Hovercraft

This picture of Somerleyton by Michael Page is steeped in maritime history, in the foreground we see the railway that Sir Morton Peto laid to connect Lowestoft to Norwich in 1845 complete with its swing bridge that is still in working order. It played a major part in making Lowestoft a Port, that is, not just a place to offload cargo, but to tranship between rail and sea in both directions. Simultaneously, fishermen moved from beach to harbour and all the supporting industries evolved. A hundred years later during WW2, these facilities and the shipbuilding skills developed had a major impact on Air-Sea Rescue Craft, both in building and repair facilities of every kind for any vessel that could enter the Port.

When the war ended it left a seriously damaged fabric that took a number of years to repair with worn out tools, and indeed worn out people. Even the weather did its worst and the winters of 1947/8 are still talked about with apocryphal stories. Among those looking for a new beginning were Christopher Cockerell, his wife Margaret and their two daughters. As head of the Aircraft R & D Dept of the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co., Cockerell was an accomplished electronics engineer with thirty-six patents bearing his name. Together, they decided that the new beginning would be designing and building boats and in 1951 they established a new boatyard called Ripplecraft at the Old Wherry Dyke in Somerleyton .

Initially the priority was to build up their Leisure Craft fleet, but as well as this, Christopher was always full of ideas and something began stirring in his mind about making boats go faster. There was no time available to experiment until 1953, a year notable for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and for the winter that brought the worst flooding for fifty years. Gradually a little time began to be woven between the requirements of the boatyard, where building a new broads cruiser every year from the previous year's profit was essential. Thus Christopher began the experiments leading to his invention of the amphibious hovercraft. Of course the 'Hovercraft' word did not exist in any language at that date.

There followed almost three years of experimental work all carefully recorded with reports written, just as if he was still working for the Marconi Co. Then in December 1955 he was ready to protect his invention with a provisional patent; following high level commercial contacts he asked a boat-builder friend, Desmond Truman, to build a working model that tested and demonstrated the definitions and claims of the patent.

It is well known that the frustration of having to search and wait for support is hard to bear and Cockerell approached Lord Somerleyton. Thus it was Francis Savile Crossley MC, the second Lord Somerleyton, who was instrumental in bringing the Hovercraft to the attention of Lord Louis Mountbatten in 1956. That Lord Somerleyton willingly made such a high level connection says a lot for his own character, a lesser man would have hesitated in case it should prove to be an embarrassing failure. His courage and instincts were well placed and today Hovercraft are exported from the UK to over seventy countries across the world.

Christopher Cockerell was knighted in 1969 and received thirty-three honours and ninety eight patents. His patents reflected his work pattern, Mechanical engineering, Electronic engineering, Small craft for leisure, Hovercraft, Wavepower, and intense personal research of everything unimaginable by most.

There are few modes of transport known to man, ships and aircraft slide in a fluid, wheels roll, but hovercraft just hover and the original model was invented on Ripplecraft Boatyard at Somerleyton. We are building a special display of Sir Christopher's work for the RAF Bomber Command Air Sea Rescue Service during WW2 and a look-alike flight model of the original Somerleyton Hovercraft for demonstration on open days. See www.hovercraftsomerleyton.org.uk for more information.