Grace's Guide To British Industrial History

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Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 162,357 pages of information and 244,505 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Grace's Guide is the leading source of historical information on industry and manufacturing in Britain. This web publication contains 147,919 pages of information and 233,587 images on early companies, their products and the people who designed and built them.

Difference between revisions of "Admiralty Experiment Works"

From Graces Guide
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1870 The offer was accepted, and from that time, except when occupied on other work for the Admiralty, Mr. Froude devoted his energies to the conduct of experiments for the Government on the resistance of ships, and on their propulsion.  
1870 The offer was accepted, and from that time, except when occupied on other work for the Admiralty, Mr. Froude devoted his energies to the conduct of experiments for the Government on the resistance of ships, and on their propulsion.  


1872 The Admiralty Experiment Works (AEW) was established at Torquay to work on Hydrodynamics.
1872 The Admiralty Experiment Works (AEW) was established adjoining Mr Froude's residence at Chelston Cross, Torquay to work on Hydrodynamics.


The Admiralty establishment at Torquay, erected by Mr. Froude for carrying out these experiments, contained a covered tank 250 feet long, 33 feet wide, and 10 feet deep. Above this tank was a suspended railway, on which ran a truck drawn at any given speed, and beneath this truck the model was drawn through the water, and its resistance measured by a self-acting dynamometer on the truck. There was also means of testing the effect of screw propellers behind the models. The machinery for manufacturing models, and the various governors for regulating and recording speed, were indicative of Mr. Froude’s scientific skill.  
The Admiralty establishment at Torquay, erected by Mr. Froude for carrying out these experiments, contained a covered tank 250 feet long, 33 feet wide, and 10 feet deep. Above this tank was a suspended railway, on which ran a truck drawn at any given speed, and beneath this truck the model was drawn through the water, and its resistance measured by a self-acting dynamometer on the truck. There was also means of testing the effect of screw propellers behind the models. The machinery for manufacturing models, and the various governors for regulating and recording speed, were indicative of Mr. Froude’s scientific skill.  

Revision as of 11:59, 22 January 2017

at Torquay, and later Haslar, Gosport

Edward James Reed, Chief of the Constructive Staff of the Navy, encouraged William Froude to propose to the Admiralty a series of experiments on the resistance of ship models.

1870 The offer was accepted, and from that time, except when occupied on other work for the Admiralty, Mr. Froude devoted his energies to the conduct of experiments for the Government on the resistance of ships, and on their propulsion.

1872 The Admiralty Experiment Works (AEW) was established adjoining Mr Froude's residence at Chelston Cross, Torquay to work on Hydrodynamics.

The Admiralty establishment at Torquay, erected by Mr. Froude for carrying out these experiments, contained a covered tank 250 feet long, 33 feet wide, and 10 feet deep. Above this tank was a suspended railway, on which ran a truck drawn at any given speed, and beneath this truck the model was drawn through the water, and its resistance measured by a self-acting dynamometer on the truck. There was also means of testing the effect of screw propellers behind the models. The machinery for manufacturing models, and the various governors for regulating and recording speed, were indicative of Mr. Froude’s scientific skill.

The establishment has also been used for other inquiries allied to its original purpose. An exhaustive series of experiments on the forms of ships was conducted by Froude; all of the Navy's ships' proportions and forms were subjected to the investigation given by the experimental apparatus at Torquay.

1887 AEW moved to its permanent home at Haslar.


See Also

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Sources of Information

  • History of MOD Innovation [1]
  • Obituary of William Froude