Taikoo Dockyard Managers – John Finnie, 1937 – ?

IDJ has sent a series of articles about managers at Taikoo Dockyard: “John Finnie, the present Manager, was born at Greenock in 1897 and served his apprenticeship with Scotts’ Shipbuilding & Engineering Co., Ltd.

He came to Taikoo Dockyard as Ship Draughtsman in 1924, became Assistant Manager in 1930, and was appointed Manager in 1937 on K.E. Greig’s retirement.

The war and occupation of Hong Kong lie athwart his career at the Dockyard, presenting him with many grave and taxing problems. He remained at the Dockyard until the fall of Hong Kong and was interned at Stanley.

After the liberation two heavy tasks awaited those who returned: to get the wrecked Dockyard going again at the earliest moment to cope with the desperate need of repair facilities for the Naval and merchant shipping then in the Southwest Pacific, and to plan and carry through the permanent reconstruction of the Dockyard.

A large measure of credit for the former should go to Andrew MacIndoe, Assistant Manager, who returned to the Dockyard in October, 1945, and with a staff many of whom cames straight from internment, set to work with unimpaired keenness to such good effect that the slipways were in operation by the beginning of January and the dry dock early in February, 1946.

Meanwhile, in London, John Finnie was completing the planning stage for the complete reconstruction and modernisation of the Dockyard’s plant and equipment. He returned to Hong Kong in April, 1946, to carry this work forward and, in spite of severe shortages of every kind of material, it was pushed ahead with such energy and drive that by 1950 it was complete.

As a member of the Board of Education in Hong Kong and later as Director of Manpower, he has been called upon to exercise his knowledge and experience and his interest in welfare in the wider sphere of public sphere of public affairs.

Source: Fifty Years of Shipbuilding and Repairing in the Far East: The Taikoo Dockyard & Engineering Company of Hong Kong Ltd, Technical Advertising Services, 1954

This article was first posted on 20th July 2016.

Related Indhhk articles Taikoo Dockyard Managers:

1. Taikoo Dockyard – D MacDonald – responsible for preparatory construction work pre-1907
2. Taikoo Dockyard Managers – Philip Forster Nicholson, 1907-1910
3. Taikoo Dockyard Managers – James Reid, 1910-1926
4. Taikoo Dockyard Managers – Kenneth Edward Grieg, 1926 -1937

Related Indhhk articles:

1. Tai Koo Dockyard – 1911 detailed technical article covering its construction
2. Tai Koo Dockyard
3. Taikoo Dockyard during the Occupation 1942-1945 – new information and photo
4. World War Two – BAAG, Mateys and Allied attempts to disrupt HK Dockyards
5. Taikoo Dockyard – photos of staff and workers’ facilities – c1954
6. Facebook: ‘Photos of Taikoo and Kowloon Dock Families’ group
7. James Thirlwell – Tai Koo Dockyard, Master Mariner and captain of the tug “Tai Koo”
8. Tai Koo Dockyard Tug 2 – captained by James Thirwell when sunk by a mine 1941