We start our count down to the Battle of the Atlantic 80th Anniversary by reintroducing a little bit of Stones history.

‘Large streams from little fountains flow, tall oaks from little acorns grow…’ is the saying.

In the 1830’s Josiah Stone began making copper nails, rivets & fasteners for use on wooden vessels in a small workshop in Deptford Green, London, supplying the shipbuilding industry in nearby Greenwich.

By the 1880’s J. Stone & Co. had grown the range of the items they supplied and worked with both ferrous and non-ferrous metal… they began specialising in casting large copper propellers.

Continuing to grow and supply naval and mercantile fleets around the world with propellers led to some phenomenal production statistics through both World Wars and a vast scope of supply for the armed services.

We start with an image that many will have seen before – the oldest cast propeller blade (that we know of) anywhere in the world. Cast by J. Stone & Co. in 1895 in manganese bronze. Seen here mounted outside of our premises in Birkenhead, Merseyside.

This heritage and skillset continues today with design, manufacture, fitting, maintenance & repair of propellers all over the world.