The Admiralty Research Laboratory (ARL) was a research laboratory that supported the work of the UK
Admiralty. It was located in
Teddington
Teddington is an affluent suburb of London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Historically an Civil parish#ancient parishes, ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and situated close to the border with Surrey, the district became ...
,
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 ...
, England from 1921 to 1977.
History
During the
First World War
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
Anti-Submarine Division of the Admiralty had established
experimental stations at Hawkcraig (Aberdour) and Parkeston Quay,
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports on the North Sea coast. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the north-east, Ipswich to the north-west, Colchester to the south-west and Clacton-o ...
, with out-stations at
Dartmouth and
Wemyss Bay, to work on submarine detection methods. The Admiralty also established an experimental station at
Shandon,
Dumbartonshire, working with the
Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...
Anti-Submarine Committee and the
Clyde Anti-Submarine Committee, which subsequently moved to
Teddington
Teddington is an affluent suburb of London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Historically an Civil parish#ancient parishes, ancient parish in the county of Middlesex and situated close to the border with Surrey, the district became ...
in 1921, becoming the Admiralty Research Laboratory.
Its main fields of research expanded to include
oceanography
Oceanography (), also known as oceanology, sea science, ocean science, and marine science, is the scientific study of the ocean, including its physics, chemistry, biology, and geology.
It is an Earth science, which covers a wide range of to ...
(it housed the National Institute of Oceanography from 1949 to 1953);
electromagnetics
In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge via electromagnetic fields. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental forces of nature. It is the dominant force in the interacti ...
and
degaussing
Degaussing, or deperming, is the process of decreasing or eliminating a remnant magnetic field. It is named after the gauss, a unit of magnetism, which in turn was named after Carl Friedrich Gauss. Due to magnetic hysteresis, it is generally not ...
; underwater ballistics; visual aids;
acoustics
Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...
; infra-red radiation; photography and assessment techniques. It moved to Teddington, south west of London, so that it could benefit from the expertise of the
National Physical Laboratory.
Notable employees
Notable people who worked at the ARL included:
*
Francis Crick
Francis Harry Compton Crick (8 June 1916 – 28 July 2004) was an English molecular biologist, biophysicist, and neuroscientist. He, James Watson, Rosalind Franklin, and Maurice Wilkins played crucial roles in deciphering the Nucleic acid doub ...
(from 1940 to 1947) who helped to design magnetic and acoustic mines
*
Martin Beale (from 1951 to 1960) who developed techniques for mathematical optimisation
*
Edward Lee (from 1939)
*
Jack Good (1959–1962)
*
R. V. Jones (1938–1939)
*
Charles Drysdale (superintendent 1921–1929)
*
Cyril Hilsum (1947–1950)
*
Alister Watson (1940s–1965), suspected Soviet spy
*
Peter Wright during the Second World War; as a degaussing specialist
[Peter Wright, ''Spycatcher'', Toronto 1987, Stoddart Publishers, Chapter 2.]
*
Thomas Gaskell (during the Second World War)
*
Albert Beaumont Wood (from 1921 to 1950)
Notes and references
External links
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Admiralty departments
Military history of London
Military history of Middlesex
Military research establishments of the United Kingdom
Ministry of Defence Navy Department
Research institutes in London