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Vickers
Vickers was a British engineering company that existed from 1828 until 1999. It was formed in Sheffield as a steel foundry by Edward Vickers and his father-in-law, and soon became famous for casting church bells. The company went public in 1867, acquired more businesses, and began branching out into military hardware and shipbuilding. In 1911, the company expanded into aircraft manufacturer, aircraft manufacture and opened a flying school. They expanded even further into electrical and railway manufacturing, and in 1928 acquired an interest in the Supermarine. Beginning in the 1960s, various parts of the company were nationalised, and in 1999 the rest of the company was acquired by Rolls-Royce Holdings, Rolls-Royce plc, which sold the defence arm to Alvis plc. The Vickers name lived on in Alvis Vickers, until the latter was acquired by BAE Systems in 2004 to form BAE Systems Platforms & Services, BAE Systems Land Systems. History Early history Vickers was formed in Sheffiel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Supermarine
Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer. It is most famous for producing the Spitfire fighter plane during World War II. The company built a range of seaplanes and flying boats, winning the Schneider Trophy for seaplanes with three consecutive victories (in 1927, 1929 and 1931). After the war, the company produced a series of jet fighters. Overview Supermarine was founded in 1913 as Pemberton-Billing Ltd. The company was located on the River Itchen, Hampshire, River Itchen close to Woolston, Southampton, on ground purchased by the British aviator and inventor Noel Pemberton Billing to construct motor launches. Pemberton-Billing produced two prototype Multiplane_(aeronautics)#Quadruplanes, quadruplanes designed to shoot down Zeppelins—the Supermarine P.B.29 and the Supermarine Nighthawk. Both aircraft were fitted with the recoilless Davis gun. The Nighthawk had a separate Propulsion, powerplant to power a searchlight.The World's Worst Aircraft James Gilbert Pemberton-B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Metropolitan-Vickers
Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as British Westinghouse. Highly diversified, it was particularly well known for its industrial electrical equipment such as Electrical generator, generators, steam turbines, switchgear, transformers, electronics and railway traction equipment. Metrovick holds a place in history as the builders of the first commercial transistor computer, the Metrovick 950, and the first British axial-flow jet engine, the Metropolitan-Vickers F.2. Its factory in Trafford Park, Manchester, was for most of the 20th century one of the biggest and most important heavy engineering facilities in Britain and the world. History Metrovick started as a way to separate the existing British Westinghouse, British Westinghouse Electrical and Manufacturing Company factories from United States control, which had proven to be a hindrance to gaining government cont ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. The borough subsequently merged with adjoining boroughs in 2023 to form the Westmorland and Furness unitary authority. At the tip of the Furness, Furness peninsula, close to the Lake District, it is bordered by Morecambe Bay, the Duddon Estuary and the Irish Sea. In 2021, Barrow's population was 55,489, making it the second largest urban area in Cumbria after Carlisle, Cumbria, Carlisle, and the largest in the Westmorland and Furness unitary authority. Natives of Barrow, as well as the local dialect, are known as Barrovian. In the Middle Ages, Barrow was a small hamlet (place), hamlet within the parish of Dalton-in-Furness with Fu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alvis Plc
Alvis PLC was a British motor vehicle manufacturer. It was created when United Scientific Holdings plc acquired the Alvis Car and Engineering Company, Alvis division of the nationalisation, nationalised vehicle manufacturer British Leyland in 1981. United Scientific maintained its own name until 1992 when the group was renamed Alvis plc. Alvis acquired the armoured vehicle business of the Swedish engineering company Hägglund & Söner in 1997 and the armoured vehicle business of GKN in 1998. Alvis acquired Vickers Defence Systems from Rolls-Royce plc, Rolls-Royce in October 2002. It was in turn acquired by BAE Systems in 2004 and became BAE Systems Land & Armaments, BAE Systems Land Systems (Weapons & Vehicles), now part of the BAE Systems Land & Armaments operating group. History Alvis Cars, Alvis became part of Rover Company, Rover in 1965, which ended the company's car manufacturing in 1967 to allow it to concentrate on the manufacture of armoured vehicles. In 1968 Rover ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Vickers
Edward Vickers (1804–1897) was the founder of Naylor Vickers & Co. which became Vickers Limited. He was the brother of Henry Vickers. Career Vickers was a successful miller who invested his money in the railway industry. In 1828 he garnered control of his father-in-law's steel foundry business, formerly Naylor & Sanderson, and renamed it Naylor Vickers & Co. He went on to be Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ... and the Mayor of Sheffield and was the first President of the Sheffield Chamber of Commerce. Family In 1828 Vickers married Anne Naylor. They had seven children (George Naylor (1830–1889) who married Maria Jackson, granddaughter of steelmaker James Jackson, Thomas Edward (1833–1915), Sarah Ann (1836–1919), Albert (1838–1919), Frederick (18 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maxim Nordenfelt Guns And Ammunition Company
