Scottish shipbuilders & the Australian market, 1901-1971

Macdonald, Michael James (2007) Scottish shipbuilders & the Australian market, 1901-1971. MLitt(R) thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The subject matter for this thesis derived from the observation that, between 1901 and 1914, Scottish shipbuilders held some 58.65 per cent of the Australian market in ships; after 1971, their market share was 0 per cent. These figures required further explanation. There was the question of whether the Scottish origins of many pioneering Australian shipowners ('Scottish kinship') inclined them to place orders in Scotland and played a part in establishing 'relationships of trust' (in Boyce's terms) between Australian shipowners and Scottish shipbuilders. If Scottish kinship influenced purchaser choice before 1914, it was clearly no longer influential after 1971. The thesis examines the changes that took place in the Australian coastal shipping market over the seventy year period. It considers the changes brought about by the two World Wars, by Australian industrial development, by intervention in the market by Commonwealth governments and by the divergence of national interests between Britain and Australia that led to the establishment of merchant and naval shipbuilding in Australia. It considers the emergence of competition to coastal shipping from railways, road transport and air travel. The thesis considers what effect Scottish shipbuilder pricing policies had on Australian ordering of new ships, the effect of the offer of a new technology (the Danish diesel-engined ship) during the inter-war period and the ability of Scottish shipbuilders to adapt to changed market conditions after 1945.

• Item Type: Thesis (MLitt(R))
• Qualification Level: Masters
• Keywords: Shipbuilding industry, shipbuilding contracts, Scotland, Australia, 20th century.
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Economic and Social History
• Supervisor's Name: Ross, Dr. Duncan and Slaven, Prof. Tony
• Date of Award: 2007
• Depositing User: Enlighten Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2007-71126
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 10 May 2019 10:49
• Last Modified: 06 Jul 2021 17:35
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.71126
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/71126