RN:
Removing no.3 gun from a 14 inch quadruple gun mounting in 24 Shop, Elswick Works, Newcastle upon Tyne, 30 April 1940
‘Workshop of the World’ is a phrase often used to describe Britain’s manufacturing dominance during the Nineteenth Century. It’s also a very apt description for the Elswick Works and Scotswood Works of Vickers Armstrong and its predecessor companies. These great factories, situated in Newcastle along the banks of the River Tyne, employed hundreds of thousands of men and women and built a huge variety of products for customers around the globe.
The Elswick Works was established by William George Armstrong (later Lord Armstrong) in 1847 to manufacture hydraulic cranes. From these relatively humble beginnings the company diversified into many fields including shipbuilding, armaments and locomotives. By 1953 the Elswick Works covered 70 acres and extended over a mile along the River Tyne
HMS
Arethusa, the lead ship of her class of light cruisers. 1940-41
Aircraft carrier HMS
Illustrious's bow after colliding with aircraft carrier HMS
Formidable, 16 December 1941
On the night of 15/16 December,
Illustrious collided with
Formidable in a moderate storm. Neither ship was seriously damaged, but
Illustrious had to reduce speed to shore up sprung bulkheads in the bow and conduct temporary repairs to the forward flight deck.
A twin 5.25-inch dual purpose mount on the KGV class battleship HMS
Duke of York. Behind are two octuple Pom Pom mounts