S & H Morton,
Skibsbyggere og Ingeniører
Thomas Morton (skibstømmer)
For at nå frem til de skibsbyggere, der oprindeligt besatte Victoria Shipyards-pladsen, skal vi først se på manden, der oprettede det første skibsværft på stedet.
Mens mange andre skibsværfter og skibsbyggere var rundt omkring i Leith og ved bredden af Water of Leith, var det Morton, der etablerede sig først. På stedet, der i sidste ende ville blive kendt som Victoria Shipyards.
Thomas Morton blev født i Leith i 1781 og voksede op til at blive skibstømrer ligesom sin far, Hugh. Han begyndte at arbejde for sin far, før han begyndte at etablere sig på egen hånd. Han etablerede sig i Leith som skibsbygger, og hans firma ville fortsætte med at blive S&H Morton & Co.
Da han ikke havde råd til sin egen tørdok i sine Leith-skibsværfter, tyede han til den meget farlige proces med at slæbe skibe op på smurte veje, ikke bare farligt, men meget tidskrævende, han satte sig for at løse denne udfordring. I 1818 havde han opfundet og installeret den første patentseddel. Dette var en bedding med en vugge til at trække skibe op af vandet. Han fik patent på sin opfindelse året efter.
Som med de fleste gode opfindelser kunne dette let gentages og sikkert nok, før han vidste af det, hver mand, der troede, han kunne bygge en, havde en chance. I 1824 sagsøgte han John Barclay i Edinburgh for patentkrænkelse, efter at han havde installeret en lignende anordning i værfterne til hans firma, Stobcross, som var blevet beskrevet tre år tidligere af skibstømgerkollegaen William Denny som en dårlig kopi. Retten gav Morton medhold.
Hans opfindelse var meget vellykket og burde have givet ham en formue. Der blev bygget omkring 45 slips i Skotland, England og i Irland, sammen med mange i Amerika og Rusland, tjente han nogle penge, men da det blev tid til at forny patentet rettigheder Parlamentet nægtede ham hans rettigheder og tildelte ham kun den lille sum af £2.500 pund. Morton havde brugt meget af sin tid på at kæmpe mod profitørerne af hans opfindelse, og han døde ret ung i december 1832, han blev interneret i South Leith Parish kirke, mens hans firma ville fortsætte med at fungere som S & H Morton & Co.
Skibe bygget af S. & H. Morton & Co.
Den fulde liste over skibe bygget på S & H Morton skibsværftet vil blive vist her over tid, hvis du har oplysninger om skibene eller billeder, så send dem venligst til Ron@theloftsman.com
S & H Morton var værftet ejet og drevet af sønnerne af Thomas Morton, Samuel og Hugh Morton
SS Wendouree blev bygget som Yard No 32 og lanceret i 1882. Dette billede er fra State Library of Victoria. Fra den afdøde A. Green-samling.
SS Britannia blev bygget som Yard No 46 i 1885 - ovenstående er en grov skitse af, hvordan hun kan have set ud, produceret af bjærgningseksperter og først vist på følgende dykkersted.
TOM MORTON
1872
Iron screw cargo steamer
The following is from Flotilla Australia-
TOM MORTON 1,402 gross tons. Iron cargo steamship built by Morton, S&H, yard 21, Leith for 'unknown'. Launched November 1872, Date completed unknown. 1874 chartered from H. Moreton for 12 months taking mail from Singapore. First voyage of charter January 18 1874. 1876 sold to G. V. Turnbull. Went missing - sailed Cardiff 4 December 1886 for Constantinople
PIZARRO
1883
Iron screw cargo steamer
Fate - SS Punta Teno, built by S. & H. Morton & Co., Leith in 1883 launched as SS Pizzaro and owned at the time of her loss by Cia. Anon. Navegacion de Tenerife, Orotava, Tenerife, was a Spanish steamer of 1042 tons. On January 29th, 1917, Punta Teno, on a voyage from Santa Cruz de Tenerife to Bordeaux with a cargo of bananas and onions, was sunk by the German submarine U-67 (Hans Nieland), off NW coast of Spain. There were no casualties.
WENDOUREE
1882
Iron screw cargo steamer, Wendouree was built as a collier by S & H Morton & Co., Leith, Scotland for Huddart Parker & Co. Pty, Ltd of Geelong, near Melbourne, Victoria. She was later refitted to carry passengers for the Melbourne to Sydney run. She was wrecked on the Oyster Bank at the mouth of the Hunter River, as she left for a run from Newcastle NSW to Adelaide, South Australia, with a cargo 1850 tons of coal. She stranded on the bar on 20th July 1898. Fortunately, there were no casualties and all 24 of her crew got away safely.
MIDLOTHIAN
1871
Iron screw cargo steamer
Fate- SS Midlothian, built by S. & H. Morton & Co., Leith in 1871 and owned at the time of her loss by Richard H. Littlehales, Manchester, She was flying the red Duster as a British steamer of 1321 tons. On September 30th, 1917, SS Midlothian, on a voyage from Famagusta to Deir el Ballah with a cargo of firewood, was sunk by gunfire by the German submarine U-73 (Ernst von Voigt), 80 miles south from Cape Greco, Cyprus. There were no casualties.
BRITANNIA
1885
Steel screw passenger/cargo steamer
Fate - SS Britannia 1885 had the dubious distinction of sinking twice, the first time she sunk after a collision with SS Bear in 1891 off St Abbs Head, she was salvaged and ironically she was repaired and returned to working service by the shipyard of R&F which was based right next door to S&H Morton shipyards.
Her second sinking is here re-told by the diving club that has dived on her wreck many times - On a foggy morning in the Farne Islands, September 1915 the SS Britannia ran aground. She was on a trip from Newcastle to Leith and hit ‘the Callers’ early morning on the 25th of September.
Word was sent to Seahouses of the wreck and the lifeboat dispatched. It was hoped that the Britannia might re-float on the next tide; however, it soon became apparent that this would not be the case owing to the amount of water in her holds. The lifeboat took off Captain Halerow, 19 crew, and 2 passengers and she was abandoned.
It is not clear exactly what her cargo was at the time of the sinking, whatever it was she was quickly relieved of it by local fishermen who report they had found nothing but boots, all of which were ‘left’.
http://mansfield-scuba.co.uk/ss-britannia/
You can read a lot more about all the early Leith Built Ships in my book Leith-Built Ships Vol. I, They Once Were Shipbuilders
