John Readhead & Sons

John Readhead & Sons was a shipyard on the River Tyne in South Shields, Tyne and Wear, England founded in 1865.

John Readhead & Sons

Company type	Private
Industry	Shipbuilding, ship repair, engine building, boilermaking
Founded	1865
Defunct	1984
Fate	Acquired
Successor	Swan Hunter
Headquarters	South Shields, UK

History

John Readhead and John Softley founded the business in 1865 in South Shields as Readhead and Softley.^[1] The first ship they built was a small collier called Unus.^[1] Swan Hunter bought the company in 1967 after publication of the Geddes Report which recommended rationalisation of shipbuilding on the River Tyne.^[2] It was nationalised with the rest of Swan Hunter in 1977. The yard at South Shields closed in 1984.^[3]