When Harland died in 1895, William James Pirrie became the chairman of the company until his death in 1924.
Walter Henry Wilson became a partner of the company in 1874. Harland made a success of the business through several innovations, notably replacing the wooden upper decks with iron ones which increased the strength of the ships and giving the hulls a flatter bottom and squarer cross section, which increased their capacity. Wolff was the nephew of Gustav Schwabe, Hamburg, who was heavily invested in the Bibby Line, and the first three ships that the newly incorporated shipyard built were for that line. In 1858 Harland, then general manager, bought the small shipyard on Queen's Island from his employer Robert Hickson.Īfter buying Hickson's shipyard, Harland made his assistant Wolff a partner in the company. Harland & Wolff was formed in 1861 by Edward James Harland (1831–95) and Hamburg-born Gustav Wilhelm Wolff (1834–1913 he came to the UK at age 14). Harland and Wolff's official history, Shipbuilders to the World, was published in 1986.Īs of 2011, the expanding offshore wind power industry had been the prime focus, and 75% of the company's work was based on offshore renewable energy. Well-known ships built by Harland & Wolff include the ''Olympic''-class trio:, and RMS ''Britannic'', the Royal Navy's, Royal Mail Line's Andes, Shaw Savill's, Union-Castle's, and P&O's. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the White Star Line.
Harland & Wolff is a shipyard, specialising in ship repair, conversion, and offshore construction, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland.