Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century. With headquarters in Elswick,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

, Armstrong Whitworth built

armament A weapon, arm, or armament is any implement or device that is used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime (e.g., murder), law e ...

ship A ship is a large watercraft, vessel that travels the world's oceans and other Waterway, navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally disti ...

locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

s and

aircraft An aircraft ( aircraft) is a vehicle that is able to flight, fly by gaining support from the Atmosphere of Earth, air. It counters the force of gravity by using either Buoyancy, static lift or the Lift (force), dynamic lift of an airfoil, or, i ...

. The company was founded by William Armstrong in 1847, becoming Armstrong Mitchell and then Armstrong Whitworth through mergers. In 1927, it merged with

Vickers Limited Vickers Limited was a British engineering conglomerate. The business began in Sheffield in 1828 as a steel foundry and became known for its church bells, going on to make shafts and propellers for ships, armour plate and then artillery. Entir ...

to form

Vickers-Armstrongs Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, w ...

, with its automobile and aircraft interests purchased by J D Siddeley.

History

In 1847, the engineer

William George Armstrong William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong, (26 November 1810 – 27 December 1900) was an English engineer and industrialist who founded the Armstrong Whitworth manufacturing concern on Tyneside. He was also an eminent scientist, inventor and phi ...

founded the Elswick works at Newcastle, to produce hydraulic machinery, cranes and bridges, soon to be followed by artillery, notably the Armstrong breech-loading gun, with which the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

was re-equipped after the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

. In 1882, it merged with the shipbuilding firm of Charles Mitchell to form Armstrong Mitchell & Company and at the time its works extended for over a mile (about 2 km) along the bank of the

River Tyne The River Tyne is a river in North East England. Its length (excluding tributaries) is . It is formed by the North Tyne and the South Tyne, which converge at Warden, Northumberland, Warden near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The ...

. Armstrong Mitchell merged again with the engineering firm of

Joseph Whitworth Sir Joseph Whitworth, 1st Baronet (21 December 1803 – 22 January 1887) was an English engineer, entrepreneur, inventor and philanthropist. In 1841, he devised the British Standard Whitworth system, which created an accepted standard for screw ...

in 1897. The company expanded into the manufacture of cars and trucks in 1902, and created an "aerial department" in 1913, which became the

Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company, or Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft, was a British list of aircraft manufacturers, aircraft manufacturer. History Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft was established as the Aerial Department of the Armstrong ...

subsidiary in 1920. In 1927, it merged with

to form

Automobiles

The Armstrong Whitworth was manufactured from 1904, when the company decided to diversify to compensate for a fall in demand for artillery after the end of the

Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic an ...

.Tyne & Wear County Museums, Undated, ''Information Sheet Armstrong Whitworth Car'', available her

and reverse her

It took over construction of the

Wilson-Pilcher Wilson-Pilcher was an English car company founded in 1901 and acquired by Sir WG Taken Armstrong Whitworth & Co., Limited in 1904. History The company ''Wilson-Pilcher'' was founded in 1901 by Walter Gordon Wilson in London to produce autom ...

, designed by

Walter Gordon Wilson Major Walter Gordon Wilson (21 April 1874 – 1 July 1957) was an Irish mechanical engineer, inventor and member of the British Royal Naval Air Service. He was credited by the 1919 Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors as the co-inventor of the ...

, and produced cars under the Armstrong Whitworth name until 1919, when the company merged with

Siddeley-Deasy The Siddeley-Deasy Motor Car Company Limited was a British automobile, aero engine and aircraft company based in Coventry in the early 20th century. It was central to the formation, by merger and buy-out, of the later Armstrong Siddeley Motor ...

and to form Armstrong Siddeley. The Wilson-Pilcher was an advanced car, originally with a 2.4-litre engine, that had been made in London from 1901 until 1904 when production moved to Newcastle. When Armstrong Whitworth took over production two models were made, a 2.7-litre

flat four A flat-four engine, also known as a horizontally opposed-four engine or boxer engine, is a four-cylinder piston engine with two banks of cylinders lying on opposite sides of a common crankshaft. The most common type of flat-four engine is the box ...

and a 4.1-litre flat six, the cylinders on both being identical with bore and stroke of 3.75in (95mm). The engines had the flywheel at the front of the engine, and the crankshaft had intermediate bearings between each pair of cylinders. Drive was to the rear wheels via a dual helical

epicyclic gears An epicyclic gear train (also known as a planetary gearset) is a gear reduction assembly consisting of two gears mounted so that the center of one gear (the "planet") revolves around the center of the other (the "sun"). A carrier connects the ...

