I went with our School to see the Esso Clyde launched in the early 70's Anyone else see any?

http://images.google.co.uk/images?h...mp;um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi

My sister worked at Lairds and I went to see a couple of launches -one was the Pinewood Star in '69 0r thereabouts and more poignantly the launch of the last sub, the Unicorn in '93 - a sad day.

Some of us actually worked on the launch of the ships, me and Jimbob i know of for sure, i can't even remember which ships i done, became a bit of a matter of fact and we thought nothing of it.

I went with my father to the launch HMS Revenge in 1968. I'm not sure why he was invited, he had nothing to do with Lairds or ships.

He may well have been invited or he could have been given tickets by a friend who worked in Lairds. If you were there by invitation, the likelihood you would have been on the launch platform, if you were in the crowd, the chances are you recieved tickets from a Laird worker.

As bert1 said, involved with that many launches over the years they became part of a normal days work.

How often would a ship get launched in the days you worked there?

It would be interesting (from my point of view )if say it was once every 3 months in say the sixties , then less in the seventies and eighties. Sorry if this sounds a bit soft but I don't have a feel for it and am interested .

As a lad growing up in Bebington I do remember seeing a lot of fella's on there way to the bus stop for the morning shift at Lairds and felt very sad when it finally shut down. It's great to see it involved in the making of the new Aircraft Carrier decks

I started in 1967 and left in 1984 and in that time the building of ships and the amount of men that worked there decreased. Some ships were longer on the slipways than others, depending on the size. It would also depend on how keen Lairds were to receive part payment, some contracts drawn up with shipowners allowed lairds to receive some payment after launch, payments were made at various build stages of ships.
I would think in my time there, it wouldn't be more than 2 launches per year, if they had the work in, towards the end of my time, they were few and far between.here's a link you may be interested in
http://oceania.pbworks.com/Cammell%20Laird

great , thanks for that bert1

Yes i went to the launch in the eighties of a war ship carnt remember which one though.....my dad worked there ....he was involved with the sovereign explorer oil rig ...he was on it till they had a labour disspute with the french.....

I do remember (probably late 70's or early 8o's ) a Chilean family living about four doors down from us for quite some time. I think it was something to do with with the commissioning of a (or some?)Chilean Naval vessel from Lairds.

Woodchurch Road Primary School took us to a launch at Lairds, big ship, I have always wondered which one it was.

In went to see the sub HMS Unicorn launched in the early 90's

First one I remember the name of was the Winsor Castle about 1958. My uncle worked there and used to get tickets to all the launches.
I worked there from 1962 till 1970. So saw quite a lot.
Remember one ship that was launched without being named because of a strike i think it was shipwrights.They had to do it the old way by knocking away the supports, and as launching party was making its way up to name the ship, it went down the slipway into the Mersey. It was later named when they brought it into the wet basin.
Some of the ships i remember are HMS Devonshire, Sepia,Opalia,HMS Ajax,HMS Oracle,Overchurch,Mandarin, PinTail,HMS Renown, HMS Revenge,HMS Conqueror,Siglion

A lot of the launches at lairds are on this site.
http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=7323

pm me the year and month that you went to the launch and i will be able to tell you which ship it was

The ship which was launched without ceremony was 'C.P.Trader', one of 3 container ships built for Canadian Pacific. I think it was yard no. 1344.
I watched that launch ,as I worked in the Ship Drawing Office at the time & we got time off to watch. As i remember there was a problem with the launchway & as she went down the slip there were lumps of wood flying off it!

Bob.

I went with my school in early 70s to see the launch of H.M.S. Ajax.
Cant remeber who the offical dignatory was... but it was wonderful to go to Lairds. I remember being impressed by the size of the buildings and of course the ship herself.

Nienna, 1962 the Ajax, stop trying to knock years off yourself.

Bob thanks for name of ship, At the time ships were launched by the use of hydraulic rams, because of the strike they were not available.So back to the old ways
A list of ship yard numbers is on the following site
http://www.mikekemble.com/mside/wirralindex.html

Saw HMS Renown launched from a distance - watched it from Rock Ferry (was it 1968?). The only ship I saw launched from inside the yard was HMS Birmingham in 1976 (I think). Got the invite from a mates Dad who worked at Lairds. I've still got the ticket somewhere...

