# Ailsa Shipbuilding Company

Ailsa Shipbuilding Company was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Troon and Ayr, Ayrshire.

## History

The company was founded in 1885 by Archibald Kennedy, 3rd Marquess of Ailsa, along with Peter James Wallace and Alexander McCredie.
In 1902 the Ailsa yard fitted out the polar exploration ship Scotia for the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition of 1902–04. The Scotia sailed from Troon for the South Atlantic on 2 November 1902.
The company built paddle steamers for various companies around the UK, including the New Medway Shipping Company's PS Medway Queen, the only estuary paddle steamer left in the UK.
During the First World War, the shipyard built the Royal Navy's first paddle minesweeper of the Racecourse class.
During the Second World War, Ailsa built vessels for the Navy, including several Bangor-class minesweepers.
In 1977 Ailsa was nationalised and subsumed into the British Shipbuilders Corporation. In 1981, the assets of Ailsa and those of Ferguson Brothers were merged to form Ferguson-Ailsa, Limited. This grouping was split and privatised in 1986, the Ailsa yard being acquired by Perth Corporation as Ailsa & Perth, Limited.
Ailsa stopped large-scale shipbuilding in 1988 and finally closed as a shipbuilder in 2000. The yard has recently been used for ship repair work and the fabrication of large concrete sections for a pier improvement programme in Grimsay, Western Isles.

