Steel Goes To Sea (1941)

Documentary of Second World War vintage that shows a British shipyard at work, building merchant ships around the clock, at a time when this was vital to the nation's survival.
If I'm of a mind to award myself a Big Chief I-Spy award for this film, then spotting "Yard No. 242" and knowing that this was filmed Burntisland Shipbuilding Co., Fife, would make the ship under construction the SS Ger-y-Bryn.
SS Ger-y-Bryn was a British registered cargo steamer of 5,108 GRT. She was lost in 1943, torpedoed NW of Lisbon by U-130 while part of Convoy XK-2. All 47 members of the crew were rescued by the Royal Navy corvette HMS Coreopsis (K 32).
The film ends with the keel laying of "Yard No. 247" which would be the SS Tudor Queen.

[@nicholasmaude6906]

The narrator of this film would be shocked at what happened to the British shipbuilding industry in the decades that followed the end of WWII.

[@retardtiger]

Shipyards on the Clyde were closing between the wars. Looking at the labour intensive riveting no wonder, welding was already replacing it abroad. Lack of foresight by yard owners.

[@MrAustruck]

imagine a world without KZbin .. these films forgotten

[@teresaponziani7983]

I am a history buff and grateful to KZbin for preserving this information.

[@howler6490]

Never seen the forming of ribs...incredible...such knowledge and experience...GONE.

[@janvisser5850]

The died-out art of riveting! I was born in a place close to a shipyard in the late 40's. Although this was across the river, I can still recall the continuous sound of the pneumatic riveting hammers, which by then had replaced the hand-hammer shown in this movie. The skill of punching the holes using templates in the plates and frames separately, the plates still flat, where after the plates are bend and then moved toward the new-build ship. What amazes me is that the holes perfectly line up and ready to receive the red-hot rivets, if one hole is a fraction of a thousand of an inch out no way the rivet could go in and all successive holes would be out as well!

[@billycoyle7470]

jan visser kb

[@VidkunQL]

A red-hot rivet would balk at a fraction of a mil? I think you exaggerate.

[@johnstudd4245]

@@VidkunQL lol, yes they were made to deform when red hot, that was their whole purpose. That was not a "thousandth of an inch" tolerance factor. I respect the craftsmanship and hard work, but lets not make it more than it really was.

[@pimpompoom93726]

I suspect the top holes were punched into the raw plate and the holes underneath were drilled onsite using the top hole as a drill guide after the plate was mounted with guide bolts. That's the only way you could align rivet holes that accurately. Trying to align two punched holes with tooling like that would be next to impossible on a production basis.

[@lesjames5191]

I too was born in a place close to a shipyard in the mid 40's, this yard was also across the river. The town was Sunderland a great ship building town.

[@andyharris17able]

As a shipwright myself it breaks my heart to see that small yards like this are no more. Mainly due to governments over decades.

[@magnuslundin682]

are there small yards left anywhere? apart from small yards that produce pleasure craft.

[@davequensell5847]

Served my apprenticeship as a shipwright in Hawthorn Leslie's in the 1950's. Breaks my heart to see the Tyne now, but at least it is a cleaner rover now.

[@A_Man_In_His_Van]

I'll bet the tinnitus suffered by these guys was maddening. My ears ring 24/7 from being a GM dealer tech for 20 years. And it makes me crazy. But these guys... No gloves, no glasses. Half of them wearing wool street clothes. Jeebus.

[@norton750cc]

Thats why it took 5 years to not only learn the job, but survive it, they made ear plugs from cotton wool and candle wax, warm it would be pushed into the ear to mould to the shape. They worked. My grandfather was a hammerman before he went to war in 1914, he survived that disaster, obviously, or I would not be typing! He must have taken his earplugs to the war, as he was not deaf to his dying day in 1961 rip

[@jr8163]

Whenever i watch these short films of workers of pre war and wartime workplaces you can feel their pride in what they are making,great film

[@danyvarna5094]

People were harder.

[@andredegraaf1643]

This is the most interesting ship building video I have ssen.

