View source for Vickers-Armstrongs

{{short description|British former engineering company}}
{{for-multi|the modern day New Zealand aircraft company|Vickers Aircraft Company|other companies using the "Vickers" name|Vickers}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2011}}
{{Infobox company 
|name = Vickers-Armstrongs Limited
|logo = Vickers Armstrong.png
|logo_size = 200px
|fate      = Assets split and majority nationalised
|successor = [[Vickers plc]]<br/>[[British Aircraft Corporation]] (est. 1960)<br/>[[British Shipbuilders]]<br/>[[British Steel Corporation]]
|foundation = 1927
|defunct    = 1977
|location   = [[Millbank Tower|Vickers House]], [[City of Westminster|Westminster]], London
|key_people = {{Unbulleted list|[[George Edwards (aviation)|George Edwards]]|[[Rex Pierson]]}}
|parent     = [[Vickers Limited]]<br/>[[Armstrong Whitworth]]
|subsid     = [[Metropolitan-Vickers]]<br/>[[Canadian Vickers]]<br/>[[Whitehead & Company]]<br/>[[John Brown & Company]]<br/>[[Sociedad Española de Construcción Naval]]<br/>[[Supermarine|Supermarine Aviation Works]] (est. 1928)
}}

'''Vickers-Armstrongs Limited''' was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of [[Vickers Limited]] and [[Armstrong Whitworth|Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company]] in 1927. The majority of the company was [[nationalised]] in the 1960s and 1970s, with the remainder being divested as [[Vickers plc]] in 1977.

It featured among Britain's most prominent armaments firms.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Spear |first=Joanna |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/business-of-armaments/B99B897EAC3B9958684487E2BD70A455 |title=The Business of Armaments: Armstrongs, Vickers and the International Arms Trade, 1855–1955 |date=2023 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-009-29752-3 |location=Cambridge |doi=10.1017/9781009297516|s2cid=256162790 }}</ref>

==History==
Vickers merged with the [[Tyneside]]-based engineering company [[Armstrong Whitworth]], founded by [[William Armstrong, 1st Baron Armstrong|William Armstrong]], to become Vickers-Armstrongs. 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, Newcastle upon Tyne|Elswick]] and shipbuilding at a yard at [[High Walker]] on the [[River Tyne]].[[File:River Tyne.Scotswood Bridge.Vickers Armstrong Works - geograph.org.uk - 486153.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Vickers-Armstrongs Works in [[Benwell and Scotswood|Scotswood]]]]

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.

In 1935, before rearmament began, Vickers-Armstrongs was the third-largest manufacturing employer in Britain, behind [[Unilever]] and [[Imperial Chemical Industries|ICI]].<ref name="Edgerton37">{{cite book|author=David Edgerton|title=Warfare State: Britain, 1920–1970|url=https://archive.org/details/warfarestatebrit00edge|url-access=limited|date=8 December 2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-44874-1|page=[https://archive.org/details/warfarestatebrit00edge/page/n54 37]}}</ref>

In 1956 [[Dorothy Hatfield]] became the first female engineering apprentice at Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), [[Brooklands]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dorothy Hatfield {{!}} Women's Engineering Society|url=https://www.wes.org.uk/content/dorothy-hatfield|access-date=2021-03-26|website=www.wes.org.uk|archive-date=22 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322081350/https://www.wes.org.uk/content/dorothy-hatfield|url-status=dead}}</ref> followed in 1958 by [[Janet Gulland]] who was the first female graduate apprentice at the company.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Brooklands Museum :: LGBTQ at Brooklands: Janet Gulland|url=https://www.brooklandsmuseum.com/explore/museum-from-home/lgbtq-at-brooklands-janet-gulland|access-date=2021-03-26|website=www.brooklandsmuseum.com}}</ref>

===Break-up===
In 1960 the aircraft interests were merged with those of [[Bristol Aeroplane Company|Bristol]], [[English Electric]] and [[Hunting Aircraft]] to form the [[British Aircraft Corporation]] (BAC). 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 [[Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act 1977]] BAC was nationalised to become part of [[British Aerospace]] (later [[BAE Systems]]).

The Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Act also led to the nationalisation of Vickers' shipbuilding division as part of [[British Shipbuilders]]. This division was privatised as [[Vickers Shipbuilding & Engineering]] in 1986, later passing to [[General Electric Company|GEC]] as part of Marconi Marine and survives to this day as part of [[BAE Systems Submarines]].

Vickers Container and Packaging Machinery Division, including the Vickers Stitcher and [[Vickers hardness test|Vickers Hardness Machine]] business, was bought by Fords Industrial Products, part of Barry Wehmiller in 1986. In 1991 the Vickers Hardness Machinery business was bought by the then field engineers, and continues today as UK Calibrations Limited based in [[Kidderminster]]. The Vickers Stitcher was still being manufactured in India as recently as 2005.

The steelmaking division became part of [[British Steel (1967–1999)|British Steel Corporation]] and the remaining interests were divested as the public company [[Vickers plc]], whose various components were later split. The Vickers name ceased to exist in 2003 when [[Rolls-Royce Holdings|Rolls-Royce]] renamed its acquisition [[Vinters Engineering]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00003543 | title=VINTERS ENGINEERING LIMITED overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK }}</ref>

==Businesses==

===Armaments===
Vickers-Armstrongs inherited the [[Vickers machine gun]] of 1912 used in World War I from Vickers Limited. There were other Vickers machine guns aside from the regular water-cooled model (known universally as the "Vickers"): the [[Vickers-Berthier]] (VB) machine gun used by the [[British Indian Army|Indian Army]], the [[Vickers K machine gun|Vickers "K" .303]] aircraft machine gun developed from it, and the [[Vickers S|Vickers "S"]] 40&nbsp;mm aircraft gun. An unusual machine gun also made was the [[Vickers Higson machine gun|Vickers Higson]].<ref>[http://www.freepatentsonline.com/2509734.html Double-barreled automatic gun – VICKERS ARMSTRONGS LTD]. Freepatentsonline.com (30 May 1950). Retrieved on 7 September 2013.</ref>

Vickers produced larger weapons such as the [[Ordnance QF 2-pounder]] gun used on tanks.
In 1948 Vickers bought the Australian business of Charles Ruwolt Ltd for £750,000 following Ruwolt's death in 1946. During World War II Ruwolt's firm produced armaments for the Australian Government, including field artillery such as [[Mortar (weapon)|mortars]] and [[howitzer]] cannon.<ref>{{cite book|author=G. Hayes |url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ruwolt-charles-ernest-8309 |title=Australian Dictionary of Biography |chapter=Ruwolt, Charles Ernest (1873–1946) |publisher=Adb.online.anu.edu.au |access-date=2 June 2014}}</ref>

===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]]. 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 was [[nationalised]] and became part of [[British Shipbuilders]] in 1977, was privatised as [[Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering|VSEL]] in 1986 and remains in operation to this day as [[BAE Systems Submarines]]. Meanwhile, the Naval Yard at [[High Walker]] on the [[River Tyne]] passed to [[Swan Hunter]] in 1968,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tyneandweararchives.org.uk/pdf/arkrep.pdf |title=Tyne & Wear Archives |access-date=2 June 2014 |archive-date=3 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103215409/http://www.tyneandweararchives.org.uk/pdf/arkrep.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> was nationalised and became part of [[British Shipbuilders]] in 1977, was privatised still as [[Swan Hunter]] in 1986 but closed down during the 1980s.<ref>{{cite web|author=3.30 pm |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1993/may/12/swan-hunter |title=Hansard 1993 |work=[[Hansard|Parliamentary Debates (Hansard)]] |date=12 May 1993 |access-date=2 June 2014}}</ref>

Vickers-Armstrongs also built the VA-3 [[hovercraft]].

