Caird & Company was a Scottish shipbuilding and engineering firm based in Greenock. The company was established in 1828 by John Caird when he received an order to re-engine Clyde paddle-tugs.[1]
John's relative James Tennant Caird joined the company in 1831, and after leaving to work for Randolph, Elder & Co in Glasgow, rejoined the family business for good in 1838.
A year after the death of Robert Caird, the company was sold to Harland & Wolff Ltd in 1916 for £432,493. The firm continued trading as a separate enterprise, with Arthur and Patrick Caird on the board, until 1922. The Arthur Street engine works was sold to John G. Kincaid & Company in 1919.
Ships fitted with engines by Caird & Co
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In the early years Caird & Co were responsible for fitting (or re-fitting) steam engines in ships. An example of this is the Glasgow fitted with a side-lever engine by Caird & Co in 1828 for G & J Burns.[2] This being an engine running on only 5psi steam pressure, as was common at the time (the steam condenser created a vacuum so the effective pressure acting on the piston was the difference between the boiler pressure and the condenser vacuum). Also in 1828 Caird & Co re-engined the paddle steamer Industry (built in 1814 by William Fyfe of Fairlie), replacing the original single cylinder engine rated at 10 hp with a Caird single cylinder engine rated at 14 hp.
In 1845 details and drawings of Caird engines fitted in four West India Mail-Packets were published,[3] these being the "Clyde", "Tay", "Tweed" and "Teviot". These were also side-lever engines, with two cylinders of diameter of 74.5in and stroke of 90in, driving 30 ft paddle-wheels, running at 15rpm. These mail packets were operated by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. Collated records of ships built on the Clyde[4] suggest that Caird contracted out the building of the wooden hulls for these mail packets.
- The Clyde was built by Robert Duncan of Greenock and launched in Feb 1841, registered Dec 1841.
- The Tay was built by Charles Wood of Dumbarton, launched in July 1841, registered Dec 1841.
- The Tweed was built by Thomson & Speirs of Greenock, launched in Apr 1841, registered in Dec 1841.
- The Teviot was built by Robert Duncan of Greenock, launched in Oct 1841, registered in Feb 1842.
Other ships fitted with engines by Caird include :
- The steam tugs Hercules and Gulliver built by Robert Steele & Co of Greenock in 1820s
- The paddle-steamer Liverpool built by Robert Steele & Co of Greenock 1830
- The steam tug Samson built by William Denny of Dumbarton in 1819. Caird engine fitted 1831
- The paddle-steamer Gazelle built by Murries & Clark of Greenock 1832
- The paddle-steamer Dolphin built by James Lang of Dumbarton 1834
- The paddle-steamer Eagle built by Robert Steele & Co of Greenock 1835
- The paddle-steamer Unicorn built by Robert Steele & Co of Greenock 1836
- The paddle-steamer Juno built by Robert Duncan of Greenock 1837
- The paddle-steamer Achilles built by Robert Steels & Co, launched May 1839
- The tug Conqueror built by Robert Duncan of Greenock 1840
- The paddle-steamer Flambeau built by Robert Duncan of Greenock 1840
Following this Caird fitted engines to a significant number of screw-steamers built by other companies (i.e. propeller driven) particularly those built by Denny of Dumbarton up until 1851, and other ship builders until 1863.[4]
Ships built by Caird & Co
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- PS Sea Nymph (1845)
- PS Tynwald (1846)
- SS Atrato (1853)
- SS Hammonia (1855)
- SS Teutonia (1856)
- SS Austria (1857)
- SS Saxonia (1857)
- SS Bremen 1 (1858)
- SS Hansa (1861)
- SS Lord Clyde (1862)
- PS Alfred (1863)
- SS Germania (1863)
- PS Snaefell (1863)
- RMS Eider (1864)[5]
- PS Agnes E. Fry (1864)
- PS Douglas (1864)
- SS Hermann (1864)
- PS Stanley (1864)
- SS Princess Alice (1865)
- SS Deutschland (1866)
- PS Tynwald (1866)
- SS Baltimore (1867)
- SS Berlin (1867)
- SS Cimbria (1867)
- SS Weser (1867)
- SS Rhein 1 (1868)
- SS Donau (1868)
- SS Main (1868)
- SS Westphalia (1868)
- SS Leipzig (1869)
- SS Ohio (1869)
- SS Silesia (1869)
- SS Germania (1870)
- SS Vandalia (1871)
- SS Bokhara (1872)
- SS Frisia (1872)
- SS Strassburg (1872)
- RMS City of Chester (1873)
- SS Oder (1873)
- SS Saint Simon (ex-Rhenania) (1873)
- SS City of Berlin (1874)
- SS Governor General Loudon (1875)
- SV Inchgreen (1876)
- PS Snaefell (1876)
- SS Valetta (1883)
- SS Coromandel (1885)
- RMS Orinoco (1886)
- SS Gulf of Lions (1890)
- SS Gulf of Genoa (1891)
- SS Gulf of Bothnia (1891)
- SS Gulf of Siam (1892)
- SS Gulf of Taranto (1892)
- SS India (1896)
- RMS Arabia (1897)
- SS Assaye (1899)
- SS Sobraon (1900)
- SS Persia (1900)
- SS Plassy (1901)
- RMS Moldavia (1903)
- SS Wimmera (1904)
- SS Delhi (1905)
- SS Devanha (1905)
- SS Marama (1907)
- SS Malwa (1908)
- SS Mantua (1909)
- RMS Medina (1911)
- HMAS Berrima (1914)
- HMS P.22 (1916)
- HMS P.35 (1917)
- HMS P.42 (1917)
- HMS P.43 (1917)
- SS Burgondier (1918)
Notable members of the Caird family
edit- Edward Caird, philosopher
- John Caird, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glasgow
- Robert Caird, head of the company
References
edit- ^ Middlemiss, Frank. "Cairds". Inverclyde Shipbuilding & Engineering. Greenock: McLean Museum & Art Gallery. Retrieved 23 September 2010.
- ^ "The Clyde – From its Source to the Sea", W.J. Millar, Blackie, 1888, p212
- ^ "Engines of the West India Mail-Packets Clyde, Tay, Tweed, and Teviot", The Practical Mechanic and Engineer's Magazine, June 1845, p242 and plates XXI and XXIA
- ^ a b "Clyde Built Ships"
- ^ "Paddle Steamer EIDER built by Caird & Company in 1864 for Royal Mail Steam Packet Co, London, Passenger / Cargo". www.clydeships.co.uk. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
External links
edit- "Caird and Co". Graces Guide.