Published in 2013, Tom McCluskie's book, The Rise and Fall of Harland and Wolf, is a captivating read. It describes many events, including the Titanic sinking, from the standpoint of their impact upon H&W. There are interesting photos of the shipyard, old and new, including the current state of the yard, which is essentially abandoned with many buildings demolished. The primary things remaining are the Thompson Drydock and the two huge cranes that dominate the Belfast skyline.
It's remarkable to learn of the many crises that the yard endured, finally culminating in the demise of H&R. These include repeated boom-and-bust cycles, management turnover, and mismanagement by bean counters without shipbuilding experience. McCluskie recounts the bad blood between Lord Pirrie and Edward Wilding because Pirrie held Wilding partially responsible for defects in Titanic and the death of Tom Andrews, Pirrie's nephew.
The sectarian "troubles" in Northern Ireland spilled over into negative impacts on H&W; besides Titanic, there were other spectacular losses of ships; and there were several shipyard accidents resulting in multiple worker deaths. Even if none of these calamities had happened, of course an underlying problem was the inability of the yard to compete in the global shipbuilding industry.
Tom McCluskie served as a long-time employee of Harland and Wolf. I give this book a strong recommendation.
It's remarkable to learn of the many crises that the yard endured, finally culminating in the demise of H&R. These include repeated boom-and-bust cycles, management turnover, and mismanagement by bean counters without shipbuilding experience. McCluskie recounts the bad blood between Lord Pirrie and Edward Wilding because Pirrie held Wilding partially responsible for defects in Titanic and the death of Tom Andrews, Pirrie's nephew.
The sectarian "troubles" in Northern Ireland spilled over into negative impacts on H&W; besides Titanic, there were other spectacular losses of ships; and there were several shipyard accidents resulting in multiple worker deaths. Even if none of these calamities had happened, of course an underlying problem was the inability of the yard to compete in the global shipbuilding industry.
Tom McCluskie served as a long-time employee of Harland and Wolf. I give this book a strong recommendation.