This page contains a list of Clyde Built
Ships that were some of the top ships of their
time. The largest liners were built for the
Atlantic Run between English ports and New
York.
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Other large liners were built for the
Canadian Run between English Ports and Quebec,
and between England and South Africa. It is
claimed that over 25,000 ships have been built
on the River Clyde since the first shipyard
opened in 1712.
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The Queen Elizabeth is a 70,000 ton aircraft
carrier, expected to be completed in 2017. Her
sister ship, Prince of Wales, is expected to be
completed the following year. These will be the
largest warship ever built in the UK. Most of
the hulls of these ships are to be built at BAE
Systems Maritime in Scotstoun on the River
Clyde, 5 miles west of Glasgow centre. Wiki Page.
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The RMS Queen Elizabeth was the largest ship
ever built on the River Clyde, at 83,676 tons.
She was built at the John Brown shipyard in
Clydebank, for the Cunard Line. This ship was
launched on the 27th September 1938. She first
entered service as a troopship during WWII,
then served on the Atlantic run until 1968.
This Queen Elizabeth was destroyed by fire in
Hong Kong Harbour, on the 9th January 1972.
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RMS Queen Mary was the second largest ship
built on the River Clyde, at 80,774 tons. She
was built at the John Brown shipyard in
Clydebank, for the Cunard Line. This ship was
launched on the 26th September 1934, and
operated on the Atlantic run from the 27th May
1936, to the 19th September 1967. She was also
operated as a troopship during WWII. Queen Mary
is now a museum ship docked at Long Beach in
California. RSS Information Page.
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The QE2 was the third largest ship
built on the River Clyde at 65,863 tons.
She was built at the John Brown shipyard
in Clydebank, for the Cunard Line. This
ship was launched on the 20th September
1967. The QE2 was operated on the
Atlantic run, and world cruises from the
22nd April 1969, until her final voyage
to Dubai on the 11th November 2008. This
ship is expected to serve as a
museum/hotel at Dubai.
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RMS Aquitania was the fourth largest
ship built on the River Clyde, at 45,646
tons. She was built at the John Brown
shipyard in Clydebank, for the Cunard
Line. This ship was launched on the 21st
April 1913, and operated crossing the
Atlantic until 1949. Aquitania served in
the two world wars. She was one of the
largest ships in service at that time,
built to compete with the three Belfast
built 46,000 ton ships, Olympic, Titanic,
and Britannic.
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The SS Empress of Britain was a 42,348
ton liner built at the John Brown
shipyard in Clydebank, for the Canadian
Pacific Line. This ship entered service
on the 27th May 1931, on the Canadian run
between Southampton and Quebec. The
Empress of Britain was sunk during WWII,
off the coast of Ireland in October 1940,
after being damaged by German aircraft,
and finished off by a submarine. RSS
Information Page.
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The RMS Lusitania was a 31,550 ton
liner built at the John Brown shipyard,
for the Cunard Line. This ship entered
service on the Atlantic Run on the 7th
September 1907. Lusitania was the fastest
ship in the world at that time, breaking
a number of records. She was sunk during
WWI, off the coast of Ireland, on the 7th
May 1915, by a German submarine. 1,198
civilians lost their lives in the attack,
many of which were Americans. America
entered the war against Germany soon
after.
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The HMS Duke of York was a 42,000 ton
Battleship built at the John Brown
shipyard in Clydebank. This ship entered
service in November 1941, as one of five
sister ships in the King George V class.
These were the main British battleships
of WWII. Duke of York served throughout
Europe, then in the Far East against
Japan. She survived the war only to be
scrapped at Faslane in about 1957.
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HMS Howe was a 42,000 ton Battleship
built at Fairfield Shipbuilding in Govan.
This ship entered service in August 1942,
as one of five sister ships in the King
George V class, largest ever British
battleships. HMS Howe survived the wars
in Europe and the Far East, only to be
scrapped at Inverkeithing in 1958.
Wiki
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HMS King
George V RSS Information Page
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HMS Hood was a 41,000 ton Battle
Cruiser built at the John Brown shipyard
in Clydebank. This ship was the size of a
battleship, but designed for speed with
light armour. She entered service in
March 1920, as the largest warship in the
world, until WWII battleships began
entering service in the 1940s. The Hood
was sunk on the 24th May 1941, by the
German Battleship Bismarck. Only three of
her crew survived, 1,414 officers and men
went down with the ship. RSS Information
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HMS Indefatigable was a 22,000 ton
Aircraft Carrier built at the John Brown
shipyard in Clydebank. This ship entered
service in May 1944. Indefatigable was
operated in Europe before steaming to the
Far East. She was hit by a Japanese
Kamikaze aircraft, but remained
operational. Indefatigable was scrapped
at Dalmuire and Troon in 1956. Wiki
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HMS Implacable was a 22,000 ton
Aircraft Carrier, built at Fairfield
Shipbuilding in Govan. This ship entered
service in August 1944, seeing action in
Europe before being deployed to the Far
East. Implacable was the first British
ship to be hit by a Kamikaze. Her 5-inch
armoured deck saved her from any serious
damage. She survived the war only to be
scrapped at Inverkeithing in 1955.
