John Isaac Thornycroft

Sir John Isaac Thornycroft, who lived from 1 February 1843 to 28 June 1928, was an English shipbuilder and the founder of the Thornycroft shipbuilding company. He built the steam launch Nautilus as a student, and in 1866 took over a yard at Chiswick on the Thames, where John I. Thornycroft and Company was formally established. His fast steam yacht Miranda in 1871 and his torpedo boats, beginning with Rap for Norway in 1873 and HMS Lightning for the Royal Navy, led one encyclopedia to call him the founder of the torpedo-boat industry. He patented an improved water-tube boiler in 1885, among 50 to 60 patents, and was among the first to record the effects of cavitation in 1894. He also founded the Thornycroft steam lorry business and was knighted in 1902. His son John Edward and grandson John Ward both chaired the company.