Short Brothers of Sunderland

Short Brothers Limited

Company type	Private company
Industry	Shipbuilding
Founded	1850
Founder	George Short
Defunct	1964
Headquarters	Pallion, Sunderland , United Kingdom
Key people	John Y Short, Joseph Short, John H Short, H.S. Short
Number of employees	1,500 (circa 1900), 900 (circa 1945), 300 (1964)

Short Brothers Limited was a shipbuilding firm originating in Britain, founded in 1850 and operating out of Pallion, Sunderland from 1869 onward. The company ultimately closed in 1964 due to its failure to upgrade facilities for constructing larger vessels.

19th century

The business was initiated by George Short in 1850 at Hylton, where it initially specialized in crafting small wooden ships. A decade later, in 1860, the shipyard moved to Pallion, with George’s four sons joining the enterprise as partners. The launch of the iron-hulled vessel High Stretfield in 1871 coincided with the adoption of the name Short Brothers. John Y Short, a distinguished naval architect within the family, received a gold medal at the 1878 Paris Exhibition.

Starting in 1883, Short Brothers entered a long-term collaboration lasting 35 years with James Knott's Prince Line, constructing 37 vessels including the 1897 passenger liner , which played a notable role in transporting Italian immigrants to America. In 1895, John Y Short made a substantial investment in John Thomas North's Nitrate Producers' Steamship Company ("Anglo Line"), resulting in Short Brothers delivering 30 ships to that fleet, beginning with .

From 1897 onwards, Short Brothers also performed contract work for various Tyneside shipyards. Following John Y Short's passing in 1900, his brother Joseph transformed the business into a limited company named Short Brothers Limited, employing roughly 1,500 personnel.

20th century

During the First World War, the shipyard produced 14 barges for the Admiralty and constructed merchant vessels including four standard B-type cargo ships. After the war, it introduced its initial turbine steamers: sister ships of 7,607 GRT—the (1921) and (1922)—built for Union-Castle Line.

The industry downturn of the 1920s affected operations, with labor strikes occurring in both 1923 and 1926, culminating in the yard’s closure in June 1930. The facility reopened in 1933 and built the Arcwear, a tramp steamer featuring Joseph Isherwood's "arcform" hull design, which enhanced cargo volume and fuel efficiency but had stability limitations. Only a limited number of arcform vessels were produced before another shutdown in 1938.

Reactivated in 1939, Short Brothers primarily constructed tramp steamers during World War II alongside two tankers and one Landing Craft Tank (LCT). By late 1944, under direction from the Ministry of War Transport, the yard shifted focus to assembling prefabricated government standard C-type cargo ships. Workforce numbers reached about 900 by war’s end.

In 1946, John H Short held the position of chairman while H.S. Short—great-grandson of the founder—joined the board of directors. In the early 1960s, hesitation by the Short family to invest in extending berth facilities for larger ships led to closure shortly after completing the universal bulk carrier in early 1964, resulting in approximately 300 job losses.

• 1889 – – hull 184
• 1892 –
• 1910 –
• 1918 –
• 1927 – – hull 425
• 1940 –
• 1941 – , – hull 466, , ,
• 1942 – – hull 474, , , ,
• 1943 – , , , , – hull 480
• 1944 –
• 1945 – , ,
• 1946 –
• 1952 –