and helical bevel axle. The cars were listed at £735 for the four and £900 for the six. They were still theoretically available until 1907. According to ''Automotor'' in 1904, "Even the first Wilson-Pilcher car that made its appearance created quite a sensation in automobile circles at the time on account of its remarkably silent and smooth running, and of the almost total absence of vibration". The first Armstrong Whitworth car was the ''28/36'' of 1906 with a water-cooled, four-cylinder

side-valve A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine''American Rodder'', 6/94, pp.45 & 93. or valve-in-block engine, is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the Cam-in-block, engine block, instead of in the cyl ...

engine of 4.5 litres which unusually had "oversquare" dimensions of bore and stroke. Drive was via a four-speed gearbox and shaft to the rear wheels. A larger car was listed for 1908 with a choice of either 5-litre ''30'' or 7.6-litre ''40'' models sharing a bore but with strokes of and respectively. The ''40'' was listed at £798 in bare chassis form for supplying to coachbuilders. These large cars were joined in 1909 by the 4.3-litre ''18/22'' and in 1910 by the 3.7-litre ''25'', which seems to have shared the same chassis as the ''30'' and ''40''. In 1911, a new small car appeared in the shape of the 2.4-litre ''12/14'', called the ''15.9'' in 1911, featuring a

monobloc engine ''Monobloc'' refers to a component that is made in one block or casting. A monobloc engine or en bloc engine is an internal-combustion piston engine some of whose major components (such as cylinder head, cylinder block, or crankcase) are formed, u ...

with pressure lubrication to the crankshaft bearings. This model had an wheelbase compared with the of the ''40'' range. This was joined by four larger cars ranging from the 2.7-litre ''15/20'' to the 3.7-litre ''25.5''. The first six-cylinder model, the ''30/50'' with 5.1-litre bore by stroke engine came in 1912 with the option of electric lighting. This grew to 5.7 litres in 1913. At the outbreak of war, as well as the 30/50, the range consisted of the 3-litre ''17/25'' and the 3.8-litre ''20/30''. The cars were usually if not always bodied by external coachbuilders and had a reputation for reliability and solid workmanship. The company maintained a London sales outlet at New Bond Street. When Armstrong Whitworth and Vickers merged, Armstrong Whitworth's automotive interests were purchased by J D Siddeley as

Armstrong Siddeley Armstrong Siddeley was a British engineering group that operated during the first half of the 20th century. It was formed in 1919 and is best known for the production of luxury vehicles and aircraft engines. The company was created following t ...

, based in

Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

. An Armstrong Whitworth car is displayed in the Discovery Museum,

Aircraft

Armstrong Whitworth established an Aerial Department in 1912. This later became the Sir W. G. Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Company. When Vickers and Armstrong Whitworth merged in 1927 to form Vickers-Armstrongs, Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft was bought out by J. D. Siddeley and became a separate entity.

Armaments

The Elswick Ordnance Company (sometimes referred to as Elswick Ordnance Works, but usually as "EOC") was originally created in 1859 to separate William Armstrong's armaments business from his other business interests, to avoid a conflict of interest as Armstrong was then Engineer of Rifled Ordnance for the

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

and the company's main customer was the British Government. Armstrong held no financial interest in the company until 1864 when he left Government service, and Elswick Ordnance was reunited with the main Armstrong businesses to form Sir W.G. Armstrong & Company. EOC was then the armaments branch of W.G. Armstrong & Company and later of Armstrong Whitworth. Elswick Ordnance was a major arms developer before and during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. The ordnance and ammunition it manufactured for the British Government were stamped EOC, while guns made for export were usually marked "W.G. Armstrong". The 28 cm howitzer L/10 which played a major role in the

Siege of Port Arthur The siege of Port Arthur (, ''Ryojun Kōisen''; , ''Oborona Port-Artura'', August 1, 1904 – January 2, 1905) was the longest and most violent land battle of the Russo-Japanese War. Port Arthur, the deep-water port and Russian naval base ...

in the

Russo-Japanese War The Russo-Japanese War (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) was fought between the Russian Empire and the Empire of Japan over rival imperial ambitions in Manchuria and the Korean Empire. The major land battles of the war were fought on the ...

was developed by Armstrong.

