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For other companies using the "Vickers" name, see Vickers. Vickers was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 2004
Vickers-Armstrongs Limited
Fate Assets split and majority nationalised
Successor Vickers plc
British Aircraft Corporation (est. Please refer to the overview article Vickers for other companies known by this name Vickers plc was the remainder of Vickers Armstrong Limited The British Aircraft Corporation ( BAC) was a British Aircraft manufacturer formed from the government-pressured merger of English Electric Aviation 1960)
British Shipbuilders
British Steel
Founded 1927
Defunct 1977
Location Vickers House, Westminster, London
Parent Vickers Limited
Armstrong Whitworth
Subsidiary Metropolitan-Vickers
Canadian Vickers
Whitehead & Company
John Brown & Company
Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval
Supermarine Aviation Works (est. British Shipbuilders Corporation was a Public corporation that owned and managed the UK shipbuilding industry from 1977 and through the 1980s British Steel was a major British Steel producer It originated as a nationalised industry the British Steel Corporation (BSC formed in 1967 Westminster is an area of Central London, within the City of Westminster. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Please refer to the overview article Vickers for other companies known by this name Vickers Limited was a famous British engineering conglomerate that Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century Metropolitan-Vickers, Metrovick, or Metrovicks, was a British heavy electrical engineering company of the early-to-mid 20th century formerly known as Canadian Vickers Limited was an aircraft and shipbuilding company that operated in Canada during the early part of the 20th century until 1944 Robert Whitehead ( 3 January 1823 &ndash 14 November 1905) was an English engineer John Brown and Company of Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, was a pre-eminent Shipbuilder, responsible for building many notable From 1909 up until the Spanish Civil War, the naval construction in Spain was monopolized by the Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval - (SECN also Spanish Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer that become famous for producing a range of sea planes and the legendary Supermarine Spitfire fighter 1928)

Vickers-Armstrongs 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. Please refer to the overview article Vickers for other companies known by this name Vickers Limited was a famous British engineering conglomerate that Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century The majority of the company was nationalised in the 1960s and 1970s, with the remainder being divested as Vickers plc in 1977. Please refer to the overview article Vickers for other companies known by this name Vickers plc was the remainder of Vickers Armstrong Limited

Contents

History

Vickers merged with the Tyneside based engineering company Armstrong Whitworth, founded by W. G. Armstrong, to become Vickers-Armstrongs, Ltd. Tyneside is a Conurbation in northern England, which is home to over 80% of the Metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear. Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Co Ltd was a major British manufacturing company of the early years of the 20th century Sir William George Armstrong 1st Baron Armstrong ( November 26 1810 &ndash December 27 1900) was a Tyneside industrialist who 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. Walker is a residential suburb and electoral ward just east of the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The River Tyne is a River in England. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers the North Tyne and the South 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. Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British Shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries came about following the merger of Laird The Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon (MCCW was a Birmingham, England based manufacturer of Railway carriages and Wagons based in

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). The Bristol Aeroplane Company, originally British and Colonial Aeroplane Company was a major British aviation company English Electric (EE was a British industrial manufacturer Founded in 1918 it initially specialised in industrial Electric motors and Transformers Its Hunting Aircraft was a British aircraft manufacturer primarily producing light training aircraft The British Aircraft Corporation ( BAC) was a British Aircraft manufacturer formed from the government-pressured merger of English Electric Aviation 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 1977 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that nationalised large parts of the UK Aerospace British Aerospace (BAe was a UK aircraft and defence-systems manufacturer that is now part of BAE Systems. BAE Systems plc (BAE is a British defence and aerospace company headquartered in Farnborough, England, that has global interests particularly

The Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act also led to the nationalisation of Vickers' shipbuilding division as part of British Shipbuilders. British Shipbuilders Corporation was a Public corporation that owned and managed the UK shipbuilding industry from 1977 and through the 1980s 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. Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd (VSEL was a shipbuilding company based at Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria in northwest England that built BAE Systems Submarine Solutions, until 2003 a unit within BAE Systems Marine, is responsible for the development and production of the Astute class submarine.

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. British Steel was a major British Steel producer It originated as a nationalised industry the British Steel Corporation (BSC formed in 1967 Please refer to the overview article Vickers for other companies known by this name Vickers plc was the remainder of Vickers Armstrong Limited The Vickers name ceased to exist in 1999 when Rolls-Royce renamed its acquisitions Vintners plc. Rolls-Royce plc ( is a British Aircraft engine maker and the second-largest in the world behind GE Aviation.

Businesses

Armaments

Vickers-Armstrongs inherited the Vickers machine gun from Vickers Limited. The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the water-cooled. 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. For other uses of the phrase see Machine Gun (disambiguation. The Vickers K gun known as the Vickers Gas Operated (VGO in British service was a rapid-firing Machine gun developed and manufactured for use in The Vickers Class "S" was a 40 mm gun used to arm British aircraft for attacking ground targets in the Second World War.

Vickers produced larger weapons such as the Ordnance QF 2 pounder gun used on tanks. The Ordnance QF 2-pounder (or simply "2 pounder gun" was a 40 mm British anti-tank and vehicle-mounted

Shipbuilding

After the 1927 merger, the company possessed 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. Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and Seaport in Cumbria, England. Boundaries and divisions Cumbria is neighboured by Northumberland, County Durham, North Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Lieutenancy Walker is a residential suburb and electoral ward just east of the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The River Tyne is a River in England. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers the North Tyne and the South Tyne. Vickers-Armstrongs was one of the most important warship manufacturers in the world. These interests were renamed as Vickers-Armstrongs 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. BAE Systems Submarine Solutions, until 2003 a unit within BAE Systems Marine, is responsible for the development and production of the Astute class submarine.