The Maxim-Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company was the result of a takeover by Hiram Maxim of Thorsten Nordenfelt's Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company in 1888. Rothschild issued worth of shares to finance the merger. Nathan Rothschild retained a substantial shareholding in the new Maxim-Nordenfelt combine and ‘exerted a direct influence over its management’. History The company produced a range of light artillery, machine guns and ammunition. It was the subject of one of history's most famous court cases in 1894, Nordenfelt v Maxim, Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Co, in which Nordenfelt successfully claimed that the takeover condition preventing him from competing with Maxim for 25 years "in any way" was an unreasonable restraint of trade, but failed to overturn the main condition preventing Nordenfelt from competing with Maxim in the guns and ammunition trade for 25 years. The company competed against the Armstrong subsidiary Elswick Ordnance Company's range of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rolls-Royce Holdings
Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace and defence company incorporated in February 2011. The company owns Rolls-Royce, a business established in 1904 which today designs, manufactures and distributes power systems for aviation and other industries. Rolls-Royce is the world's second-largest maker of aircraft engines (after CFM International) and has major businesses in the marine propulsion and Energy industry, energy sectors. Rolls-Royce was the world's 16th largest Arms industry, defence contractor in 2018 when measured by defence revenues. The company is also the world's fourth largest commercial aircraft engine manufacturer, with a 12% market share . Rolls-Royce Holdings plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange, where it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. At the close of London trading on 11 February 2025, the company had a market capitalisation of Pounds sterling, £52.66bn, the 11th-largest of any company with a pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armaments
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 enforcement, self-defense, warfare, or suicide. In a broader context, weapons may be construed to include anything used to gain a tactical, strategic, material, or mental advantage over an adversary or enemy target. While ordinary objects such as rocks and bottles can be used as weapons, many objects are expressly designed for the purpose; these range from simple implements such as clubs and swords to complicated modern firearms, tanks, missiles and biological weapons. Something that has been repurposed, converted, or enhanced to become a weapon of war is termed ''weaponized'', such as a weaponized virus or weaponized laser. History The use of weapons has been a major driver of cultural evolution and human history up to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sheffield
Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its southern suburbs were transferred from Derbyshire to the city council. It is the largest settlement in South Yorkshire and the third largest of Northern England. The city is in the North Midlands, in the eastern foothills of the Pennines and the valleys of the River Don with its four tributaries: the Loxley, the Porter Brook, the Rivelin and the Sheaf. Sixty-one per cent of Sheffield's entire area is green space and a third of the city lies within the Peak District national park and is the fifth-largest city in England. There are more than 250 parks, woodlands and gardens in the city, which is estimated to contain around 4.5 million trees. Sheffield played a crucial role in the Industrial Revolution, developing many signifi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holland 1
''Holland 1'' (or ''HM submarine Torpedo Boat No 1'') is the first submarine commissioned by the Royal Navy. The first in a five-boat batch of the , launched in 1901, she was lost twelve years later in 1913 while under tow to be scrapped following her decommissioning. Recovered in 1982, she was put on display at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport. Her battery bank found in the boat was discovered to be functional after being cleaned and recharged. History She was ordered in 1901 from John Philip Holland and built at Barrow-in-Furness. Her keel was Keel laying, laid down 4 February 1901. In order to keep the boat's construction secret, she was assembled in a building labelled "Yacht Shed", and the parts that had to be fabricated in the general yard were marked for "pontoon no 1". She was Ship naming and launching, launched on 2 October 1901 and dived for the first time (in an enclosed basin) on 20 March 1902. Her sea trials began in April 1902. In September 1902 she arrive ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 took place mainly in European theatre of World War I, Europe and the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, Middle East, as well as in parts of African theatre of World War I, Africa and the Asian and Pacific theatre of World War I, Asia-Pacific, and in Europe was characterised by trench warfare; the widespread use of Artillery of World War I, artillery, machine guns, and Chemical weapons in World War I, chemical weapons (gas); and the introductions of Tanks in World War I, tanks and Aviation in World War I, aircraft. World War I was one of the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflicts in history, resulting in an estimated World War I casualties, 10 million military dead and more than 20 million wounded, plus some 10 million civilian de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company
The Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company Limited was a London-incorporated public listed company created to capitalise on a sheep-shearing machinery business established by Frederick Wolseley in Australia which was managed by Herbert Austin who went on to manufacture Wolseley and Austin cars. Frederick Wolseley's innovations to sheep shearing machinery revolutionised the entire wool industry. The wool industry was much reduced by the advent of synthetic textiles. Wolseley Sheep Shearing Machine Company was obliged to diversify into heating equipment then building materials. Its name and business has continued, supplemented since 1982 by Ferguson Enterprises, a large American supplier of building materials. A Jersey holding company was set up in 2017 named Ferguson plc and under that name and ownership the original Wolseley business remains listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. The British and Canadian operations are still called Wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
