Arthur Hartley
Encyclopedia
Arthur Clifford Hartley, CBE (7 January 1889 – 28 January 1960) was a British
civil engineer
. Graduating with a bachelor's degree
from Imperial College London
, Hartley worked for the North Eastern Railway
and an asphalt
manufacturer before joining the Royal Flying Corps
during World War I
. He became a qualified pilot, with the rank of major and joined the Air Board
where he was involved with the development of interrupter gear
. His war work was rewarded with his appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He left the corps after the war and spent five years as a consulting engineer before he joined the Anglo-Persian Oil Company
(later Anglo-Iranian).
During the Second World War Hartley was seconded to the government where he was involved in the development of the bombsight
which sank the Tirpitz
, the Operation Pluto
pipeline project and the FIDO
fog dispersion system. Following the war he was rewarded with an appointment as Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), a United States
Medal of Freedom and £9000 cash. He retired from Anglo-Iranian in 1951 and was elected president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
. He was elected president of the Institution of Civil Engineers
in 1959, but died three months into his tenure.
on 7 January 1889 to George Thomas Hartley, a surgeon, and his wife Elizabeth Briggs. He was educated at Hymers College
and Hull Municipal Technical College before attending the City and Guilds College, the engineering department of Imperial College London
. He graduated with a third class honours
bachelors degree in engineering in 1910. After graduation he found employment with the North Eastern Railway
in the office of their chief docks engineer at Hull and from 1912-14 with asphalt
makers Rose, Down and Thompson Limited.
as a second lieutenant
on 23 August 1916, and became a qualified pilot. He was promoted lieutenant
on 22 February 1918. He ended the war with the rank of major. During the war Hartley joined the armaments section of the Air Board
, working with Bertram Hopkinson
. He was responsible for the Air Board's development of George Constantinescu
's interrupter gear
which allowed a machine gun to be fired through the propeller blades of an aircraft without danger of damage. This invention was said by Air Vice Marshal Sir John Maitland
to be responsible for air superiority over German aircraft. He transferred to the Royal Air Force
on its establishment as a separate service. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) on 10 October 1919 in recognition of his war work.
in 1924 as assistant manager of its engineering division. He became assistant manager of the supply department later the same year and from 1932 to 1934 he was seconded to the Iraq Petroleum Company
, on his return being appointed chief engineer. The company became the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1935.
Following the outbreak of the Second World War Hartley was seconded from Anglo-Iranian to the Ministry of Aircraft Production in 1940. From 1940-1 he assisted with the development of a stabilized bombsight
which was used by RAF Bomber Command
in the sinking of the battleship
Tirpitz
in 1944. From 1942 Hartley worked with the petroleum warfare department and was appointed as its technical director. Here he developed, at the request of Air Chief Marshal
Arthur Harris, the Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation
which was known as FIDO. This was a means of burning oil along runways to disperse fog. The system was installed at fifteen airfields across Britain, beginning in 1943. FIDO is credited with bringing 2500 aircraft and 10,000 aircrew safely home during the war.
Hartley also developed the pipes used in Operation Pluto
(Pipe Lines Under The Ocean), a series of twenty-one undersea pipes used to transport oil from Britain to continental Europe to support the Liberation of Europe. The system supplied the allied armies with 1 million USgals (3,785.4 m³) of fuel per day during the advance into Germany, and Hartley received £9000 after the war for his work on Pluto from the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors
. He also received an appointment as Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1944.
Medal of Freedom in 1946. He retired from Anglo-Iranian (which would become British Petroleum in 1954) in 1951 and became an engineering consultant during which time he developed the Hartley hoister – a device which allowed the loading of oil tanker
s offshore. He was elected president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
in 1951 and was an honorary fellow of the City and Guilds of London Institute
. He was also made an honorary fellow of Imperial College London
in 1953. In 1959 he received the Redwood Medal of the Institute of Petroleum
. He was elected president of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1959. However he died just three months into his term at St Thomas's Hospital, London
on 28 January 1960.
-based marine engineer, in 1920 and had two sons. Dorothy died in 1923, and in 1927 he married Florence Nina Hodgson with whom he had a further two sons.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
civil engineer
Civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering; the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructures while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing infrastructures that have been neglected.Originally, a...
. Graduating with a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
from Imperial College London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...
, Hartley worked for the North Eastern Railway
North Eastern Railway (UK)
The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...
and an asphalt
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
manufacturer before joining the Royal Flying Corps
Royal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. He became a qualified pilot, with the rank of major and joined the Air Board
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
where he was involved with the development of interrupter gear
Interrupter gear
An interrupter gear is a device used on military aircraft and warships in order to allow them to target opponents without damaging themselves....
