Sir Christopher Cockerell CBE RDI FRS

Born in 1910 he began his studies firstly in engineering then branched into radio and electronic research. After some years with Radio Research Company, at the age of 25 he joined the Marconi organisation and worked on television development until 1939. During his four years with Marconi he registered 36 patents. He then turned to the war effort and he was part of the team that developed the radio signal detection equipment which became a vital aid on the RAF bombers and the development of radar. Cockerell always regarded the latter as his most important contribution.

After leaving Marconi in 1951, he set up a boat business on the Norfolk Broads and bedan experiments to make craft go faster by streamlining and re-designing the hulls. His conclusion was that the drag by the water slowing down vessels could only be overcome if a cushion of air could be introduced. By using an empty Nescafe and Kit-e-Kat petfood tin cans looped together and an industrial blower he convincingly demonstrated that he could introduce such a cushion.

Cockerell approached the National Research Development Council in 1953 and received a development grant of £1000 but it was to be a further 3 years before a demonstration hovercraft was introduced. Not only would the word hovercraft become part of everyday language but soon we would be using that principle to mow our lawns.

Saunders Roe [later merged and reformed into British Aerospace] took on the commercial development at East Cowes. He received £150,000 for the patent and the development research and for 10 years spent in its development and a great deal of his personal money, this was an insignificant reward.

The first commercial service was introduced on the Wirral to Rhyl in North Wales and shortly afterwards a service was introduced from Southampton to Cowes.

Hovercraft at Southampton in 1975 [courtesy Karen Davies]

SRN1

A much larger ferry SRN1 started a cross channel service. It was somewhat like a waltzer at the fairground ups and downs of exagerated speed and Cockerell realised that a rubber skirt would have to added to the base of the vessel. Problems with the rubber skirt and the inability to go to sea in choppy wave conditions brought bad publicity plus HM Customs and Excise would not allow duty free facilities aboard making the service less attractive in some respects. Improved versions were introduced and Pegwell Bay near Dover developed as the cross channel port for the hovercraft. Prince Phillip took the controls on one of the first trips from Pegwell Bay and rather than using a cautious approach to handling a new craft and method of propulsion he went rather bull at a gate and badly damaged the base of the vessel putting it out of service for several weeks. However the high maintenance costs including regularly replacing the runner skirts and competition from new larger conventional [now faster] ferries meant that the venture never became a huge success and it eventually closed.

There was initially military interest as a commando landing craft and patrol vessel but although a few experimental craft were used the MOD's interest wained. Interest continued from US border agencies, South Anerican republics with vast areas of swampland and from the Far East.

Chrispopher Cockerell was knighted in 1969. He died in 1999 and a memorial to Sir Christopher in the form of a sculpture depicting the inventor and his work has been erected in Hythe on the former site of his company, Hovercraft Development Ltd.

During his career he registered several hundred patents including 50 on the hovercraft.