Organisation Yarrow & Co. Ltd. (1875 - c. 1966)

From
1875
Poplar, Isle of Dogs, United Kingdom
To
c. 1966
Functions
Shipbuilding firm
Alternative Names
  • Yarrow and Hedley of Poplar (Previous name)

Summary

Yarrow & Co. Ltd. was a renowned and innovative shipbuilder's firm begun in Poplar by Sir Alfred Fernandez Yarrow. Yarrow and Co built torpedo boats on commission for the British, Russian, Argentine, Australian, Japanese and French governments, among others.

Begun as a partnership, Yarrow and Hedley of Poplar built their first torpedo boat (length 55 feet, beam 7 feet) in 1874 for the Argentine Republic. The partnership of Yarrow and Hedley was dissolved in 1875 when Hedley went into business on his own account. At about this time Alfred Yarrow extended his field of operations, and turned his attention to the construction of light draught steamers, the move was so successful that these vessels became a prominent part of Messrs. Yarrow and Company's business. In 1878 Alfred Yarrow broke all previous speed records with two first-class torpedo boats (length 85 feet, beam 11 feet; trial speed 21.9 knots) built for Russia, the British Government by virtue of an Order in Council appropriated these because of Russia's hostile attitude towards England at the time. In 1885 Alfred Yarrow acquired part of the adjoining yard of Samuda Brothers. By 1887 the number of employees had increased to 1,600, and by 1894 the yard occupied some three and a half acres, and employed 1,000 workmen.

The 'steam impulse' torpedo projection system that was devised by Yarrow & Co. in the mid-1880s was considered a vast improvement on previous designs and eventually became used universally in all Royal Navy torpedo boats. Around the same time, Yarrow built the first torpedo boat capable of travelling at 22 knots.

Iin 1894 Yarrow and Co. of Poplar produced the world's first aluminium torpedo boat (length 60 feet, beam 9 feet 6 inches), fitted with an inverted-vertical triple-expansion condensing marine engine, operating at 580 to 600 revolutions per minute, with steam supplied at 185 pounds per square inch by a Yarrow water-tube boiler.

in 1892 Yarrow and Co. built the first two destroyers for the Royal Navy: Havock and Hornet of the Havock class.

In the 1890s Alfred Yarrow continued to refine his already popular design for the Yarrow water-tube boiler. It was so popular that in 1894 a United States Governmental Official stole drawings of the workings of the boiler. In 1900 it was incorporated in the engine of the HMS Viper, which eclipsed all previous speed records, achieving a speed of 36 knots.

In 1906 Yarrow & Co. Relocated from Poplar, London to Scotstoun, Glasgow in order to expand their works.

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Details

Events

1865
Yarrow and Hedley Shipyards established by Sir Alfred Yarrow, Poplar
c. 1870 - c. 1880
Constructed torpedo boats for the Argentinian and Japanese navies
1875
Hedley leaves partnership, company known as Yarrow and Co.
1892
Constructed Navy Destroyers Havock and Hornet
1898
Yarrow & Co re-locates to London
1906 - 1908
Shipyards are re-located to Scotstoun on the Clyde, Scotland

Related entries

Published resources

Books

  • Walker, F. M., Songs of the Clyde, A history of Clyde shipbuilding, Patrick Stephens Ltd., Cambridge, 1984, 142-145 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • 'Yarrow & Co. Ltd.', in Ritchie L A (ed.), The shipbuilding industry, a guide to historical records, ed., Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1992, pp. 161-162. Details
  • Banbury, P, 'Yarrow & co. Ltd', in Shipbuilding on the Thames and Medway, Davis & Charles Ltd., Devon, 1971, pp. 296-303. Details
  • Baxter, B, 'Alfred Fernandez Yarrow', in Slaven, A and Checkland, S (eds), Dictionary of Scottish Business Biography 1860-1960, 1 edn, Aberdeen University Press, Aberdeen, 1986, pp. 245-247. Details
  • Ritchie, L. A., 'Yarrow, Sir Alfred Fernandez, first baronet (1842-1932)', in Matthew, H. C. G. And Harrison, B. (eds), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 60, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004, pp. 732-733. Details
  • Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, E H, 'Yarrow, Sir Alfred Fernandez (1842-1932)', in Wickham Leg, L G (ed.), The Dictionary of National Biography 1931-1940, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 926-928. Details

