Metadata
WORK ID: NEFA 21496 (Master Record)
| Title | Year | Date |
| RADIANT II | 1960-1961 | 1960-01-01 |
|
Details
Original Format: Standard 8 Colour: Colour Sound: Silent Duration: 19 mins 11 secs Credits: Individual: Kenneth Douglas Genre: Amateur Subject: Working Life Ships Industry |
| Summary An amateur film made by Kenneth Douglas, Managing Director of Austin and Pickersgill of Sunderland between 1956 and 1967, showing the construction and launch of the yacht Radiant II built at the yard between 1960 and 1961. The yacht was built for Basil M. Mavroleon of Fairwinds Navigation Ltd and completed on the 16th July 1961. |
|
Description
An amateur film made by Kenneth Douglas, Managing Director of Austin and Pickersgill of Sunderland between 1956 and 1967, showing the construction and launch of the yacht Radiant II built at the yard between 1960 and 1961. The yacht was built for Basil M. Mavroleon of Fairwinds Navigation Ltd and completed on the 16th July 1961.
The film begins with a group of men walking around an empty berth. Filmed over a number of months’ views of the ship under construction begins with the keel in place...
An amateur film made by Kenneth Douglas, Managing Director of Austin and Pickersgill of Sunderland between 1956 and 1967, showing the construction and launch of the yacht Radiant II built at the yard between 1960 and 1961. The yacht was built for Basil M. Mavroleon of Fairwinds Navigation Ltd and completed on the 16th July 1961.
The film begins with a group of men walking around an empty berth. Filmed over a number of months’ views of the ship under construction begins with the keel in place along the berth and the ship frame installed. Men work to install the stern section.
With the superstructure completed men work from gantries to paint the ship. On the deck workmen look over plans. Nearing completion there are views of the ship on the slipway including shots of the two large propellers.
On the day of the launch, 29th March 1961, guests arrive and stand around on the dock area chatting. A woman holds a bouquet. The film changes to a position on the other side of the River Wear looking down on other shipyards along the river and the Radiant II in its berth. Back at Austin and Pickersgill an 'A&P’ flag flies from the bow of the ship. There are more views of both the yacht and decorated launch platform.
A bottle of Champagne smashes against the bow of the Radiant II and it slowly begins to slide into the River Wear. The launch is seen again from a second position showing the rear of the yacht. Guests watch from the viewing platform as tug boats begin to manoeuvre the yacht.
A dock gate begins to open and the Radiant II is manoeuvred inside. In position water begins to drain from the dry dock. Writing against the side of a building reads 'Austin & Pickersgill Ltd Shipbuilders & Repairers'. The film ends with a final view of the Radiant II in dry dock.
Context
The amateur filmmaker Kenneth Douglas (1920-2014) left school aged 16 to take up an apprenticeship in the drawing office of Sir James Laing & Sons of Sunderland. Britain was emerging from the 1930s depression era during which, Douglas recalls, “my father and grandfather, both shipyard workers, had walked the streets for about six years”. While at Laing’s he took a scholarship to Sunderland Technical College where he qualified in naval architecture. His first professional position lasted...
