Ernst Martin Axel Welin (10 November 1862 – 27 July 1951), was a

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

inventor and industrialist. He was married to

Agnes Welin Agnes Carolina Albertina Welin (née Hedenström) (15 May 1844 – 23 June 1928) was a missionary who was born in Sweden. She opened a mission for seafarers in London. Life Welin was born as Agnes Carolina Albertina Hedenström in Härad, Swed ...

from 1889. Axel Welin studied at the

Royal Institute of Technology The KTH Royal Institute of Technology ( sv, Kungliga Tekniska högskolan, lit=Royal Institute of Technology), abbreviated KTH, is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden. KTH conducts research and education in engineering and technolo ...

in Stockholm from 1879 to 1884. Between 1886 and 1888, Welin worked as a weapons designer for

Thorsten Nordenfelt Thorsten Nordenfelt (1 March 1842 – 8 February 1920), was a Swedish inventor and industrialist. Career Nordenfelt was born in Örby outside Kinna, Sweden, the son of a colonel. The surname was and is often spelled Nordenfeldt, though Thorsten ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. In 1889 he started his own engineering firm, the Welin Davit & Engineering Company Ltd. He soon designed the famed ''Welin Breech''. However, his main interest was

davit Boat suspended from radial davits; the boat is mechanically lowered Gravity multi-pivot on Scandinavia'' file:Bossoir a gravité.jpg, Gravity Roller Davit file:Davits-starbrd.png, Gravity multi-pivot davit holding rescue vessel on North Sea ferr ...

s. He invented a new and improved davit for lowering boats on board ship, a quadrant davit for double-banked boats which simply became known as the

Welin davit Welin is a surname that may refer to: * Anna Welin (born 1994), Swedish footballer *Axel Welin (1862–1951), Swedish inventor **Welin breech block The Welin breech block was a revolutionary stepped, interrupted thread design for locking artiller ...

. The RMS ''Titanic'' was equipped with Welin davits,Michael Davie: "The Titanic. The Full Story of a Tragedy", Grafton Books, 1987, p. 103 and after the disaster the demand for his product skyrocketed. He was awarded the

John Scott Medal John Scott Award, created in 1816 as the John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium, is presented to men and women whose inventions improved the "comfort, welfare, and happiness of human kind" in a significant way. "...the John Scott Medal Fund, establish ...

The Franklin Institute The Franklin Institute is a science museum and the center of science education and research in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is named after the American scientist and statesman Benjamin Franklin. It houses the Benjamin Franklin National Memoria ...

in 1911. He retired a wealthy man in 1932 and returned to Sweden. The Welin Davit Company continues today as Welin Lambie, based at

Brierley Hill Brierley Hill is a town and electoral ward in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England, 2.5 miles south of Dudley and 2 miles north of Stourbridge. Part of the Black Country and in a heavily industrialised area, it has a popu ...

in the

West Midlands West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

, UK.

References

External links

Welin Lambie Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Welin, Axel 1862 births 1951 deaths Weapon designers 19th-century Swedish businesspeople 19th-century Swedish inventors KTH Royal Institute of Technology alumni

See also

References

External links