Blyth Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co Ltd, builders of the Sheaf Water.  On the 2nd March 1883 the Blyth Shipbuilding & Dry Docks Co was registered as a limited liability company. The company built liners, tramp steamers and colliers. In 1914 a cargo ship that was under construction was purchased by the admiralty and converted into a aircraft carrier, namely the Ark Royal. During WW1 the company built various naval vessels for the Admiralty. After the war the company returned to the construction of civilian merchant vessels. Due to the post war slump and collapse of the freight market the yard shut.

In November 1926 Robert Stanley Dalgleish, a Newcastle ship owner purchased Blyth Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. The yards name was changed to the Cowpen Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Co and was later almalgamated with Ritson's Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. After completing a number of vessels, the yard closed in 1930. 

1937 saw the yard reopen under its former name. During WW11 the company was for the most part engaged in the building of British Naval vessels. In 1967, due to the company having run at a loss for five years, the yard closed its doors for the last time.

North Eastern Marine (Sunderland), builders of the Sheaf Water's Engine

Formed in 1867 by John Frederick Spencer, the North Eastern Marine engineering Company were Marine engine builders of Sunderland. In 1882, the Northumberland engine works and forge were established by the company at Wallsend. In 1889, the combined efforts of both the Sunderland works and the Wallsend works had supplied in the region of 100 triple expansion engines to various ship builders. In 1909 the company were the first to install an electrically operated cantilever crane in the North East of England. In 1938, N.E.M was, along with George Clark, another engineering company aquired by Richardson Westgarth and Co and became Clark & NEM Ltd, this in turn becoming part of the Richardson Wetgarth Group.

Arch deck as incorporated in the design of the Sheaf Water... During the age of steam there were many innovations in hull design, these ranging from corrugated hulls, arc-form hulls and arch decks but to mention a few. The Sheaf Water was of an arch deck construction. The primary objective of a arch deck design was to redistribute the steel of the hull in a more economical way and in turn reduce the weight of the hull and offer greater strength in the hull as a whole. The main feature of the arch deck design was that the deck had a reversed sheer. The sheer on a conventional vessel would mean that the decking at the bow and stern would incorporate a gradual upward gradiant towards the extreme of the bow and stern. As stated the sheer on a arch decked vessel would be in reverse, ie the vessels deck midships would be greater in height than that of the bow and stern, this inturn showing itself as a longitudinal arch from bow to stern, hence the name arch decked. The advantage of the reverse sheer is that it added extra strength to the hull. Due to the extra strength provided by the arch the holds could be constructed without the use of pillars and various beams as would have been required in a traditionally built hull. The result of this as can be seen in the diagram was that the design in turn offered an open hold space. The arch type hull though originally designed for colliers, ie the transport of coal also offered itself equally suitable for the transportation of grain, timber and all manner of general cargoes. This being a result of the open hull construction. Another feature incorporated in to the Sheaf Water's hull can also be seen in the diagram. Viewing the cross section diagram of the hull it can be seen that the sides of the vessel curve in at the top as to finish inboard of the edge  of the deck, ie the extreme of the deck on both port and starboard overhangs the top of the hull wall. The result of this design is that it aided self trimming of the vessel. The Sheaf Water was also constructed with large cargo hatches as can be seen in the diagram, this being in order to add ease to the trimming out of bulk cargoes such as coal or grain when loading, ie the level and even distribution of a given bulk cargo in order to retain the trim / balance of the vessel.

Despite the advantages claimed on the part of the arched deckers they did not prove popular and therefore only a few of these vessels were ever built.