Brooke Marine Brooke Marine ( also known as J . W . Brooke & Co . and Brooke Yachts ) was a Lowestoft - based shipbuilding firm . The company constructed boats and small ships for civilian and commercial use , as well as minor warships for the Royal Navy , Royal Navy of Oman , Royal Australian Navy , Kenya Navy and United States Navy . The company was founded in 1874 as a foundry by John Walter Brooke and expanded into boatbuilding and shipbuilding in the early 1900s . It operated until 1992 . History . Until 1911 the company , which produced engines and motor cars , sub - contracted its boat building operations to another firm in Oulton Broad . In 1911 it opened a shipyard on the north side of Lake Lothing and began to produce its own craft , all using engines produced at its Adrian Works in the town . Car production stopped in 1913 , although the company continued producing engines until 1938 , in total producing more than 7 , 000 . During World War I the company established a munitions factory . Following the war , the shipyard was expanded to produce boats up to in length . During World War II , the company produced and serviced motor launch es and landing craft for the Royal Navy and other Allied forces . In 1940 , the company was acquired by Harry Dowsett and renamed Brooke Marine . In 1954 , a new shipyard was built on the south side of Lake Lothing . The old yard was closed in 1955 , and in 1975 was sold and levelled . The first ships produced at the new yard were twenty fishing trawlers ordered by the Russian government . Over 300 craft were eventually produced in the yard . In 1968 the company won the Queen ' s Award to Industry for Export Achievement . In July 1977 the company was nationalised and became part of British Shipbuilders until a management buy - out in 1985 . In 1987 , Brooke Marine closed down and was put up for sale . The dockyard and facilities were purchased in May , with the new owners trading under the name Brooke Yachts . The company continued until September 1992 , when it ceased trading . Receivers sold off all shipbuilding equipment in 1993 . The name and some assets of Brooke Marine were acquired in 2006 by Michael Fenton , who relaunched the business with many of the former employees . Brooke Marine Yachts Ltd traded until 2009 . The shipyard was then purchased by an investment company which now leases many of the original buildings to a diverse range of business ' s many of which are marine orientated . Ships built by Brooke Marine . Most craft produced by the company were steel , generally ranging in size from 20 to 93 metres . Notable vessls include the " Virgin Atlantic Challenger II " and the first " Al Said " , the fomer royal yacht and flagship of the Oman navy . The " Mincarlo " , a trawler , is a floating museum based in the Port of Lowestoft for much of the year . The sail training ship " Young Endeavor " was begun by Brooke Marine before being completed by Brooke Yachts . It was a gift from the U . K . to Australia to celebrate the bicentenary of that country in 1988 . Brooke Marine built the seaplane tenders " Zeta " ( 1940 ) and " Tristan " ( 1949 ) as well as the flying boat refueller " Lindsey 2111 " . All three craft are in the National Historic Ships register .