Earle's Shipbuilding

Earle's also built vessels for many other British shipping firms, especially those operating on North Sea routes such as the Great Eastern Railway and the Hull & Netherlands Steamship Co. Ltd.

In 1871, Earle's was restructured as a joint-stock company and for a short time Sir Edward James Reed served as its chairman and managing director.

[2] Earle's was an early adopter of triple-expansion engines, for example installing them in the liner SS Draco that the company built for Wilson Line in 1882.

[2] Reed had been chief constructor to the Admiralty and helped Earle's to win a number of naval orders including the ironclad warships Almirante Cochrane (1874) and Blanco Encalada (1875) for the Chilean Navy[2] Later naval orders included two Edgar-class cruisers for the Royal Navy (RN): HMS Endymion launched in 1891 and HMS St George launched in 1892.

Earle's faced difficulties when Charles died and William was taken ill.[citation needed] In the latter part of the 1890s, the firm suffered both cash-flow problems and a labour shortage, and in 1900, it entered voluntary liquidation.