Locomotives

After the Great War, Armstrong Whitworth converted its Scotswood Works to build railway locomotives. From 1919 it rapidly penetrated the locomotive market due to its modern plant. Its two largest contracts were 200 2-8-0s for the Belgian State Railways in 1920 and 327 Black 5 4-6-0s for the LMS in 1935/36. AW also modified locomotives. In 1926

Palestine Railways Palestine Railways (Arabic: سكة حديد فلسطين; Palestine Railways; Contemporary Hebrew: “Palestine Railways” or ; Present-day Hebrew: “Mandate Railways”) was a government-owned railway company that ran all public railways i ...

sent six of its H class Baldwin 4-6-0 locomotives to AW for conversion into 4-6-2 tank locomotives to work the PR's steeply graded branch between Jaffa and Jerusalem. PR also sent another six H Class Baldwins for their defective steel fireboxes to be replaced with copper ones. AW's well-equipped works included its own design department and enabled it to build large locomotives, including an order for 30 engines of three types for the modernisation of the

South Australian Railways South Australian Railways (SAR) was the organisation through which the Government of South Australia built and operated railways in South Australia from 1854 until March 1978, when its non-urban railways were incorporated into Australian Natio ...

in 1926. These included ten 500 class 4-8-2 locomotives, which were the largest non-articulated locomotives built in Great Britain, and were based on

Alco The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer that operated from 1901 to 1969, initially specializing in the production of locomotives but later diversifying and fabricating at various time ...

drawings modified by AW and SAR engineers. They were a sensation in Australia. AW went on to build 20 large three-cylinder "Pacific" type locomotives for the Central Argentine Railway (F.C.C.A) in 1930, with Caprotti valve gear and modern boilers. They were the most powerful locomotives on the F.C.C.A. AW obtained the UK license for Sulzer diesels from 1919, and by the 1930s was building diesel locomotives and railcars. An early example is the

Tanfield Railway The Tanfield Railway is a heritage railway in Gateshead and County Durham, England. Running on part of a former horse-drawn colliery wooden waggonway, later rope & horse, lastly rope & loco railway. It operates preserved industrial steam lo ...

's 0-4-0 diesel-electric shed pilot, No.2, which was built by AW as works number D22 in 1933. In the same year, the company launched the UK's first mainline diesel locomotive, the 800 bhp "Universal". It was successful in trials, but not repaired after an engine crankcase explosion a year later. A total of 1,464 locomotives were built at Scotswood Works before it was converted back to armaments manufacture in 1937.

Overseas operations

After the end of WWI demand for armaments and naval ships all but evaporated, and Armstrong Whitworth had to look into diversifying its business. The company built a hydroelectric station at Nymboida, New South Wales, near Grafton, Australia in 1923–1924. This is still in use and is substantially original. In 1925 the company tendered unsuccessfully to construct the South Brisbane-Richmond Gap (on the New-South Wales-Queensland border) section of the last stage of the standard gauge railway linking Sydney and Brisbane. This was a heavily engineered railway which includes a long tunnel under the Richmond Range forming the state border and a

spiral In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects. Two-dimensional A two-dimension ...

just south of the border. AW's tender price was £1,333,940 compared with Queensland Railway's tender price of £1,130,142. In the mid-1920s the company clearly was trying to break into the booming Australian market, but was stymied by a preference for local companies. The

Dominion of Newfoundland Newfoundland was a British dominion in eastern North America, today the modern Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It included the island of Newfoundland, and Labrador on the continental mainland. Newfoundland was one of the orig ...

, an island country then mostly dependent on its fishery, had plenty of

pulpwood Pulpwood can be defined as timber that is ground and processed into a fibrous pulp. It is a versatile natural resource commonly used for Papermaking, paper-making but also made into low-grade wood and used for chips, energy, pellets, and engineered ...

but only one

paper mill A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags, and other ingredients. Prior to the invention and adoption of the Fourdrinier machine and other types of paper machine that use an endless belt ...

Grand Falls-Windsor Grand Falls-Windsor is a town located in the central region of the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, with a population of 13,853 at the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census. The town i ...

and one

pulp mill A pulp mill is a manufacturing facility that converts wood chips or other plant fiber sources into a thick fiber board which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical, or ...

Bishop's Falls Bishop's Falls is a town in the north-central part of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, with a population of 3,082 at the 2021 census. Geography It is in Division No. 6, on the Exploits River, ne ...

, both built in the 1900s. The owners of the

Reid Newfoundland Company The Reid Newfoundland Company was incorporated in September 1901 and was the operator of the Newfoundland Railway across the island from 1901 to 1923. For a time it was the largest landowner in the Dominion of Newfoundland, today the modern Canadi ...

convinced AW to invest in building a second paper mill at

Corner Brook Corner Brook ( 2021 population: 19,316 CA 29,762) is a city located on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Corner Brook is the fifth largest settlement in Newfoundland and Labrado ...

, to be supplied with

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

from a generating station 50 km away at Deer Lake. A

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

, the Newfoundland Power and Paper Company, was founded in 1923. After much fighting between Harry Reid and then-PM of the dominion

Richard Squires Sir Richard Anderson Squires KCMG (January 18, 1880 – March 26, 1940) was the Prime Minister of Newfoundland from 1919 to 1923 and from 1928 to 1932. As prime minister, Squires attempted to reform Newfoundland's fishing industry, but failed ...

, the so-called Humber project (after the Humber River) received support from the local government and

loan guarantee A loan guarantee, in finance, is a promise by one party (the guarantor) to assume the debt obligation of a borrower if that borrower defaults. A guarantee can be limited or unlimited, making the guarantor liable for only a portion or all of the ...

s both from it and the UK; Squires even campaigned on it, making "Hum on the Humber" his slogan for the

1923 Newfoundland general election The 1923 Newfoundland general election was held on 3 May 1923 to elect members of the 25th General Assembly of Newfoundland in the Dominion of Newfoundland. The Liberal Reform Party, an alliance between the Liberals led by Richard Squires and th ...

. The company was heavily involved with the establishment of the town of Deer Lake. The hydroelectric station there was built between 1922 and 1925, while the canal system used by the hydroelectric station helped to expand the forestry operations in the area. Some of the equipment used in the construction of the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

was shipped to Newfoundland. The pulp and paper mill in

began operations in 1925. Overall, AW spent about £5M (equivalent to £ million in ) on the development, which went significantly over the original budget and led to an overdraft, only to witness a consistent decline in newsprint and pulp prices after 1923, which was caused by overexpansion of the Canadian industry and wasn't predicted by either party of the project, both lacking experience in paper trade. Since on a falling paper market longtime players with established customer bases had a clear advantage, shareholders sold their well-working but overleveraged and loss-making business to International Paper & Power Company in 1927. The deal left AW with a loss of £2.8M, and the whole group collapsed.

Shipbuilding

Shipbuilding was the major division of the company. From 1879 to 1880 the predecessor shipbuilding company of Charles Mitchell laid down a cruiser for the Chilean Navy at Low Walker Yard. This vessel was later supplied to Japan as the 'Tsukushi' of 1883; the ship was launched as of Armstrong Mitchell build. Between 1885 and 1918 Armstrong built warships for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

Beiyang Fleet The Beiyang Fleet (Pei-yang Fleet; , alternatively Northern Seas Fleet) was one of the Imperial Chinese Navy#Fleets, four modernized Chinese navies in the late Qing dynasty. Among the four, the Beiyang Fleet was particularly sponsored by Li Hong ...

Imperial Russian Navy The Imperial Russian Navy () operated as the navy of the Russian Tsardom and later the Russian Empire from 1696 to 1917. Formally established in 1696, it lasted until being dissolved in the wake of the February Revolution and the declaration of ...

, Brazil Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, Potsdam Declaration, when it was dissolved followin ...

, and the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. Amongst these were HMS ''Glatton'' which, due to bodged construction, suffered a magazine explosion in Dover Harbour less than one month after commissioning. Armstrong Mitchell and later Armstrong Whitworth built many merchant ships, freighters, tank-ships, and dredgers; notable among them was the ice-breaking

train ferries A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles, as well as their cargoes and passengers. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to t ...

in 1897 and in 1900, built to connect the

Trans-Siberian Railway The Trans-Siberian Railway, historically known as the Great Siberian Route and often shortened to Transsib, is a large railway system that connects European Russia to the Russian Far East. Spanning a length of over , it is the longest railway ...

across

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal is a rift lake and the deepest lake in the world. It is situated in southern Siberia, Russia between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, Irkutsk Oblasts of Russia, Oblast to the northwest and the Repu ...

. The company built the first polar icebreaker in the world: ''Yermak'' was a Russian and later Soviet icebreaker, having a strengthened hull shaped to ride over and crush pack ice.

Mergers and demergers

In 1927, the defence and engineering businesses merged with those of

to create a subsidiary company known as

. The aircraft and

motors business were bought by J. D. Siddeley and became a separate entity. Production at the Scotswood Works ended in 1979 and the buildings were demolished in 1982.

