H. Parry & Son

H. Parry & Son was a shipyard in Lisbon that existed from 1855 to 1986. It was the first shipyard in Portugal to manufacture steel-hulled ships, mainly constructing smaller vessels for the Portuguese navy, coastal shipping and tugboats. 

Hugh Parry was a British boilermaker. After completing a two-year contract in the naval arsenal in Lisbon, he founded his own shipyard in Boa Vista, Lisbon in 1855, together with George Oakley, who died in the same year. Parry took his son-in-law, Francis Churchill Cannell, into the management of the company in 1866, and Cannell took over the management after the death of Parry in 1876.

The company initially worked to produce steam engines in the Santo Amaro harbour basin in Lisbon, where the Carris museum is now located. From there, it was moved in 1860 to Ginjal, on the south bank of the Tejo, where more space was available. At Ginjal the shipyard also made steam engines for other uses, such as for distilleries. The company's first ship, the Alcântara, was launched from Ginjal. This was a side-paddle steamer with space for around 200 passengers. In 1864, the Belém was launched, the first ship built in Portugal with a steel hull. In 1869, the yard's first ship with a screw-drive was launched. Two sailing ships were also built, with the schooner, Três Macs, and the sloop, Atlântico, still surviving.

However, the yard in Ginjal was not really suitable and Parry found a better site not far away in Cacilhas, moving part of its business in 1872 to the Sampaio shipyard, which had been built on a salt flat. In 1899, the company purchased the Sampaio yard. In 1890, the company benefited from the consequences of the British Ultimatum, in which Britain demanded that Portugal drop claims to the land between Angola and Mozambique.  The Portuguese navy awarded Parry & Son contracts to construct river gunboats to protect its colonies.

With the death of Cannell in 1917, his two children took over the shipyard. Apart from naval vessels, information is lacking about the yard’s activities from 1910 onwards. During the Second World War, the company ran into difficulties and started to mainly carry out repair work. However, from 1948 the company expanded the shipyard to work on the production of tugs and carry out repair work on trawlers. In 1950, it took a majority holding in one of its competitors, Estaleiros Navais de Viana do Castelo (ENVC), which would eventually be sold to CUF. The company was sold in 1954 but kept the name. H. Parry & Son did not survive the 1974 Revolution, becoming bankrupt in 1986.

After the shipyard was closed, all buildings were demolished. The shipyard's two dry docks have been preserved and today are used as berths for the sailing frigate Dom Fernando il e Gloria, and the former submarine of the Portuguese navy, the NRP Barracuda.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the company looked into entering the automotive industry. Building six test vehicles in 1901, it was the fifth company to try to manufacture cars in Portugal, but none got beyond the prototype stage.