The amateur filmmaker Kenneth Douglas (1920-2014) left school aged 16 to take up an apprenticeship in the drawing office of Sir James Laing & Sons of Sunderland. Britain was emerging from the 1930s depression era during which, Douglas recalls, “my father and grandfather, both shipyard workers, had walked the streets for about six years”. While at Laing’s he took a scholarship to Sunderland Technical College where he qualified in naval architecture. His first professional position lasted 18 months working for Ship Division at the National Physical Laboratory, before he accepted a post at Vickers-Armstrong Ltd Naval Yards on the river Tyne. Douglas worked for the company for 8 years and helped set up a workshop for apprentices. He rose through the ranks to become General Manager. In around 1953 he moved to William Gray & Company in Hartlepool, becoming General Manager, before accepting a position as Managing Director for the newly formed Austin & Pickersgill back in Sunderland in 1958
Austin & Pickersgill was formed in 1954 following the merger of S.P. Austin & Son Ltd (founded in 1826) and William Pickersgill & Sons Ltd. During his 13 years with the company, Douglas was instrumental in the modernisation of the Southwick yard, at a cost of £3 million. “I gave myself two years, despite the fact that the chairman said I was barmy and that the place was bankrupt. As things went, we finished the modernisation and were building ships very quickly with the most modern shipyards in Europe at that stage.” He was also influential in the design and development of the successful SD14 cargo ships which were constructed at the Southwick shipyard, taking over from the out-dated ‘Liberty’ ship (also originating on the Wear) and used throughout the world. The Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship developed during World War Two to maintain food and munitions supplies to Britain, and built at United States shipyards. For many years there was speculation about what the initials SD stood for. Standard design? In 1990 Douglas revealed it was ‘Sunderland’. A stained glass window at St Mary’s Church, South Hylton, pays tribute to the SD14, - the ship that kept shipbuilding alive on the River Wear until 1979. In 1969 Douglas left Austin & Pickersgill to become Managing Director of the Upper Clyde Shipbuilders (UCS) in Glasgow. As a direct descendant of “the Black Douglas”, who brought the heart of Robert the Bruce home from the Holy Land, he was pleased to relocate to Helensburgh, Glasgow, with his wife Doris and his youngest daughter. He undertook a mission to bring the yards into profit within 5 years. Three years later the order book was full with work for several years, with a forecasted profit in 1972. Efficiency had so improved that ships were being completed so quickly there were not enough berths for them. However, Ted Heath’s Conservative government announced in 1971 that it would no longer support “lame duck” industries, and refused to give a working capital loan of £6m. This ultimately forced the company into liquidation in 1972. He enjoyed a good working relationship with Union Shop Steward, Jimmy Reid, who led the “work-in” at UCS, in 1971, as an alternative to going on strike. Kenneth Douglas viewed Jimmy Reid as a very intelligent man who was doing his best to show the world that the Upper Clyde workforce was efficient and reliable in order to try and encourage investment. Kenneth Douglas famously indicated his support for the work-in when asked for his view during a television interview. He answered that the workforce were entitled to stage a peaceful protest in order to protect their jobs. He believed in the British Shipbuilding industry and felt public money was better spent on employing people and providing skills, training and apprenticeships. Douglas remained with the company working with the liquidators until 1978 when he was persuaded to return to Sunderland to become Marketing Director of the newly nationalised British Shipbuilders Repair Division as well as Managing Director of Austin & Pickersgill. He ended his shipbuilding career, employed by British Shipbuilders in 1983, and five years later the last ship was launched on the River Wear. Douglas maintained his links with academia since the 1930s when he supplemented a meagre salary as a lecturer at Sunderland Technical College. As Chairman of Sunderland Polytechnic by the mid-1980s he appointed the first female Principal, Dr Ann Wright. He wanted to “give something back” to the communities that had educated and employed him. In 1991 he was awarded a CBE for his services to education. As a ship built by Austin & Pickersgill, the Radiant II was a very different type of vessel from the mass-produced SD14 cargo ships the company was known for. Radiant was a 57.61 metres luxury motor yacht built for Basil M. Mavroleon of Fairwinds Navigation Ltd. Maybe its uniqueness was the reason why Douglas felt he needed to record its construction and launch between 1960 and 1961. The exterior of Radiant II was designed by Yutaki Jujima with interiors by Theoharis Stylianou. Over the years the yacht has gone through three refits, the last in 2015 by R.M.A. Yacht Projects Ltd of Plymouth, and a number of name changes. Currently she is known as Lady K II registered out of Panama and is available for charter for a mere $340,000 a week, cheap considering the yacht has its own private gym, sauna, beauty salon and jacuzzi. Related films held at NEFA: SD14: A STANDARD DESIGN CARGO VESSEL (1968) FULL AHEAD (1965) EAST BY NORTH EAST: THE HONG KONG CONNECTION (1984) References: Research in Maritime History No 51: Crossing the Bar, an Oral History of the British Shipbuilding, Ship Repairing and Marine Engine Building in the Age of Decline 1956-1990 Editors: Anthony Slaven and Hugh Murphy, Oxford University Press, 2017. P.93-96 Biographical information provided by depositor https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austin_%26_Pickersgill https://www.miramarshipindex.nz/ https://www.boatinternational.com/yachts/the-superyacht-directory/lady-k-ii--44175 https://www.charterworld.com/index.html?sub=yacht-charter&charter=my-lady-k-ii-formerly-princess-tanya-694 |
