Swan Hunter Swan Hunter , formerly known as " Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson " , is a shipbuilding design , engineering and management company . The company was one of the best known shipbuilding companies in the world but ceased shipbuilding operations on Tyneside in 2006 . Based in Wallsend , Tyne and Wear , the company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century — most famously , the RMS " Mauretania " which held the Blue Riband for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic , and the RMS " Carpathia " which rescued the survivors from the RMS " Titanic " . At its apex , the company represented the combined forces of three powerful shipbuilding families : Swan , Hunter and Wigham Richardson . History . Swan & Hunter was founded by George Burton Hunter , who formed a partnership with the widow of Charles Sheridan Swan ( the owner of a Wallsend Shipbuilding business established in 1852 by Dr Charles Mitchell ) under the name in 1880 . In 1903 , C . S . Swan & Hunter merged with Wigham Richardson ( founded by John Wigham Richardson as Neptune Works in 1860 ) , specifically to bid for the prestigious contract to build on behalf of Cunard . Their bid was successful , and the new company , Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd , went on to build what was to become , in its day , the most famous ocean going liner in the world . Also in 1903 the Company took a controlling interest in the Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company , which was an early licensed manufacturer of Parsons turbine engines , which enabled the " Mauretania " to achieve its great speed . The " Mauretania " was launched from Wallsend on 20 September 1906 by the Duchess of Roxburghe . The firm expanded rapidly in the early part of the twentieth century , acquiring the Glasgow - based Barclay Curle in 1912 . In 1966 Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson merged with Smith ' s Dock Co to form " Associated Shipbuilders " , later to become " Swan Hunter Group " . Following the publication of the " Geddes Report " recommending rationalisation in British shipbuilding , the Company went on to acquire Clelands Shipbuilding Company and John Readhead & Sons in 1967 . Meanwhile Swan Hunter inherited both the Naval Yard at High Walker on the River Tyne of Vickers - Armstrongs and the Hebburn Yard of Hawthorn Leslie in 1968 . In 1973 further expansion came with the purchase of Palmers Dock at Hebburn from Vickers - Armstrongs . Then in 1977 , Swan Hunter Group was nationalised as part of British Shipbuilders . The flagship of the Royal Navy , was built at Swan Hunter during this period , entering service in 1985 . The Company was privatise d again in 1987 but decided to close its Neptune Yard in 1988 . It was then forced to call in the receivers when the UK government awarded the contract for to Kvaerner Govan in 1993 . The Receiver took steps to break up the business . However the main shipyard in Wallsend was bought out from receivership by Jaap Kroese , a Dutch millionaire . The yard subsequently undertook several ad - hoc ship repair and conversion projects for private - sector customers . In 2000 Swan Hunter was awarded the contract to design and build two ( Auxiliary ) Landing Ship Dock ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary with two other ships being built by BAE Systems Naval Ships : the cost of the two Swan Hunter ships was to be £210 million including £62 million for lead yard services , with an inservice date of 2004 . By July 2006 , the costs had risen to £309 million and only one ship had been delivered . As result of this , the second ship was transferred to BAE Govan for completion . In 2001 Swan Hunter acquired Kvaerner ' s Port Clarence offshore yard at Teesside but then in 2006 sold it to Wilton Engineering Group . In November 2006 , after the failure to complete " Lyme Bay " within budget and resulting exclusion from future Royal Navy shipbuilding projects , Jaap Kroese announced that the business was effectively finished and placed the Wallsend Yard ' s iconic cranes up for sale . He also said that he was actively looking for a buyer for the land . In April 2007 , Swan Hunter ' s cranes , along with its floating dock and other equipment , were sold to Bharati Shipyard s , India ' s second largest private sector shipbuilder . The entire plant machinery and equipment from Swan Hunter was dismantled and transported to India over six months to be rebuilt at Bharati Shipyards . In 2008 the company said it was concentrating on ship design with just under 200 people employed . Operations . The Company owned three main yards : All three were on the north side of River Tyne . The company also owned the Wallsend Slipway & Engineering Company , the yard that built the engines for the Mauretania , from 1903 until the 1980s . At various times Swan Hunter also owned Palmers Hebburn Yard , Hawthorn Leslie Hebburn Yard and Readheads at South Shields which were all on the south side of the River Tyne .