Shipbreaker Extraordinaire

For many years anyone driving into Portsmouth would be treated to the surprising roadside sight of warships, submarines and unusual small craft in various states of decay and demolition. This fleeting glimpse was all that most would ever see of the extraordinary business of the Pounds family, which ranged from shipbreaking to trading profitably in surplus ships and demolishing (and on occasions selling) war-surplus military vehicles.

After beginnings in general scrap in the 1860s, Pounds started breaking up ships in 1921 with German U-Boats. Proximity to the royal dockyard at Portsmouth meant they were able to secure naval shipping ranging from Royal Navy submarines and frigates down to unusual dockyard vessels and landing craft. In due course ships were also bought from the US and European navies. The emphasis of the business turned to ship trading – for example, landing craft might be resold to become ferries, minesweepers turned into Mediterranean pleasure craft, and lightships converted into floating restaurants. Vessels that could not be sold, lingered in the yard for many years – some Victorian ships lasted until well into the 1970s and beyond – but Pounds were also alert to the historical significance of the craft in their possession, some of which were donated to heritage organisations for long term conservation, a notable example being a Japanese Kairu midget submarine.

The Pounds yard was a bizarre landscape and film companies were quick to see the potential of this unusual setting. Probably the most notable example was the 1974 film Tommy in which Pounds' marker buoys were painted silver and to depict giant pinballs.

A fascinating family business, Pounds finally closed its doors in 2023. Although visitors were never encouraged, the author was permitted to visit and photograph the Pounds yard on many occasions. Furthermore, the Pounds family have also kindly lent him business records and their own photos and discussed many aspects of their story. A chapter on military vehicles and a detailed list of all ships bought since 1921 complete a comprehensive and authoritative account of an extraordinary enterprise.

About the Author

Richard Holme has had an interest in naval shipping from an early age and has had books published on Cairnryan Military Port; from U Boats to the Ark Royal (1997) and HMS Warspite in Cornwall 1947/56 (2023). He was editor of the newsletter of the Naval Dockyards Society from 2013 to 2023, and has written many articles in the maritime press; The World Ship Society awarded him best naval essay of 2022 for his research into the covert British mission to acquire the Graf Spee Wreck in 1940. He is Treasurer of the Friends of the Falkland Museum in Stanley, and recently completed a Masters in UK shipbreaking 1945–95 at Newcastle University.