. His war work was rewarded with his appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE). He left the corps after the war and spent five years as a consulting engineer before he joined the Anglo-Persian Oil Company
Anglo-Persian Oil Company
The Anglo-Persian Oil Company was founded in 1908 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Iran. It was the first company to extract petroleum from the Middle East...
(later Anglo-Iranian).
During the Second World War Hartley was seconded to the government where he was involved in the development of the bombsight
Bombsight
A bombsight is a device used by bomber aircraft to accurately drop bombs. In order to do this, the bombsight has to estimate the path the bomb will take after release from the aircraft. The two primary forces during its fall are gravity and air drag, which makes the path of the bomb through the air...
which sank the Tirpitz
German battleship Tirpitz
Tirpitz was the second of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Imperial Navy, the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and launched two and a half years later in April...
, the Operation Pluto
Operation Pluto
Operation Pluto was a World War II operation by British scientists, oil companies and armed forces to construct undersea oil pipelines under the English Channel between England and France. The scheme was developed by Arthur Hartley, chief engineer with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company...
pipeline project and the FIDO
Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO)
Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation was a system used for dispersing fog from an airfield so that aircraft could land safely...
fog dispersion system. Following the war he was rewarded with an appointment as Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), a United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Medal of Freedom and £9000 cash. He retired from Anglo-Iranian in 1951 and was elected president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Institution of Mechanical Engineers
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the British engineering society based in central London, representing mechanical engineering. It is licensed by the Engineering Council UK to assess candidates for inclusion on ECUK's Register of professional Engineers...
. He was elected president of the Institution of Civil Engineers
Institution of Civil Engineers
Founded on 2 January 1818, the Institution of Civil Engineers is an independent professional association, based in central London, representing civil engineering. Like its early membership, the majority of its current members are British engineers, but it also has members in more than 150...
in 1959, but died three months into his tenure.
Early life
Hartley was born at Springbank, HullKingston upon Hull
Kingston upon Hull , usually referred to as Hull, is a city and unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It stands on the River Hull at its junction with the Humber estuary, 25 miles inland from the North Sea. Hull has a resident population of...
on 7 January 1889 to George Thomas Hartley, a surgeon, and his wife Elizabeth Briggs. He was educated at Hymers College
Hymers College
Hymers College is a co-educational independent school located on the site of the old Botanic Gardens of Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1893 as a boys' school, but expanded to include girls from the 1970s onwards.-History:...
and Hull Municipal Technical College before attending the City and Guilds College, the engineering department of Imperial College London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...
. He graduated with a third class honours
British undergraduate degree classification
The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees in the United Kingdom...
bachelors degree in engineering in 1910. After graduation he found employment with the North Eastern Railway
North Eastern Railway (UK)
The North Eastern Railway , was an English railway company. It was incorporated in 1854, when four existing companies were combined, and was absorbed into the London and North Eastern Railway at the Grouping in 1923...
in the office of their chief docks engineer at Hull and from 1912-14 with asphalt
Asphalt
Asphalt or , also known as bitumen, is a sticky, black and highly viscous liquid or semi-solid that is present in most crude petroleums and in some natural deposits, it is a substance classed as a pitch...
makers Rose, Down and Thompson Limited.
First World War
During the First World War Hartley was commissioned into the Royal Flying CorpsRoyal Flying Corps
The Royal Flying Corps was the over-land air arm of the British military during most of the First World War. During the early part of the war, the RFC's responsibilities were centred on support of the British Army, via artillery co-operation and photographic reconnaissance...
as a second lieutenant
Second Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
on 23 August 1916, and became a qualified pilot. He was promoted lieutenant
First Lieutenant
First lieutenant is a military rank and, in some forces, an appointment.The rank of lieutenant has different meanings in different military formations , but the majority of cases it is common for it to be sub-divided into a senior and junior rank...
on 22 February 1918. He ended the war with the rank of major. During the war Hartley joined the armaments section of the Air Board
Air Ministry
The Air Ministry was a department of the British Government with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force, that existed from 1918 to 1964...
, working with Bertram Hopkinson
Bertram Hopkinson
Bertram Hopkinson, CMG, FRS, was a patent lawyer and Professor of Mechanism and Applied Mechanics at Cambridge University. In this position he researched flames, explosions and metallurgy and became a pioneer designer of the internal combustion engine.Hopkinson was born in Birmingham, in 1874, the...
