William Henry White

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Sir William Henry White

Sir William Henry White (born February 2, 1845 in Plymouth , Devon , † February 27, 1913 in London ) was a British engineer and chief designer in the Royal Navy .

White was born in Plymouth and began training at the local naval yard in 1859. In 1863 he received a scholarship from the newly founded Royal School of Naval Architecture in South Kensington , London . After his training he worked for the Admiralty and dealt with the design and calculation of new ships. He became secretary of the then chief designer of the Admiralty, Sir Edward Reed, and remained in this post until his retirement on July 9, 1870. He was then appointed as a teacher at the Royal School of Naval Architecture . In 1872 he became secretary of the Council of Construction , which oversaw all constructions of the Royal Navy. From 1872-1873 he worked for the naval shipyards in Pembroke and Portsmouth .

In March 1875 he was promoted to Assistant Constructor . He married that same year and published A Manual of Naval Architecture. For the use of Officers of the Royal Navy, Shipbuilders , a basic work on the construction of warships at the time. In 1883 he left the Admiralty and joined William Armstrong's company as a designer and head of the warship design department. On August 1, 1885, he returned to the Admiralty and was appointed Director of Naval Construction and Assistant Controller Chief Designer in the Royal Navy. He was involved in the reorganization of the naval shipyards and the technical departments, later in the construction of the battleships of the Royal Sovereign class . In 1895 he was raised to the nobility as Knight Commander of the Bath .

In 1901, White suffered a nervous breakdown as a result of criticism of him in Parliament . The occasion was an incident with the royal yacht Victoria and Albert . The ship almost capsized when it was floated out of dry dock on July 3, 1900 after being fitted out. The reason was the installation of about 700 tons of additional weight above the center of gravity , mainly cement to dampen the sound of the royal apartments. As a result, the metacentric height decreased from a stable 2 feet to an unstable 3 inches. Although acquitted of direct guilt, he was accused of not having adequately advised his subordinates of the novelty and importance of their work.

With the King Edward VII class , White delivered his last battleship design. However, White was sick and constantly worried about minor issues as he was unable to delegate minor decisions himself. He requested early retirement and left the Admiralty on January 31, 1902.

In his sixteen-year tenure as chief designer, he was responsible for the construction of 43 battleships, 26 armored cruisers, 102 armored cruisers and 74 unarmored warships with a total value of £ 80 million (1900 value).

After his retirement he worked as a consultant on the construction of the RMS Mauretania of the Cunard Line . He was elected President of the Institution of Civil Engineers , the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Marine Engineers, and in 1900 a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences . Since 1890 he was a member ( Fellow ) of the Royal Society of Edinburgh . He was also chairman of the council of the Royal Society of Arts from 1909 to 1910 and governor of Imperial College from 1907 until his death . White died of a stroke in 1913.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Fellows Directory. Biographical Index: Former RSE Fellows 1783–2002. (PDF file) Royal Society of Edinburgh, accessed April 22, 2020 .
personal data
SURNAME White, William Henry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES White, Henry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British engineer
DATE OF BIRTH February 2, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH Plymouth , Devon
DATE OF DEATH February 27, 1913
Place of death London