Belfast Ship Building

Belfast has been very famous in the last 100 years for its ship building. Ship building was one of Belfast's biggest industries, employing thousands of people in the days of its height. Many a Belfast man has worked in the ship yards and some of the biggest and best ocean liners of the early 20th century came from Belfast.

Actual ship building in Belfast began in 1791.[1]. The Harland and Wolff shipyard was founded in 1862 by Edward J. Harland and G.W. Wolff[2]. During the second world war there was a boom in ship building[3]. Some of the industries of the early 20 century are in decline, although ship building continues, in a smaller form than the boom days.

At its height, Belfast had one of the biggest shipyards in the world, employing over 30000 people[4].

Some of the ships built by Harland and Wolff include[5]:

Olympic class ocean liners:

Aircraft Carriers:

Cruisers:

Associated with textiles and shipbuilding were ancillary industries such as engineering. For example, from 1881 the Sirocco works made industrial fans. Belfast Ropeworks, established in 1873 under Gustav, made ropes for the shipyards, and the factory in East Belfast became the world's largest ropeworks (now the site of the Connswater shopping centre[6]

References

  1. Tim Lambert, A BRIEF HISTORY OF BELFAST, BELFAST IN THE 18th CENTURY. Available [online] from: http://www.localhistories.org/belfast.html [Accessed 24 February 2007].
  2. Tim Lambert, A BRIEF HISTORY OF BELFAST, BELFAST IN THE 19th CENTURY. Available [online] from: http://www.localhistories.org/belfast.html [Accessed 24 February 2007].
  3. Tim Lambert, A BRIEF HISTORY OF BELFAST, BELFAST IN THE 20th CENTURY. Available [online] from: http://www.localhistories.org/belfast.html [Accessed 24 February 2007].
  4. Wikipedia, History, Belfast. Available [online] from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belfast [Accessed 24 February 2007].
  5. Wikipedia, Ships built, Harland and Wolff. Available [online] from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harland_and_Wolfe [Accessed 24 February 2007].
  6. Royle, S A., 2006. Belfast Foundations of the Twentieth Century. THE NINETEETNTH CENTURY. In: Boal, F.W, Royle, S A. ENDURING CITY Belfast in the Twentieth Century (ISBN: 0-856407909) BLACKSTAFF PRESS, 21.

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© 2007 | Belfast History developed by David Bennett