Robert Napier

"The Father of Clyde Shipbuilding", Napier was a steamship engine builder, expanding from paddle steamer engines into ocean-going vessel engines. Many esteemed Scottish shipbuilders were apprenticed to him. Together with Samuel Cunard and others he co-founded the British and North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, who created the first regular transatlantic liner service. He produced the first iron vessels for the Royal Navy and engines for the East India Company.