page_title: Robert Napier (engineer)
section_title: Marine engines and shipbuilding
hierarchical_section_title: Robert Napier (engineer) / Marine engines and shipbuilding
caption_attribution_description: English: Engine of Paddle Steamer Leven, Dumbarton. Very early paddle steamer engine by Napier. Has been preserved in the open in Dumbarton for many years. It is currently in front of the Denny Ship Experiment Tank. To the right is the engine cylinder, with the piston rod emerging vertically from the top to connect with the horizontal crosshead. The ends of the crosshead are each connected to a side rod which extends vertically downwards, one on either side of the engine cylinder, to connect to one end of a side-lever on each side of the engine. The opposite ends of the side-levers are attached to the connecting rod assembly, which extends upwards to the crankshaft at top left.
context_page_description: Robert Napier was a Scottish marine engineer known for his contributions to Clyde shipbuilding.
context_section_description: In 1823 he won a contract to build a steam engine for the paddle steamer Leven. The engine was so good that it was later fitted to another ship, the paddle steamer Queen of Beauty. The Leven engine – his first engine – now rests at the Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank branch of the Scottish Maritime Museum in Dumbarton.
  In 1827, Napier had the unique distinction of having built the engines of both of the two fastest ships to compete in the Northern Yacht Club's August Regatta, namely the paddle steamers Clarence and Helensburgh. This earned him a reputation as a shipbuilder, which furthered his career, as did his co-operation on hull design with Thomas Assheton Smith, for whom he built the Menai (400 tons and 120hp) followed by several more steam yachts. In 1828 he established Glasgow's Vulcan Foundry.
  Many of Scotland's most esteemed shipbuilders apprenticed under Napier, including James and George Thomson, who founded the J & G Thomson shipyard (now known as John Brown & Company), and John Elder of the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company.
  Napier continued building steamship engines, eventually expanding into steam engines for ocean-going vessels. In 1835 he procured a controversial contract with the East India Company to build an engine for their ship, the paddle steamer Berenice which, built by David Napier, (Napier's cousin) and using Napier's engine, proved faster than her sister ship, the paddle steamer Atalanta (built on the Thames) – beating her to India by 18 days on their maiden voyage.
  In 1838, Napier was contracted by the Admiralty to produce 280 NHP engines for two of their ships, the first class paddle steamer sloops Stromboli and Vesuvius; but after that, orders ceased. When Napier had this queried in Parliament, the reply proved that Napier's engines were cheaper and more reliable than those built in the Admiralty's usual shipyards on the Thames. Thereafter, Napier was the Admiralty's primary engine builder.
  Napier's greatest success, however, came from his business deals with Samuel Cunard. Together with Cunard, James Donaldson, Sir George Burns, and David MacIver, he co-founded the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. It seems that Napier could be considered responsible for the livery of the Cunard funnels, since the vermilion colour and black hoops were already used on earlier Napier-engined ships, as evidenced by the shipbuilder's model of P.S. "Menai" of 1830 in the Scottish Transport Museum in Glasgow.
  In 1841 he expanded his company to include an iron shipbuilding yard in Govan and the Parkhead Forge Steelworks, and in 1843 they produced their first ship, the Vanguard. He also procured a contract with the Royal Navy to produce vessels, notably the Jackal, the Lizard, and the Bloodhound, which became the first iron vessels in the Royal Navy. He allowed naval officers in training to visit the shipyard to familiarise themselves with the new vessels. The Parkhead Forge was acquired by William Beardmore and Company in 1886. Napier's shipyard in Govan was also later acquired by Beardmore's in 1900 before being sold on to Harland & Wolff in 1912, and finally closed in 1962. The Parkhead Forge would eventually close in 1976.
caption: Early side-lever engine designed by Napier, from PS Leven (1823), on display at the Scottish Maritime Museum in Dumbarton
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