Vickers
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2008-07-05T22:07:34Z
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'''Vickers''' was a famous name in British engineering that existed through many companies from 1828 until 2004.
==History==
===Early history===
{{main|Vickers Limited}}
Vickers was formed in [[Sheffield]] as a [[steel]] [[foundry]] by the [[miller]] [[Edward Vickers]] and his father-in-law [[George Naylor]] in 1828. Naylor was a partner in the foundry Naylor & Sanderson and Vickers' brother William owned a steel rolling operation. Edward's investments in the railway industry allowed him to gain control of the company, based at [[Millsands]] and known as '''Naylor Vickers and Company'''. It began life making steel castings and quickly became famous for casting [[church bell]]s. In 1854 Vickers' sons Thomas and Albert joined the business. In 1863 the company moved to a new site in Sheffield on the [[River Don, South Yorkshire|River Don]] in [[Shiregreen and Brightside|Brightside]]. The company went public in 1867 as '''Vickers, Sons & Company''' and gradually acquired more businesses, branching out into various sectors. In 1868 Vickers began to manufacture marine shafts, in 1872 they began casting marine [[propeller]]s and in 1882 they set up a [[forging]] press. Vickers produced their first [[armour plate]] in 1888 and their first artillery piece in 1890.
Vickers bought out the [[Barrow-in-Furness]] shipbuilder The Barrow Shipbuilding Company in 1897, acquiring its subsidiary the [[Hiram Stevens Maxim|Maxim Nordenfelt Guns And Ammunitions Company]] [http://www.submarineheritage.com/history.html] at the same time, to become '''Vickers, Sons & Maxim'''. The yard at Barrow became the "Naval Construction Yard". With these acquisitions, Vickers could now produce a complete selection of products, from ships and marine fittings to armour plate and a whole suite of ordnance. In 1901 the [[Royal Navy]]'s first submarine, ''[[Holland 1]]'', was launched at the Naval Construction Yard. In 1902 Vickers took a half share in the famous [[River Clyde|Clyde]] shipyard [[John Brown and Company]].
Further diversification occurred with the purchase of the car building activities of the [[Wolseley plc|Wolseley Sheep-Shearing Machine Company]] in 1905, which was set up as the [[Wolseley Motor Company|Wolseley Tool and Motor Car Company]]. In 1911 a controlling interest was acquired in [[Robert Whitehead|Whitehead and Company]], the [[torpedo]] manufacturers. In 1911, the company name was changed to '''Vickers Ltd''' and expanded its operations into [[aircraft manufacturer|aircraft manufacture]] by the formation of '''Vickers Ltd (Aviation Department)'''. In 1919, the [[British Westinghouse]] electrical company was taken over as the [[Metropolitan-Vickers|Metropolitan Vickers Electrical Company]]; Metrovick. At the same time they came into Metropolitan's railway interests.
===Merger with Armstrong Whitworth===
{{main|Vickers-Armstrongs}}
In 1927, Vickers merged with the [[Tyneside]] based engineering company [[Armstrong Whitworth]], founded by [[William George Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong|W. G. Armstrong]], to become '''Vickers-Armstrongs, Ltd'''. Armstrong Whitworth had developed along similar lines to Vickers, expanding into various military sectors and was notable for their artillery manufacture at [[Elswick]] and shipbuilding at a yard at [[High Walker]] on the [[River Tyne]]. Armstrongs shipbuilding interests became the "Naval Yard", those of Vickers on the west coast the "Naval Construction Yard". [[Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft]] was not absorbed by the new company.
In 1928 the Aviation Department became '''Vickers (Aviation) Ltd''' and soon after acquired [[Supermarine]], which became the "Supermarine Aviation Works (Vickers) Ltd". 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. 1929 saw the merger of the acquired railway business with those of [[Cammell Laird]] to form [[Metro Cammell|Metropolitan Cammell Carriage and Wagon (MCCW)]]; Metro Cammell.
===Nationalisation===
In 1960 the aircraft interests were merged with those of the [[Bristol Aeroplane Company|Bristol]], [[English Electric Company]] and [[Hunting Aircraft]] to form the ''de facto'' nationalised [[British Aircraft Corporation]]. 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 name for aircraft was dropped in 1965. Under the terms of the [[Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977|Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act]] BAC was officially nationalised in 1977 to become part of the [[British Aerospace]] group, which exists today in the guise of [[BAE Systems]].
The Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act also led to the nationalisation of Vickers' shipbuilding division as part of [[British Shipbuilders]]. These had been renamed '''Vickers Armstrong Shipbuilders''' in 1955, changing again to '''Vickers Limited Shipbuilding Group''' in 1968. This division was privatised as '''[[Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd]]''' (VSEL) in 1986, later part of [[GEC]]'s Marconi Marine. It remains in operation to this day as [[BAE Systems Submarines]].
===Vickers plc===
{{main|Vickers plc}}
With their steelworking operations also nationalised into [[British Steel]] the remnants of Vickers became '''[[Vickers plc]]'''. In 1986, Vickers acquired the armaments manufacturer [[Royal Ordnance Factory]], [[Leeds]], which became '''Vickers Defence Systems'''. Other acquisitions included automotive engineers [[Cosworth]] in 1990, [[waterjet]] manufacturer [[Kamewa Waterjets|Kamewa]] in 1996 and [[Norway|Norwegian]] marine propulsion and engineering company [[Ulstein]] in 1998. 1998 also saw the sale of Rolls-Royce Motors and Cosworth to [[Volkswagen]].
===Current Status of Vickers===
Vickers remained independent until 1999 when the then Vickers plc was acquired by [[Rolls-Royce plc]] who sold the defence arm to [[Alvis plc]], which became [[Alvis Vickers]]. Vickers plc and the subsidiaries retained by Rolls-Royce were renamed '''Vinters''' in March 2003 <ref name="name">[[Rolls-Royce plc]]. The "[http://www.rolls-royce.com/investors/reports/2003/pdf/undertakings.pdf Principal subsidiary undertakings]" Retrieved 12 June, 2006</ref>. This Vickers name lived on in Alvis Vickers, until the latter was acquired by BAE Systems in 2004 to form [[BAE Systems Land Systems]].
Currently, Eaton Hydraulic's Vickers business[http://hydraulics.eaton.com/] provides power and motion control components including vane pumps, piston pumps, valves, cylinders, and filtration products to the industrial, aerospace, marine, and defence industries.
==See also==
{{Commonscat}}
* [[Vickers machine gun]]
* [[Supermarine]]
==Bibliography==
* ''Vickers: Against the Odds 1956-1977'' by Harold Evans. <ref> Detail taken from a copy of ''Vickers: Against the Odds 1956-1977'' published by Hodder and Stoughton [[London]] in 1978 </ref>
* Anon (1898), ''Vickers, Sons and Maxim Limited: Their Works and Manufactures'', "Engineering", London
* Scott, J.D. (1962), ''Vickers: A History'', Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London
== External links ==
*[http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/WebCHeck/fastrack/ Companies House] accessed 22 June 2006
*[http://www.level-two.co.uk/report.php?locname=brooklands Vickers Air-raid Shelter]
*[http://www.dockmuseum.org.uk/archive/index.asp Vickers Photographic Archive]
*[http://www.tilthammer.com/bio/vick.html Biography of Thomas and Albert Vickers]
==Footnotes==
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[[Category:Defunct companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Vickers| ]]
[[Category:Companies established in 1828]]
[[Category:2004 disestablishments]]
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