IT WAS the first shipbuilding company not only in Scotland but the world.
• The Craigwerdd on the Clyde after her launch from Scott's in 1964
Established four years after the Act of Union to capitalise on Scotland's growing trade links with the Americas, the name of Scott's was a linchpin of industrial Clydeside for centuries.
Now, more than two decades after its yards fell silent, the proud maritime heritage of the Inverclyde shipbuilder is to be celebrated in the year of its tricentenary.
Dozens of former senior employees of the company, fearful that their generation will be the last to recognise the importance of the shipbuilding industry to the area, have devised a series of events for next year.
Such is the support for their project, the Ministry of Defence has even agreed for vessels built on the Firth of Clyde to return.
The idea of commemorating the formation of Scott's belongs to Andy Gunn, who like thousands of others from the west of Scotland, served his apprenticeship at the firm in the post-war years.
Now a sprightly 74, Mr Gunn is determined to ensure the memories of life in the Greenock yards are not forgotten. The initiative, he says, is not a memorial but a "live heritage story".
"The Friends of Scott's are the last of the people who knew what went on, and the most important thing is to tell people about the history," he said.
"There are young folk now who don't realise shipbuilding began here, and this is an opportunity to let them know."
Scott's, which has a longer history of naval work than any other Clyde yard, was established well before the peak of the industry.
While founder John Scott had the idea of making herring buses, within a few generations the enterprise had grown substantially.
By 1803, the firm received a contract from the Royal Navy to build a warship, the Prince of Wales. Over nearly three centuries, spanning seven generations of the family, more than 1,250 ships were built.
The last vessel launched was the Sea Explorer, a semi-submersible drilling rig. Five years later, the firm, which by then had amalgamated with Lithgows Ltd, closed its doors.
As part of the 300th anniversary celebrations, the MoD agreed to a visit to Greenock by Fort Rosalie by next January. The Royal Fleet Auxiliary replenishment ship, formerly Fort Grange, was built in 1976, with Mr Gunn among those who worked on her as electric installation manager.
Vincent Gillen, assistant curator at Greenock's McLean Museum and Art Gallery, agreed that the celebrations will rightly reaffirm the company's status.
"Scott's was the oldest family-run business in the world and the first shipbuilder on the Clyde, but we're getting to the stage nowadays where the generations of people who worked in the trade are leaving us, and there is very little trace of shipbuilding on the Clyde itself," he said.
Mr Gillen added: "The legacy of shipbuilding in Inverclyde tends to get lumped in as one with Glasgow, but, in fact, Greenock was the birthplace of the industry, and together with Port Glasgow, built more ships than anywhere else."
From herring boats to warships, tankers and oil rigs
1711 – The firm is established at Greenock's West Burn by John Scott, building herring buses and small craft
1803 – Naval links are established, with the building of the warship, HMS Prince of Wales
1819 – The yard builds the first steamer to trade between the Clyde and Liverpool
1825 – Began building steamers for trade routes to the Middle and Far East
1914 – The S1, the first submarine to be built in Scotland, completes diving trials
1941 – The head office is destroyed in a bombing raid, with the loss of valuable ship and engineering records
1959 – The yard is modernised for prefabrication to allow construction of tankers and bulk carriers
1967 – Scotts is amalgamated with Port Glasgow-based Lithgows Ltd
1977 – The Scott Lithgow Group becomes part of British Shipbuilders
1983 – The Sea Explorer, a semi-submersible rig now known as the Ocean Guardian, is the last launch by the firm
1988 – The firm closes its doors for the last time
