Maritime history of Scotland

James I was responsible for developing the shipping interests of the country, establishing a shipbuilding yard at Leith.

The pioneer in Scotland's newer type of warship was Bishop Kennedy of St. Andrews who was responsible for the building of the St Salvator, which cost £10,000.

James IV continued the policy of building up the navy, having 38 ships built for his fleet and founding two new dockyards.

His greatest achievement was the construction of Great Michael, the largest ship up to that time launched in Scotland, the building of which cost £30,000.

She weighed 1,000 tons, was 240 feet (73 m) in length, was manned by 1,000 seamen and 120 gunners and was then the largest ship in Europe (according to the chronicler Lindsay of Pitscottie).

RMS Queen Mary was built in 1936 by John Brown & Company in Clydebank, Scotland, for what is now the Cunard Line.

Built at the shipyard of John Brown & Co. Ltd in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, she was launched by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 16 April 1953 and commissioned on 11 January 1954.