THORNYCROFT

The Thornycroft history begins in 1864 when Sir John Thornycroft built his first large steam launch in England on the river Thames. In 1866 his father, Thomas Thornycroft, purchased riverside ground adjacent to Chiswick Church and this was the beginning of the Church Wharf Shipbuilding Yard of John I. Thornycroft and Company. John Thornycroft made a considerable name for himself in fast launches and in 1876 built H.M.S. Lightning, the first torpedo boat for the British Navy. At the time of the shipyard's move to Southampton in 1904, Thornycroft had become established as a world wide name in fast naval craft. After the death of its founder in 1928, the company remained in the hands of the Thornycroft family until 1965, when it became part of the Vosper Thornycroft Group, and subsequently part of British Shipbuilders. Confluisce nel 1966 nella VOSPER THORNYCROFT