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Author Topic: Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt. Amazing designer  (Read 1747 times)

Bob K

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Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt. Amazing designer
« on: June 07, 2017, 04:55:51 pm »

Sir Eustace Henry William Tennyson d'Eyncourt, 1st Baronet, KCB, FRS (1 April 1868 – 1 February 1951 was a British naval architect and engineer. As Director of Naval Construction for the Royal Navy, 1912–1924, he was responsible for the design and construction of some of the most famous British warships. On 20 February 1915 Winston Churchill appointed him Chairman of the Landships Committee at the Admiralty, which was responsible for the design and production of the first military tanks to be used in warfare.

D'Eyncourt was either the principal designer of the vessels listed below, or had ultimate responsibility for them.

Battleships and Battlecruisers
•   Brazilian battleship, later HMS Agincourt,  Turkish battleship, later HMS Erin,  Chilean battleships Almirante Latorre, later HMS Canada and Almirante Cochrane, later HMS Eagle (aircraft carrier),  Revenge-class battleship,  Renown-class battlecruiser,  HMS Hood battlecruiser,  Several very large capital ship designs, both battleships and battlecruisers, rendered inadmissible under the Washington Naval Treaty,  HMS Nelson battleship

Cruisers
•   GRC Katsonis ,  HMS Chester,  Arethusa class (1913),  C class (1912–17),  Caroline class,  Calliope class,  HMS Champion,  Cambrian class,  Centaur class,  Caledon class,  Ceres class,  Carlisle class,  Hawkins-class large cruisers (1915),  Danae-class cruisers,  (1916–18),  HMS Danae,  HMS Dragon,  HMS Diomede,  HMS Enterprise (Emerald-class cruiser)) (1917–18),  HMS Kent (County-class cruiser) (1923–24)
"Large light cruisers", later aircraft carriers
•   HMS Courageous,  HMS Furious

Destroyers
•   R and S-class destroyers,  V and W-class destroyers,  Scott-class flotilla leaders

Submarines
•   J class,  K class

Other types
Monitors, Patrol boats, Minesweepers, Sloops, Gunboats for China Station, Merchant ship conversions into seaplane carrier

Tanks
D'Eyncourt was chairman of the Landships Committee, created by Winston Churchill, which oversaw the design and production of Britain's first military tanks during World War 1.

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HMS Skirmisher (1905), HMS Amazon (1906), HMS K9 (1915), Type 212A (2002), HMS Polyphemus (1881), Descartes (1897), Iggle Piggle boat (CBBC), HMS Royal Marine (1943), HMS Marshall Soult, HMS Agincourt (1912)

Bob K

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Re: Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt. Amazing designer
« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2017, 08:09:45 pm »

As someone who likes building old or unusual warships I have lost count of the number of times this gentleman's name keeps cropping up, so I decided to look him up . . .

He was personally involved in three of my model build subjects, plus numerous others I have admired by other modellers.
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HMS Skirmisher (1905), HMS Amazon (1906), HMS K9 (1915), Type 212A (2002), HMS Polyphemus (1881), Descartes (1897), Iggle Piggle boat (CBBC), HMS Royal Marine (1943), HMS Marshall Soult, HMS Agincourt (1912)

raflaunches

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Re: Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt. Amazing designer
« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2017, 08:44:15 pm »

He certainly was one of the most successful creators of ship's designs for the Royal Navy.
Under his direction his team created some of the most efficient and effective warships in the early 20th Century, I thought he was responsible for the Queen Elizabeth's too but the Wikipedia site says not, probably not the first time it might be wrong.
It's always amazing how the DNCs laid down standard designs and you can always recognise a d'Eyncourt from a Reed to a White!
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ballastanksian

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Re: Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt. Amazing designer
« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2017, 09:58:20 pm »

And there is another name that is almost a watchword for the Navy of the last fifteen years of the ninteenth century. William. H. White. He, like d'Eyncourt oversaw a revolution in ship design from Turret ships through to the pro-penultimate class of Pre Dreadnought. Thinking of the change brought about by these two men as well as May inbetween, if the space race had seen a similar level of development then we would have been reaching for the stars by now.

Having read about the development of the early tanks and the way the problems were ironed out is similar to how warships were tackled. Though not the place to discuss them, it is interesting to see how the first Tank came about. d'Eyncourt must have been a titan, by having both Fisher and Churchill to parry, probably at the same time on occasion!
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Bob K

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Re: Sir Eustace Tennyson d'Eyncourt. Amazing designer
« Reply #4 on: June 08, 2017, 10:36:13 am »

Very true.  Almost a Wernher Von Braun of that pioneering era.

Over just a few decades the development of naval architecture was being constantly re-written.  Everything was tried, from the sublime to the far fetched.  The turret replaced by the barbette. Superfiring guns had to wait until open rangefinders on turret roofs could be replaced.  The Dreyer fire control system.  The torpedo > torpedo nets > then torpedoes with net cutters.  Armour thickness kept leapfrogging gun sizes.  Sad dead ends like HMS Captain and K Class submarines - there was no lack of ingenuity, even if some of it turned out quite impractical - even fatal.  Battlecruisers might have been a good idea based on what they were designed for, but that did not include close range action against battleships.

I find this whole era fascinating.
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HMS Skirmisher (1905), HMS Amazon (1906), HMS K9 (1915), Type 212A (2002), HMS Polyphemus (1881), Descartes (1897), Iggle Piggle boat (CBBC), HMS Royal Marine (1943), HMS Marshall Soult, HMS Agincourt (1912)
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