===Military vehicles===
The company was also known for its [[tank]] designs, starting with the widely used [[Vickers 6-Ton]]. It also produced the influential, if never actually produced, [[Vickers Independent A1E1 tank|Independent A1E1]] tank. One of the company's most important designs was the [[Valentine tank|Valentine]] Infantry Tank, produced in the thousands in World War II. 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]].

''Notable Vickers-Armstrongs military vehicles include;''
*[[Carden Loyd tankette]]
*[[Cruiser Mk I]]
*[[Cruiser Mk II]]
*[[Vickers 6-ton]]
*[[Light Tank Mk VI]]
*[[Valentine tank|Valentine]]
*[[Vickers MBT]] (and under licence in India as [[Vijayanta]])

===Aviation===
Vickers formed its Aviation Department in 1911. The aircraft interests of Armstrong Whitworth were not acquired in the merger and later passed to the [[Hawker Aviation|Hawker Aircraft]] group. In 1928 the Aviation Department became '''Vickers (Aviation) Ltd''' and soon after acquired [[Supermarine|Supermarine Aviation Works]], which became the '''Supermarine Aviation Works (Vickers) Ltd''' and was responsible for producing the revolutionary [[Spitfire]] fighter. 

In 1938, both companies were re-organised as '''Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd'''. A new 'art deco' headquarters designed by architect [[C. Howard Crane]] was built at its [[Brooklands]] factory in Surrey. 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. In 1966, the hovercraft activities of Vickers-Armstrongs were merged with those of the [[Westland Aircraft]] company, including those of [[Saunders-Roe]], to form the [[British Hovercraft Corporation]], with Vickers holding 25% of the new company. In 1970, Westland bought out Vickers interest along with other partners.

Vickers formed a subsidiary, the Airship Guarantee Company, under the direction of Cdr [[Dennis Burney]] solely for the purpose of producing the [[R100]] airship for the government.

Between 1911 and 1970, just over 16,000 aircraft were built under the Vickers name; together the 11,462 [[Vickers Wellington|Wellington]] and 846 [[Vickers Warwick|Warwick]] aircraft (which were structurally similar) make up over 75% of this total.<ref name="Murray2012">{{cite book|author=Iain Murray|title=Vickers Wellington Manual|date=2012|publisher=Haynes|isbn=978-0-85733-230-1|page=39}}</ref>

====Military aircraft====
Vickers became renowned as a manufacturer of large aircraft at its main factory at [[Brooklands]] in Surrey. In the [[interwar period]], the company produced the [[Vickers Wellesley|Wellesley]], designed by [[Rex Pierson]] using the [[geodetic airframe]] principle of structural engineer [[Barnes Wallis]]. This would later evolve into the famous [[Vickers Wellington|Wellington]] [[bomber]], a mainstay of [[RAF Bomber Command]] and [[RAF Coastal Command]] during [[World War II]]. The [[Cold War]]-era [[Vickers Valiant|Valiant]] [[V bomber]] was another Vickers product.<ref>Force V: The history of Britain's airborne deterrent, by Andrew Brookes. Jane's Publishing Co Ltd; First Edition 1 Jan. 1982, {{ISBN|0710602383}}, p.29, 30,31.</ref>

Military aircraft with the Vickers brand:

