Two centuries of shipbuilding by the Scotts at Greenock

The Shipbuilding Yard.
OVERING an area of 40 acres, the
Works have ten berths for the con-
struction of ships of all sizes, with
departments for producing all the
accessories and machinery — engine and
boiler works, steam-turbine factory,
foundries, brass, copper, and sheet-iron
shops, saw-mill and extensive wood-working department —
and these give employment to four thousand workmen. The
equipment has been greatly extended and modernised during
the past few years. The building of the China Steam
Navigation Company's steamer Fengtien in nineteen weeks,
from the laying of the keel to the trials, is one of several
instances of rapid construction which might be enumerated.
The plans of ships prepared in the designing department
and drawing offices, to which reference has been made in the
previous Chapter, are passed to the moulding loft, where the
work of construction is commenced. This loft is situated in
a substantial four-storey building, accommodating practically
all the wood-finishing departments. Each floor has an area
of 12,500 square feet; the ground and first floors are given
up to the joiners and cabinet-makers, with their numerous
machine tools, while the top floor is at present utilised for
storing completed joiner work, etc. The moulding loft