Vickers Armstrong

Vickers Armstrong, Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927. The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, with the remainder being divested as Vickers plc in 1977.

History

Vickers and Armstrong Whitworth merged with the Tyneside based engineering company Armstrong Whitworth, founded by W. G. Armstrong, to become Vickers-Armstrong, Ltd. Armstrong Whitworth and Vickers had developed along similar lines, expanding into various military sectors and produced a whole suite of military products. Armstrong Whitworth were notable for their artillery manufacture at Elswick and shipbuilding at a yard at High Walker on the River Tyne.

1929 saw the merger of the acquired railway business with those of Cammell Laird to form Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon (MCCW); Metro Cammell.

Break-up

In 1960 the aircraft interests were merged with those of Bristol, English Electric and Hunting Aircraft to form the British Aircraft Corporation (BAC). This was owned by Vickers, English Electric and Bristol (holding 40%, 40% and 20% respectively). BAC in turn owned 70% of Hunting. The Supermarine operation was closed in 1963 and the Vickers brand name for aircraft was dropped by BAC in 1965. Under the terms of the 1977 Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act BAC was nationalised to become part of British Aerospace (later BAE Systems).

The Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act also led to the nationalisation of Vickers' shipbuilding divsion as part of British Shipbuilders. This division was privatised as Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd (VSEL) in 1986, later passing to the GEC group as part of Marconi Marine and survives to this day as part of BAE Systems; BAE Systems Submarines.

The steelmaking division became part of British Steel and the remaining interests were divested as the public company Vickers plc, whose various components were later split. The Vickers name ceased to exist in 1999 when Rolls-Royce renamed its aquisitions Vintners plc.

Businesses

Armaments

Vickers Armstrong inherited the Vickers machine gun from Vickers Limited. There were other Vickers machine guns aside from the regular water-cooled model (known universally as the "Vickers") such as the Vickers "K" 7.7 mm aircraft machine gun and the Vickers "S" 40 mm aircraft gun.

Shipbuilding

After the 1927 merger, the company posessed a major yard on each coast of Britain; the Naval Construction Yard of Vickers at Barrow in Furness in Cumbria and the Naval Yard of Armstrong Whitworth at High Walker on the River Tyne. Vickers Armstrong was one of the most important warship manufacturers in the world. These interests were renamed as Vickers Armstrong Shipbuilders in 1955, changing again to Vickers Limited Shipbuilding Group in 1968. The Barrow yard later passed into the hands of the nationalised British Shipbuilders, was privatised as VSEL and remains in operation to this day as BAE Systems Submarines.

Military vehicles

The company was also known for its tank designs, starting with the widely used Vickers 6-Ton. It also produced the influential, if never actually produced, Independent A1E1 tank. One of the company's most important designs was the Valentine Infantry Tank, produced in the thousands in World War II. The military vehicle manufacturing interests were divested into Vickers plc, and would later pass to Alvis Vickers, now part of BAE Systems Land and Armaments.

Notable Vickers Armstrong military vehicles include;
*Carden Loyd Tankette
*Cruiser Mk I
*Cruiser Mk II
*Vickers 6-ton
*Valentine
*Vickers MBT (and under licence in India as Vijayanta)

Aviation

Vickers formed their Aviation Department in 1911. The aircraft interests of Armstrong Whitworth were not aquired in the merger and later passed to the Hawker Aircraft group. In 1928 the Aviation Deparment became Vickers (Aviation) Ltd and soon after aquired Supermarine Aviation Works, which became the Supermarine Aviation Works (Vickers) Ltd. In 1938, both companies were re-organised as Vickers Armstrong (Aircraft) Ltd, although the former Supermarine and Vickers works continued to brand their products under their former names. In 1960 the aircraft interests were one of the founding companies merged to form BAC.

Military Aircraft

Vickers became renowned as a manufacturer of large aircraft. In the interwar years the company produced the Wellesley using the geodetic construction ideas of the brilliant engineer Barnes Wallis. This would later evolve into thethe famous Wellington bomber, a mainstay of the Royal Air Force Bomber Command and Coastal Command during World War II. The cold war-era Valiant V bomber was another Vickers product.

Notable Vickers Armstrong military aircraft include;
* Valentia (Type 264)
* Valetta
* Vanox
* Varsity
* Vernon
* Victoria
* Vildebeest
* Vincent
* Warwick
* Windsor

Civilian aircraft

Vickers was a pioneer in producing airliners, early examples being converted from Vimy bombers. Post , and went on to manufacture the piston-engined Vickers VC.1 Viking airliner, the Viscount and Vanguard turboprop airliners and (as part of BAC) the VC10 jet airliner, which remains in RAF service as an aerial refuelling tanker.

Marine engines

Vickers Armstrong was one of the few British manufacturers of marine diesel engines, notably for Royal Navy S and T-class submarines during World War II.

Vickers Armstrong: Encyclopedia BETA

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