J & W Dudgeon

CSS Tallahassee
HMS Abyssinia
Masted turret ship HMS Neptune

J & W Dudgeon was a Victorian shipbuilding and engineering company based in Cubitt Town, London, founded by John and William Dudgeon.

John and William Dudgeon had established the Sun Iron Works in Millwall in the 1850s, and had a reputation for advanced marine engines.[1] In 1862 they set up as shipbuilders at a yard to the south of Cubitt Town Pier. They initially specialised in building blockade runners for the American Civil War, at times employing up to 1500 men.[2]

The yard, with 344 feet (105 m) of river frontage, stretched nearly 600 feet (180 m) inland to Manchester Road.[3] The first ship built there was the 150-foot Flora, the first twin-screw steamer to cross the Atlantic Ocean.[1] The firm survived the 1866 crash of Overend Gurney, with enough orders to take over the disused yard to the south in 1869. This gave a combined river frontage of 500 feet (150 m).[3]

In 1874 the company was severely damaged by the bungled launching of the large warship Independencia for the Brazilian government,[4] repairs and refitting eventually being done by Samuda Brothers, just down the river. The ship was eventually acquired by the Royal Navy, as HMS Neptune. William Dudgeon died in 1875 and the yard closed.[5] John Dudgeon was subsequently judged to be 'of unsound mind' and was admitted to an asylum in Edinburgh.[3]

By 1882 the site had become an oil storage wharf, with tanks below ground level. By 1913 it had 27 oil storage tanks with a combined capacity of over 14,000 tons.[3] It remained in this use until the 1960s, by which time it had nearly 100 tanks, some of 20,000 gallons.[6]

In 1969 an explosion in an oil storage tank being demolished at the site (then known as Dudgeon's wharf) killed five firemen.[7]

The site was later developed for housing and is known as Compass Point.[8]

Ships

Ship GRT Yard No Date of Launch
SS Flora 305 25 September 1862[9]
Annie 3701863
Coya 515August 1863[10]
Apelles 10306 May 1863
Dee 3241863
Kate 4771863
Vesta 3701863
Ceres 3741863
Don 39023 May 1863
Hebe 44991863
SS Far East 125931 October 1863[11]
SS Experiment 1863
SS Edith 5371864
Atalanta 3801864
PS Avalon 61426 March 1864[12]
PS Zealous 61323 April 1864[13]
SS Run Her 4811864
SS Rattlesnake 432 1864
SS Virginia 614 1864
SS Louisa Ann Fanny 680 1865
SS Mary 902 1865
SS Ruahine 1504 March 1865
SS John Wells 393 1865
SS Mary Augusta 680 1865
SS Ravensbury 66623 May 1864[14]
SS Handig Vlug 138 1865
SS Bolivar 933 1866
SS Zeeland 16 June 1866
SS George Reed 170 1866
SS Thames 103 1866
SS Liguria 1986028 July 1866
SS Henda 143 1867
SS Assunta 143 1867
HMS Viper 122821 December 1867[15]
SS Eugenie 143 18 April 1867
SS Spindrift 171 1869
SS Conchita 181 1869
SS Manuelita 505 1869
SS Pepita 181 1869
SS PO 1698 June 1870
SS Eleanor 1698 August 1870
SS Italo-Platense 1698 30 December 1869
SS Plemmtannikov 1870
SS Aleksey 1870
HMS Abyssinia 290019 February 1870
SS La Pampa 1698754 April 1870
SS King Masaba 281 1871
SS Lulio 670 13 October 1870
HMS Hecate 348030 September 1871[16]
PS Richard Young 7181871
SS Salgir 498 July 1872
SS Pasages 791 28 May 1872
SS Fair Penang 105 1872
SS Tenasserim 2570 20 April 1872
SS Khoper 861 November 1872
SS Alma 498 September 1872
SS Gauthiod 730 1873
SS Union 245 March 1873
SS Enterprise 604 April 1873
SS Chatham 278 1873
SS Svithiod 734June 1873
SS Santander 221310313 December 1872
SS Langkat 276 November 1874
SS Brahestad 233 May 1874
SS Calais 309 1874
SS South Western 65712 September 1874[17]
SS Guernsey 54512131 January 1874
SS The Miner 1874
SS Duckenfield 36813115 May 1875
HMS Neptune 9310 10 September 1874

External links

References

  1. 1 2 Kevin Foster (February 1991). "Where they lie: C.S.S. Tallahassee" (PDF). Newsletter 6. The Confederate Naval Historical Society. pp. 4–7. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  2. ↑ Hostettler, Eve (1986). "Ship building and related industries on the Isle of Dogs". Dockland. NELP/GLC. pp. 139–140. ISBN 0-7168-1611-3.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Hermione Hobhouse (General Editor) (1994). "Cubitt Town: Riverside area: from Newcastle Drawdock to Cubitt Town Pier". Survey of London: volumes 43 and 44: Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  4. ↑ "Naval and Military Intelligence". The Times (28142). 24 October 1874. p. 5, col. E.
  5. ↑ "Money-Market and City Intelligence". The Times (28450). 19 October 1875. p. 6.
  6. ↑ "5 firemen killed in explosion". The Times (57615). 18 July 1969. p. 1.
  7. ↑ "Dudgeon's Wharf". London Fire Journal. 24 Dec 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  8. ↑ Hermione Hobhouse (General Editor) (1994). "Modern Docklands: Docklands housing". Survey of London: volumes 43 and 44: Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  9. ↑ "Launch of the Flora". East London Observer. England. 4 October 1862. Retrieved 30 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  10. ↑ "Sydney direct in 70 days". London Daily News. England. 14 September 1863. Retrieved 30 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  11. ↑ "For Sale. The Winn-Screw steamer Far East". Liverpool Daily Post. England. 12 February 1870. Retrieved 3 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  12. ↑ "Harwich. The Continental Traffic". The Suffolk Chronicle. England. 2 April 1864. Retrieved 3 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  13. ↑ "Great Eastern Railway". London Evening Standard. England. 27 April 1864. Retrieved 29 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  14. ↑ "Launch of the Ravensbury". Essex Standard. England. 1 June 1864. Retrieved 30 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  15. ↑ "HMS Viper at Naval Database website". Retrieved 2008-09-23.
  16. ↑ "Thames versus Clyde Shipbuilding". Greenock Advertiser. Scotland. 10 October 1871. Retrieved 30 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).
  17. ↑ "Launch at Messrs. Dudgeon's". East London Observer. England. 19 September 1874. Retrieved 30 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive. (subscription required (help)).

Coordinates: 51°29′32″N 0°00′15″W / 51.49228°N 0.00419°W / 51.49228; -0.00419


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