Wooden-hulled ships were simply set on fire or ‘conveniently sunk’. In Tudor times, ships were also dismantled and the timber re-used. This procedure was no longer applicable with the advent of metal-hulled boats.

In 1880, Denny Brothers of Dumbarton used forgings made from scrap maritime steel in their shipbuilding. Many other nations began to purchase British ships for scrap by the late 19th century, including Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan. The Italian industry started in 1892, and the Japanese after an 1896 law had been passed to subsidise native shipbuilding.

After being damaged or involved in a disaster, liner operators did not want the name of the broken ship to tarnish the brand of their passenger services. The final voyage of many Victorian ships was with the final letter of their name chipped off.

In the 1930s, it became cheaper to ‘beach’ a boat and run her ashore as opposed to using a dry dock. The ship would have to weigh as little as possible and run ashore at full speed. Dismantling operations required a 10 feet (3.0 m) rise of tide and close proximity to a steel-works. Electric shears, a wrecking ball and oxy-acetylene torches were used. The technique of the time is almost identical to that of developing countries today. Similarly, Thos W Ward Ltd., one of the largest breakers in the United Kingdom in the 1930s, would recondition and sell all furniture and machinery. Many historical artifacts were sold at public auctions: the Cunarder RMS Mauretania, sold as scrap for GB£78,000, received high bids for her fittings worldwide. However, even with obsolete technology, any weapons and military information were carefully removed.