Journal Articles

  • 'Express Launches', Engineering, vol. 12, 15 December 1871, pp. 394-395. Details
  • 'Messrs Yarrow and Company, of Poplar', The Engineer, vol. 41, 19 May 1876, p. 382. Details
  • 'Russian Armaments', Engineering, vol. 25, 25 January 1878, p. 64. Details
  • 'Yarrow's torpedo boat', Engineering, vol. 28, 17 October 1879, pp. 307-309. Details
  • 'Torpedo boats - Messrs Yarrow and Co', Engineering, vol. 28, 31 October 1879, p. 335. Details
  • 'Messrs Yarrow and Co's torpedo boats', Engineering, vol. 36, 9 November 1883, p. 437. Details
  • 'Discharging torpedoes', The Engineer, vol. 55, 30 April 1883, p. 291. Details
  • '1884', The Engineer, 4 January 1884, pp. 11-17. Details
  • 'Fast torpedo boats', The Engineer, vol. 61, 26 March 1886, p. 248. Details
  • 'Torpedo vessels and their equipments', The Engineer, vol. 62, 5 November 1886, p. 374. Details
  • 'Torpedo boats', The Engineer, vol. 61, 22 January 1886, p. 69. Details
  • 'Torpedo boat for the Japanese Government', The Engineer, vol. 62, 2 July 1886, pp. 14-15. Details
  • 'Trial of Yarrow's torpedo boat', Engineering, vol. 42, 10 December 1886, p. 593. Details
  • 'Hoisting Second-Class Torpedo Boats', Engineering, vol. 42, 1 October 1886, p. 334 and 340. Details
  • 'A new torpedo boat', The Engineer, vol. 65, 30 March 1888, p. 263. Details
  • 'Yarrow's Diverging Torpedo Guns', Engineering, vol. 46, 16 November 1888, p. 476 & 479. Details
  • 'Yarrow's Torpedo Boat with Quadruple-Expansion Engines', Engineering, vol. 50, 21 November 1890, pp. 608-609. Details
  • 'Trial of a Yarrow water-tube boiler', The Engineer, vol. 76, 17 November 1893, p. 465. Details
  • 'Thefts of drawings', The Engineer, vol. 77, 20 April 1894, p. 331. Details
  • 'The Daring and the Hornet', The Engineer, Letter to the Editor by A. Yarrow and Co. , vol. 78, 10 August 1894, p. 132. Details
  • 'Engineering works on the Thames No. 3. Messrs. Yarrow and Co', The Engineer, vol. 77, 22 June 1894, pp. 535-539. Details
  • 'Where are the missing drawings?', The Engineer, Editorial, vol. 77, 6 April 1894, p. 290. Details
  • 'Torpedo-boat drawings', Engineering, vol. 57, 6 April 1894, p. 459. Details
  • 'Engineering works on the Thames No III - Messrs Yarrow and Co', The Engineer, vol. 77, 22 June 1894, pp. 535-539. Details
  • 'Aluminium torpedo boat', The Engineer, Letter to the Editor by Perplexed, vol. 78, 12 October 1894, p. 329. Details
  • 'The vibration of steam-ships and engines', The Engineer, Editorial, vol. 79, 19 April 1895, pp. 335-336. Details
  • 'Aluminium torpedo boats for France', The Engineer, vol. 79, 17 May 1895, p. 418. Details
  • 'Torpedo boat design', The Engineer, vol. 85, 28 January 1898, p. 88. Details
  • 'Thames shipbuilding and marine engineering', The Engineer, vol. 86, 30 December 1898, pp. 636-638. Details
  • 'Torpedo boat design', The Engineer, vol. 85, 1 April 1898, p. 312. Details
  • 'Description of some experiments with a water-tube boiler', The Engineer, vol. 85, 1 April 1898, pp. 309-310. Details
  • 'Torpedo boat design', The Engineer, vol. 85, 1 April 1898, p. 312. Details
  • 'Torpedo vessels built on the Thames', The Engineer, vol. 86, 30 December 1898, p. 639. Details
  • 'Thames Pioneer Shipbuilders and Marine Engineers', The Engineer, vol. 87, 27 January 1899, pp. 81-84. Details
  • 'Thames Pioneer Shipbuilders and Marine Engineers', The Engineer, vol. 87, 27 January 1899, pp. 81-84. Details
  • 'Sir Alfred F. Yarrow', The Engineer, vol. 153, 20 January 1932, pp. 133-135. Details
  • 'Sir Alfred F Yarrow, Bart, FRS Honorary Vice-President', Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects, vol. 74, 38457, pp. 301-305. Details
  • 'Sir Alfred Fernandez Yarrow (1842-1932)', Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society, no. 1, 12024. Details
  • 'Sir Alfred Fernandez Yarrow', Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, vol. 234, 38458, pp. 546-550. Details
  • 'From the Thames to the Clyde. A history of Yarrow and Co. Ltd.', Ship and Boat Builder, vol. 234, January 1955, pp. 546-550. Details
  • A. F. Yarrow,, 'Balancing of marine engines and the vibration of vessels', Engineering, vol. 53, 8 April 1892, pp. 434-436. Details
  • Kirkpatrick, C R S, 'Sir Alfred Fernandez Yarrow Bart., LL.D., F.R.S. (1842-1932)', Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, vol. 233, 1933, p. 323. Details
  • Mansel, R., 'Notes on trial of Messrs Yarrow and Co's torpedo screw vessel', Engineering, Letter to the Editor, vol. 28, 28 November 1879, pp. 410-411. Details
  • Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, E H, 'Sir Alfred Fernandez Yarrow (1842-1932)', Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society, vol. 1, December 1932, pp. 7-11. Details
  • Yarrow, A. F., 'Torpedo-Boats, Having Special Reference To Those Built By Messrs. Yarrow and Co.', The Journal of the Royal United service Institution, vol. 28, pp. 602-628. Details
  • Yarrow, A. F., 'On the Working Expenses of Steamers of Small Size', Engineering, vol. 11, 7 April 1871, p. 255. Details
  • Yarrow, A.F., 'An aluminium torpedo-boat', Engineering, vol. 59, 12 April 1895, pp. 470-471. Details

Newspaper Articles

  • 'Sir Alfred Yarrow: A pioneer of high-speed vessels', The Times, 11713, p. 17. Details

Reports

  • Sir Alfred Yarrow an outline history, Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd., Scotstown, Glasgow. Details

Online Resources

Sources used to compile this entry: Baxter, B, 'Alfred Fernandez Yarrow', in Slaven, A and Checkland, S (eds), Dictionary of Scottish Business Biography 1860-1960, 1 edn, Aberdeen University Press, Aberdeen, 1986, pp. 245-247; Ritchie, L. A., 'Yarrow, Sir Alfred Fernandez, first baronet (1842-1932)', in Matthew, H. C. G. And Harrison, B. (eds), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 60, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2004, pp. 732-733; Tennyson-d'Eyncourt, E H, 'Yarrow, Sir Alfred Fernandez (1842-1932)', in Wickham Leg, L G (ed.), The Dictionary of National Biography 1931-1940, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 926-928.

Prepared by: Rebecca Rigby