Peter Hedley on Shipbuilding

Samuel Whites had four Drawing Offices. There was the Ship Drawing Office, the Engine Drawing Office, the Electrical Drawing Office and the Boat Shop Drawing Office and so all of those offices fed through to the yard for the building of the various vessels.

Lisa: So which Drawing Office were you working in?

I was in the Engine Drawing Office. There were about 30 people in that office, and it was divided into the steam side and the diesel side of the shipping.

Lisa: And where was that based? Which building?

That was on the West Cowes side. Not too far from the crane, just a, just a couple of hundred yards from the crane. 

Lisa: Could you explain to me how you did the drawing then?

Well we were given a system to do. For instance, you’d do the lube oil system or you would do the main steam system and you worked through from the boiler to the turbine if you were doing the steam system and in fact for the lube oil system you’d do all the areas where the lube oil was required for lubricating the various pieces of machinery.

Lisa: Did you work at a drawing board?

Yes, we, there was none of this computerised thing. We were all on a drawing board and stood all day long, leaning on this board and draw.

We used to draw it out on paper and then it used to go the Tracing Office and the girls in the Tracing Office used to put it onto linen with pen and ink, very neatly done. Then it was printed in the Print Office and then sent out to the various shops for construction. So, all that’s gone now. In fact, my cousin who just recently died, she was a Tracer and that’s obviously a dying art now as many of these industries have died out and trades I suppose.