21-587: Henry Withy Furness Withy was a major British transport business. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange . The company was founded by Christopher Furness and Henry Withy (1852–1922) in 1891 in Hartlepool . This was achieved by the amalgamation of the Furness Line of steamers with the business of Edward Withy and Co. , iron and steel shipbuilders and repairers, of West Hartlepool , which
42-454: A lighter when one of them ignited. Several men were organised to fight the fire from the quayside, but to no avail. Eventually all the other firefighters withdrew except George Campbell Henderson, a sub-officer with the dockyard fire service, who doggedly held a firehose into the fire. An explosion in the lighter caused a fire which spread to the Bedenham , triggering a violent explosion in which
63-548: A business career, he decided to travel, and took an extended trip to South America. Upon his return home in 1876, Withy assisted his brother Edward in the management of the business of Edward Withy and Co. for about two years, after which Edward Withy retired and moved to New Zealand . Henry Withy thereby assumed sole responsibility for managing the works. In 1891, the Furness Line Company of Christopher Furness and Edward Withy and Co. were merged in Hartlepool . to form
84-718: A graving dock, capable of taking in steamers up to 7,000 tons deadweight, where many extensive jobs were undertaken. Withy was a Justice of the Peace (JP) and Town Councillor for the Borough of Hartlepool, member of the Board of Guardians, member of the Port Sanitary Authority, member of Lloyd's Technical Sub-Committee, member of the Institute of Naval Architects, of the Steel and Iron Institute, of
105-799: The Houlder Group , a company with offshore oil interests. Furness Withy bought Manchester Liners in 1970. The company was acquired by the Orient Overseas Container Line of Hong Kong in 1980. In 1990 it was resold to the Oetker Group , who at the time of purchase were the owners of Hamburg Süd . Furness Withy operated both tramp and liner services. The latter included transatlantic Royal Mail and passenger routes, initially from West Hartlepool to Boston and New York, and later from Liverpool to St John's, Newfoundland , Halifax, Nova Scotia and Boston. The Liverpool — Boston route
126-601: The bow was blown out of the water and onto Gun Wharf, while the rest of the ship sank. Thirteen people were killed in the explosion, including Henderson, who was posthumously awarded the George Cross for his bravery in attempting to extinguish the fire. The King's Police and Fire Services Medal (for Gallantry) was posthumously awarded to Albert Alexander Indoe, Chief Fire Officer HM Dockyard, Gibraltar. Two dock workers, among them Jose Moss, and two traders on nearby Ragged Staff Road were killed by flying debris. One firefighter
147-543: The 19th century, the Clyde was in the hey-day of its fame as a shipbuilding centre and he went there to improve his knowledge of the profession of shipbuilding. In 1873, Withy went to the historic shipyard of Robert Napier and Sons at Govan, and subsequently to the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company . Having spent three years on Clyde side, he returned to his brother's yard at Hartlepool. Before settling down to
168-710: The British West Indies. In 1952 S.S. Fort Amherst she was taken over by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary after the explosion of the RFA Bedenham and renamed RFA Amherst. A second Newfoundland and Nova Scotia were built as replacements in 1947 and served until 1962, when Furness, Withy sold them to Dominion Navigation Co. A third Newfoundland and Nova Scotia were built in 1964 and 1965, and were chartered to Shaw, Savill & Albion Line in 1973. Henry Withy Henry Withy (11 November 1852 – 31 May 1922)
189-590: The City of Gibraltar's fortress defensive walls, built between the 16th and 19th centuries, which deflected part of the explosion's blast. Another effect of the explosion was to delay the programme of housing necessary for the Gibraltarians who had been repatriated following their evacuation during World War II . The British Admiralty accepted full responsibility for the damage, and approximately £250,000 in Gibraltar pounds
210-516: The Company of Furness Withy . Withy's knowledge of electricity enabled him to put it to use both as motive power and for motor purposes, as well as for lighting the works. All of Furness, Withy and Co., Limited's machines ran on electricity; it was at the time the only shipyard in the United Kingdom to be driven throughout by electric power. Furness, Withy and Co. were also pioneers in the building of
