Burntisland Shipbuilding Company

The Burntisland Shipbuilding Company was a shipbuilder and repairer in Burntisland, Fife, Scotland that was founded in 1918. In 1969 it was taken over by Robb-Caledon Shipbuilders, which in turn was nationalised in 1977 as part of British Shipbuilders. In the 1970s the Burntisland yard switched from shipbuilding to prefabricating modules of superstructure for offshore oil platforms, but orders were intermittent and by the 1980s the yard was largely idle. In 1990 new owners returned the yard to production as Burntisland Fabrications or BiFab, resuming the manufacture of superstructure modules for oil platforms. Under a management buyout in 2001 the Burntisland yard returned to being an independent company. Founding and early yearsBrothers Amos and Wilfrid Ayre founded Burntisland Shipbuilding Co. in 1918 as a First World War emergency shipyard. Its yard at Burntisland West Dock had four berths and capacity to build ships up to long and up to beam. However, until the 1950s Burntisland built relatively few vessels more than about long and 57ft beam. The yard was connected to the North British Railway by an extensive internal rail network that carried steel to various parts of the yard. Burntisland's first three vessels were standard "C" type cargo ships of just over 3, 100 GRT each for the UK Government's wartime Shipping Controller, laid down in 1918 as hull numbers 101, 102 and 103. They were after the Armistice: hull 101 in June as, 102 in September as and 103 in November as.

The Burntisland Shipbuilding Company was a shipbuilder and repairer in Burntisland, Fife, Scotland that was founded in 1918. In 1969 it was taken over by Robb-Caledon Shipbuilders, which in turn was nationalised in 1977 as part of British Shipbuilders. In the 1970s the Burntisland yard switched from shipbuilding to prefabricating modules of superstructure for offshore oil platforms, but orders were intermittent and by the 1980s the yard was largely idle. In 1990 new owners returned the yard to production as Burntisland Fabrications or BiFab, resuming the manufacture of superstructure modules for oil platforms. Under a management buyout in 2001 the Burntisland yard returned to being an independent company. Founding and early yearsBrothers Amos and Wilfrid Ayre founded Burntisland Shipbuilding Co. in 1918 as a First World War emergency shipyard. Its yard at Burntisland West Dock had four berths and capacity to build ships up to long and up to beam. However, until the 1950s Burntisland built relatively few vessels more than about long and 57ft beam. The yard was connected to the North British Railway by an extensive internal rail network that carried steel to various parts of the yard. Burntisland's first three vessels were standard "C" type cargo ships of just over 3, 100 GRT each for the UK Government's wartime Shipping Controller, laid down in 1918 as hull numbers 101, 102 and 103. They were after the Armistice: hull 101 in June as, 102 in September as and 103 in November as.