Sir Westcott Stile Abell, (16 January 1877 – 29 July 1961) was a British naval architect. Abell was born in

Littleham, Exmouth Littleham is an area of Exmouth in East Devon, England. It was historically a village and civil parish, much older than Exmouth itself. The ecclesiastical parish is now known as Littleham-cum-Exmouth. The original parish church dates back to t ...

, Devon, 16 January 1877, the first son of Thomas Abell and Mary Ann Stile. At the age of twenty he lost his right hand and suffered serious throat injuries while lighting fireworks to celebrate the diamond jubilee. Despite this handicap, he taught himself to write with his left hand and recovered to such good purpose that he passed out head of his year (1900) at Greenwich with a level of marks unsurpassed for many years. He became professor of naval architecture at the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

(1910–1914) and chief ship surveyor at Lloyds Register of Shipping, serving as president of the

Institute of Marine Engineers An institute is an organisational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations ( research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

(1924–25) and master of the

Worshipful Company of Shipwrights The Worshipful Company of Shipwrights is one of the ancient livery companies of the City of London. Although the Shipwrights' Company is no longer a shipbuilding trade association representing solely London-based industry, through its membershi ...

(1931–32). In 1928 he resigned his appointment with Lloyds Register to take up the chair of naval architecture at the Armstrong College of Durham University at Newcastle upon Tyne (one of the precursor institutions to

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

). He was awarded KBE in the 1920 civilian war honours.

Publications

*''Naval Architecture: The Art and Its Application. An Inaugural Lecture by Westcott Stile Abell on election to the Alexander Elder Chair of Naval Architecture in the University of Liverpool 1910'' ( University of Liverpool Press, 1910). *''The Ship and Her Work'' (London School of Economics and Political Science Studies in Commerce, vol. 2; 1923) *''The Safe Sea'' (1932) *''The Shipwright's Trade'' (1948)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abell, Westcott Stile 1877 births 1961 deaths British naval architects Academics of the University of Liverpool Academics of Durham University Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire