What may be described, however, as the opening of the age of iron on the Wear did not begin till the year 1863. During that year 17,720 tons of iron shipping were launched, and from that time the declension of wood shipbuilding, which had long made the Wear a distinguished shipbuilding port in the United Kingdom, proceeded apace. The causes of fluctuation in the trade throughout the subsequent years cannot be traced with any circumstantiality, but the general progress made can be readily gathered from the subjoined tabular record of the number of ships built yearly, with their aggregate and average tonnage. Wood vessels, it may be stated, formed part of the aggregate till the year 1878, when wood dropped out of the arena altogether:—
| Year. | No. of | Gross Tons. | Average | Year. | No. of | Gross Tons. | Average |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ships. | Tons. | Ships. | Tons. | ||||
| 1860 | 112 | 40,200 | 359 | 1872 | 122 | 131,825 | 1081 |
| 1861 | 126 | 46,778 | 371 | 1873 | 95 | 99,371 | 1046 |
| 1862 | 160 | 56,920 | 356 | 1874 | 88 | 88,022 | 1000 |
| 1863 | 171 | 70,040 | 410 | 1875 | 91 | 79,904 | 878 |
| 1864 | 153 | 71,987 | 470 | 1876 | 60 | 54,041 | 901 |
| 1865 | 172 | 73,134 | 425 | 1877 | 75 | 87,578 | 1168 |
| 1866 | 145 | 62,719 | 432 | 1878 | 85 | 109,900 | 1293 |
| 1867 | 128 | 52,249 | 408 | 1879 | 65 | 92,200 | 1418 |
| 1868 | 138 | 70,302 | 510 | 1880 | 77 | 116,200 | 1509 |
| 1869 | 122 | 72,420 | 594 | 1881 | 88 | 148,000 | 1681 |
| 1870 | 103 | 70,084 | 681 | 1882 | 123 | 212,500 | 1727 |
| 1871 | 97 | 81,903 | 844 | 1883 | 126 | 212,300 | 1685 |
During the years 1871, 1872, and 1873 the output from the Clyde yards averaged 50 per cent. of the total shipping produced throughout the United Kingdom. That high proportion fell for the years 1874, 1875, and 1876 to as low as 37½ per cent. In 1882 the Clyde’s contribution to the grand total did not exceed 32½ per cent., so that in one decade the premier shipbuilding centre has fallen from the proud position of producing half the total shipping built within the United Kingdom to that of turning out less than one-third. Mr William Denny, dealing with this subject in a paper on the “Industries of Scotland,” read before the Philosophical Society of Dumbarton, in December, 1878, attributed the then condition of affairs with regard to the tonnage output of the Clyde to the keen competition of the builders on the North-East Coast of England, who managed to produce their favourite type of heavy-carrying, slow-speed steamers at very much less cost than could be done on the Clyde. Their success in this he attributed to four causes—1st, to the enterprise of the small shipowners and the general public on the North-East Coast of England in supplying capital for steamers of this kind; 2nd, to the great cheapness of iron in that district; 3rd, to the long hours worked, enabling the shipbuilding plant to be more profitably employed, and to the great development of piece-work; 4th, to the fact that all the builders being engaged upon work of the same class, the price of which could be measured per ton of dead-weight carried, or per ton gross, and per nominal horse-power, they were able easily to compare the efficiency of each other’s yard in point of production, and by that means a keen competition was produced amongst each other. On the Clyde the great variety and frequent speciality of the work prevented any such common measure of prices existing. This way of accounting for the altered relative positions of the chief shipbuilding centres was doubtless at that time the correct one, and to a large extent it still holds true. The productiveness of the North-East Coast ports has in no way declined since, notwithstanding that a larger number of the higher class passenger ships which have long been so much a Clyde speciality are now being constructed there. But the number of yards everywhere have increased in a higher ratio than on the Clyde, and consequently the aggregate of new shipping produced annually in the United Kingdom is made up of a greater number of separate contributions. That this is mainly the reason of the present position of the Clyde relatively to the whole United Kingdom is proved by the figures contained in the accompanying table, which show, amongst other things, that the ratio of tonnage produced by each of the principal districts to the total produced by the whole of them, has not very much altered during the past six years, or since Mr Denny spoke on the subject. If anything, indeed, the Clyde shows in this respect an advance over its northern rivals: although the advance of the Wear during the past two years is equally marked.