231-949: The Company to a consortium led by Frederick Lewis , a Director in the business, in 1919. Also in 1919, Furness, Withy bought from Canada Steamship Lines the Quebec Steam Ship Company, which ran scheduled services between New York and Bermuda . Furness, Withy renamed its acquisition the Furness Bermuda Line . In 1928 Furness, Withy acquired the Red Cross Line. In 1965 Furness, Withy acquired Royal Mail Lines (formerly Royal Mail Steam Packet Company ) in 1965. In 1965, British and Commonwealth Shipping , Furness Withy, P&O and The Ocean Steamship Company established Overseas Containers Limited to exploit containerisation . In 1966 Furness, Withy terminated its Furness Bermuda Line operation. In 1968 Furness, Withy bought
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#1732863091124252-590: The Institution of Mechanical Engineers (5 August 1884, proposed by his brother Edward Withy ), of the Institute of Civil Engineers (6 December 1904) and of the North-East Coast Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders (past President, 1900-1901). He was also Mayor of Hartlepool in 1889-90. In 1902, he presented an ornamental drinking fountain that originally stood in the Burn Valley Gardens but
273-416: The first triple steamship in the port, and with the first use of telephone communication. In 1869, the average tonnage of the vessels they built was 436 tons; in 1879, it was 1,145 tons; in 1899 it had increased to 5,442 tons. In 1900, the shipyard was equipped for dealing with vessels of up to 600 ft (180 m) in length, and has turned out numerous fine passenger and cargo boats. The yard also possessed
294-609: The water but subsequently rescued. In addition to the human casualties, many of Gibraltar's buildings suffered substantial damage in the explosion, including the Cathedral of St. Mary the Crowned , the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity , and the Convent (the official residence of the governor of Gibraltar ). It was locally recognized that the damage to the town would have been much worse but for
315-737: Was a ship-builder and ship owner involved in local government of Hartlepool as a magistrate and councillor, and member of various boards and committees. Withy was born in Bristol , son of woollen draper and tailor Edward Withy and Sarah (née Atree). In his early childhood, he attended Brean Villa (Quaker) Preparatory School, Camden Terrace, Weston Super Mare , in Somerset . At the age of 10, he went to Friends' School, Sidcot , from 1862 to 1867. He served as an apprentice at Withy, Alexander & Co. in West Hartlepool for 5 years, between 1869 and 1874. Withy
336-429: Was first employed by large hardware establishment in the City of Bristol but he did not remain there long. He started business at the beginning of 1868, and twelve months later moved to Hartlepool , where he went into the yard of Withy, Alexander and Co. where his elder brother, Edward Withy was a partner. Here, he worked as an apprentice for five years, whilst picking up the rudiments of the knowledge of shipbuilding. In
357-687: Was founded by Edward Withy (1844-1927), Henry Withy's brother. An early acquisition in 1900 was a controlling interest in Richardsons Westgarth & Company , a marine engineering business. Furness, Withy started with 18 vessels and over the subsequent years it owned in excess of a thousand ships. It bought the Prince line in 1916. In 1917 the Furness Shipbuilding Co Ltd was established, at Haverton Hill , River Tees , initially for war production. The Furness family sold its interests in
378-725: Was injured. Dock overseer Salvador Bula was injured by the explosion but managed to get others who were injured to safety. Hundreds were injured and had to be taken to the Royal Naval Hospital Gibraltar , then known as the British Military Hospital Gibraltar. The crew of the Bedenham had already abandoned the ship by the time of the explosion, with the exception of the Captain and the Naval Armament Supply Officer, both of whom were blown into
399-594: Was moved to Clarence Road, Hartlepool in 1979. Explosion of the RFA Bedenham RFA Bedenham was a naval armament carrier of the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary that exploded while docked in Gibraltar on 27 April 1951, killing 13 people and causing a great deal of damage to the town. The Bedenham arrived in Gibraltar on 24 April 1951, tying up at Gun Wharf. On the morning of 27 April, depth charges were being unloaded into
420-623: Was paid out in indemnity . The remains of the Bedenham were towed from Gibraltar to the Tyne by the tug Saucy on 31 May 1952, whereupon they were scrapped. In the 1953 movie The Clue of the Missing Ape that was filmed in Gibraltar and produced by the Gaumont Specialised Film Unit , one of the characters, Pilar Ellis (played by Nati Banda) makes an unreferenced remark that "her mother
441-484: Was worked by a pair of sister ships, RMS Newfoundland and RMS Nova Scotia . The first Newfoundland and Nova Scotia were built in 1925 and 1926 but were requisitioned in 1940 and 1941. Both were lost to enemy action: Nova Scotia as a troop ship in 1942; Newfoundland as a hospital ship in 1943. S.S. Fort Amherst and her sister ship S.S. Fort Townshend were built by Blythswood Shipbuilding in 1936. They sailed between Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New York and
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