Biographical entry Thornycroft, Sir John Isaac (1843 - 1928)

Born
1843
Vatican City
Died
1928
Bembridge, Isle Of Wight, United Kingdom
Occupation
Engineer, Naval architect and Shipbuilder

Summary

John Isaac Thornycroft was a British engineer and marine architect who built many of the first purpose-built torpedo boats for the British Royal Navy and for many other governments.

He built his first steam launch, the Nautilus to compete in a college race when he was 19 years old.

He went on to establish the Thornycroft Boatbuilding Yards in Chiswick on the River Thames in 1864. His vessels were renowned for their speed and fine lines which came down to his constant experimentation with hull shape and optimum propeller and boiler design.

In 1873 J.I. Thornycroft and Co built the steam-powered spar torpedo boat Gitana for the Norwegian government. This was the first ever purpose-built torpedo boat. The Gitana was used as a model in the building of the Lightning in 1877, the first of Thornycroft's many commissions for the British Royal Navy.

Thornycroft was knighted in 1901 and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Laws in 1902 by Glasgow University.

In the twentieth century Thornycroft's company turned its focus to the design and manufacture of automobiles but Thornycroft himself continued to innovate in motor boat design. He created Coastal Motor Boats for the Royal Navy during World War I and supplied them with Motor Torpedo Boats and landing craft in World War I.

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Details

Chronology

1862
Career event - Completed first vessel, steam launch named the Nautilus
1864
Career event - Established Shipbuilding yard at Chiswick, on the River Thames
1866 - 1870
Education - Studied at the Royal School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering at South Kensington, London
c. 1872
Career event - Completed the Miranda, a steam yacht for Baroness de Rothschild
1873
Career event - Completed the Gitana, the first torpedo boat
1877
Career event - Completed first vessel for the British Royal Navy, torpedo boat HMSLightning
1881- - ?
Career event - Councillor, the Institution of Naval Architects
1899 - 1908
Career event - Councillor, the Institution of Civil Engineers

Related entries

Published resources

Book Sections

  • 'Thornycroft, Mary (1814-1895) and Thornycroft, Thomas (1815-1885).', in Sir Leslie Stephen and Sir Sidney Lee (eds), Dictionary of National Biography, vol. 19, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1917, pp. 791-792. Details
  • 'John I Thornycroft & Co. Ltd.', in Ritchie, L. A. (ed.), The shipbuilding industry. A guide to historical records, Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1992, pp. 152-153. Details
  • Abelsen, F., 'The Torpedoboat Rap', in Warship, vol. 10, Conway Maritime Press Ltd., London, 1986, pp. 113-116. Details
  • Banbury, P., 'John I Thornycroft & Co. Ltd.', in Shipbuilders of the Thames and Medway, David & Charles Ltd, Devon, 1971, pp. 278-286. Details
  • Carlyle, E. I., 'Thornycroft, Sir John Isaac (1843-1928)', in Weaver, J. R. N. (ed.), Dictionary of National Biography (1922-1930), Oxford University Press, London, 1937, pp. 839-841. Details
  • Jamieson, Alan G, 'Thornycroft, Sir John Isaac (1843-1928)', in Jeremy, David J. (ed.), Dictionary of Business Biography, vol. 5, Butterworths, London, 1986, pp. 513-520. Details
  • King, H E, 'Air Cushions', in Aeromarine Origins, 79-83 edn, Putman, London, 1966. Details
  • Plarr, Victor G., 'Thornycroft, John Isaac, FRS, MInstCE', in Men and Women of The Time, 14 edn, George Routledge and Sons Ltd, London, 1895, pp. 833-834. Details

