English: View of crew’s messroom on ‘Nicola’ the first SD14 to be built by Austin & Pickersgill at the Southwick shipyard, Sunderland (TWAM ref. DT.TUR/4/3732R).

This set celebrates the ‘Nicola’, the first in a long line of standard ships designed by the Sunderland shipyard of Austin & Pickersgill Ltd. The images document her construction from October 1967 through to her completion in February 1968. The shipbuilders commissioned the Newcastle-based firm Turners (Photography) Ltd to take weekly progress shots of the ‘Nicola’ and these images have given us a unique view of her development.
She was the first SD14 to be completed (the name stands for ‘Shelter Deck 14,000 tons deadweight’) and was designed as a replacement for the surviving ‘Liberty ships’, built by American yards during the Second World War. Those Liberty ships had played a vital role in the Allied victory but by the 1960s they were fast approaching the end of their working lives.
The SD14 developed by Austin & Pickersgill met the demand for economic and reliable cargo ships. The simplicity of the design meant that it could be marketed by the shipbuilders at a very competitive price. It’s success is reflected by the fact that over the course of 20 years 211 ships were built to the SD14 design by Austin Pickersgill and its licensees. Sunderland can be very proud of its remarkable shipbuilding and engineering history and the SD14 is one the City’s finest achievements.

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