Refits and Repairs
The future could be bright

This stunning photo by Alistair Black shows the overhaul of WAVERLEY underway at Garvel dry dock. Alistair is a subscriber to our maritime community website Clydeshipping.

As the Clyde is the biggest port in west Scotland, it needs shiprepairers and something of a rebirth appears to be taking place in this important area of shipping and shipbuilding.

The Garvel Dry Dock has been operating for many years, but of late, it never seemed so busy. Nearly all of the Clyde's and Hebridean ferries have had their annual overhaul there and this year the paddle steamer WAVERLEY entered the dock for a quite extensive overhaul, including the replacement of one of her paddle shafts.

Garvel now operate two repair yards on the Clyde, recently they opened up business in the Ailsa yard in Troon and it gives ship enthusiasts a welcome chance to see vessels they might have to travel quite far to see.

But apart from that, it is of course good for the Clyde to have these vital skills in the area.

One other shiprepair facility is causing some excitement amongst local enthusiasts and that is the largest dry dock in Scotland, the Inchgreen facility at Port Glasgow/Greenock (much debate centres on what part of the Inverclyde area this dock belongs to!)

However, that isn't what causes the excitement. A Mersey company Northwestern Shiprepairers announced that they have taken a lease on the yard. No strangers to Inchgreen, they actually executed a very lengthy and involved refit of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel FORT GEORGE in 2003. This view on the right shows the massive ship in the dock after she had been brought in on the 10th March that year.. This, and many others, were posted on Clydeshipping by Gavin Stewart, a long term subscriber to the site (who has, incidentally, just recently joined the PSPS [Paddle Steamer Preservation Society] Scottish Branch Committee). Many more came from other subscribers whose cameras went into overdrive. The event caused quite a stir!

She remained there for many months, and if you were out and about on the WAVERLEY that year, you will no doubt remember her well.

So what about Inchgreen Dry Dock? Well, it is a relatively new dock, only built in 1960, and the following account comes from Gerry Deegan, posting in 2004

"As Barry (Watson) said in his reply the Devonia was berthed at Princess Pier and an ore carrier being towed to Glasgow for unloading, broke free of the tugs and rammed into the Devonia's stern, at that time (1960) the Dry Dock did not have an agreed wage structure with the unions, the men wanted paid the same wages as England and Glasgow Dry Docks. It was agreed that they would let the ship dock and be repaired and when the wage structure was settled the men would get paid back money if entitled.I remember standing at the dock side that day watching her enter then settle on the blocks evey one had high hopes for the future, it's sad to see how little the dry dock has been used since. "

So the first ship to use the dock was as a result of an accident. We are not too sure how many ships docked there, obviously not very many - however, two very well known ships used the dock. At the time the Clyde must have seemed to be on the cusp of greatness once more.

First, (of the two I am talking of), in to use it was none other than RMS QUEEN ELIZABETH, younger sister to QUEEN MARY, and, although many do not realise this, the larger of the two Queens. She came into Inchgreen for a refit, and Stuart Cameron proved the following picture and information:

"The Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth arriving back on the Clyde (for the first time since 1946, I think?) on 11 December 1965. She was bound for the new Inchgreen Drydock for a refit to make her suitable for cruising, an unsuccesful venture as it transpired. She is surrounded by a plethora of Clyde tugs - all Clyde Shipping (Ltd) by the looks of them. I wonder if the proposed developments at Inchgreen will bring similar scenes back to the Inverclyde waterfront or - in the unlikely event that the assembly of one of the proposed RN aircraft carriers was switched to Inchgreen - the name of this posting could be re-incarnated. "

As she was being refitted, a new, younger QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 was taking shape, the contract for her signed almost exactly a year previous to the older vessel arriving at Inchgreen. Another product of the John Brown yard, it must surely have made everyone on the Clyde extremely proud to have the old girl back home and the new girl building in Clydebank.

That new vessel, considered by many to be the most beautiful large liner ever built, came down to Inchgreen as well. Paul Strathdee posted this picture taken from his famous, on our site anyway, 'Nutters Notebook' of the QE2 heading down river for finishing at what Stuart Cameron reminded us was called then Firth of Clyde Drydock. Thousands witnessed this Atlantic beauty go down the Clyde

After this heady period, the end of the liner age appeared to be on the horizon. Cruising then was the pastime of the wealthy, very few people predicted that it would enjoy an astonishing boom period in the future. Common-sense would have told you that, as the baby-boomers aged, but perhaps in the sixties no-one wanted to think about old age that much!

The Clyde needed to find a new 'Big Idea' -and it did. Super Tankers. The eyes of the world watched as the biggest ships in the world were built, but, Inchgreen missed out - it wasn't big enough for the new breed! The use of the dock thereafter was sporadic, supported partly by the offshore industy and occasional dockings of newbuildings. In recent years there were protracted periods of idleness, until the arrival of the FORT GEORGE in 2003 and the announcement that Northwestern are going to use the dock. Currently leased by BAE SYSTEMS, as Stuart has said, there were hopes to build the new aircraft carriers there - that seems a more and more remote possibility.

Hope, despite it all, springs eternal on the Clyde and we are used to false dawns. Maybe this time, the slow seeds of shiprepairing we see being sowed now, will bear fruit in years to come.

(With thanks to Tom Carreyette for assistance on this article)