Military vehicles

The company was also known for its tank designs, starting with the widely used Vickers 6-Ton. A tank is a tracked, Armoured fighting vehicle designed for Front-line combat which combines Operational mobility and tactical The Vickers 6-Ton Tank or Vickers Mark E was a British light tank designed as a private project at It also produced the influential, if never actually produced, Independent A1E1 tank. The Independent A1E1 was a multi-turreted Tank designed by the British armaments manufacturer Vickers during the Interwar period One of the company's most important designs was the Valentine Infantry Tank, produced in the thousands in World War II. The most numerous British manufactured tank of World War II, the Tank Infantry Mk III Valentine was known mainly for its low cost and high reliability World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including 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. Please refer to the overview article Vickers for other companies known by this name Vickers plc was the remainder of Vickers Armstrong Limited Alvis Ltd was created when United Scientific Holdings plc acquired the Alvis division of the nationalised vehicle manufacturer BL plc in 1981 BAE Systems Land & Armaments was created on June 24 2005, following the completion of BAE Systems plc's acquisition of United Defense and its

Notable Vickers-Armstrongs military vehicles include;

Aviation

Vickers formed their Aviation Department in 1911. The Carden Loyd tankettes were a series of British pre- World War II Tankettes the most successful of which was the Mark VI the only version built The Tank Cruiser Mk I (A9 was a British Tank of the interwar period The Tank Cruiser Mk II (A10, was developed alongside the A9, and was intended to be a heavier Infantry tank version of that type The Vickers 6-Ton Tank or Vickers Mark E was a British light tank designed as a private project at The most numerous British manufactured tank of World War II, the Tank Infantry Mk III Valentine was known mainly for its low cost and high reliability The Vickers MBT was a series of Main Battle Tanks developed as a private venture by Vickers-Armstrongs for export The Vijayanta Main battle tank was built in India based on a licensed design of the Vicker's Mk The aircraft interests of Armstrong Whitworth were not acquired in the merger and later passed to the Hawker Aircraft group. Hawker Aircraft Limited was a British aircraft manufacturer responsible for some of the most famous products in British aviation history In 1928 the Aviation Department became Vickers (Aviation) Ltd and soon after acquired Supermarine Aviation Works, which became the Supermarine Aviation Works (Vickers) Ltd. Supermarine was a British aircraft manufacturer that become famous for producing a range of sea planes and the legendary Supermarine Spitfire fighter In 1938, both companies were re-organised as Vickers-Armstrongs (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.

Timeline of British aerospace companies since 1955

Military Aircraft

Vickers became renowned as a manufacturer of large aircraft. Bombardier Inc (bɔ̃baʁdje is a Canadian conglomerate, founded by Joseph-Armand Bombardier as L'Auto-Neige Bombardier Limitée in 1942 In the inter-war years the company produced the Wellesley using the geodesic airframe principle of structural engineer Barnes Wallis. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout A geodesic airframe (alternatively geodetic) is a type of construction for the Airframes of Aircraft. Sir Barnes Neville Wallis, CBE, Kt, FRS, RDI, FRAeS ( 26 September 1887  &ndash 30 October This would later evolve into the famous Wellington bomber, a mainstay of the Royal Air Force Bomber Command and Coastal Command during World War II. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout A bomber is a Military aircraft designed to attack ground and sea targets primarily by dropping Bombs on them Bomber Command is an organizational Military unit generally subordinate to the Air force of a Country. RAF Coastal Command was an organization within the Royal Air Force which defended the United Kingdom from naval threats and countered German U-boats World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The cold war-era Valiant V bomber was another Vickers product. Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout History Early development RAF Bomber Command ended World War II with a policy of using heavy four- Piston-engined bombers for massed

Among the Vickers-Armstrongs military aircraft are:

Vickers also competed for work with fighter designs offering designs such as:

Missiles and other weapons


Civilian aircraft

Vickers was a pioneer in producing airliners, early examples being converted from Vimy bombers. The Vickers Vigilant was a British MCLOS Wire guided Anti-tank missile used by the British Army. An airliner is a large Fixed-wing aircraft with the primary function of transporting paying passengers WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout 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. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Vickers VC10 is a British Airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft Ltd and first flown in 1962. Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling ( IFR) air-to-air refueling ( AAR) or tanking, is Aerial refueling, also called air refueling, in-flight refueling ( IFR) air-to-air refueling ( AAR) or tanking, is

Marine engines

Vickers-Armstrongs was one of the few British manufacturers of marine diesel engines, notably for Royal Navy S, T-class and Estonian Kalev class submarines during World War II. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout The Vickers VC10 is a British Airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft Ltd and first flown in 1962. A diesel engine is an Internal combustion engine which operates using the Diesel cycle (named after Dr The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) Service The submarines operated in the waters around the United Kingdom and in the Mediterranean, and later in the Far East after being fitted with extra tankage Design and development Design began in 1934 but was constrained by the 1930 London Naval Treaty restricting the total British submarine fleet to 52700 tons, Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia ( Eesti or Eesti Vabariik) is a Country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

In fiction

The role of Vickers-Armstrongs in the Chaco War is parodied as Viking Arms Co. The Chaco War (1932&ndash1935 was fought between Bolivia and Paraguay over control of a great part of the Gran Chaco region of South America Limited in Tintin's comic-book The Broken Ear. The Adventures of Tintin (Les Aventures de Tintin is a series of Comic strips created by Belgian artist Hergé, the pen name of Georges Remi The Broken Ear ( French: L'Oreille cassée) is the sixth of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip

References

External links

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