Shipbreaker Extraordinaire : Harry Pounds of Portsmouth

For many years anyone driving into Portsmouth would be treated to the surprising roadside sight of warships, submarines and small craft in various states of demolition. This fleeting glimpse was all that most would ever see of the extraordinary business of the Pounds family, which ranged from shipbreaking to selling war-surplus military vehicles. This book tells their story.After beginnings in general scrap in the 1860s, Pounds started breaking up ships in 1921 with German U-Boats. Proximity to the royal dockyard at Portsmouth meant they were able to secure naval shipping ranging from Royal Navy submarines and frigates down to unusual dockyard vessels and landing craft. In due course ships were also bought from the US and European navies. The emphasis of the business turned to ship trading for example, landing craft might be resold to become ferries, minesweepers turned into Mediterranean pleasure craft, and lightships converted into floating restaurants. Vessels that could not be sold, lingered in the yard

account of an extraordinary enterprise. [Publisher's Text]