[@stevemcguire4078]

Interestingly enough, the Royal Navy corvette HMS Coreopsis (K32) played the part of HMS Compass Rose in the film "The Cruel Sea".

[@sandgrownun66]

Excellent documentary. Some features of shipbuilding I had not seen before, such as the bending of ships ribs using mostly brute strength.

[@barrowpeter604]

What's up sunshine

[@rorypenstock1763]

If you look closely, they're using a hydraulic jack.

[@manga12]

@@rorypenstock1763 yes just like a flanging press for railroad steam engine fireboxes and parts, or open die forging of sorts, only the peg holes in the floor are the forming die, but as it were it was an aquired skill and a bit of art in metal forming, no differant today, only the tools may have changed or the power might be air or hydraulic or servo but the concept is still there, and as for the kids that was how they learned their trade, fathers and sons working side by side togather as had been the case for centuries, or a son would apprentice to a trade or teacher to learn, the origional take your son's or daughters to work day but it was every day heh. what I am shocked by is they did not have a hydraulic riveter or at least an air hammer to drive the rivets they were doing it by hand and in briten no less, in the usa well before then they were using pnumatic hammers to run rivets for boilers and buildings if not hydraulic yoke riveters, and that was at the turn of the 20th century, or at least for calking the seams in the plates, that is driving the metal tight around the gap between each plate so it dont leak using a blunt chisle for the purpose

[@steveblottenberger1097]

Steve from Annapolis you got my vote keep up the old black-and White movies British are hardcore Navy personnel especially after what you guys went through and World War 1 & 2 keep up the old movies

[@fredwood1490]

It is amazing how incredibly labor intensive and dangerous jobs like this were at the beginning and even the middle of the twentieth century. Yet, in just the few years of the second world war, it all changed, all over the Western World. Welding took over from riveting, saving all that hole punching, while large, man controlled cutting machines made short work out of plates and bulkheads. Many ships were made in pieces and welded together only in final construction and everywhere, great machines did the work of many men. Many skills were lost, some new ones were created and the march of progress moved on. (As they used to say in the old "Industry on Parade" films.) You don't notice how many eight and nine fingered men were working here, nor the burn and cut scars all over their bodies and the number of those BOYS changed a lot as they were the ones lest experienced in the danger of this kind of work and the ones most likely to die in accidents. The definition of "Working Man" changed a lot at this time and something ancient and proud was lost, perhaps for the better, but there's no doubt, those were Super Men.

[@gardnersmith3580]

Let us not neglect the distinguished composer William Alwyn, who wrote the score.

[@scottkerrison2913]

Fantastic I wonder if David made it through the war and what became of him and also wonder if 242 did and what she was named

[@jackclayson7887]

A wonderful piece of our history...those men were made of steel!

[@PUAlum]

" and each man gives something of himself to the character of the ship". To how man such men (and women) do we owe our way of life....and our freedom! God bless them all.

[@riklangham6739]

MANY THANKS

[@nemo6686]

I wonder why it was launched without a propeller and if it required a subsequent dry-docking to be fitted?

[@TrevorTrottier]

Likely this is a yard to build the hull and they're floating it to fitting yard.

[@ChrisCoombes]

Is it the editing that makes this film so good ?

[@josephastier7421]

It's the nationalism.

[@DoyleHargraves]

If you walked in there with a modern MIG welder, their minds would be blown to pieces.

[@DoyleHargraves]

@wilson pickett i have welded in a shipyard on a warship. In the time it took them the heat and hsmmer a rivet, i could lay 3' of 3/8" filet weld. Plus, welds didnt spall when struck by a shell. And don't forget that welding saves weight and raw material. I would wager that the reason they are rivetting instead of welding has more to do with the lack of men with welding skill than with the few advantages found in riveting.

[@jr8163]

@@DoyleHargraves I dont know much about ship building but i know grafters when i see them and these workers were grafters,welding looks a piece of piss compared to riveting but what do i know.

