Leonard Redshaw

Sir Leonard Redshaw (15 April 1911 – 29 April 1989) was a shipbuilder from Barrow-in-Furness, England. Like his father, Redshaw became an apprentice ships' draughtsman at Vickers shipyard at the age of 16. Though this was unusual at the time, he completed graduate work at Liverpool University in naval architecture, including some time in German plants in 1934. After advancing through management, he became the Shipbuilding Manager at the yard in 1950, aged 39, and then the managing director of the Barrow-based Vickers Shipbuilding Group in 1965. In 1968, he became the chairman of the company, and was knighted for his contributions to British exports in 1972. He retired in 1976, having been promoted to deputy chairman of Vickers. In later life, he was a member of a so-called "Suicide Squad" of older engineers and scientists who volunteered to be first responders in disasters involving nuclear reactors. At Barrow, Redshaw oversaw the building of HMS Dreadnought, the United Kingdom's first nuclear-powered submarine, and subsequently saw Barrow achieve a monopoly on the construction of British nuclear submarines. The Dreadnought success also led to the yard being appointed the primary builder of the submarines for the UK Polaris programme.