Halifax Shipyards Limited

• Halifax-Dartmouth Industries Limied

Halifax Shipyards Limited was established in 1918, when a Montreal group purchased the Halifax Graving Dock Company facility, which had been destroyed in the 1917 Explosion. In 1920 the British Empire Steel Corporation acquired control of the shipyard's stock; it was subsequently purchased in 1930 by DOSCO. During the Second World War the shipyard built the first all-Canadian destroyers and repaired more than 7,200 ships damaged in the battle of the Atlantic. Besides ship construction and repair, the shipyard also manufactured various wood and metal products for industry. In 1958 A.V. Roe Canada (later Hawker Siddeley Canada) acquired a controlling interest in the shipyard. From 1964-1968 the shipyard built numerous small ships. In 1968 the offshore oil construction business began, resulting in the shipyard's production of several SEDCO oil drilling rigs and a self-dynamically positioning SEDCO drill ship. In 1978 Hawker Siddeley was placed in receivership and a consortium, Halifax Industries Limited, reached agreement with the Province of Nova Scotia to operate the shipyard. Modernization began in 1979, involving a $7.5 million mill upgrading and replacement programme of yard infrastructure, and purchase of a floating dock to complement the existing graving dock. In 1983 a new Panamax floating dock was installed, capable of repairing the largest-sized ships on the eastern seaboard. By 1985 the shipyard had become bankrupt and was purchased by a group of Nova Scotians who renamed the company Halifax-Dartmouth Industries Limited. In 1994 the company was purchased by the Irving-owned Saint John Shipbuilding Limited and renamed Halifax Shipyard.