{{columns-list|colwidth=15em|
* [[Vickers R.E.P. Type Monoplane]]
* [[Vickers E.F.B.1]]
* [[Vickers F.B.5]]
* [[Vickers E.S.1]]
* [[Vickers E.F.B.7]]
* [[Vickers E.F.B.8]]
* [[Vickers F.B.11]]
* [[Vickers F.B.12]]
* [[Vickers F.B.14]]
* [[Vickers F.B.16]]
* [[Vickers F.B.19]]
* [[Vickers F.B.24]]
* [[Vickers F.B.25]]
* [[Vickers Vampire]]
* [[Vickers Vimy]]
* [[Vickers VIM]]
* [[Vickers Viking]]
* [[Vickers Vagabond]]
* [[Vickers Vendace]]
* [[Vickers Vixen]]
* [[Vickers Viget]]
* [[Vickers Valparaiso]]
* [[Vickers Venture]]
* [[Vickers 131 Valiant|Vickers Type 131 Valiant]]
* [[Vickers Type 123]]
* [[Vickers Type 141]]
* [[Vickers Type 143]] – a.k.a. Bolivian Scout
* [[Vickers Jockey]]
* [[Vickers Type 161]]
* [[Vickers Type 163]]
* [[Vickers Type 143#Variants|Vickers Type 177]]
* [[Vickers Vespa]]
* [[Vickers Wibault|Type 121 Wibault Scout]]
* [[Vickers Vireo]]
* [[Vickers Vellore]]
* [[Vickers Virginia]]
* [[Vickers Vanox]]
* [[Vickers Valentia]] – 1918 flying boat
* [[Vickers Type 264 Valentia]] – 1934 cargo aircraft
* [[Vickers Vernon]]
* [[Vickers Victoria]]
* [[Vickers Vildebeest]] 
* [[Vickers Vincent]]
* [[Vickers Type 207]]
* [[Vickers Type 253]]
* [[Vickers Wellesley]]
* [[Vickers Venom]] 
* [[Vickers Wellington]]
* [[Vickers Wellington LN514]]
* [[Vickers Warwick]]
* [[Vickers Type 432]] – WWII high altitude interceptor
* [[Vickers Windsor]]
* [[Vickers Valetta]]
* [[Vickers Varsity]]
* [[Vickers Valiant]]
}}
Vickers also competed for contracts with designs such as:
* [[Victory Bomber]]
* [[Vickers Type 559]] – 1950s high altitude supersonic interceptor
* [[Vickers Swallow|Vickers Type 010 Swallow]] – 1950s supersonic interceptor
* Vickers Type 581 - 1950s swing-wing bomber project

====Vickers Canada====
* [[Canadian Vickers Vancouver]]
* [[Canadian Vickers Vanessa]]
* [[Canadian Vickers Varuna]]
* [[Canadian Vickers Vedette]]
* [[Canadian Vickers Velos]]
* [[Canadian Vickers Vigil]]
* [[Canadian Vickers Vista]]

====Missiles and other weapons====
*"Upkeep" and "Highball" [[bouncing bomb]]s
*[[Tallboy bomb]]
*[[Grand Slam bomb]]
* [[UB.109T]]  – Company designation was Vickers 825.
* [[Blue Boar (bomb)|Blue Boar]] – Air-to Surface television-guided [[glider bomb]] from the 1950s.
* Green lizard – Surface-to-air missile project from the 1950s.
* Orange William – Anti-tank missile project from the late 1950s.
* [[Red Dean]] – Air-to-air missile project.
* [[Red Hebe]] – Air-to-air missile project.
* [[Vickers Vigilant]]
* [[R.A.E. - Vickers Transonic Research Rocket]]

====Civilian aircraft====
Vickers was a pioneer in producing [[airliner]]s, early examples being converted from [[Vickers Vimy|Vimy]] bombers. Post-WWII, Vickers went on to manufacture the piston-engined [[Vickers VC.1 Viking]] airliner, the [[Vickers Viscount|Viscount]] and [[Vickers Vanguard|Vanguard]] turboprop airliners and (as part of BAC) the [[Vickers VC10|VC10]] jet airliner, which was used in [[RAF]] service as an [[aerial refuelling]] [[Tanker (aircraft)|tanker]] until 2013.

