Armstrong Mitchell Whitworth Tyne shipbuilder

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Charles Mitchell Co, Low Walker: 1852 - 1882
Armstrong, Mitchell & Co Ltd, Low Walker: 1882 - 1897
Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd, Low Walker: 1897 - 1928
Vickers-Armstrong Ltd, Low Walker: 1928 - 1968

Mitchell’s Low Walker yard.

The shipyard was founded by Charles Mitchell who was born in Aberdeen on 20th May, 1820. He served his apprenticeship with Simpson & Co, iron founders of Aberdeen, before moving to Newcastle in September of 1842. In Newcastle he worked for John HS Coutts, a yard owner, also originally from Aberdeen. Charles worked for Coutts until 1844 before moving to work in London and then travelled extensively in France, Germany and Italy. He then returned to Newcastle in 1852 to set-up his own Low Walker yard next to the Coutts yard.

The yard built over 90 vessels of various types for Russia and Charles Mitchell, together with his business partner Henry Frederick Swan, set up a shipbuilding yard for the Tsarist government at St Petersburg. Several warships were built there under the company’s direction. In recognition of his services, Tsar Alexander II made Charles a Cavalier of the Order of St Stanislaus, a rare honour for a British shipbuilder.

In 1882 there was an agreed merger between William Armstrong and Charles Mitchell forming a new company Armstrong, Mitchell & Co Ltd. William Armstrong had established a company at Elswick in 1847 and had become one of the world's leading armament manufacturer. Plans for a new shipyard to build warships only, next to the Elswick works, were laid in 1883. The Low Walker yard was now to concentrate on merchant shipbuilding, especially of tankers from 1885.

In 1897, during a period of British naval and armaments expansion Armstrong, Mitchell & Co Ltd purchased and amalgamated with the Manchester based armaments firm of Sir Joseph Whitworth & Co to become Sir WG Armstrong, Whitworth & Co Ltd.

Charles Mitchell had died in August, 1895 while still active and going daily to work at the yard and there were now no Mitchells on the Board. Warship building at the Elswick yard had increased and a new yard was set-up near the Low Walker Yard which was to become the famous Vickers Armstrong’s Naval Yard.

A lean spell of ship building during and around the depression years meant yards were closed down. The Elwick yard was closed in 1920 and production transferred to the Naval Yard. A disasterous investment in a Newfoundland Power & Paper making facility in 1925 nearly brought the whole company down and it was only saved by a forced merger with Vickers of Barrow which was completed in 1928.

The new company was called Vickers-Armstrong Ltd and it then aquired the Dobson yard and the Tyne Iron yard, adjacent to their Low Walker Yard. Merchant ship orders were plentiful for a short time but all three Low Walker yards closed in 1931.

The Low Walker was re-opened in 1942 to build standard ‘B’ type Empire tramps of 10,000 dwt. A further few coasters and military oil barges were completed before the yard closed down for the last time in 1948 and all building had by then been switched to the huge Walker Naval Yard nearby.

Yd No	Year	Ship Name	D / H / P
46	1858	Krikoon	D / H
69	1859	Karachiff	D / H
70	1859	Looga	D / H
71	1859	Luban	D / H
72	1859	Neva	D / H
123	1864	Southland	D / H
158	1867	George Crow	D / H
161	1868	Rostoff	D / H
197	1869	Angelo	D / H
229	1870	Teresa	D / H
275	1872	Outka	D / H
276	1872	Nicolai	D / H
277	1872	Goulob	D / H
278	1872	Lena	D / H
316	1875	Krutikoff
317	1875	Vladeimer
317a	1875	Goloubka
352	1877	Hercules	D / H / P
356	1878	Simson	D / H / P
436	1882	Goretz	D / H
446	1882	Miraflores	D / H
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Yd No	Year	Ship Name	D / H / P
452	1883	Africa	D / H / P
454	1884	Albert	D / H / P
455	1884	Victoria	D / H / P
594	1892	Le Progres	D / H / P
615	1894	Arag	D / H
623	1894	Pervoi	D / H / P
624	1894	Vtoroi	D / H / P
627	1895	Saratovski Ledokol	D / H / P
634	1895	Semen Deznyov	D / H
643	1896	Sokol	D / H
651	1896	Maria	D / H
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Yd No	Year	Ship Name	D / H / P
831	1910	George V	D / H / P
1002	1925	Bertha	D / H / P
1003	1925	Glide Lake	D / H
1004	1925	Rheda	D / H
1005	1925	Joan	D / H
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Yd No	Year	Ship Name	D / H / P
1045	1929	Sir William Hoy	D / H / P
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