After Samuel died in 1919, his sons took over the yard, building drifters, trawlers and paddle steamers.
Bought by W. F. Cockerell of the East Anglian Ice and Cold Storage Co in the 1930s, the company was renamed Richards Ironworks.
During the Second World War, they built 85 small ships including minesweepers, 24 motor fishing vessels, a torpedo recovery ship, eight standard coasters and six Victualling Inshore Craft, a Royal Navy auxiliary vessel based on "Clyde puffers".
In the 1960s, the yard returned to its mainstay of motor trawlers and drifters, along with ten wooden Ton-class minesweepers and seaward defence boats.
In 1969, United Molasses purchased Fellows Yard in Great Yarmouth and began a period of expansion to allow them to accommodate larger ships.