Risdon A Beazley was 22 years old when he set up the Risdon Beazley Marine Trading Company in 1926.  His base was at Clausentum Yard, Southampton from where he carried on the business of yacht repair, marine civil engineers and salvors.   By 1938 he had a small fleet of ships, which he added to in the following two years.   By 1940 when a team from the Admiralty visited them they operated 19 ships, these the UK government requistioned and returned to the company to manage.   Another 11 ships were added to the managed fleet and, at a stroke, the company became the biggest manager of Admiralty Salvage Vessels.   Their area of operation was to be the south coast of the UK, but their ships also worked in the Bristol Channel and along the East Coast of the UK, as far north as Scapa Flow.