page_title: Port Glasgow
section_title: Shipbuilding
hierarchical_section_title: Port Glasgow / History / Shipbuilding
caption_attribution_description: replica of PS Comet sited in w:Port Glasgow town centre. photograph taken by dave souza
context_page_description: Port Glasgow is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recent census in 2011 states that the population has declined to 15,414. It is located immediately to the east of Greenock and was previously a burgh in the county of Renfrewshire.
  Originally a fishing hamlet named Newark, Port Glasgow came about as a result of large ships being unable to navigate the shallow and meandering River Clyde to the centre of the city of Glasgow. As a result, it was formed as a remote port for Glasgow in 1668, and became known as 'New Port Glasgow', which was shortened to 'Port Glasgow' in 1775. Port Glasgow was home to dry docks and shipbuilding beginning in 1762.
  The town grew from the central area of the present town and thus many of the town's historic buildings and people are found here. Port Glasgow expanded up the steep hills inland to open fields where areas such as Park Farm, Boglestone, Slaemuir and Devol were founded.
context_section_description: In 1780, Thomas McGill set up one of the first shipyards in the area, located near to Newark castle. 
  By the 19th century, Port Glasgow had become a centre of shipbuilding. The Comet was built in the town in 1812 and was the first commercial steam vessel in Europe. A replica of the Comet was built in 1962 to mark the 150th anniversary. It, and a plaque commemorating the actual site of construction, were situated in Port Glasgow town centre in the early 1970s.
  Port Glasgow became a burgh in 1833, but around this time, the River Clyde up to Glasgow was deepened and new road and rail links meant that the town was no longer needed much as a port. The shipbuilding industry then took over as the main source of employment and prosperity. Port Glasgow has been responsible for about a quarter of the total tonnage of ships launched on the Clyde, and also dealt in scrapping old ships, most notably the French liner L'atlantique, the burnt out wreck of which was broken up in the yard of Smith & Houston. However, as with most of Inverclyde's industry, the shipbuilding industry has all but gone and only Ferguson Marine Engineering remains in the town today. Ferguson's is one of the last remaining privately owned shipyards in Scotland.
  Ferguson's yard changed ownership in 2014 had undergone extensive renovation and modernisation, which had resulted in the demolition of most of the buildings on the site for brand new modern ones and a more open front entrance.
caption: PS Comet, Europe's first commercially successful steamboat, was built in Port Glasgow, and a replica of her made by shipyard apprentices now stands in the town centre.
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