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Title: BRITISH MOVING PICTURE NEWS, ARDROSSAN SHIPYARD

Reference number: 0560

Date: 1919, July (?)

Production company: Green's Film Service

Sound: silent

Original format: 35mm

Colour: bw

Fiction: non-fiction

Running time: 11 mins

Description: The various stages involved in the construction of vessels at the Ardrossan Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co shipyard. 'Pentland Firth' and "Cromarty Firth" on the stocks, and launch of 'Hunstanworth '

Hunstanworth launched 1 July 1919
'Cromarty Firth' launched 2 July 1919
'Pentland Firth' launched 17 August 1919.
The ships concerned had almost certainly been ordered by the Shipping Controller as part of the war effort. As they had not been completed by the time the armistice was announced they would most likely have lain incomplete until a buyer could be found, then they would have been launched hurriedly to free up space in the yard. Records of Ardrossan Shipbuilding Co. held by Glasgow University Archive.

Credits: ["The British Moving Picture News, Green's Film Service" credited on intertitles].

Shotlist: No credits - title missing. [b/w] [Ardrossan Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Co.] shipyard. brief shpt ship no. 306 [PENTLAND FIRTH] on stocks. Vessel "Cromarty Firth" [ship no 272] under construction (.23) The drawing office - every detail of ship construction is put on paper. Draughtsmen at work (.29) [amber] shots inside the office of men and women at work (1.09) the moulding loft. Here we see some tangible results from the mysterious plans which are sent from the drawing office. Shots of men laying out wooden batons on the floor to represent the ship (1.53) [b/w] The joiners' shop. shots inside (2.04) Constructing the slip. A diver at work. Diver in the water aiding work of the grab as it goes under water (2.52) Punching and rolling. Punching machines for steel plates. shots of steel plating going into the machine (3.22) the furnace shed. Immense plates of white-hot steel become recognisable as parts of the hull. [red] Shots inside. Working with sheets of steel (4.34) This work which seems to the unsophisticated onlooker to consist of toying with tons of white hot metal looks very fascinating but after a few minutes in close proximity to the raging furnace rapidly loses its charm. shots inside furnace shed. Gaffer in bowler hat and shots of workers. A frame is bent into shape by means of pegs nailed into the floor (5.3) The welfare of the workers is not neglected. Canteens, where meals can be obtained and eaten in cleanliness and comfort, are provided. [amber] shots inside the works' canteen and then in the management canteen (5.47) [b/w] the tug "Burnfoot" at quayside in harbour. A steamship in the background (6.09) Up to date methods are used whenever possible. Note the concrete keel blocks and steel uprights. shots of same (6.19) Riveters at work. Witnessing the celerity and skill the workmen display one can easily understand why Great Britain is the greatest shipbuilding nation on earth. Shots of the riveters at work (6.56) Oxy-acetylene jet in use. A few months ago one of these outfits would have been very useful to us. We never could open bully-beef tins with an issue clasp -knife. A cutter using jet (7.28) Launch of the "Hunstanworth" [1 July 1919] Workers knock away stocks (7.43) the workers occupied every available viewpoint to see the result of their labour enter her natural element. Shot of the workers perched on overhead beams, etc. Shot of the crowd watching (8.20) Launch platform party disperse after posing for group photograph (9.14) Mrs. Quack and the launch party (9.23) shot of tugs pulling vessel in the water (9.33) Mr. E. Aitken Quack, the Managing Director, was completely submerged by his happy workers - [shot missing] (9.38) Incomplete.