Charles Benjamin Normand
Charles Benjamin Normand (c1830-1888) of Augustin Normand and Co
1888 Obituary [1]
We regret to announce the decease of Mr. Charles Benjamin Normand, of the firm of MM. Augustin Normand and Co., of Havre, who died on the 25th of last month in his fifty-ninth year. He was the elder brother of Mr. Augustin Normand, of the same place, and was well known throughout France - and in fact to marine engineers throughout the world - for his labours in the improvement of marine engine construction.
One of his earliest inventions which he made when twenty-two years of age, was a power saw designed to cut up logs for use in shipbuilding. He received a gold medal for this invention at the French Exhibition of 1855, and sold a large number of the machines for use in arsenals and other manufactories.
The abandonment of wood as a material for ships has, of course, thrown many of these saws out of use, but some are still at work, and are doing good duty.
But the chief claim of Mr. Normand to be remembered among the chief marine engineers of the day, is based upon his work in connection with the perfection and introduction of the compound engine applied to marine purposes. This arrangement of engine he patented in 1856, and in the course of the next fourteen years he constructed or transformed twenty-five marine engines on the compound principle, the first being fitted on Le Furet in 1860....[more]