[@norton750cc]

@@DoyleHargraves Welding came later, oxy acetyline was only used for cutting or welding thin sheet metal in those days. The welding thing only started after the war in uk.

[@josephastier7421]

@@jr8163 World War 2 wasn't a beauty contest.

[@s.sestric9929]

@@DoyleHargraves Welding ships together was first done during World War 2 including the Liberty ships in the US, which were a lot like the ones shown in the film. The first Liberty ships had a tendency to break apart and had to have a reinforcing plate riveted on. As far as the lack of skilled welders, some 2600 Liberty ships were built by unskilled laborers who learned on the job. Many came from impoverished rural areas to work in shipyards that were built almost overnight to meet the demands of ship production. Riveting was proven technology while welding was still in it's infancy. Only the speedy production demands of World War 2 forced the shipbuilding industry to adopt it, and to tolerate the steep learning curve.

[@ogpu1]

Nice detective work,!

[@pimpompoom93726]

I can't believe these workers are using manual ball peen hammers to install rivets, this was long past the introduction of pneumatic rivet headers.

[@georgebuller1914]

The days when REAL SKILL was needed!

[@Makeyourselfbig]

No hard hats, no safety gear at all for that matter. Kids working. Injuries and deaths must have been commonplace.

[@sandgrownun66]

+Joe Soap When the cloth cap was king.

[@janvisser5850]

It was only from the end of 1980's onward that Industry in general became more safety conscious because of increasing insurance claims received following accidents in the workplace were awarded successfully. This trend originated in the USA and blew over to the (mainly Western) Industrialized countries worldwide. Before that time it was more left to the worker "one hand for yourself and the other for the ship" (or factory if land based).

[@PointyTailofSatan]

Unions were mostly responsible for safety improvements.

[@iangascoigne8231]

And yet if you look at the comments on this and other old films there will be complaints about health and safety Nazis as if health and safety is a bad thing.

[@danyvarna5094]

Tougher people. Now everyone cries about paper cuts.

[@heathcox1286]

Wow. Good old black and white documentaries. .

[@gordoncondie4708]

I think this is Burntisland, Fife

[@wbell539]

I know I'm watching this about 78 years later. But is it any wonder that other nations soon found ways of driving Britain out of the competition to build ships?

[@s.sestric9929]

Nope. Just pay expendable people starvation wages in authoritarian countries for fun and profit.

[@wbell539]

@@s.sestric9929 Poor living standards would be part of the answer definitely. But life was hardly grand in Britain at the time either, even allowing for the war years. Owners are rarely generous.

[@mrtulipeater]

A consequence of rebuilding Japan and Germany (West) was they each had new shipyards and modern labor arrangements to compete ang gain market share from war weary Britain.

[@danyvarna5094]

Do not comment if you know little.

[@expatexpat6531]

@@mrtulipeater The problem was not investment and rebuilding - the UK got 2.2 times the amount of Marshall Aid that Germany received. Where did it go?The UK problems were deeper-rooted - poor management, lack of trust between labour and management, failure to adapt. See also the fate of the UK car industry.

[@weehiggy67]

Is that Port Glasgow? Possibly the Glen shipyard???

[@richardyoung8999]

Good film

[@williamsanders5066]

Went to sea on various classes of ships; destroyers, destroyer tender, amphibious troop and assault ships.

[@kevg3320]

So, you're a skimmer then? ;)

[@williamsanders5066]

I was a shipboard member of every sea command I was attached to.

[@balham456]

Skilled work - but post-1945 the Japanese decided welding sections together was quicker and cheaper.

[@johnstudd4245]

It was the welding and prefabrication of the ww2 liberty ships in the States that were built by the thousands(over 2700) that got that whole ball rolling.

[@user-cz4nt3qm1v]

Director of photography - J. Rogers ⚔️🏴

[@garciavelert]

Ni guantes, ni botas, ni cascos, ni gafas de seguridad, ahora los trabajadores están más protegidos.Estas personas si trabajaban.