Products

Hydraulic engineering installations

The forerunner companies, W. G. Armstrong & Co. and later, from 1883 ''Sir WG Armstrong Mitchell & Company'', were heavily involved in the construction of

hydraulic engineering Hydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive use of gravity as the motive force to cause the move ...

installations. Notable examples include: * Development of the Hydraulic 'Jigger', and lifting apparatus, some exhibited at the 1851

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...

at the Crystal Palace, London. * Hydraulic mains system,

Limehouse Basin Limehouse Basin is a body of water east of London Bridge that is also a navigable link between the River Thames and two of London's canals. First dug in 1820 as the eastern terminus of the new Regent's Canal, its wet area was less than origi ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, 1850s *

Swing Bridge, River Tyne The Swing Bridge is a swing bridge over the River Tyne, England, connecting Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead, and lying between the Tyne Bridge and the High Level Bridge, River Tyne, High Level Bridge. It is a Grade II* listed structure. His ...

, 1873 * 120 ton hydraulic 'Sheer Leg' crane at Elswick Works, for transshipment to vessels. *

Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Listed building#Grade I, Grade I listed combined Bascule bridge, bascule, Suspension bridge, suspension, and, until 1960, Cantilever bridge, cantilever bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones ...

, 1894 * A

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- o ...

for the railway spanning over the

River Bann The River Bann (from , meaning "the goddess"; Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Bann Wattèr'') is the longest rivers, river in Northern Ireland, its length, Upper and Lower Bann combined, being 129 km (80 mi). The total length ...

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, 1921. * A series of nine late-19th century 160-ton capacity

hydraulic Hydraulics () is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counterpart of pneumatics, which concer ...

cranes for naval use. These were erected worldwide, in India (

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

), Italy (

La Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguria ...

Pozzuoli Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula. History Antiquity Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia ...

Taranto Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

), Liverpool,

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

and two more in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The sole surviving example is undergoing partial restoration at Venice's Arsenale.

Ships

Between 1880 and 1925 they built a number of warships: * ''Arturo Prat''/ (筑紫), Naval Jack of Chile

Chilean Navy The Chilean Navy () is the naval warfare service branch of the Chilean Armed Forces. It is under the Ministry of National Defense (Chile), Ministry of National Defense. Its headquarters are at Edificio Armada de Chile, Valparaiso. History Ori ...

(intended)/ Naval Ensign of Japan

, 1880 * /''Izumi'' (和泉), Naval Jack of Chile

Chilean Navy/ Naval Ensign of Japan

Imperial Japanese Navy, 1883 * HMCS ''Protector'' gunboat for the

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

n colonial navy, 1884 * ''Naniwa'' (浪速), Naval Ensign of Japan

Imperial Japanese Navy, 1885 * Elswick Cruisers, Zhiyuen Class Protected Cruiser, Protected cruiser: Jingyuan, Protected cruiser: Zhiyuen,

Imperial Chinese Navy The Imperial Chinese Navy was the modern navy of the Qing dynasty of China established in 1875. An Imperial naval force in China first came into existence from 1132 during the Song dynasty and existed in some form until the end of the Qing dynast ...

, 1887 * HMS ''Victoria'', battleship built for the

, delivered in 1891, she was accidentally rammed and sunk in 1893. * ''Castore'' and ''Polluce'', gunboats for the

Italian Navy The Italian Navy (; abbreviated as MM) is one of the four branches of Italian Armed Forces and was formed in 1946 from what remained of the ''Regia Marina'' (Royal Navy) after World War II. , the Italian Navy had a strength of 30,923 active per ...

, 1888. * ''Yoshino'' (吉野), Naval Ensign of Japan

Imperial Japanese Navy, 1892 * USS ''New Orleans'' (CL-22),

, 1895 * ''Esmeralda'', Naval Jack of Chile

Chilean Navy, 1895 * ''Yashima'' (八島), Naval Ensign of Japan

Imperial Japanese Navy, 1896 * ''Takasago'' (高砂), Naval Ensign of Japan

Imperial Japanese Navy, 1897 * ''O'Higgins'', Naval Jack of Chile

Chilean Navy, 1897 * ''Chacabuco'', Naval Jack of Chile

Chilean Navy, 1898 * ''Asama'' (浅間), Naval Ensign of Japan

Imperial Japanese Navy, 1898 * ''Tokiwa'' (常盤), Naval Ensign of Japan

Imperial Japanese Navy, 1898 * USS ''Albany'' (CL-23),

, 1898 * ''Yermak'' (Ермак),

, 1898 * ''Angara'', Imperial Russian Navy, 1899 * HNoMS ''Norge'',

Royal Norwegian Navy The Royal Norwegian Navy () is the branch of the Norwegian Armed Forces responsible for navy, naval operations of Norway, including those of the Norwegian Coast Guard. , the Royal Norwegian Navy consists of approximately 3,700 personnel (9,450 i ...

