View source for Richardson, Duck and Company

{{Short description|Shipbuilding company in Thornaby-on-Tees, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=October 2017}}
'''Richardson, Duck and Company''' was a shipbuilding company in [[Thornaby-on-Tees]], [[England]] that traded between 1855 and 1925.<ref name=Grace>{{cite web |url= http://www.gracesguide.co.uk/wiki/Richardson,_Duck_and_Co |title=Richardson, Duck and Co |author= |date=29 January 2009 |work=Grace's Guide: The Best of British Engineering 1750–1960s |publisher= |access-date=25 May 2011}}</ref>

==History==
The yard was founded as the South Stockton Iron Ship Building Co in 1852.<ref name=Grace/> Its premises were the former yard of engine builders Fossick of Stockton and its first vessel was the iron-hulled steamship ''Advance''.<ref name=Grace/> In 1855 Joseph Richardson and George Nixon Duck took over the yard. They built fifty iron steamships, a [[paddle steamer]], ten [[sailing ship]]s and 29 barges in their first ten years.<ref name=Grace/> In 1859 they built the paddle steamer ''Tasmanian Maid'' (yard no. 9)<ref name=Tees>{{cite web |url= http://www.teesbuiltships.co.uk/richardsonduck/aalist.htm |title=Richardson, Duck & Company Limited |work=Tees Built Ships |publisher=Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust |access-date=26 May 2011}}</ref> which in 1863 was converted into the [[gunboat]] {{HMS|Sandfly|1863|6}}.

In 1859 Richardson, Duck took over the Rake Kimber yard at [[Middlesbrough]].<ref name=Grace/> They built about 11 vessels at Middlesbrough and then sold the yard to [[Sir Raylton Dixon|Backhouse and Dixon]] in 1862.<ref name=Grace/> In 1870 Richardson, Duck built {{SS|Burgos||2}} (yard no. 160)<ref name=Tees/> which in 1884 was re-engined with a [[Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion|triple-expansion engine]] made by [[George Young Blair|Blair & Co]] of [[Stockton-on-Tees]]. In 1893 the company built the German merchant ship {{SS|Athen|1893|2}}.

In the 1900s Richardson, Duck started building steel hulls.<ref name=Grace/> By the end of that decade Richardson, Duck had built five hundred [[Tramp trade|tramp steamers]], other merchant ships and [[Lighter (barge)|lighters]].<ref name=Grace/> It had also become licensees for the Isherwood system of longitudinal framing.<ref name=Grace/>

Richardson, Duck's ships in 1911 included the cargo steamship ''Budapest'' (yard no. 616)<ref name=Tees/> which was later renamed ''Kerwood'' and in 1918 was commissioned into the [[United States Navy|US Navy]] as {{USS|Kerwood|ID-1489|2}}. In 1912 Richardson, Duck built 12 ships and became a [[Limited company|limited liability company]].<ref name=Grace/>
 
In the [[World War I|First World War]] the yard built the [[Arabis-class sloop|''Arabis''-class sloop]] {{HMS|Rosemary||6}} (yard no. 661)<ref name=Tees/> and [[Aubrietia-class sloop|''Aubrietia''-class sloop]] {{HMS|Tulip|1916|6}} (yard no. 666).<ref name=Tees/> It also built a further dozen tramp steamers, eight standard War "A" tramps and a standard "AO" tanker.<ref name=Grace/> Richardson, Duck's wartime merchant orders included ''[[SS Empire Conveyor|Farnworth]]'' (yard no. 651), {{SS|Plawsworth||2}} (yard no. 652)<ref name=Tees/> and [[SS Bury Hill|''Cardigan'']] (yard no. 653) launched in 1917; {{SS|Kenilworth||2}} (yard no. 662), {{SS|War Vulture||2}} (yard no. 671), {{SS|War Ostrich||2}} (yard no. 672) and {{SS|War Anglian||2}} (yard no. 673) all launched in 1918 and {{SS|Wentworth|1919|2}} (yard no. 676) and {{SS|Clearton||2}} (yard no. 677)<ref name=Tees/> launched in 1919.

[[File:NOLLINGTON COURT (9564510839).jpg|thumb|Richardson, Duck built the cargo steamship ''Conistone'' as yard no. 686 and launched her in 1924. She was renamed ''Nollington Court'' in 1927 and sank in the [[Caribbean Sea|Caribbean]] in 1937.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.teesbuiltships.co.uk/view.php?&ref=170715 |title=Conistone |work=Tees Built Ships |publisher=Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust |access-date=24 May 2021}}</ref>]]
In 1919 Richardson, Duck became a [[public company]] and in 1920 James and Walter Gould acquired a controlling interest in it.<ref name=Grace/> In 1922 the yard suffered industrial action and a lack of orders. Richardson, Duck's final ship was {{SS|Southborough||2}} (yard no. 689) in 1924.<ref name=Tees/> In May 1925 the Gould Group went into liquidation and in 1933 the yard was demolished.<ref name=Grace/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Thornaby-on-Tees]]
[[Category:Teesside]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1855]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1925]]
[[Category:1855 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1925 disestablishments in England]]
[[Category:British companies established in 1855]]