* [[Vickers Vimy|Vickers Vimy Commercial]]
* [[Vickers Vulcan]] (1920s)
* [[Vickers Type 170 Vanguard]] (1923)
* [[Vickers Viastra]]
* [[Vickers Vellox]]
* [[Vickers VC.1 Viking]]
* [[Vickers Viscount]]
** [[Vickers Viscount variants]]
* [[Vickers Vanguard]]
* [[Vickers V-1000]] – not completed
* [[Vickers VC10]]

===Marine engines===
Vickers-Armstrongs was one of the few British manufacturers of marine [[diesel engine]]s, notably for [[Royal Navy]] [[British S-class submarine (1931)|S]], [[British T-class submarine|T-class]] and [[Estonia]]n {{Sclass|Kalev|submarine|0}} submarines during World War II.

===Civilian Target and Sporting Rifles===
After the Great War Vickers needed to diversify when the military contracts ended. Between WWI and the Second World War they introduced ranges of target and sporting rifles and shotguns, the most successful of which were their small-bore .22 rimfire target rifles. These were serious competitors to the Birmingham Small Arms equivalent products, and Vickers .22 target rifles were at the top of the major competitions' results for more than a decade. Initially these rifles were named solely for Vickers, but, after the 1927 amalgamation with Armstrongs, they became Vickers Armstrongs' products. See reference [https://www.rifleman.org.uk/Vickers_Martini_Rifles.html Vickers and Vickers-Armstrongs Martini target rifles and Sporting guns]

==In fiction==
* In ''[[The Adventures of Tintin]]'' comic ''[[The Broken Ear]]'', the role of Vickers-Armstrongs in the [[Chaco War]] is parodied as "Viking Arms Co. Limited", with their salesman [[Basil Zaharoff]] selling cannon and ordnance to both warring countries.

* A handgun described in a trial of [[Walter Mitty]]'s alter ego is a .50 caliber Webley-Vickers revolver.{{citation needed|date=August 2013}}

==See also==
*[[Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom]]
*[[Basil Zaharoff]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book| last=Andrews|first= C.F.| title=Vickers Aircraft since 1908| publisher=Putnam| date=1969}}
*{{cite book| last1=Johnston|first1=Ian| last2 =Buxton| first2=Ian| title=The Battleship Builders – Constructing and Arming British Capital Ships| publisher=Naval Institute Press| location= Annapolis, Maryland| date=2013|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=slS3MQEACAAJ| format=Hardback|  isbn=978-1-59114-027-6}}
* Lynch, Brendan. ''Yesterday We Were in America - Alcock and Brown - First to fly the Atlantic non-stop''. Yeovil, England: Haynes Publishing, 2009 {{ISBN| 978 1 84425 681 5}}
*{{cite book| last=Scott|first= J.D.| title=Vickers: A History| publisher=Weidenfeld & Nicolson| location= London|date= 1962}}

==External links==
*[https://www.rifleman.org.uk/Vickers_Martini_Rifles.html Vickers and Vickers-Armstrongs Martini Target Rifles and Sporting Guns]
*[http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1961/1961%20-%200020.html Vickers Golden Jubilee] ''Flight'' 1961
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20100328090903/http://www.dockmuseum.org.uk/archive/index.asp Vickers Photographic Archive]

{{Vickers aircraft}}
{{Aerospace industry in the United Kingdom}}
{{British shipbuilders evolution}}
{{BAE Systems evolution}}
{{FT 30 constituents}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Vickers| ]]
[[Category:Defunct manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Defunct firearms manufacturers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Defunct aircraft manufacturers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Defunct shipbuilding companies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Scotswood]]
[[Category:British companies established in 1927]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies established in 1927]]
[[Category:Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1927]]
[[Category:Manufacturing companies disestablished in 1977]]
[[Category:1927 establishments in England]]
[[Category:1977 disestablishments in England]]
[[Category:Defunct manufacturing companies of England]]
[[Category:British Shipbuilders]]
[[Category:Former submarine builders]]
[[category:Shipbuilding on the River Tyne]]
[[Category:Ships built by Vickers-Armstrongs| ]]