Wm. Crichton & Co.
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W:m Crichton & C:o Ab is a former engineering and shipbuilding company that operated in Turku, Grand Duchy of Finland in 1842–1913. The company also had another shipyard in Okhta, Saint Petersburg.
Formerly | Cowie & Eriksson (1842–1857) D. Cowie & C:o (1857–1862)[1] |
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Company type | osakeyhtiö (1874 →) |
Industry | engineering; shipbuilding[2] |
Founded | 1842[1] |
Founders | David Cowie Anders Thalus Eriksson[1] |
Defunct | 24 April 1913 (1913-04-24)[3] |
Fate | bankruptcy[3] |
Successor | Ab Crichton |
Headquarters | , |
Number of locations | 2 (1896 →)[4] |
Products | steam engines, ships and other engineering products[1][2] |
Owners |
|
Subsidiaries | W:m Crichton & C:o Okhta Shipyard (1896→)[4] |
The company was founded as Cowie & Eriksson. At the beginning it produced steam engines, boilers and other engineering products. William Crichton became owner in 1862 and the company was named W:m Crichton & C:o The first shipbuilding slipway was constructed in 1864. The company became the biggest employer of Turku after acquiring the nearby yard Åbo Skeppswarf in 1883.
Crichton died in 1889, after which the operations were continued by investors. In 1896 the company started a new yard in Okhta, Saint Petersburg, to build ships for the local market. The operations were poorly organised, and both yards lost so much money that the entire company went bankrupt in 1913.
A new company, Ab Crichton, was established in 1914 to continue shipbuilding in Turku.