, 1899 * HNoMS ''Eidsvold'', Royal Norwegian Navy, 1899 * ''Hatsuse'' (初瀬), Naval Ensign of Japan

Imperial Japanese Navy, 1899 * ''Izumo'' (出雲), Naval Ensign of Japan

Imperial Japanese Navy, 1899 * ''Iwate'' (磐手), Naval Ensign of Japan

Imperial Japanese Navy, 1900 * ''Southern Cross'', Melanesian Mission Steamer, 1903 * HMS ''Swiftsure'', Royal Navy, 1903 * ''Kashima'' (鹿島), Naval Ensign of Japan

Imperial Japanese Navy, 1905 * HMS ''Superb'', Royal Navy, 1907 * ''Minas Geraes'', Flag of Brazil

Brazilian Navy The Brazilian Navy () is the navy, naval service branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces, responsible for conducting naval warfare, naval operations. The navy was involved in War of Independence of Brazil#Naval action, Brazil's war of independence ...

, 1908 * ''Bahia'', Flag of Brazil

Brazilian Navy, 1909 * HMS ''Monarch'', Royal Navy, 1911 * HMS ''Canada'', Royal Navy, 1913 * HMS ''Agincourt'', battleship built for

Ottoman Navy The Ottoman Navy () or the Imperial Navy (), also known as the Ottoman Fleet, was the naval warfare arm of the Ottoman Empire. It was established after the Ottomans first reached the sea in 1323 by capturing Praenetos (later called Karamürsel ...

but confiscated by British in July 1914 * HMS ''Malaya'', Royal Navy, 1915 * HMS ''Eagle'', Royal Navy, 1918 * , Royal Navy, 1925 * ''Isla de Luzón'',

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy, officially the Armada, is the Navy, maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation ...

1886-1887 They built

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk cargo, bulk transport of petroleum, oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quant ...

s, including: * ''British Emperor'', Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom

British Tanker Company British Tanker Company Limited was the maritime transport arm of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, the forerunner of BP. Formed in 1915 with an initial fleet of seven oil tankers, the British Tanker Company became the BP Tanker Company in 1955. ...

, 1916 * ''British Endeavour'' Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom

, 1927 * ''British Ensign'' Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom

, 1917 * ''British Isles'' Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom

, 1917 * ''British Princess'' Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom

, 1917 * ''British Progress'' Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom

, 1927 * ''British Sovereign'' Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom

, 1917 * ''San Felix'' Civil Ensign of the United Kingdom

Eagle Oil and Shipping Company, 1921

Locomotives

Armstrong Whitworth built a few railway locomotives between 1847 and 1868, but it was not until 1919 that the company made a concerted effort to enter the railway market. Armstrong Whitworth Catalogue Cover

Contracts were obtained for the construction and supply of steam and diesel locomotives to railway systems in Britain and overseas, including those detailed in the following table.

Armament

Cannons and other armament were produced by the

Elswick Ordnance Company The Elswick Ordnance Company (sometimes referred to as Elswick Ordnance Works, but usually as "EOC") was a British armaments manufacturing company of the late 19th and early 20th century History Originally created in 1859 to separate William ...

, the armament division of Armstrong Whitworth. An especially notable example is the Armstrong 100-ton gun.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Tapper, Oliver (1988). ''Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft since 1913''. London:Putnam. . *

External links

Tyne and Wear Archives Service
, for records of the company

Brian Webb: Armstrong Whitworth: A World Diesel Pioneer - list of diesel locos
] * {{Authority control Armstrong Whitworth, Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of England Former defence companies of the United Kingdom Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United Kingdom Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom Locomotive manufacturers of the United Kingdom Engineering companies of the United Kingdom Vintage vehicles Manufacturing companies established in 1847 Scotswood 1847 establishments in England Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1927 1927 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 1927 British companies established in 1874 British shipbuilders Former submarine builders

History

Automobiles

Aircraft

Armaments

Locomotives

Overseas operations

Shipbuilding

Mergers and demergers

Products

Hydraulic engineering installations

Ships

Locomotives

Armament

See also

References

Bibliography

External links