DENNY M E

UNITED KINGDOM (see also List of Individuals)

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11.2.1886 Dumbarton/UK - 2.2.1955 Drymen/UK

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Maurice Edward Denny, 2nd baronet of Dumbarton, was the eldest son of Archibald Denny. Before graduating as a naval architect at MIT Denny spent two years in Switzerland and one year in Germany. On returning home he entered the firm of William Denny & Brothers, shipbuilders of Dumbarton. He joined its staff at the Denny yard, becoming in 1911 a partner. He was elected vice-president in 1920 and in 1922 took over as chairman, an office he held until 1952. During World War I Denny became also Deputy Director of design at the Admiralty and was appointed CBE in 1918. After war, Denny piloted his company successfully through the difficult years and enhanced its great reputation mainly in the construction of fast cross-Channel ships with turbine propulsion. He made a lasting contribution to the progress of industry, particularly in promoting research. Denny presided over the Clyde Shipbuilders' Association; he was a president of the Shipbuilding Employers' Federation and in 1935 presided over the Institute of Marine Engineers, as earlier had his father and grandfather William Denny (1847-1887). Denny was appointed KBE in 1946 for his work in World War II and received an Honorary Doctorate from Glasgow University in 1949.

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Denny was chairman of the Shipbuilding Conference of 1940. He was instrumental in the foundation of the British Shipbuilding Research Association in which he chaired the research board until his death. It was largely due to his driving force that the Lucy Ashton trials to measure the power and speed of ships were carried through with rapidity and success. The modification of this ship, fitted with four engines, permitted fullscale self-propelled experiments at his own experimental tank from which useful hydrodynamic data resulted. The firm had indeed one of the earliest experimental tanks in their yard, in which many tests were carried out and where the Denny-Johnstone and Denny Edgecumbe torsion meters were developed. He also collaborated in the design of the Denny-Brown stabilizer used in ships all over the world.

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_{Anonymous (1955). Sir Maurice Edward Denny. The Engineer 199: 205. P}

_{Anonymous (1955). Sir Maurice E. Denny, Bt., KBE. Trans. Institution of Naval Architects 97: lviii-lxi. P}

_{Bilsland, X. (1971). Denny, Sir Maurice Edward. Dictionary of National biography 1951-1960: 296-297.}

_{Denny, M.E. (1951). BSRA resistance experiments on the Lucy Ashton. Trans. Institution of Naval Architects 93: 40-57.}