Implacable and Indefatigable were the two
largest British carriers during WWII.
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The SS Caronia was a 34,183 ton liner
built at the John Brown shipyard in
Clydebank, for the newly merged
Cunard/White Star Line. Nearing
completion, the company had this liner
completed as a full time cruise ship.
From April 1949, she was mainly operated
on cruises out of New York to the West
Indies and South America. Caronia sunk in
1974, when being towed to a ship breakers
in Taiwan. RSS
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The MV Kungsholm was a 26,678 ton
liner built at the John Brown shipyard in
Clydebank, for the Swedish America Line.
This ships maiden voyage was from
Gothenburg to New York on the 22nd April
1966. Kungsholm was only operated on that
route now and again, as she was used more
as a cruise ship. This ship had a number
of owners over the years, and now serves
as an accommodation ship in Oman.
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The SS Empress of Japan was a 26,032
ton liner built at Fairfield Shipbuilding
in Govan, for the Canadian Pacific Line.
This ship was operated on the Pacific run
between Canada and the Far East. She
served throughout WWII and was also
operated under the name Empress of
Scotland, after the Japanese attacks on
Pearl Harbour, and later as Hanseatic.
This ship was scrapped at Hamburg in
1967. RSS
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The SS Empress of Britain was a 25,500
ton liner built at Fairfield Shipbuilding
in Govan, for the Canadian Pacific Line.
This ship, the third to use this name,
was mainly used to provide a service
between Liverpool or Greenock and Quebec
and Montreal. She was later operated as a
cruise ship under a number of names,
before being scrapped at
Kaohsiung/Malasia in 1975. RSS
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RMS Franconia was a 20,158 ton liner
built at the John Brown shipyard in
Clydebank, for the Cunard Line. This ship
was operated between Liverpool and New
York from the 23rd June 1923 in summer,
and as a cruise ship in winter. After
surviving WWII as a troopship, she was
operated on the Liverpool and Greenock to
Quebec run. Franconia was scrapped at
Inverkeithing in 1957.
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RMS Caronia was a 19,524 ton liner
built at the John Brown shipyard in
Clydebank, as a sister ship of the
Carmania, for the Cunard Line. This ship
was one of the last to be fitted with the
older steam piston engines. Caronia was
operated between Liverpool and New York
from the 25th February 1905. She was used
as an armed merchant cruiser and
troopship during WWI. Caronia was then
used between the Atlantic run and
cruising before being scrapped at
Osaka/Japan in 1932.
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RMS Carmania was a 19,524 ton liner
built at the John Brown shipyard in
Clydebank, for the Cunard Line. This was
one of the first large ships to be fitted
with steam turbine engines. Carmania was
operated between Liverpool and New York
from the 2nd December 1905. She was
operated during WWI as a merchant cruiser
and a troopship. After the war, she was
operated between the Atlantic run and as
a cruise ship. Carmania was scrapped at
Blyth/England in 1932. RSS
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RMS Windsor Castle was an 18,697 ton
liner built at the John Brown shipyard in
Clydebank, for the Union Castle Line.
This ship was operated between
Southampton and Cape Town from April
1922. Windsor Castle was operated as a
troopship during WWII. She was sunk in
the Mediterranean in 1943, by German
aircraft. All but one of the 291 crew and
2,699 servicemen on board were
rescued.
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The SS Empress of Ireland was a 14,191
ton liner built at Fairfield Shipbuilding
in Govan, for the Canadian Pacific Line.
This ship was operated between Liverpool
and Quebec from the 29th June 1906. The
Empress of Ireland sunk on the 29th May
1914, after colliding with the Norwegian
collier ship Storstad, close to the mouth
of the St Lawrence River. This was the
worst ever-Canadian maritime disaster, as
1,012 of the Empress of Ireland's
passengers and crew lost their lives.
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The RMS Virginian was a 10,754 ton
liner built at Stephen & Sons in
Linthouse by Govan, for the Glasgow based
Allan Line. This ship was operated
between Liverpool and St John/New
Brunswick in Canada from the 6th April
1905. She was used during both world
wars, and after, on the run between
Sweden and America, on the run between
Italy and South America, and on the run
between Hamburg and New York, all under
different names. Virginian was scrapped
at Trieste/Italy in 1955.
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The SS City of New York was a 10,508
ton steamship built at the John Brown
shipyard in Clydebank, for the American
based Inman Line. This was the first twin
propeller ship operated on the Atlantic
run from 1888. Her sister ship City of
Paris, built by J & G Thomson of
Clydebank, entered service the following
year. These were the fastest ships on the
Atlantic run at that time, capable of 20
knots. These ships were scrapped in 1922
and 1923. Wiki
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The Glenlee is a 1,613 ton sailing
vessel completed in 1896 by Anderson
Rodger & Company of Port Glasgow, for
the Glen-line of the Glasgow shipping
company Archibald Sterling & Co. Ltd.
This ship was a bulk cargo carrier that
circumnavigated the globe four times. She
was owned by the Spanish navy from 1922
to 1981. The Glenlee is now berthed at
the Riverside Museum in Glasgow to serve
as a museum ship. RSS Information
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