engineering

James Fisher & Sons

James Fisher & Sons is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand James Fisher & Sons rather than just read about it. In short: James Fisher and Sons plc (LSE: FSJ) is a British provider of marine engineering services, listed on the London Stock Exchange. It also remains a major shipowner, based in Barrow-in-Furness since the 1840s.

Key takeaways

James Fisher & Sons belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect James Fisher & Sons to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of James Fisher & Sons from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

James Fisher and Sons plc (LSE: FSJ) is a British provider of marine engineering services, listed on the London Stock Exchange. It also remains a major shipowner, based in Barrow-in-Furness since the 1840s.

History The company was founded by James Fisher in 1847 in Barrow-in-Furness as a ship-owning business transporting haematite from the Cumbrian hills. In 1868 it had 70 ships and by the 1870s it owned the largest coasting fleet in the United Kingdom. It acquired the Furness Shipbuilding Company in 1870 but only went on to build one ship, Ellie Park. During the 1880s it slowly moved from operating sailing ships to operating steamers. It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1952. From the 1960s the company was managed by Directors with no family connection. At that time it established a reputation for moving heavy equipment, including even locomotives, by sea. By 1965 it had built its first ship suitable for transporting irradiated nuclear fuel. In the 1960s the company chartered up to a dozen of its ships to the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company to operate the latter's Preston based container services across the Irish Sea. In 1984 the company acquired short sea and offshore specialists Coe Metcalf Shipping, lifting the fleet to 42 vessels, and in 1996 it acquired P&O Tankships. The company's division James Fisher Defence formerly operated the submarine rescue service for the Royal Navy, and provided the submersible Scorpio 45 which saved the lives of seven Russian sailors in their submarine AS-28 in 2005. In 2005 James Fisher acquired Fendercare Marine Solutions Ltd for £12m and in 2007 it acquired Buchan Technical Services for £5m and F T Everard & Sons Ltd, a leading competitor in the UK coastal shipping market, for £35m. In 2013 James Fisher acquired Divex Ltd for an initial consideration of £20m in cash plus a further maximum additional consideration of £13m linked to future profitability targets.

Operations The company operates from various locations throughout the world, with its corporate headquarters in Barrow in Furness, Cumbria, and provides the following services:

Defence (design, construction and operation of rescue submarines) Port Agency Renewable Energy services Marine oil services Offshore oil services Shipping services Specialist technical services

Fleet

The charter tanker fleet is operated by the subsidiary James Fisher Everard.

Sir John Fisher Foundation The Sir John Fisher Foundation is a charitable trust established in 1980 by Sir John Fisher and his wife Lady Maria Fisher, in order to support good causes in the area surrounding the company's headquarters in Barrow-in-Furness. The foundation's capital fund includes its shareholding in James Fisher and Sons plc. The dividends paid by the company enable its trustees to make grants to charitable causes, throughout the UK, but with special regard to those based in and working for the benefit of people living in and around Barrow-in-Furness and surrounding area.

References

Further reading Watson, Nigel, Round The Coast And Across the Sea, St Matthews Press, 2000 ISBN 978-0-9534101-2-5

External links Official site Sir John Fisher Foundation

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with James Fisher & Sons

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what James Fisher & Sons claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to James Fisher & Sons before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about James Fisher & Sons ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of James Fisher & Sons

In research: James Fisher & Sons appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses James Fisher & Sons in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: James Fisher & Sons is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1847 establishments in England, British companies established in 1847, Companies based in Barrow-in-Furness, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for James Fisher & Sons outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study James Fisher & Sons in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what James Fisher & Sons means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain James Fisher & Sons out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is James Fisher & Sons in simple terms?

Why does James Fisher & Sons matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study James Fisher & Sons?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on James Fisher & Sons.