Swansea and Port Talbot Docks History
Heavy Lifts
The following photographs show some of the more weighty cargoes that have ben shipped through Swansea.
Armstrong Whitworth 70 ton hydraulic crane installed 1908 at a cost of £9,000
Armstrong Whitworth 70 ton crane loading Churchill tank for shipment to the front during WWII
Armstrong Whitworth 70 ton crane loading Stanier class 8F locomotive for shipment to the Middle East - 1941
Ministry of War Transport 60 ton floating crane shifting crated military equipment - 1943
Ministry of War Transport 60 ton floating crane discharging USAF P47 Thunderbolt fighter aircraft ex s.s. Empire Milner - 1944
Ministry of War Transport 60 ton floating crane loading pontoons for Australia aboard s.s Tai Ping Yang - 1945
Cowans Sheldon 80 ton floating crane loading steam shunting loco for export to Italy aboard the Cunard steamship Bantria - 1946
Cowans Sheldon 80 ton floating crane loading machinery aboard the Scandinavian steamship Yrsa - 1946
60 ton floating crane hoisting a motor coach aboard the Houlder Line ship Hornby Grange - 1952
65 ton fractionating tower for BP Llandarcy Refinery being hoisted out of the water by two floating cranes in a tandem lift after a 500 mile tow from the Thames Estuary - 1952
60 ton floating crane loading railway trucks for West Africa aboard m.v. Ashanti Palm (out of shot) in 1954. In the background, the Clan Line steamship Clan MacTavish is loading cargo at D Shed Wharf
Two floating cranes, one !00 ton & one 60 ton, using a tandem lift to load heavy machinery for Pittsburgh, USA aboard m.v. Montreal City - 1959
60 ton floating crane landing USA-built 45 ton Mack dump truck ex m.v. Coventry City onto C Shed Wharf - 1967
Vacuum distillation column destined for BP Llandarcy offloaded at C Shed Wharf by Wynn's Transport - 1972
Twin-hulled heavy-lift vessel Gloria Siderum discharging industrial component for BP Refinery, Llandarcy - 1975
Heavy-lift mobile crane discharging 65 ton dump truck from China ex m.v. Neufeld at D Shed Wharf - 1990