[@ignacioenriquemendezchavez5912]

La integridad de un trabajador influye en la calidad del producto, si trabajaban claro, pero las lesiones que sufrían hacía que rindieran menos y que hubiera una mayor taza de mortalidad. Es importante cuidar de su gente

[@ukexbreakdownman]

When Britain was a great nation

[@tamar5261]

I wonder if those young kids are still alive in 2022?

[@paulrailton1511]

Only one man banks the crane.

[@A_Man_In_His_Van]

Just think of all the wasted resources ww1 and ww2 consumed. I'm surprised there is any oil, iron ore, or coal left.

[@VidkunQL]

I think it's because the axis ran out of men first.

[@danyvarna5094]

Resources are not for everyone and those wars won the world for the Anglo-Americans, a world they ignorantly lost do to a lack of guts. I say this as an eastern enemy of that order.

[@johnstudd4245]

@@danyvarna5094 I would say a lack of common sense, imho.

[@danyvarna5094]

@@johnstudd4245, maybe it is so. It seems that common sense is pretty uncommon ourdays.

[@stevenpilling3773]

This is wartime. Yet, work ceases with the sunlight. In America, Mr. Kaiser's yards were turning out Liberty Ships on a breakneck, 24/7 schedule.

[@COIcultist]

Let me think might there have been a slight problem with lighting the shipyard up at night?

[@stevenpilling3773]

@@COIcultist Blackout orders may have been a part of it. Those wouldn't have helped much, if the islands were starved from lack of merchant ships and escorts to protect them. I'm thinking that the labour unions were the biggest factor. Of course, this is only conjecture on my part.

[@COIcultist]

@@stevenpilling3773 I might have another look the blackout was policed with a religious zeal. There were labour disputes at times, bad things happened with the miners at one point, but people knew what they were working against if not necessarily what they were working for. Lots of industries got to the point where even management realised people had to work fewer hours. People were working for more hours, but you were getting less total work out of them not just less work per hour. 1941 is a key year after then even if you suspected Soviet direction of the unions that would have changed but during 1941 I can't counter that. I just wonder how many days, weeks or months of work would you endanger by lighting a shipyard. We were acutely aware of the situation Churchill stated that The Battle of The Atlantic was the only thing that truly worried him.

[@stevenpilling3773]

@@COIcultist I was remembering how, in New Zealand, the 1st Marine Division had to unload their ships because the longshoreman's union refused to do so in adherence with their peacetime contract. They even threatened violence against the Marines if they offloaded themselves. General Vandegrift made it plain that there would be drastic consequences if they tried. They didn't!

[@COIcultist]

@@stevenpilling3773 *" In adherence with their peacetime contract."* Was this at a time of peace or war? Just after the Falklands conflict I was at college (day release) with quite a few classmates who worked for British Aerospace they were saying how when things were needed they were done in a fraction of the peacetime development time. They particularly related to a refuelling probe for Hercules transporters. This was done in a matter of a couple of weeks with staff attending the (weekend) demonstration who would have gone straight back to work had there been a problem. Alright overtime was paid like it was going out of fashion but when push comes to shove indigenous workers will push work out. While the Kaiser shipyards did a record 4-day build of a Liberty Ship my befuddled mind was looking for a record build on a Lancaster Bomber. Alas, the film I remembered was a build on a Wellington (Designed by Sir Barnes "Dam buster" Wallis) kzbin.info/www/bejne/sJ25fY1oaJWcfNU When moments of need are required by a country I think your average Joe is the first man to stand up to the plate.

[@jamesbugbee6812]

Only the Brits can produce such warm propaganda 💜.

[@airplanes42]

I wonder what these men would say if they knew that shipbuilding would die out in the west because some academics deemed the winners of the war "post industrial." No hearing protection, numerous safety situations that woulf be considered unsfe today, and children working in the yard.

[@mytravelmedia]

place of the "birth of ships" laying it on quite thick ..... at least we know now where the ancient Phoenicians got their technology from...... I am used to the pompous bit but this is on a whole different level of hubris

[@namratakawlekar4205]

omkarkawlekar15may1991omey