There was one ship launched and i can't remember the name of it by an American or Canadian lady, her nerves got the better of her and she said "i name this sheep" and quickly corrected herself and said "ship". As the ship slid down the slipway, all you could hear from the lads on the launchsquad was Bar, bar, bar. A lot of red faces on the launch platform that day.

HA HA ...lol..found out eh!!

No honestly it was in the very early seventies..70/71 max cos it was during my primary school years and we were the experimental year that didnt move up to secondary school till age 12...so that would be in 72 for me. I thought it was the Ajax... the name stuck in my mind because it sounded like a detergent we used to use.. but maybe it was called some thing similar..OMO..perhaps!!

It was a magnificent ship anyways.. and a wonderful experience.. I remember us all clapping and cheering as it slid into the water!

Now I'll be scratching my head to try and remember.... so long ago now!

I went to see a ship called "Naworth" (think that was it's name) in the seventy's.

I worked at lairds from 1974 - 82 and watched the launch of both type 42 destroyers , .
the first was in 1974 when i was still an apprentice, HMS Coventry (the one sunk in the falklands) and again in 1980 the lauch of HMS Liverpool

I saw the RMS Windsor Castle being launched in June 1959 - we got tickets because my Dad worked at Laird's. It was a massive occasion for Birkenhead, as many of those big launches were, and there seemed to be thousands of people there. I can't remember who performed the ceremony. Was it the Queen Mother? But I do remember the ship sliding down the slipway into the Mersey with huge bunches of chains dragging alongside it, presumably to slow it down. When you were only eight years old, it was a very impressive sight.

They where the recovery chains for the slidding ways you saw been dragged down the slipway. Drag chains where never used at Lairds due to the Mersey been wide and fast flowing

launch at lairds [youtube]WwAFoZWDqlM[/youtube]

Thanks for that, jimbob - I always wondered what those chains were for.

Remember going to Lairds with my Dad to see Queen Mother launch "Ark Royal" in 1950,.Film of it on Pathe News site which is great.

My Girlfriends dad worked there and they went to a few, i will have her post up some memories here later...
They owned the sweet shop after that by green lane

I went to the launch of one of the nuclear submarines, as we had been doing some diving work on it. Don't remember the name or year. Mid 70's I guess.

I had family links with Lairds like many other families on Merseyside. My granddad had several spells as did 2 uncles and my brother.

The first launch I went to see was the Windsor Castle - this was a massive event to me as a small child - the crowds seemed enormous as I sat on my Dad's shoulders. I can still feel the excitement as the ship slid down into the Mersey.

The next year I started school at Mersey Park. We always got taken out into the park to see the launches as it was a major part of the town's calendar back then. We would stand by the swings in the park looking over Old Chester Road into the yard.

my mother in law worked in the offices at lairds in the late 50's. i cant remember the name of the ship but she got to present the bouquet & went to the meal.she was given a photo album of the day & she kept the menu & put that in the photo album as well. her dad my husbands grandad worked at lairds. he was there during the war.

my dad used to work at Lairds and Clovers and I went to a couple of launches of subs and ships but can't remember the names, just remember the crowds and the smells.

My dad still works there. My uncle and brother worked there too for a fair few years and I worked there for twelve months on the costa classica and saw the launch of the mid section we built and then seen it towed back in the wet basin and rust when it wasn't wanted.

I went to Renown (sub), Campbletown (destroyer), and Unseen (sub).

Pedantic head on - HMS Campbeltown is a frigate, not a destroyer

As you were

HMS Ark Royal iin 1950. I was about 6 and went with Mr Bun (my father !!). All I can recall is the sheer size of it and the noise of the chains.

Went to one with my primary school in the 70s, will try and find out which ship it was. I'm sure it was Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon who launched it.

I can't recall her being in the yard during the 70s, i wouldn't of hung around if she was, its a possible but i don't think so, however i do recall an employee of Lairds launching a ship, first time an employee had ever done so, it was Mrs Ellen Smith, a supervisor of the office cleaning staff, more memorable than any Princess.

Doh - I meant 1960s

Siamese National Anthem (sung to our national Anthem)

Oh wah ta na Siam

it could have been Princess Alexandria, she launched HMS Devonshire 1960.

i went to one in the 50s my granddad was a riveter,it was a tanker and i remember being amazed at all the grease.

