HMS Rushen Castle (Ship No 1780) was built at the Neptune Yard (Berth No 5) of Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson Ltd (Wallsend-on-Tyne) in 1943.  Thanks to the researchers at the Tyne & Wear Archives Service, who hold the records, we have some details of the programme of construction as well as a detailed analysis of the cost of construction.

The recorded milestone dates were as follows:

Keel Laid:  Thursday, 8 April 1943

Commenced Frames:  Saturday, 10 April 1943

Framed:  Tuesday, 4 May 1943

Plated:  Friday, 4 June 1943

Launched:  Friday, 16 July 1943

Finished:  Wednesday, 23 February 1944

Trial Trip:  Thursday, 24 February 1944

Sailed:  Sunday, 27 February 1944

The cost of construction of the ship (recorded on 30 June 1944) was £ 102, 077 14s 10d, which included the fitting only of various items supplied by The Admiralty as “Free Issues” and the fitting on board only of machinery (built by Neptune under a separate contract – see later).

The Admiralty “Free Issues” included the rudder frame, rudder stock, watertight doors, topmasts, bollards and fairleads.  It is not apparent from the documentation how fitting out (including ship’s armaments) will have been handled.

The machinery referred to above as built under a separate contract included the engines (cost £ 9,648) and the boilers (cost £ 7,415).  These items bring the total cost of construction up to £ 119,140 14s 10d. 

It is possible by using the calculators at EH.Net to convert this cost to a value in 2004 with the following results.

In 2004, £ 119,140 14s 10d from 1944 is worth:

£   3,398,636.32 using the retail price index ⁽¹⁾

£   3,521,867.45 using the GDP deflator ⁽²⁾

£ 10,225,599.16 using average earnings ⁽³⁾

£ 11,267,839.44 using per capita GDP ⁽³⁾

£ 13,754,920.29 using the GDP ⁽⁴⁾

In his book, “Really Not Required”, Colin Warwick describes the time at Newcastle as follows:

“In November I reported to the NOIC Newcastle-on-Tyne.  My new frigate, HMS Rushen Castle, was arriving at completion for sea trials and I joined my future No. 1, Lt Eric W. Clubb RNR, at his boarding house lodgings.  He told me that he had spent most of his supervisory time in kicking the welded clamps and eyelets fixed by the ‘lady welders’ as few of these fixtures held up!

“Clubb was a career merchant navy officer and asked me if I could relieve him for a week so that he could sit for the Board of Trade examination for his Mate’s Certificate.  He told me that the examiners had warned him that just because there was a war on, he should not anticipate any relaxation of their standards!

“I arrived at Swan Hunter’s shipyard at 8 a.m. every morning and at the end of the day travelled back on the double-decker tram, packed with the dockyard maties, all nattering in their ‘Geordie dialect’, a foreign language to a stranger in town.”

“The time had come for HMS Rushen Castle’s sea trials, and depending on their successful results, the acceptance of the ship by her commanding officer.  Weather in the North Sea had been becoming rather rough, so at the informal conference with the shipyard management and the Admiralty liaison officer, it was suggested that the trials might be delayed until the weather moderated a little.

“‘As Rushen Castle will be experiencing rather worse weather in her North Atlantic convoy operations, as her future commanding officer I would prefer not to delay the sea trials for calmer weather in order to have the opportunity of seeing how my future command behaves in rough weather conditions.’

“’Commander Warwick is right, and I agree with his suggestion that the sea trials should be held as scheduled,’ added the RN liaison captain.

“The shipyard management looked rather unhappy with this outcome, as the following day had been set for the sea trials when the ship would be operated by yard personnel, with a Newcastle pilot taking out the ship and returning her to harbour on completion of the sea trials.

“My friend Arthur Mollart had obtained Admiralty clearance to be on board Rushen Castle during the trials and for the traditional shipyard ‘party’ catered for by the management, with arrangements for Saccone & Speed, the wines and spirits wholesalers, to supply the liquor through the medium of the officers’ duty-free wardroom account.

“Arthur Mollart was down in the engine room during the trials and reported that most of the shipyard management had been sea-sicked sober by the time I accepted Rushen Castle’s trials.”

I am a little mystified by this story having read the Trial Trip Results (see attached .pdf file) in which the Wind is merely described as "Fresh" and the Sea as "Medium Swell" - and Castles were good sea ships.  It is possible Colin Warwick may have been referring to an earlier trial trip.

(1)        The retail price index (RPI) shows the cost of goods and services purchased by a typical household in one period relative to a base period. It is best used when the monetary amount is the cost or price of a simple product, such as a loaf of bread or a pair of shoes.

(2)        The GDP deflator is an index of all prices in the economy. It is a good measure for complex products, such as personal computers, or commodities purchased by businesses, such as machinery.

(3)        Average earnings are a logical measure for computing relative value of wages, salaries, or other income or wealth. Per-capita GDP, the average share of a person in the total income of the economy, is also indicated in this context.

(4)        GDP, the economy's total output of goods and services in money terms, is the best measure for large-scale projects or expenditures, such as the construction of a bridge or government expenditure on health care.