Bill Fearns obituary

My father, Bill Fearns, who has died aged 99, was a marine engineer whose long career encompassed designing vessels that were used in the second world war, including the D-day landings.

Born in Dundee into a family of eight, to James Fearns, a foundry labourer, and his wife, Jessie (nee Farquharson), a jute spinner, Bill was raised in a tenement. He attended Stobswell school, but left aged 14 to train as a draughtsman in the Robb-Caledon shipyard, gaining qualifications at Dundee Technical Institute at night.