Above: Select the required shipbuilder by using initial letter of the surname eg: Armstrong, Palmer or Readhead.
Shipbuilder: Readhead, Softley & Co, South Shields (1865 - 1872)
KEY BELOW: D / H / P (D means basic dimensions are shown; H means a history is given; P means one or more photographs are available)
In 1865 John Softley, General Manager for Marshalls at Willington Quay and John Readhead, Engineering Manager for the same firm decided to start a small shipbuilding business of their own.
With £2,860 of capital they set up in a yard vacated by their former employers at Pilot Street, South Shields.
The yard was close to the river mouth and below the Lawe Top, between the entrance to Wapping Street and the present-day Groyne.
They were quite successful for a time, building some 87 vessels in a period of seven years, but after a great trade depression in the early years of the 1870s, the partnership was dissolved in 1872.
Yd No Year Ship Name D / H / P 1 1865 Unus D / H 2 1865 Contest (TT) D / H / P 3 1866 Pilot (TT) D / H / P 4 1866 Great Emperor (TT) D / H 5 1866 Duo D / H 6 1866 Gladiateur (TT) D / H 7 1866 Guiding Star (TT) D / H 8 1866 Lord Lyon (TT) D / H 9 1866 Unione (TT) D / H 10 1866 Storm King (TT) D / H 11 1866 Honor D / H 12 1866 Lizzie Leslie D / H / P 13 1867 Brunel 14 1867 Advance (TT) D / H 15 1867 Pride o' the Tay (TT) D / H 16 1867 Joseph Locke (TT) D / H 17 1867 Tynemouth D / H 18 1867 Oscar (TT) D / H 19 1867 Susan Gibbs (TT) D / H 20 1867 Star of Hope 21 1867 Henry Wright (TT) D / H 22 1867 Hellespont (TT) D / H / P 23 1867 George Peabody (TT) D / H / P 24 1867 Hope D / H 25 1867 Jackal D / H 26 1867 Brothers 27 1868 John Smart (TT) D / H 28 1868 Stanley (TT) D / H 29 1868 Sir Robert Napier D / H 30 1868 Twist (TT) D / H 31 1868 Marion (TT) D / H 32 1868 Orcadia D / H / P 33 1868 Pauline (TT) D / H 34 1868 Pera (TT) D / H 35 1868 Milo (TT) D / H 36 1868 Lord Warden (TT) D / H / P 37 1868 Karikal D / H 38 1868 King Fisher (TT) D / H 39 1868 Caterina (TT) D / H 40 1868 Peri D / H 41 1869 James Renforth 42 1869 Express D / H 43 1869 Theodore Engels D / H / P 44 1869 Cosmopolitan (TT) D / H 45 1869 Ville d'Anvers D / H / P 46 1869 Bosphorus (TT) D / H 47 1869 Leinster (TT) D / H 48 1869 Gauntlet (TT) D / H 49 1869 Cornuvia D / H 50 1869 Restless (TT) D / H / P 1869 Charles XII (TT) D / H 52 1870 Unus II D / H 53 1870 Caterina (TT) D / H 54 1870 Fiery Dragon (TT) D / H 55 1870 Anna 56 1870 Cruiser (TT) D / H 57 1870 Border Chief D / H 58 1870 Washington (TT) D / H / P 59 1870 Jean Bart D / H / P 60 1870 George Peabody (TT) D / H 61 1870 Dunkerquois D / H 62 1870 Hetton (TT) D / H 63 1870 Westenhope D / H 64 1870 Penelope (TT) D / H 65 1870 Malta (TT) D / H 66 1870 Danube (TT) D / H / P 67 1871 Rudolf Tornerhjelm D / H 68 1871 T W Rhodes D / H 69 1871 Robert Ingham D / H 70 1871 Warrior (TT) D / H / P 71 1871 Elena (TT) D / H 72 1871 Peter Dixon (TT) D / H 73 1871 Holmside D / H 74 1872 Charles Dickens (TT) D / H / P 75 1872 Agamemnon (TT) D / H / P 76 1871 Lurline D / H 77 1871 President 1871 Pilot (TT) D / H / P 79 1872 Hilton Philipson D / H 80 1872 Arthur D / H 81 1872 R W Hodgson D / H 82 1872 Norma D / H 83 1873 Willie D / H 84 1872 Westoe D / H 1872 Leading Star (TT) D / H 1872 Sussex (TT) D / H / P --- ----- --------------- ----------