Suppliers of Submarine Mining Equipment

John Townsend Bucknill, Honorary Lt Col R.E. was deeply involved in the development of Submarine Mines and Submarine Mining Stations.

His Submarine Mines and Torpedoes as applied to Harbour Defences explains that the mines and control equipment were manufactured by private firms.

“The Italians have a large government manufactory for submarine mining stores, and for some years these stores were largely manufactured for our service by the Royal Laboratory at the Royal Arsenal. Experience, however, proved that this system was costly, and that vexatious delays frequently occurred, this extra work being more or less shelved when it interfered with the legitimate work of the manufactory. The requirements for submarine mining come in fits and starts, and are not well suited for providing continuous work in a special department. It would, therefore, have been bad policy to start a government factory for their special manufacture; and there is no necessity to do so, for all the gear, except the instruments, can be readily made in good engineering shops.
Moreover, the resources of the Royal Arsenal would, in the event of war, be taxed to the utmost, and the speedy manufacture of submarine mining stores could not then be relied upon. For these reasons the resources of private firms have been utilised in this country, and with considerable success.
A few good firms were selected by the Royal Engineers, and the orders were for some years placed with them, often without competition, when the prices quoted were considered to be fair and reasonable.

In the year 1878 large quantities of stores were obtained very promptly in this manner, the Royal Engineers directing both the purchase and inspection. The ordinary War Office system was thrown to the winds, as it always must be in times of emergency. It is never applicable to scientific stores. The system of lowest tender is pernicious when applied to any stores of the kind. It is alike inapplicable to artillery and to engineer stores, except perhaps for such articles as picks and shovels, when a rigid inspection and high specification and pattern may perhaps protect us sufficiently.”

The book carries the following adverts . . .

MESSRS. DAY, SUMMERS, & CO,
Marine Engineers, SOUTHAMPTON,
Undertake the Manufacture and Supply of SUBMARINE MINING BOATS, STEAMERS, MINES, CIRCUIT-CLOSERS, and all necessary Machinery, Stores, and Gear.

MESSRS. ELLIOTT BROS.,
Electrical Engineers, LONDON,
Undertake the Manufacture and Supply of the INSTRUMENTS and APPARATUS required for Submarine Mining.

Day, Summers and Company was a British steam locomotive manufacturer and shipbuilder in the Southampton area. The firm was founded in 1834 by William Alltoft Summers in conjunction with Charles Arthur Day and William Baldock, under the title of Summers, Day, and Baldock at Millbrook. In 1928 the yard went into liquidation and was taken over by Thornycroft. In 1966 the yard became part of Vosper Thornycroft. The company ceased trading in 1987.

Elliott Bros was formed in 1850, when Charles and Fredrick Elliott joined their father’s business making drawing instruments, scales, and scientific instruments. The company prospered, and manufactured a range of surveying, navigational, and other instruments. In the 1850s the company began manufacturing electrical instruments, which were used by researchers such as James Clerk Maxwell and others.

In 1876, the company expanded to a new factory to manufacture telegraph equipment and instruments for the British Admiralty. There was increased demand for electrical switchboards for the growing electric power industry.

In 1898, the company moved out of London to a new site in Lewisham, then located in Kent. One of the main products at this site was naval gunnery tables, which were mechanical analogue computers, which were manufactured until after World War II. Aircraft instruments became an important product line with the development of heavier than air flight; instruments such as tachometers and altimeters were vital in aviation. In 1916, the company changed its name to Elliott Brothers (London), Limited.

The end of Admiralty contracts after the war severely affected Elliott Brothers, which had not been involved in radar and electronics technology during the war. In 1946, John Flavell Coales founded the Research Laboratories of Elliott Brothers at Borehamwood. This laboratory was the site of development of radar systems for the Government, and in 1947 produced a stored-program digital computer. By 1950 the laboratory had a staff of 450, and had developed the commercial Elliott 401 computer. In 1957, the company changed its name to Elliott Automation Ltd.
By 1966, Elliott Automation had started their own semiconductor factory at Glenrothes, Scotland. The company had about 35,000 employees. In 1967 Elliott Automation was merged into English Electric.

The data processing computer part of the company was merged with International Computers and Tabulators (ICT) in 1968; this marriage was forced by the British Government, who believed that the UK required a strong national computer company. The combined company was called International Computers Limited (ICL). The real-time computer part of Elliott Automation remained, and was renamed Marconi Elliott Computer Systems Limited in 1969 and GEC Computers Limited in 1972, and remained at the original Borehamwood research laboratories until the late 1990s. The agreement which governed the split of computer technologies between the two companies disallowed ICT from developing real-time computer systems and disallowed Elliott Automation from developing data processing computer systems for a few years after the split. The remainder of Elliott Automation which produced aircraft instruments and control systems, was retained by English Electric.