The SD14 Story

The story of the SD14 started with the build of Nicola in 1967. The SD14 is a ship type developed by Austin & Pickersgill ship builders in Sunderland from the mid-1960’s. The design is commonly understood to be the replacement for the 10,000dwt, WW2 American built Liberty ships that helped secure the allied victory. By the 1960’s the Liberty ships were well past their best and needed to be replaced, enter the iconic SD14 arguably the biggest success in British ship building history.
Although they were undoubtedly a standard design meaning they could be built quickly and relatively cheaply that’s not what the SD stands for.
SD actually means Shelter Deck which refers to a continuous deck of light construction above a principal deck of a ship covering the full length of the superstructure.
A total of 211 Shelter Deck 14,000dwt, cargo vessels were built between 1968 and 1988. Of these, 126 were constructed in Sunderland by designer Austin & Pickersgill and their associated company Bartram, six to a similar design by Smith’s Dock on Teesside, three at Robb-Caledon in Dundee, and a further 76 under licence by builders in Greece, Brazil and Argentina. On Sunday 6th July 2008 Ashton Park at West Kirby on The Wirral was the venue for the launch of an accurate and spectacular 14 foot long working model of the SD14 “San George”. Amended to - commissioned to be built by Mr. Peter Fitzpatrick in aid of the charity Claire House a local Hospice for very sick children and is totally funded by voluntary contributions.
Mr. John Lingwood one of the original SD14 designers and the author of the Definitive History of the Ship Class with his book SD14 The Full Story was on hand to help with the launch.
The model was donated by Peter Fitzpatrick to Sunderland Maritime Heritage and we have worked with the Roker Park Model Boat Club to refurbish her to the original high standard and were privileged to be able to sail her once again on the 30th June 2024 on the Roker Park Model Boat Club pond. Voiceover by Jim Sullivan, trustee Sunderland Maritime Heritage.

This is a charity run 100% by volunteers with the aim of preserving our local maritime heritage.
We are at Unit 2, Church Street East, Sunderland SR1 2BB
Our Opening Hours are:
Monday, Wednesday & Friday 10.00 – 14.00 or by appointment.
Contact details:
[email protected] or Tel. 0191 510 2540
For donations, see our website below where all are gratefully accepted.
Our website:
www.sunderlandmaritimeheritage.org.uk I volunteer for SMH, some videos from this channel may also be seen on my channel as my aim is to spread the word about our charity as wide as possible:    / @keithklivideo