Table giving the Number and Tonnage of Vessels Built on the Clyde, Tyne, Wear, and Tees, during the Years 1878-83 inclusive; also showing the Average Tonnage of the Vessels and the Ratio which the Tonnage produced in each District bears to the Total Tonnage:
| Districts. | 1878. | 1879. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Tons. | Av’rage | Ratio | No. | Tons. | Av’rage | Ratio | |
| Ton’ge. | to Total. | Ton’ge. | to Total. | |||||
| Clyde | 254 | 222,300 | 875 | 43·5 | 191 | 174,800 | 915 | 39·8 |
| Tyne | 115 | 126,300 | 1096 | 24·7 | 130 | 139,800 | 1075 | 32·0 |
| Wear | 85 | 109,900 | 1293 | 21·5 | 65 | 92,200 | 1418 | 21·0 |
| Tees | 37 | 52,500 | 1419 | 10·3 | 25 | 31,800 | 1272 | 7·2 |
| Totals | 491 | 511,000 | 100·0 | 411 | 438,600 | 100·0 | ||
| Districts. | 1880. | 1881. | ||||||
| Clyde | 209 | 248,700 | 1189 | 44·2 | 261 | 341,000 | 1306 | 47·0 |
| Tyne | 109 | 149,100 | 1367 | 26·5 | 123 | 177,200 | 1440 | 24·5 |
| Wear | 77 | 116,200 | 1509 | 20·6 | 88 | 148,000 | 1681 | 20·4 |
| Tees | 38 | 48,500 | 1279 | 8·7 | 34 | 58,600 | 1723 | 8·1 |
| Totals | 433 | 562,500 | 100·0 | 506 | 724,800 | 100·0 | ||
| Districts. | 1882. | 1883. | ||||||
| Clyde | 297 | 391,900 | 1319 | 44·6 | 329 | 419,700 | 1276 | 45·1 |
| Tyne | 132 | 208,400 | 1578 | 23·8 | 159 | 216,600 | 1362 | 23·3 |
| Wear | 123 | 212,500 | 1727 | 24·2 | 126 | 212,300 | 1685 | 23·0 |
| Tees | 40 | 65,000 | 1625 | 7·4 | 44 | 81,800 | 1859 | 8·6 |
| Totals | 592 | 877,800 | 100·0 | 658 | 930,400 | 100·0 | ||
With respect to the progress of shipbuilding in steel, little requires to be added to the general account given in [Chapter I]. The tonnage annually produced in steel is a constantly-increasing quantity. Hitherto the Clyde has contributed quite three-fourths of the tonnage of steel vessels, owing chiefly to the vigorous way in which certain of the shipbuilders there have adopted the practice, and also to the openness of the local field for the extensive manufacture of the new material. The North-East Coast, however, bids fair, in the immediate future, to become as productive in steel tonnage as the Clyde district. Recently-discovered processes by which the vast stores of Cleveland ironstone may be made profitably available in steel manufacture are working great changes in the way of modifying old and causing the erection of new works.
The extraordinary growth of steel shipbuilding since its commencement in 1878 is well illustrated by the accompanying tables, which are taken from a paper by Mr W. John, on “Recent Improvements in Iron and Steel Shipbuilding,” read at the meetings of the Iron and Steel Institute in May of the present year. The figures relating to steel may be taken, where any divergence occurs, as more authoritative than those occurring in the general account of work in steel in [Chapter I]. The tables, however, partake of the imperfections already fully alluded to in the present chapter. With regard to them, Mr John says:—“Unfortunately, neither of these tables show the actual amount of shipping, either steel or iron, built in this country, because there would have to be a small percentage, perhaps between ten and twenty, to be added to those classed at Lloyds on Table I. for unclassed ships, and there would be a certain proportion, which I am unable to ascertain, to be added to the figures on Table II. for ships built for foreign owners in this country, and not entered upon the British register. However, the figures in themselves are sufficiently significant of the enormous growth of steel shipbuilding within the last six years, and it will be seen at once, as I have said before, that steel as a material for shipbuilding has passed entirely out of the experimental stage, and must be judged henceforth by the results of its working in the shipyards, and by the results of the performances of the ships already afloat, both as profit-earning machines for their owners, by their general wear and tear, for their safety against strains at sea, and in cases of collision and stranding.”
Table I.—Statement showing the Number and Tonnage of Steel and Iron Vessels Classed by Lloyd’s Register of British and Foreign Shipping during the Years 1878 to 1883, both inclusive.