These cogs and drums formed part of the haulage mechanism for Hall Russell’s Footdee slipway. Ships were hauled up the slipway for repair on a large cradle which was attached to these drums by strong wire cable. This mechanism formed part of the ‘patent slip’, originally patented in 1818 by the Scotsman Thomas Morton and described as “a method of dragging ships out of the water on dry land”. Slipping a vessel in this way was seen as a cheaper and simpler alternative to dry-docking, which involved floating a ship into an enclosed basin before pumping out the water, allowing the ship to come to rest on the bottom.

Hall Russell & Co. was one of several shipbuilders operating in Aberdeen. It was founded in 1864, initially building engines and boilers before manufacturing its first ship, the iron steamer Kwang Tung, in 1868. The firm built cargo ships and fishing vessels, particularly after trawling became big business in the Aberdeen area in the 1890s. This brought prosperity to the shipyards and Aberdeen’s fishing industry, reinforcing the importance of the city’s relationship with the North Sea.

Throughout the 20th century the firm continually produced a high standard of fishing and cargo vessels. As with other Scottish shipbuilders the firm’s production was diverted to the construction of corvettes, frigates, minesweepers and other defence vessels during the World Wars. In 1977 the company became part of the nationalised British Shipbuilders Corporation, and continued the production of warships for the Ministry of Defence until the yard’s privatisation in 1986.

In 1989 Hall Russell was taken over by A & P Appledore. The firm, however, was still classed as a naval shipbuilder, making it difficult to secure orders for the merchant and fishing vessels it had traditionally produced. In 1992 the yard finally closed, signalling the end of shipbuilding in Aberdeen.

The site of the shipyard was redeveloped and in its place is a multi-user deep water berth facility built to accommodate the many large ships of the oil industry which are now such a prevalent feature of Aberdeen’s Harbour.

Donated to the Scottish Maritime Museum after the closure of the yard by Aberdeen Harbour Board

My Leica IIIc, this beautiful camera was built in 1950 (the IIIc line was manufactured between 1940 and 1951) featured a slightly longer body than earlier III models and diecast body rather than a series of assembled parts also had a shutter redesign.

The Lens (manufactured 1949) is a Leitz Summitar 50mm (5cm) focal range and a f/2 maximum aperature which can be stopped down to f/16.

It's a pain in the butt to use, but totally worth it with the image quality it pumps out. There's no lightmeter so I either use a VC Meter II or Sunny-16.

Strobist Info:
1 SB-600 M 1/4 Shoot Thru Umbrella Left Corner
1 SB-800 M 1/16 Bare Left Side, Bounced off Sunbounce at Right