A crew from the Netherlands.

The brave crew of the Minesweeper Beveland., Built at Wivenhoe Shipyard 1943.

1. Jan Moot.
2. Klass Blok.
3. Job Groen.
4. Bastiaan. Luyendyk.
5. Johannes Leenderd Spaans.
6. Tjeerd brouwer.
7. Dirk dijkstra.
8. Leenderd Nutby.
9. ?
10. Anton Tol.
11. Dirk Van der Oever.
12. Leendert Knooester.
13. Arend van Ree.
14. Cornelis Zuidhoek.
15. Klass Stam.
16. Frank Knoester.
17. ?.
18. Gerrit Blok.
19. Henk Westerduin

Copyright of R Vader and Bill Ellis.

Suprising what you can make out of wood

One of the dummy wooden submarines built at Wivenhoe shipyard for use at Harwich during W.W.2

There she goes.

Launching of another minesweeper from Wivenhoe Shipyard between 1941-1957.

A pity it was not restored!

The 279 ton barquentine,  Cap Pilar ,built in St. Malo, France for the cod trade by G.Gautier. Acquired by the Palestine Maritime League, the Cap Pilar was to be restored for youth sail training, but the money needed was not raised. . She was bought by a young crew who wanted to sail round the world which they did between 1936-38. After W.W.2 she was towed up to Wivenhoe where she became derelict and ended up in Wivenhoe dry dock and covered in concrete, when the old shipyard site became a timber yard

Text by John Collins -shipbuilding on the Colne 

Nick Butler- The Story of Wivenhoe.

they started work young in those days.

Boiler makers and riveter's at Forrest's shipyard now Wivenhoe port site, taken around 1900.
Left click on image for super size.
photo by Nottage Institute.

An old time scene of steam and sail.

A view of Harvey's shipyard taken in 1878 from the Rowhedge shore.
 

Fantastic, John. I've never seen that one before.Thanks Chris nice to here from you.

The old oyster sheds on the Quay.

This old photo is showing the Wivenhoe Shipyard in the background,probably Forrestt's yard,
This was taken just on the turn of the 1900's. You can just make out the double decked steam ship along side the shipyard quay .

Wivenhoe Memories collection.

Left click on image for super size.
 Is that not the British legion to the right of the picture.

When this photo was taken the now British Legion was William Madders sail making business

When I was a child I used to walk up and down the river bank at low tide and always wondered why there were so many Oyster shells there! Simon Bowes.

Bayard Brown, the great benefactor of the Colne.

American owner of the steam yacht Valfreyia ,  McEvers Bayard Brown. The millionaire lived for many years on board his yacht in the Forrest's dry dock. He got round the demand for rates by getting up steam every day and telling the council he was leaving on the next tide, but he never actually left the dock until his death in 1926.
His body was flown back to the USA and his yacht Valfreya was sold to the Maharajah Jam Sahib of Nawangar and renamed the Star of Asia

Mulberry harbour, WW2 1943.

Dorman Long and Co. Ltd.

'Project Shark'

In 1944 Dorman and Long took over an area of marshland just upstream from the Wivenhoe shipyard.  there the company built a number of large and small floating steel caissons for use during the forthcoming invasion of Europe.

The caissons were intended, after being towed across the channel, to be bought into service to seal lock and dock entrances destroyed or damaged by demolition or other enemy action.

an area of about 3 acres was involved.  12 cranes of 30 ton lift together with railway lines concrete pads and roadways were built on the marshland to enable the units to be built on a production line basis.

Initially it was planed for 151 large and 151 small units to be constructed, however only about one third of the number were actually made.

10,000 tons of steel and 3,000 tons of timber were allocated for the original scheme.

The dimensions of individual units, which could be bolted together to form larger caissons were: height 30 feet width 7feet length 40 feet.

Wivenhoe in W.W.2 1943

Part of the mulberry harbour built by Wivenhoe shipyard   The order arrived from the war office to build two Whale spud Pier head units of welded construction infilled with concrete, they were 200 feet long by 60feet wide.
I think this picture shows caissons being built on marshland next to the Shipyard by Dorman and Long, it was part of project Shark.
Initially over 300 of these units were ordered but only one third were completed.

Left click on image for super size.

Wivenhoe Memories collection.

Like the hat.

Wivenhoe Shipyard Minesweeper launching 1940's/1950's. I wonder if anyone recognizes the young lady with the posy

Wivenhoe memories collection.

Wivenhoe Shipyard.

Wivenhoe Shipyard from the air. Bottom centre is Wivenhoe Station and bottom right is the goods shed.

Wivenhoe station from the air! Note there is a canopy on platform 2 (the Clacton bound platform). Platform 1's canopy is twice the size it is now. Bottom right is the GOODS shed. To the left of this is the stable block. Note all the sidings towards the waterfront. Follow the track from the goods shed towards the water and there is a small hut type building, with a square on the track in front of it. That was the weigh office, for weighing the trucks before export/import. All the sidings have hoses now built in their place. Stable block still there as well as the goods shed but in a sorry state. Nice picture!
 Thanks for the extra information, sorry i don't have your name.

Picture was taken in 1948. Sorry forgot to leave my name! Aaron (station staff- Wivenhoe)
Regards John,
Wivenhoe memories collection.

We had some skilled shipwrights in those days.

Minesweeper J.537 being launched at Wivenhoe Shipyard in 1942, complete with the Wivenhoe Home Guard.
these Minesweepers were referred to as "Micky Mouse Ships," they were short boats or Ameland Class vessels, being 105 feet long. 16 of these boats were built at Wivenhoe between the 1939/45 period. These boats were constructed of timber, which was thought to be safer against magnetic mines.
 The engine on these boats was a single 500hp diesel ans a single prop shaft, speed was 11 knots.
They had a complement of 20.

We built some great boats here.

Motor Minesweeper,M1118. M.M.S. Carlton launched 1954 at the Wivenhoe Shipyard, she was one of the 3 ton class minesweepers built there, so called because they were named after towns and villages that ended in TON ie Carlhampton, Carlton, Wiston.

Wivenhoe Memories collection

Royal Dutch Navy 1943.

The brave crew of the Minesweeper Beveland., Built at Wivenhoe Shipyard 1943.

1. Jan Moot.
2. Klass Blok.
3. Job Groen.
4. Bastiaan. Luyendyk.
5. Johannes Leenderd Spaans.
6. Tjeerd brouwer.
7. Dirk dijkstra.
8. Leenderd Nutby.
9. ?
10. Anton Tol.
11. Dirk Van der Oever.
12. Leendert Knooester.
13. Arend van Ree.
14. Cornelis Zuidhoek.
15. Klass Stam.
16. Frank Knoester.
17. ?.
18. Gerrit Blok.
19. Henk Westerduin

Copyright of R Vader and Bill Ellis.