Henry Palin Gurney

“ The Elswick Ordnance Company was established solely to make Armstrong guns for the British government under Armstrong’s supervision. Accordingly over three thousand guns were manufactured by the new company between 1859 and 1863. At the latter date the British armament was the finest in existence. But there was then a reaction in favour of the superior simplicity of muzzle-loading guns. The breech-loading mechanism required accurate fittings and careful use. Breech-loaders are unfit weapons for imperfectly instructed gunners, and out of place when exposed to weather or drifting sand. ”

“ Armstrong’s strenuous work at his hydraulic machines and his celebrated guns by no means exhausted his energies or interests. At the same time he found opportunity to give thoughtful consideration to problems of the highest importance to every practical engineer in connection with the economical use of fuel. In 1855 Armstrong, with two other engineers, was entrusted, with the award of the 500l. premium offered by the Northumberland Steam Collieries Association for the best method of preventing smoke in the combustion of Hartley coal in marine boilers. ”

“ Many persons investigated the phenomenon, but Armstrong first arrived at correct conclusions, which were published in papers on ‘the electricity of effluent steam’ (Phil. Mag. 1841–3) . He applied his results to the construction of a hydro-electric machine, which consisted essentially of an insulated boiler, from which steam at high pressure escaped through specially designed nozzles. This formed the most powerful means of generating electricity then known, and it is still used for the production of electricity of high tension. ”

“ In no previous instance had a pressure exceeding 90 pounds on the square inch been used, but it was now decided to adopt a pressure of 600 pounds’ (Sir W. G. Armstrong, Inst. of Civil Engineers, 1876–7, vol. i. pt. iv.) The storage capacity of the accumulator is not so great as that of a reservoir, but, on the other hand, the higher pressures employed enable the distributing pipes to be made of smaller dimensions than would otherwise be possible, and the pressures are more uniform. By this invention hydraulic machinery was rendered available in almost every situation. ”

“ The small hydro-electric machine used for these experiments was subsequently presented by Lord Armstrong to the Durham College of Science at Newcastle.
The uses and application of water at the time chiefly absorbed his attention, and he studied the subject in all its bearings with characteristic public spirit. As the population increased the Tyne became undrinkable, and the supply of pure water inadequate. In 1845 proposals were brought forward to form an accumulation reservoir at Whittle Dean, and to bring the water by 24-inch pipes, then the largest in the world, to Newcastle. ”

“ Meanwhile the great Elswick works were rapidly growing alike in the engineering and ordnance branches. To these departments a third—that of shipbuilding—was finally added. In 1868 the Elswick firm began to build ships in the Walker yard of Messrs. Mitchell & Swan.
From a very early date Armstrong had devoted much attention to problems in connection with the mounting and working of guns on ships, and kindred matters of design. He was a steadfast believer in guns as against armour. He had himself worked at the improvement of armour plating. ”

“ The tide of prosperity did not flow towards Elswick conspicuously till 1850. In March 1852 three hundred and fifty men were employed, and their fortnightly wages amounted to 870l. Thenceforth the development was steady.
All the hydraulic apparatus erected by Armstrong up to 1849 was worked by water from reservoirs, but in that year he was commissioned to construct cranes at places on the Humber and Tees, where the pressure in the town mains was insufficient. To avoid the cost of building a high reservoir, he employed an air-vessel. ”

“ But these inventions far from exhausted Armstrong’s genius, and in middle life he applied his mind to improvements in the manufacture of the machinery of war, which brought him an equally wide and deserved reputation. ”

“ The first order for the new firm (15 May 1848) was for cranes for the Liverpool docks, but from the commencement Elswick produced a great variety of hydraulic machines. A diagonal two-cylinder double-acting engine was made for the press printing the ‘Newcastle Chronicle,’ while mining machinery for the lead mines at Allenheads and winding engines for the South Hetton Coal Company were among their earliest productions. Armstrong’s second patent for a water-pressure engine bears date 11 May 1848. ”

“ In later years Armstrong named as his recreations ‘planting, building, electrical and scientific research;’ but in early life he was an enthusiastic fisherman. This pastime afforded opportunities for his inventive genius. ”

“ Throughout his life Armstrong was a notable benefactor of his native city. There is hardly any meritorious institution in Newcastle or the neighbourhood, educational or charitable, which was not largely indebted to his assistance. ”

“ In 1897 Sir Joseph Whitworth’s works at Openshaw, near Manchester, for the manufacture of the Whitworth guns, were incorporated, and the title of the combined concerns was changed to Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth, & Company. Limited [see Whitworth, Sir Joseph] . At the date of Armstrong’s death in 1900, the company own, at Elswick alone, two hundred and thirty acres, and ‘a recent pay-sheet shows 36,802l. paid in a single week’ to twenty-five thousand and twenty-eight workmen (N. C. Mag. November 1900) . ”

“ Being very convenient where power is required at intervals and for short periods, it has come into extensive use for working cranes, hoists, and lifts, opening and shutting dock gates, docking and launching ships, moving capstans, turn-tables, and the like. ”

“ He adopted a construction more correct in principle, but more difficult of execution. The strength of a metal cylinder does not increase in the ratio of its thickness. A cylinder offers the greatest resistance to bursting when the exterior layers are in a state of tension, gradually increasing inwards past the neutral point till the internal layers are in a state of compression. Therefore an internal cylinder of steel was enclosed in a jacket made by twisting a wrought-iron bar, and welding the turns into a cylinder of internal diameter slightly smaller than the steel lining. ”

“ The Elswick firm built several vessels of this class at the Walker yard, leading up to the Esmeralda, constructed for Chili in 1882, which may be described as the first modern protected cruiser. Armstrong strongly advocated the construction of a large number of vessels of this class of moderate size. He believed that they would be most effective protectors of commerce, and that several acting together might even be more than a match for an ironclad. ”

“ In many cases it has caused important economies both as regards time and money, especially at harbours and railway stations, where large amounts of traffic have to be dealt with. In the navy its applications are so numerous that it has been said without it a modern warship would be an impossibility. ”

“ The plan may have been first suggested to him by Captain Blakeney’s proposal, published as early as 1855, to substitute wire wound at high tension round the core for hoops or jackets. The same idea had occurred independently to Brunel, who gave Armstrong a commission for a gun made on this principle. The order could not be executed, because it was found that Longridge had taken out a patent for this method of construction, though he had never carried it into execution. ”

“ Much interest was also manifested in his cranes, and many inquiries were made about them. The first orders were dealt with in the High Bridge works of Mr. Watson, but special arrangements were desirable. Thereupon four substantial citizens, Messrs. Donkin, Potter, Cruddas, and Lambert, offered the money necessary to found special works for their manufacture. It was thus that the great engineering works at Elswick-on-Tyne first came into being. The deed of partnership is dated as from 1 Jan. 1847. Armstrong, who was the moving spirit, was appointed manager of the concern. ”

“ He thereupon retired from the legal profession to devote himself to the more congenial pursuits of an engineer.
The engineering works originally consisted of offices, four workshops, two houses for foremen, and stables, standing on about 51⁄2 acres on the left bank of the Tyne, a little way above Newcastle. Work was commenced on 1 Oct. 1847, and the first Elswick paysheet for wages due on 15 Oct. amounted to 9l. 17s. 10d. (Northern Counties Mag. October 1900) . During the earlier years the business chiefly consisted in the manufacture of Armstrong’s newly devised hydraulic machinery. ”