Two prominent shipbuilders in Bideford were George Crocker and Richard Chapman: they built a large number of ships. A number of ships have been built in Bideford, including HMS "Acorn", an 18-gun sloop launched in 1807; and , , and HMS "Ontario", which were all 18-gun s, and were both 22-gun Royal Navy "Laurel"-class post ships, and HMS "Meda", a harbour defence motor launch was built and launched in the town. Around 150 ships were built between 1840 and 1877 at Higher Cleave Houses in Bideford. The largest wooden ship to be built in Bideford was the "Sarah Newman", a 1,004-ton full-rigged ship built in 1855. During the 19th century over 815 registered wooden sailing ships were launched on the Torridge, as too were hundreds of unregistered craft. Shipbuilding in the Bideford area declined during the 1890s as shipyards in Britain's industrial regions constructed steel steamships. The last wooden merchant ship launched in the River Torridge was the schooner "PT Harris" from the Hubbastone yard of PK Harris & Sons, in 1912.