Journal Articles

  • 'The Steam Yacht Miranda', Engineering, vol. 12, 3 November 1871, p. 284. Details
  • 'Thornycroft's Screw Propeller', Engineering, vol. 21, 4 February 1876, p. 88. Details
  • 'The Thornycroft torpedo vessels; their construction armament & c, and the results of certain experiments that have been made with them', The Engineer, vol. 43, 18 May 1877, pp. 337-338. Details
  • 'The torpedo boat "Lightning"', Engineering, vol. 31, 24 June 1881, pp. 648-649. Details
  • 'Thornycroft's screw propeller', Engineering, vol. 32, 30 December 1881, pp. 651-652. Details
  • 'Thornycroft torpedo boats', Engineering, vol. 37, 11 January 1884, p. 39. Details
  • 'Mr Thomas Thornycroft', Engineering, vol. 40, 11 September 1885, p. 260. Details
  • 'A large torpedo boat', The Engineer, vol. 60, 18 December 1885, p. 472. Details
  • 'Torpedo boats', The Engineer, vol. 61, 22 January 1886, p. 69. Details
  • 'Thornycroft's water-tube boiler', Engineering, vol. 44, 22 July 1887, pp. 104-106. Details
  • 'Thornycroft boiler in France', Engineering, vol. 52, 16 October 1891, p. 443. Details
  • 'The new Thornycroft torpedo vessels', Engineering, vol. 57, 29 June 1894, pp. 850-851. Details
  • 'Engineering works on the Thames, No 1 - Messrs J I Thornycroft and Co', The Engineer, vol. 77, 23 February 1894, pp. 162-164. Details
  • 'Thames Pioneer Shipbuilders and Marine Engineers', The Engineer, vol. 87, 27 January 1899, pp. 81-84. Details
  • 'The Thornycroft-Marshall water-tube boiler', The Engineer, vol. 91, 489, pp. 457-458. Details
  • 'Obituary Notices Sir John Isaac Thornycroft (1843-1928)', Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series A, vol. 121, 10563, pp. 35-37. Details
  • 'Obituary Notices Sir John Isaac Thornycroft LLD, FRS', Transactions of the Institution of Naval Architects, vol. 70, 38453, pp. 271-273. Details
  • 'Obituary Sir John Isaac Thornycroft, LLD, FRS', Minutes of Proceedings of The Institution of Civil Engineers, vol. 227, no. 1, 1928, pp. 275-279. Details
  • 'The late Sir John I Thornycroft', Engineering, vol. 126, 6 July 1928, pp. 19-21. Details
  • 'Obituary Sir John I Thornycroft', The Engineer, vol. 146, 6 July 1928, pp. 6-8. Details
  • Donaldson, J., 'The Thornycroft torpedo vessels; their construction armaments & c and the results of certain experiments that have been made with them', Engineering, vol. 23, 1 June 1877, pp. 428-429. Details
  • Lyon, D. J., 'How to run a torpedo boat', The Mariner’s Mirror, vol. 62, no. 2, May 1976, pp. 135-136. Details
  • Old Screw, 'The Screw Yacht Ariel', Engineering, Letter to the Editor, vol. 10, 18 November 1870, p. 363. Details
  • Thornycroft, J. I., 'Abstract of Patent: Steam Generators: J I Thornycroft, London', Engineering, vol. 34, 8 December 1882, p. 561. Details

Newspaper Articles

  • 'Naval and Military Intelligence', The Times, 2 February 1876, p. 5. Details
  • 'Naval and Military Intelligence', The Times, 14 March 1879, p. 11. Details
  • 'Thornycroft, Thomas (1815-1885)', The Times, 4 September 1885. Details
  • 'Thornycroft, Mary (1814-1895)', The Times, 4 February 1895, p. 4. Details
  • 'Sir John Isaac Thornycroft - A pioneer in naval architecture', The Times, 10408, p. 11. Details

Reports

  • Lyon, D., The Thornycroft List, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, England, 1992. Details

Online Resources

Sources used to compile this entry: 'Obituary Notices Sir John Isaac Thornycroft (1843-1928)', Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series A, vol. 121, 10563, pp. 35-37; Carlyle, E. I., 'Thornycroft, Sir John Isaac (1843-1928)', in Weaver, J. R. N. (ed.), Dictionary of National Biography (1922-1930), Oxford University Press, London, 1937, pp. 839-841; Jamieson, Alan G, 'Thornycroft, Sir John Isaac (1843-1928)', in Jeremy, David J. (ed.), Dictionary of Business Biography, vol. 5, Butterworths, London, 1986, pp. 513-520; Plarr, Victor G., 'Thornycroft, John Isaac, FRS, MInstCE', in Men and Women of The Time, 14 edn, George Routledge and Sons Ltd, London, 1895, pp. 833-834.

Prepared by: Rebecca Rigby