Crichton (Turku shipyard)
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Formerly called
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C.M. Dahlström |
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| osakeyhtiö | |
| Industry | engineering; shipbuilding |
| Fate | merged with Ab Vulcan |
| Predecessor | W:m Crichton & C:o Ab |
| Successor | Ab Crichton-Vulcan Oy |
| Founded | June 6, 1914 in Turku, Grand Duchy of Finland |
| Founders | C.J. Dahlström Ernst Dahlström Magnus Dahlström |
| Defunct | August 18, 1924 |
| Headquarters |
Turku, Grand Duchy of Finland (→5 December 1917) Republic of Finland (6 December 1917 →) |
| Products | steam engines, ships and other engineering products |
| Owners | Dahlström brothers (→ 1916) Emissions Ab (1916 →) other investors (1916 →) |
Aktiebolaget Crichton was a shipbuilding and engineering company that operated in 1914–1924 in Turku, Finland. The main products were vessels, steam engines and combustion engines.
The company was founded in 1914 to continue shipbuilding operations of W:m Crichton & C:o which had bankrupted in the previous year.
It was merged to its neighbour and competitor Aktiebolaget Vulcan in 1924. The succeeding shipbuilding company Ab Crichton-Vulcan Oy grew the biggest shipbuilding company of Finland.
The preceding company was founded in 1842 as Cowie & Eriksson. At the beginning the main products were steam engines. The company was taken over by local businessman Erik Julin and Scottish William Crichton in 1862 and was named W:m Crichton & C:o, after which it extended to shipbuilding. The main customers came from Imperial Russia and the most significant one was the Imperial Russian Navy. After Crichton's death in 1889 the company was led by Englishman John Eager. At the end of the 19th century the main owners were Saint Petersburg investors and local businessmen, brothers Ernst and Magnus Dahlström.
In order to maintain its position in the Russian market, the company leased premises in Malaya Okhta, Saint Petersburg, in 1896 for building ships for the navy. Due to poor management, wrongly calculated prices and delay payments, the new branch caused such significant losses, that the whole company bankrupted in spring 1913.
W:m Crichton & C:o was officially filed for bankruptcy on 24 April 1913. The estate announced that the claims of trading house C. M. Dahlström, owned by the Dahlström brothers, reached over 4.5 million marks. Therefore, the Dahlström brothers took immediate actions to defend their assets. The Okhta yard was closed and in the following year its moveables were sold. At Turku yard only such property was sold which was not necessary for production. From summer 1913 the yard was operated under name C.J. Dahlström. In June 1914 a new company was started under name Aktiebolaget Crichton; the owners wanted to keep the reputable name. All questions about property were settled with the estate and Ab Crichton started free from debt. The share capital consisted of 2 000 shares, each of them having 1 000 marks value.
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