Harland & Wolff

Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding and fabrication company with its main office in London. It has important work sites in Belfast, Arnish, Appledore, and Methil. The company is known for building and fixing ships, as well as working on projects far out at sea.

Harland & Wolff helps five main areas: Defence, Energy, Cruise and Ferry services, Renewables, and Commercial projects. It provides many services such as technical help, building and fixing ships, keeping ships running, changing old ships into new ones, and taking ships out of service.

In January 2025, the company was purchased by Navantia. Despite these changes, Harland & Wolff continues to be an important part of shipbuilding and ocean construction around the world.

Overview

Harland & Wolff is famous for building many well-known ocean liners in the early 1900s, including the Olympic-class trio – RMS Olympic, RMS Titanic, and HMHS Britannic. They also built important ships such as the Royal Navy's HMS Belfast and P&O's Canberra.

In 2022, the company got a big contract to help build three new support ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Their history book, Shipbuilders to the World, was published in 1986.

History

Harland & Wolff was formed in 1861 by Edward Harland and Gustav Wilhelm Wolff. They bought a small shipyard in Belfast and started building ships. They made improvements to ship design, such as using iron instead of wood, which made their ships stronger.

In the early 1900s, the company built famous ships including Olympic, Titanic, and Britannic. During the First and Second World Wars, Harland & Wolff built and repaired many warships. In the 1960s, they built very large ships, including a huge oil tanker called Myrina.

In recent years, Harland & Wolff has focused more on repairing ships and working on projects like wind farms and oil platforms. The company’s famous cranes, Samson and Goliath, are still in Belfast today.

Archives

Many important papers from Harland & Wolff are kept safe for people to learn from. You can find about 2,000 files and lots of old documents from 1861 to 1987 at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. There is also a big collection at the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum, with photographs and drawings of ships they built. Some of these old ship drawings are in a book written in 1998. The Archives of the University of Glasgow (GUAS) keep records about another part of the company too.

List of ships built

Main article: List of ships built by Harland & Wolff

Harland & Wolff has built many famous ships over the years. One of its best-known ships is the RMS Titanic, finished in 1912. The company has also built other important ships, like aircraft carriers, cruisers, and modern cruise liners. Their work still influences the maritime industry today.