Samuda Brothers

Samuda Brothers
Industry	Engineering; Shipbuilding;
Founded	1843; 181 years ago in Leamouth, London
Founders	Jacob Samuda; Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda;
Defunct	1890s
Headquarters	Cubitt Town, Isle of Dogs, London, England, United Kingdom

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Samuda Brothers was an engineering and ship building firm at Cubitt Town on the Isle of Dogs in London, founded by Jacob and Joseph d'Aguilar Samuda. The site is now occupied by Samuda Estate.

Samuda Brothers initially leased a premises on the Goodluck Hope peninsula, Leamouth, London, in 1843, by the mouth of Bow Creek. However disaster struck with one of their first ships, the Gipsy Queen which exploded on its test trip in November 1844. Jacob was killed with nine of the firm's employees.^[1] There was a further explosion at their shipyard in 1845 and another three workers were killed.^[2]

The firm moved to Cubitt Town in 1852, having outgrown a site that was hemmed in by other industrial premises. By this time the company was run by Joseph, Jacob having been killed in the trial of the Gipsy Queen.^[3] The Cubitt Town yard specialised in iron and steel warships and steam packets and by 1863 was said to be producing double the output of the other London shipyards combined.

Samuda fabricated components for the Waterloo and Whitehall Railway, an atmospheric railway system. The project was abandoned due to the 1866 financial crisis.^[4] Orders from Germany, Russia and Japan enabled the firm to survive the crisis, which affected many other London yards.^[5]

In 1877 Togo Heihachiro, later a prominent Japanese admiral, came for work experience with the Samuda Brothers after completing his training at Naval Preparatory School in Portsmouth, and the Royal Naval College at Greenwich. He supervised the construction of the Fusō before returning to Japan. He led the Imperial Japanese navy to victory in the Russo-Japanese War, establishing Japan as a Great Power.

Following the death of Joseph in 1885 attempts were made to sell the firm as a going concern. This was unsuccessful, resulting in closure in the 1890s, leaving Yarrows and Thames Ironworks as the last significant London shipbuilders.^[5]

Ships built by the Samuda Brothers

SS Carnatic, P&O, 1862
HMS Tamar, Royal Navy, 1863
BAP Independencia , Peruvian Navy, 1864
Mahroussa, Khedive of Egypt, 1865
Bordein, Khedive of Egypt, Nile steamer c 1865^[6]
SMS Kronprinz, Prussian Navy, 1867^[7]
Muin-i Zafer, Ottoman Navy, 1869
SMS Deutschland, German Navy 1875
Fusō , Imperial Japanese Navy, 1877
HMS Belleisle, Royal Navy 1876 (originally to be Peyk-i Şeref for Ottoman Empire)
HMS Orion, Royal Navy 1879 (originally to be Büruç-u Zafer for Turkish Navy)
ARA Almirante Brown, Argentine Navy, 1880^[8]
Riachuelo, Brazilian Navy, 1883^[9]
HMS Sappho, Royal Navy, 1891
PS Myleta (1891), a paddle steamer with a two-cylinder single oscillating engine. Built for the South Eastern Railway, and scrapped in 1909

References

^ "Shipbuilding on the Isle of Dogs : The Story of the Samuda Brothers". Isle of Dogs Life. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
^ "The explosion at the Samuda Works, Blackwall. – Historical events – Port Cities". portcities.org.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
^ 'Leamouth Road and Orchard Place: Individual wharves and sites', Survey of London: volumes 43 and 44: Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs (1994), pp. 655–685. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=46545. Retrieved 7 November 2007.
^ "Railway Engineering in London". Scientific American. 15: 368. 1866.
^ ^a ^b 'Cubitt Town: Riverside area: from Cubitt Town Pier to the Graving Docks', Survey of London: volumes 43 and 44: Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs (1994), pp. 532–539. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=46530. Retrieved 7 November 2007.
^ The Melik Society Bordein Archived 11 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine
^ Illustrated London News 18 May 1867
^ A War Ship Foundered, New York Times 14 July 1892
^ Clive Trebilcock,Phoenix Assurance and the Development of British Insurance, Vol II, The Era of the Insurance Giants 1870–1984, P19,Cambridge University Press

[1] "Shipbuilding on the Isle of Dogs : The Story of the Samuda Brothers". Isle of Dogs Life. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 5 February 2018.

[NMM-2] "The explosion at the Samuda Works, Blackwall. – Historical events – Port Cities". portcities.org.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2018.

[3] 'Leamouth Road and Orchard Place: Individual wharves and sites', Survey of London: volumes 43 and 44: Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs (1994), pp. 655–685. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=46545. Retrieved 7 November 2007.

[4] "Railway Engineering in London". Scientific American. 15: 368. 1866.

[cubitt-5] 'Cubitt Town: Riverside area: from Cubitt Town Pier to the Graving Docks', Survey of London: volumes 43 and 44: Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs (1994), pp. 532–539. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=46530. Retrieved 7 November 2007.

[6] The Melik Society Bordein Archived 11 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine

[7] Illustrated London News 18 May 1867

[8] A War Ship Foundered, New York Times 14 July 1892

[9] Clive Trebilcock,Phoenix Assurance and the Development of British Insurance, Vol II, The Era of the Insurance Giants 1870–1984, P19,Cambridge University Press

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Ships built by the Samuda Brothers

See also

References