## Ships built by Ailsa Shipbuilding Company

| Yard No | Name | Type | Launch | Notes |
| 4 | SS Lady Ailsa | Cargo ship | 4 January 1888 | renamed Belgian Prince |
| 53 | SV Dalblair | Steel sailing vessel 3-masted barque | 1895 | Lost in a cyclone off Mauritius in 1902 |
| 68 | SS Tobruk | Italian Navy gunboat | 1897 | Built as yacht Evona - since 1912 RN Tobruk |
| 70 | SS Hebrides | Passenger ship | 24 March 1898 | |
| 78 | SS Katoomba | Patrol ship | 28 December 1898 | renamed USS Emeline |
| 82 | SS The Marchioness | General Cargo Coaster | 22 August 1899 | Sunk by a U-Boat 1916 |
| 105 | MY Triton | Motor yacht | 1902 | now Madiz |
| 121 | HMS Warrior | Yacht | 4 February 1904 | Requisitioned by Admiralty 1917 and 1939; at Dunkirk evacuation; sank off Portland after air attack 11 July 1940 |
| 183 | SS Queen of the Lake | Steamer | 7 July 1907 | For the Loch Tay Steamboat Company. Scrapped 1950. |
| 294 | HMS Aphis | Gunboat | 15 September 1915 | |
| 297 | HMS Ascot | Minesweeper | 26 January 1916 | |
| 298 | HMS Atherstone | Minesweeper | 4 April 1916 | |
| 299 | HMS Chelmsford | Minesweeper | 14 June 1916 | |
| 332 | HMS James Cosgrove | Minesweeper | 5 March 1919 | |
| 334 | HMS Aberdare | Minesweeper | 29 April 1918 | |
| 335 | HMS Abingdon | Minesweeper | 11 June 1918 | |
| 336 | HMS Albury | Minesweeper | 21 November 1918 | |
| 338 | HMS Alresford | Minesweeper | 17 January 1919 | |
| 345 | HMS Appledore | Minesweeper | 15 August 1919 | |
| 388 | PS Medway Queen | Paddle steamer | 23 April 1924 | |
| 396 | SS Scillonian | Passenger vessel | 17 November 1925 | |
| 432 | HMS Rye | Minesweeper | 19 August 1940 | |
| 437 | HMS Hythe | Minesweeper | 4 September 1941 | |
| 439 | HMS Clacton | Minesweeper | 19 December 1941 | |
| 452 | HMS Loch Tarbert | Frigate | 19 October 1944 | |
| 453 | HMS Loch Veyatie | Frigate | 8 October 1945 | |
| 473 | HMS Bottisham | Minesweeper | 16 February 1953 | |
| 474 | HMS Brantingham | Minesweeper | 4 December 1953 | |
| 480 | MV Cowal | Ferry | 20 January 1954 | |
| 481 | MV Bute | Ferry | 28 September 1954 | |
| 483 | HMS Elsenham | Minesweeper | 25 May 1955 | |
| 484 | HMS Etchingham | Minesweeper | 9 December 1957 | |
| 487 | HMS Ockham | Minesweeper | 12 May 1959 | |
| 488 | HMS Ottringham | Minesweeper | 22 January 1958 | |
| 496 | MV Glen Sannox | Ferry | 30 April 1957 | |
| 499 | MV Lochalsh (II) | Ferry | 1957 | renamed Scalpay |
| 500 | MV Container Enterprise | Container ship | 19 February 1959 | subsequently Iscar I , Sea Container, Isamar, Freedom Express; Scuttled 2003 |
| 501 | MV Container Venturer | Container ship | 14 August 1959 | subsequently Trupial, Sea Mist, Skorpion I, Jeanny Cay II |
| 506 | MV Slieve Donard | Cargo ship | 1 October 1959 | |
| 507 | MV St. Clair | Passenger | 29 April 1960 | |
| 508 | MV Cerdic Ferry | Ferry | 16 February 1961 | |
| 509 | MV Doric Ferry | Ferry | 27 October 1961 | |
| 510 | MV Kyleakin | Ferry | 1961 | renamed Largs |
| 517 | MV Bowbelle | Aggregate dredger | 11 May 1964 | Involved in the sinking of the Marchioness on the River Thames in 1989. Renamed Billo in 1992 and Bom Rei in 1996. Sank off the coast of Madeira in March 1996. |
| 529 | MV Glenachulish | Ferry | 1969 |
| 530 | MV Iona | Ferry | 22 January 1970 | renamed Pentalina-B |
| 531 | MV Coruisk | Ferry | 26 June 1969 | |
| 533 | MV Mona's Queen | Diesel ferry | 22 December 1971 |
| 547 | MS Lady of Mann | Ferry | 4 December 1975 | renamed Panagia Soumela |
| 551 | MV Isle of Cumbrae | Ferry | 23 December 1976 | |
| 552 | MV Saturn | Ferry | 30 June 1977 | |
| 553 | LT Relume | Lighthouse Tender | 5 July 1978 | |
| 554 | MV Lochmor | Ferry | 11 June 1979 | |
| 555 | MV Goleniow | Bulk Carrier | 9 April 1979 | |
| 556 | MV Cambourne | Suction Hopper Dredger | 12 June 1980 | |
| 557 | MT Traguair | Gas Tanker | 21 August 1981 | Her forward part was built at Ferguson's, Port Glasgow, yard 485. Both were launched on the same day, being completed at Ferguson's. |
| 558 | MV Star Vega | Offshore Supply Vessel | 1 November 1982 | |
| 559 | MT Tarihiko | LPG Tanker | 29 March 1983 | |
| 560 | MV Simba II | Firefighting Tug | 21 October 1983 | |
| 561 | MV Nguvu II | Firefighting Tug | 31 January 1984 | |
| 562 | MV Chui | Firefighting Tug | 5 April 1984 | |
| 563 | MV Duma | Firefighting Tug | 28 June 1984 | |
| 564 | MV Faru | Firefighting Tug | 5 October 1984 | |
| 565 | MV M.V.A. | Hopper Barge | 11 February 1985 | |
| 566 | MV Fivla | Ferry | 12 February 1985 | |
| 567 | MV Fort Resolution | Offshore Supply Vessel | 17 October 1985 | |
| 568 | MV Fort Reliance | Offshore Supply Vessel | 28 March 1986 | Not delivered until 1989, by Ferguson Shipbuilders Ltd. |
| 569 | MV Seaforth Earl | Offshore Supply Vessel | 3 October 1985 | |
| 570 | MV Seaforth Baronet | Offshore Supply Vessel | 7 March 1986 | |
| 571 | RV Corystes | Research vessel | 11 August 1986 | |
| 573 | MV Graemsay | Ferry | 1996 | |
| 574 | FV Aeolus | Fishing Vessel Trawler | 1997 | First fishing vessel built by Ailsa, Troon. |
| 575 | FV Russa Taign | Fishing Vessel Trawler | November 1997 | |
| 576 | FV Solstice II | Fishing Vessel Trawler | 17 November 1997 | |
| 577 | FV Atlantic Challange | Fishing Vessel Trawler | 12 September 1998 | |
| 578 | HMS Tracker | Naval Patrol & Training Vessel | January 1998 | |
| 579 | HMS Raider | Naval Patrol & Training Vessel | 1997 | |
| 582 | HMS A.01 | Naval Landing Craft | 30 July 1999 | Modified by BAE systems, Govan after Ailsa shipyard closed, including the build of the remaining of the class of 10 vessels for the Royal Navy. |
| 583 | HMS A.02 | Naval Landing Craft | 25 November 1999 | Modified by BAE systems, Govan after Ailsa shipyard closed, including the build of the remaining of the class of 10 vessels for the Royal Navy. |
| 592 | MV Lochnevis | Ferry | 8 May 2000 | |
| Sources: Miramar, Clyde Ships |||||

## Archives

The Ailsa Shipbuilding Company archives are maintained by the University of Glasgow Archives Services.