Liverpool) Verne visited Birkenhead in 1859 and 1867 and states in the story that some of the iron plates for the ''Nautilus'' were made there.

Birkenhead band [[Half Man Half Biscuit]]'s ninth album is called ''[[Cammell Laird Social Club]]''.

==Ships built by Cammell Laird==

See: [[List of ships built by Cammell Laird]]

==See also==
* [[ROF Nottingham]]
* [[Metro-Cammell]]
* [[Cammell Laird Gibraltar]]
* [[Grayson Rollo and Clover Docks]]
* [[Cammell Laird Social Club|Cammell Laird Social Club (album by Half Man Half Biscuit)]]
* [[MTR|Hong Kong Railways Company Ltd]]- Cammell Model, Last Service in May 2022, Operated at MTR 12 Cars at East Rail Line.

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}
{{coord|53|23|6.85|N|3|0|45.01|W|display=title}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
*{{Cite book|title=Tube Trains Under London|last=Bruce|first=J Graeme |publisher=London Transport Board |year=1968}}
*{{Cite book|title=Tugs and towing barges on the Humber Waterways|last=Taylor|first=Mike |publisher=Tempus Publishing
  |year=2006|isbn=978-0-7524-3804-7}}{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book| last1=Johnston|first1=Ian| last2 =Buxton| first2=Ian| title=The Battleship Builders - Constructing and Arming British Capital Ships| publisher=Naval Institute Press| location= Annapolis, Maryland| date=2013| type=Hardback|isbn=978-1-59114-027-6}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Cammell Laird & Co Limited}}
* {{Official website|https://www.cammell-laird.co.uk}}
* [http://www.oceanlinermuseum.co.uk/Cammell%20Laird%20Shipbuilders%20to%20the%20World.htm Cammell Laird: Shipbuilders to the World (1824–1993)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060813173212/http://www.oceanlinermuseum.co.uk/Cammell%20Laird%20Shipbuilders%20to%20the%20World.htm |date=13 August 2006 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20121117071049/http://www.wirral.gov.uk/my-services/leisure-and-culture/wirral-archives-service/documents-we-hold/collections/cammell-laird Wirral Archives Service]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20071029060734/http://www.lairds1907.com/ Cammell Laird Football Club]
* [http://www.gwpda.org/naval/dkbkpl32.jpg 1909 Map of Cammell Laird Docks]
* {{PM20|FID=co/004114}}

{{British shipbuilders evolution}}
{{Birkenhead docks}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Birkenhead docks]]
[[Category:Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Former defence companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Marine engine manufacturers]]
[[Category:Military history of Merseyside]]
[[Category:Shipbuilding companies of England]]
[[Category:1828 establishments in England]]
[[Category:British Shipbuilders]]
[[Category:Companies based in Wirral]]
[[Category:Former submarine builders]]