John Isaac Thornycroft
Sir John Isaac Thornycroft (born February 1, 1843 in Rome , † June 28, 1928 in Bembrigde , Isle of Wight ) was a British engineer . He was the founder of the modern technology of torpedo boats .
He made fundamental improvements in the design and machinery of torpedo boats of the Royal Navy and built the first torpedo boat for them.
At his own shipyard ( John I. Thornycroft & Company ) he began building torpedo boats in the 1870s. The first was commissioned by the Italian Navy in 1876, followed by the Royal Navy in 1877. In the next few years he built several hundred boats of this type for various fleets around the world. His shipyard merged with the Vosper shipyard in 1966 to form the armaments company Vosper Thornycroft, which was renamed the VT Group in 2002 .
In 1864 he built his first steam-powered automobiles. The result was a company that changed hands several times, but under the name Thornycroft u. a. still deals with agricultural machinery. In 1877 he was the first to patent the plan for a hovercraft , but did not build one.
It was so well known in its day that Jules Verne referred to its construction:
"But Doctor Antekirrt's boat differed from the Thornycroft ships in one important respect: While those operated with superheated steam as their propulsion power, it used electricity."
In 1902 he was knighted as a Knight Bachelor .
Web links
- http://www.j-verne.de/verne_technik04.html Detailed pages on Thornycrofts torpedo boats
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Thornycroft, John Isaac |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British engineer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 1, 1843 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Rome |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 28, 1928 |
| Place of death | Bembrigde , Isle of Wight |