If one is looking for some very detailed information on shipbuilding - albeit from a US or Canadian perspective - this site has a wealth of information.
Shipbuilding History has data tables on practically every US and Canadian shipyard active or inactive, with data, in many cases, down to the date of keel laying, date of launch and date of completion.
Perhaps less useful from a technical point of view, Flotilla Australia has some very useful information on Australian merchant shipping, while excellent information and many photos of ships built in Scotland on the Clyde can be found here.
You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you'll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.
-Siegfried Sassoon