Beardmore

Order of Battle · Aircraft manufacturers · United Kingdom

Beardmore

William Beardmore and Company

A Clydeside steel and shipbuilding giant that dabbled in the air and, almost in passing, built the first airship to fly the Atlantic from east to west.

1886Founded
Defunct 1930Status
6Aircraft on record
CountryUnited KingdomFounded1886FoundersWilliam Beardmore (later Lord Invernairn)HeadquartersParkhead, Glasgow; aircraft at Dalmuir, ClydebankStatusDefunct 1930
The story

Beardmore: the company and the aircraft that made its name

Steel, ships and Antarctica

Beardmore was heavy industry first. Built around the Parkhead Forge in Glasgow’s east end, William Beardmore’s company grew from 1886 into a Clydeside conglomerate of steel, armour, ships, locomotives and cars, employing about 40,000 people at its peak. Its Dalmuir yard was the most advanced in Britain. Beardmore himself became Lord Invernairn, and an Antarctic glacier, the Beardmore Glacier, bears his name.

Pups for the Navy

Aviation came in 1913, with British rights to Austro-Daimler aero-engines and later DFW aircraft. At Dalmuir the company built Sopwith Pups under licence, then adapted the design for warships as the W.B.III, with folding wings and flotation gear; 100 were delivered to the Royal Naval Air Service. At Inchinnan, Beardmore built rigid airships, and in July 1919 its R34 flew from East Fortune to Mineola, New York, in 108 hours, the first east-to-west air crossing of the Atlantic, and then flew home again.

Giants of the air

In the 1920s Beardmore bought a licence for Adolf Rohrbach’s stressed-skin metal construction. The result was the Inflexible, a three-engined all-metal transport with a 157 ft wingspan, greater than a B-29’s, which first flew in 1928 but was hopelessly underpowered. A more modest W.B.XXVI Wee Bee won the 1924 Lympne light-aircraft trials, and Beardmore’s Tornado diesels powered the ill-fated R101. Recession closed Dalmuir in 1930 and the aviation interests faded with it.

A Clydeside steel and shipbuilding giant that dabbled in the air and, almost in passing, built the first airship to fly the Atlantic from east to west.Beardmore · verified 2026-10-03
At a glance

Beardmore in numbers

The company

In short
Founded 1886

  • Clydeside steel, armour and shipbuilding group
  • About 40,000 employees at peak
  • Aviation from 1913

Production

Best known for
W.B.III and R34

  • W.B.III ship fighter: 100 built
  • Airships R27, R32, R34, R36
  • Inflexible all-metal giant: one built

Today

Now
Defunct

  • Dalmuir yard closed 1930
  • Parkhead Forge closed 1983

The Beardmore Glacier in Antarctica keeps the name alive.

The numbers

Peak workforce
about 40,000
W.B.III built
100
Licence-built Nieuport 12
50
R34 transatlantic flight time
108 hours1919
The aircraft

Every notable Beardmore aircraft

Aircraft Role First flight Built Status Note
Sopwith Pup (licence) Fighter Retired Built at Dalmuir
Beardmore W.B.III Shipboard fighter 1917 100 Retired Folding-wing Pup for HMS Furious and Argus
R34 Rigid airship 1919 1 Retired First east-to-west Atlantic crossing, July 1919
Beardmore W.B.XXIV Wee Bee Light aircraft 1924 1 Retired Won the 1924 Lympne trials
Beardmore Inverness Metal flying boat 2 Retired Rohrbach Ro IV; one built in Copenhagen, one by Beardmore
Beardmore Inflexible Experimental all-metal transport 1928 1 Retired 157 ft wingspan; underpowered
Places, people, records

Where Beardmore built, who led it, what it achieved

Factories

  • Parkhead Forge · Glasgow — Core of the company
  • Dalmuir works · Clydebank — Shipyard and aircraft production; closed 1930
  • Inchinnan Airship Constructional Station · Inchinnan, Renfrewshire — Built R27, R32, R34, R36

People

  • William Beardmore, Lord Invernairn · founder and owner
  • W. S. Shackleton · designer — Wee Bee; worked on the Inflexible
  • George Herbert Scott · airship commander — Commanded R34 across the Atlantic

Records and firsts

  • R34: first east-to-west transatlantic flight and first two-way crossing, July 1919
  • Inflexible: wingspan of 157 ft, some 16 ft more than a B-29
Timeline

Beardmore, year by year

1886

William Beardmore takes control of the Parkhead business

1902

Vickers buys half the shares

1913

Acquires British rights to Austro-Daimler aero-engines

1917

W.B.III shipboard fighter flies

1919

R34 first flight at Inchinnan

1919

R34 lands at Mineola after first east-west Atlantic crossing

1924

Wee Bee wins the Lympne trials; Rohrbach licence acquired

1928

Inflexible first flight at Martlesham Heath

1930

Dalmuir shipyard closes

Questions & Answers

Everything people ask about Beardmore

What was Beardmore’s most famous aircraft?
In aeroplanes, the W.B.III shipboard fighter; in airships, the R34, which first flew the Atlantic east to west in 1919.
What was the Beardmore Inflexible?
A huge three-engined all-metal transport built under Rohrbach licence, flown in 1928; only one was built.
Where did Beardmore build aircraft?
At Dalmuir on the Clyde, with airships at Inchinnan in Renfrewshire.

Continue the tour

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Sources & Further Reading

Every fact, checked

Verified 2026-10-03.