by Bruce Peter

Between the early-1960s and the beginning of the 1980s, Cargospeed Equipment Ltd., based in Greenock on the Clyde, designed and manufactured vehicle deck access equipment and platform deck systems for numerous well-known ferries. It also fabricated cranes and hatch covers for cargo vessels. Cargospeed was thus involved in bringing about the 1960s ‘shipping revolution’, helping increase the efficiency of loading and unloading of ships of a variety of types.

The company’s origins were in the family-owned shipyard of George Brown (Marine) Ltd., the history of which forms the initial section of this book. The subsequent development of Cargospeed involved design innovation by the company heir, Jack Brown, whose novel ideas were to feature on many well-known British and foreign ships. Apart from ferries, the vessels for which Cargospeed equipment was supplied ranged from naval auxiliaries to the Cunard liner Queen Elizabeth 2.

Profusely illustrated with hitherto unpublished photographs, The Cargospeed Story fills a gap in knowledge about an important, but hitherto under-recognised aspect of modern merchant shipping and shipbuilding.

This is a well put together book and I would highly recommend it.

Published by:

Paperback: A4, 104 pp illustrated

Price: £18.50