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| Torpedo Factory |
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| Source: Various (please see
Site Credits) |
Click any picture to enlarge
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Whiteheads
Torpedo Factory at Weymouth
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| Robert Whitehead |
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Robert Whitehead,
a Lancastrian born in 1823, trained as an engineer and draughtsman
and as a young man went to work on the continent. He became
interested in the problems trying to remotely control and detonate
underwater explosive charges and by 1868 had successfully demonstrated
a practical torpedo design. The British Navy became interested
and, after purchasing some of the torpedoes, encouraged Whitehead
to set up a manufacturing facility in England. |
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| The newly constructed
Portland Harbour was already a popular site for testing torpedoes
and Whitehead decided that this was the ideal place to build
his new factory. He purchased an 8 acre site at a place called
Ferry Bridge, Wyke Regis, overlooking the ancient route to the
Isle of Portland and, in April 1891, the foundation stone of
a substantial factory was laid down. Within a short time the
Weymouth Torpedo Works was producing weapons and testing them
in Portland Harbour, - 14 and 18 inch diameter torpedoes with
a range of 1000 yards and speed of 20 knots. |
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| Whiteheads Factory |
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| Torpedo assembly |
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| Whitehead Pier |
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The arrival of Whiteheads at Weymouth meant
a considerable influx of skilled engineers and tradesmen.
Incoming workers needed houses and schools and places to relax
and, over the next few years, streets of red bricked terraced
houses began to appear alongside the cottages of old Wyke
as well as a new school and pubs and clubs.
The factory experienced some difficult times
in the early years but survived by exporting its torpedoes
all over the world. Robert Whitehead died in 1905, aged 82,
and shortly after most of the holdings in his company were
acquired by the Armstrong-Whitworth and Vickers company who
continued the production and development of torpedoes at Weymouth.
During World War I torpedo production carried on day and night
but after the war demand for torpedoes fell and the factory
shut down to be quickly reopened by Vickers in 1923. In, 1934
with Germany's growing belligerence, a massive modernisation
of the works was initiated and by the start of the Second
World War in 1939 some 1500 men and women were employed. Some
were drafted into the armed services and to replace them many
more women were recruited into the workforce
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| Lady Craven, the 45 knot Torpedo chase
boat |
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The importance of the torpedo
meant that the Works were liable to enemy air attack and on
the 1st May 1941 the factory received its first direct attack
and the bombs caused considerable damage. |
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| Loading Torpedos for testing at the
Distant Range in Portland Harbour |
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| Fortunately there
were few casualties and production was quickly resumed. However
it became essential to disperse manufacture from the vulnerable
site as far afield as Bournemouth, Street and Staines. The factory
however continued and the 1600 strong workforce rebuilt production
to 20 torpedoes a week to meet the desperate wartime need for
torpedoes. |
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| When the war ended
in 1945 there was a immediate drop in demand for torpedoes and
once again the Works found itself in difficulties. The number
of workers was rapidly reduced and a variety of different engineering
products were produced. Somehow the factory survived and it
still retained an interest in torpedo design and production
with development work being carried out on wire-guided and rocket
propelled torpedoes. However by 1960 the factory had begun to
specialise in hydraulic equipment and in 1966 the last test
firing of a Whitehead 21" torpedo produced at Ferry Bridge
took place in Weymouth Bay. At the same time Vickers withdrew
from the town. |
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| Whiteheads Factory 1968 |
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| The factory was purchased
by Wellworthy, a company specialising in components for the
motor industry. By 1993 many of the parts of the original buildings
were no longer useable and so in 1997, after 106 years, the
old factory was demolished to make way for a housing development
- "swords into ploughshares". |
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