Thames Ironworks could not survive an Admiralty order gap

Why did Thames Ironworks cease operating in 1912?

It likely depended on winning another battleship contract and lacked enough merchant work to survive when the Admiralty order did not arrive.

One explanation for the closure is that Thames Ironworks expected a Queen Elizabeth-class battleship contract and failed to receive one. Earlier naval work had crowded out merchant orders, so the yard lacked a commercial cushion when Admiralty demand moved elsewhere. Procurement cycles can erase industrial capacity just before wartime demand returns.