You sure Bert? When was this? If it was after 1957 then she wasn't the first yard employee to launch a ship. 17-year-old apprentice shipwright Brian Young launched the Irish Spruce on the 16th of April 1957 after her original launch date had been cancelled owing to a national strike of shipbuilding workers; he was given £5 by the owners' representatives as a token of thanks.

Perhaps i should have included (formally performed a launching ceremony) It was the OAKWORTH 1972.
Even Brian Young probably wasn't the first in 1957,full launching ceremonies ceased during war time and returned in 1946 for the launching of the KING ORRY, the first passenger ship launched in Britain after the war.

I remember going to the launch of a sub (boat) about 1990 with my junior school, does anyone know the name of the boat? Or wether there is film of it floating around?

There were 3 subs around that time,
Unseen 1989, Ursula 1991, Unicorn 1992.

I left junior school in July 1991, and unseen does sound familiar. Cheers Bert time for a Google search

It appears unseen was renamed hmcs Victoria

Sold to the Canadians, at least she's not likely to turn her guns against us.

No sign of launch footage, thought there would be something out there. Google has failed me.

There was a time when all launch tickets had upon them, NO CAMERAS ALLOWED, especially for Naval vessels.

Here's one for you Bert. My Dad worked at Lairds till he enlisted in the RAF during WW11. I have a vague memory of being shown around inside a sub. My question is this - surely this would have been post war? Where and when? Any ideas?

Confused? Post or pre war? Pre it could have been the Thetis, post war virtually any sub?

I saw HMS Devonshire launched, god knows when? I also saw a tanker (I think) being launched called the British Captain.

Ruth, being a gentleman and not wanting to ask your age but roughly guessing what might be your era, Altcric 1946 or Grampus 1957, perhaps you were taken aboard during the fitting out or near completion, it wouldn't have been when they were on the slipway, far to dangerous for children.

HMS Devonshire was launched by HRH Princess Alexandra on 10th June 1960. The BP tanker British Captain went down the ways on 30th June 1965.

Thanks Bert. Don't tell anyone (shhh) but I think it must have been the Altcric in 1946.

The sub was actually called HMS Alaric, and was launched in February 1946. Two other A Class subs would have been around at that time: HMS Aeneas, launched in October 1945, and the ill-fated HMS Affray, launched in April 1945. If you were shown around a sub in the Wet Basin it could have been one of these, as they were both still being fitted out in 1946.

Thanks Marty. My first post was rather stupid when I think about it (the pre-war and post-war bit) because I wasn't even thought of pre-war. I was very young tho' so my memory is very vague.

First Lairds product I saw "launched" were the box section beams they manufactured for the Bidston Moss Interchange!They're still there,so have lasted better than some of their marine builds.
Also saw the launch of Algol,was she one of their "standard tanker" designs?

I remember going to the launch of one of the subs. It was back in about 1965 or 1966. A small party of us went from Primary school.It was exciting and I remember the swirl of energy amongst the huge crowd of people. It was an incredible feeling, even for a child , that sense of pride and for me of wonder.The sub was massive, I had never seen anything like it in my life.

Hi, Lyn; where abouts in Shropshire are you?

If it was 1965 or 1966 it must have been the Oberon Class sub HMS Onyx which was launched in August 1966. The previous sub launch had been HMS Opossum in May 1963, whilst the two Polaris subs Renown and Revenge weren't launched until February 1967 and March 1968.

Onyx, of course was the submarine that used to be part of the Historic Warships Collection in Birkenhead Docks - until Peel Holdings decided they didn't want any grotty old warships cluttering up the view from their new prestige apartment development!

Hi Chris; I am in North Shropshire in a village south of Whitchurch

Hi Marty, I think the launch I went to must have been HMS Onyx.
I do remember that we were told to watch the TV that night as the launch would be shown as part of the local news. Sadly we didn't see ourselves on the telly! What happened to Onyx in the end?

You have a PM.

She is in Barrow I think?

Found my ticket to the one launch I went to!! (stuffed between the pages of a completely unrelated book) It never ceases to amaze me what rubbish I keep...

Excellent Billy, not rubbish at all, obviously made a good bookmark.

went to see the unseen(if you get what i mean!)with school that was well excitin as a kid!