NORMAND

FRANCE (see also List of Individuals)

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4.10.1839 Le Havre/F - 11.12.1906 Le Havre/F

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Jacques-Augustin Normand never made academic studies, but he was in the seventh generation of a family of naval designers. When Normand's father Augustin had passed away in 1871, Jacques-Augustin and his brother had to take over a large firm. Whereas the latter contributed mainly to naval machinery, Jacques-Augustin was the real designer. In total he completed more than 50 ships, some of which are remembered still today. Besides these activities, Normand took interest in sciences in general, and was appointed Corresponding Member of Académie des Sciences, Paris; he was a vicepresident of Association Technique Maritime, and a Member of Société des Ingénieurs Civils de France, of the Institution of Naval Architects and of Schiffbautechnische Gesellschaft. He was elected Officer of Légion d'Honneur in 1891. A monument for Normand was erected in Le Havre in 1908.

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Normand's contributions to naval engineering are in hull design and in the development of propellers. He thus was particularly interested in fast boats of medium tonnage. In the 1870s, such boats had a maximum speed of some 20 knots, which was continuously increased to some 32 knots around 1900. Torpedo-boats were a specialty of Normand's shipyard of which the largest were larger than 300 tons water displacement. Following these successes, the French government was of course interested in these designs for its fleet. Other nations such as Russia and Japan followed to incorporate excellent designs in their navy. It was stated that the success of Normand's boats was not only in their excellent hydrodynamics but also in the general development of all other important components, such as the propulsion, the propellers and the boiler systems.

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_{Alphandéry, M.-F. (1962). Normand, Augustin. Dictionnaire des inventeurs français: 252-253.}

_{Seghers: Paris.}

_{Anonymous (1907). Jacques A. Normand. Minutes Institution of Civil Engineers 169: 391-392. Anonymous (1908). Augustin Normand. Jahrbuch Schiffbautechnische Gesellschaft 9: 74-76. Normand, J.A. (1864). Application de l'algèbre aux calculs des bâtiments de mer. Bertrand: Paris. Normand, J.A. (1870). Formules approximatives de construction navale. Bertrand: Paris. Normand, J.A. (1885). Etude sur les torpilleurs. Gauthier-Villars: Paris.}

_{Normand, J.A. (1900). Notre puissance navale. Berger-Levrault: Paris.}

_{Payen, J. (1975). Normand, Jacques-Augustin. Scienziati e tecnologi 2: 454-455. Mondardori: Milano.}

_{Piaud, L. (1907). Jacques-Augustin Normand. Le Génie Civil 50(12): 179-180. P}