J & W Dudgeon

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 370 1863
Coya 515 August 1863[10]
Apelles 1030 6 May 1863
Dee 324 1863
Kate 477 1863
Vesta 370 1863
Ceres 374 1863
Don 390 23 May 1863
Hebe 449 9 1863
SS Far East 1259 31 October 1863[11]
SS Experiment 1863
SS Edith 537 1864
Atalanta 380 1864
PS Avalon 614 26 March 1864[12]
PS Zealous 613 23 April 1864[13]
SS Run Her 481 1864
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 666 23 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 198 60 28 July 1866
SS Henda 143 1867
SS Assunta 143 1867
HMS Viper 1228 21 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 2900 19 February 1870
SS La Pampa 1698 75 4 April 1870
SS King Masaba 281 1871
SS Lulio 670 13 October 1870
HMS Hecate 3480 30 September 1871[16]
PS Richard Young 718 1871
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 734 June 1873
SS Santander 2213 103 13 December 1872
SS Langkat 276 November 1874
SS Brahestad 233 May 1874
SS Calais 309 1874
SS South Western 657 12 September 1874[17]
SS Guernsey 545 121 31 January 1874
SS The Miner 1874
SS Duckenfield 368 131 15 May 1875
HMS Neptune 9310 10 September 1874

References

  1. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c d "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. 1994. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  4. ^ "Naval and Military Intelligence". The Times. No. 28142. 24 October 1874. p. 5, col. E.
  5. ^ "Money-Market and City Intelligence". The Times. No. 28450. 19 October 1875. p. 6.
  6. ^ "5 firemen killed in explosion". The Times. No. 57615. 18 July 1969. p. 1.
  7. ^ "Dudgeon's Wharf". London Fire Journal. 24 December 2009. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  8. ^ "Modern Docklands: Docklands housing". Survey of London: volumes 43 and 44: Poplar, Blackwall and Isle of Dogs. Institute of Historical Research. 1994. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  9. ^ "Launch of the Flora". East London Observer. England. 4 October 1862. Retrieved 30 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  10. ^ "Sydney direct in 70 days". London Daily News. England. 14 September 1863. Retrieved 30 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  11. ^ "For Sale. The Winn-Screw steamer Far East". Liverpool Daily Post. England. 12 February 1870. Retrieved 3 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  12. ^ "Harwich. The Continental Traffic". The Suffolk Chronicle. England. 2 April 1864. Retrieved 3 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  13. ^ "Great Eastern Railway". London Evening Standard. England. 27 April 1864. Retrieved 29 October 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  14. ^ "Launch of the Ravensbury". Essex Standard. England. 1 June 1864. Retrieved 30 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  15. ^ "HMS Viper at Naval Database website". Retrieved 23 September 2008.[permanent dead link‍]
  16. ^ "Thames versus Clyde Shipbuilding". Greenock Advertiser. Scotland. 10 October 1871. Retrieved 30 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  17. ^ "Launch at Messrs. Dudgeon's". East London Observer. England. 19 September 1874. Retrieved 30 November 2015 – via British Newspaper Archive.

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


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