. He was responsible for the Air Board's development of George Constantinescu
George Constantinescu
George Constantinescu was a Romanian scientist, engineer and inventor. During his career, he registered over 130 inventions. He is the creator of the theory of sonics, a new branch of continuum mechanics, in which he described the transmission of mechanical energy through vibrations.Born in...
's interrupter gear
Interrupter gear
An interrupter gear is a device used on military aircraft and warships in order to allow them to target opponents without damaging themselves....
which allowed a machine gun to be fired through the propeller blades of an aircraft without danger of damage. This invention was said by Air Vice Marshal Sir John Maitland
John Maitland
John Maitland may refer to :* Sir John Maitland, 1st Lord Maitland of Thirlestane, Commendator of Coldingham Priory* John Maitland, 1st Earl of Lauderdale , Viscount of Lauderdale, Viscount Maitland and Lord Thirlestane & Boltoun, 2nd Lord Maitland of Thirlestane* John Maitland, 1st Duke of...
to be responsible for air superiority over German aircraft. He transferred to the Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
on its establishment as a separate service. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) on 10 October 1919 in recognition of his war work.
Interbellum
After the war Hartley worked as a consulting engineer for five years before joining the Anglo-Persian Oil CompanyAnglo-Persian Oil Company
The Anglo-Persian Oil Company was founded in 1908 following the discovery of a large oil field in Masjed Soleiman, Iran. It was the first company to extract petroleum from the Middle East...
in 1924 as assistant manager of its engineering division. He became assistant manager of the supply department later the same year and from 1932 to 1934 he was seconded to the Iraq Petroleum Company
Iraq Petroleum Company
The Iraq Petroleum Company , until 1929 called Turkish Petroleum Company , was an oil company jointly owned by some of the world's largest oil companies, which had virtual monopoly on all oil exploration and production in Iraq from 1925 to 1961...
, on his return being appointed chief engineer. The company became the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1935.
Second World War
Bombsight
A bombsight is a device used by bomber aircraft to accurately drop bombs. In order to do this, the bombsight has to estimate the path the bomb will take after release from the aircraft. The two primary forces during its fall are gravity and air drag, which makes the path of the bomb through the air...
which was used by RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command
RAF Bomber Command controlled the RAF's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. During World War II the command destroyed a significant proportion of Nazi Germany's industries and many German cities, and in the 1960s stood at the peak of its postwar military power with the V bombers and a supplemental...
in the sinking of the battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
Tirpitz
German battleship Tirpitz
Tirpitz was the second of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Imperial Navy, the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and launched two and a half years later in April...
in 1944. From 1942 Hartley worked with the petroleum warfare department and was appointed as its technical director. Here he developed, at the request of Air Chief Marshal
Air Chief Marshal
Air chief marshal is a senior 4-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
Arthur Harris, the Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation
Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation (FIDO)
Fog Investigation and Dispersal Operation was a system used for dispersing fog from an airfield so that aircraft could land safely...
which was known as FIDO. This was a means of burning oil along runways to disperse fog. The system was installed at fifteen airfields across Britain, beginning in 1943. FIDO is credited with bringing 2500 aircraft and 10,000 aircrew safely home during the war.
Hartley also developed the pipes used in Operation Pluto
Operation Pluto
Operation Pluto was a World War II operation by British scientists, oil companies and armed forces to construct undersea oil pipelines under the English Channel between England and France. The scheme was developed by Arthur Hartley, chief engineer with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company...
(Pipe Lines Under The Ocean), a series of twenty-one undersea pipes used to transport oil from Britain to continental Europe to support the Liberation of Europe. The system supplied the allied armies with 1 million USgals (3,785.4 m³) of fuel per day during the advance into Germany, and Hartley received £9000 after the war for his work on Pluto from the Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors
Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors
A Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors is a periodic Royal Commission of the United Kingdom used to hear patent disputes.On October 6, 1919 a Royal Commission on Awards to Inventors was convened to hear 11 claims for the invention of the tank....
. He also received an appointment as Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1944.
Post-war
Hartley was awarded the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Medal of Freedom in 1946. He retired from Anglo-Iranian (which would become British Petroleum in 1954) in 1951 and became an engineering consultant during which time he developed the Hartley hoister – a device which allowed the loading of oil tanker
Oil tanker
An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a merchant ship designed for the bulk transport of oil. There are two basic types of oil tankers: the crude tanker and the product tanker. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined crude oil from its point of extraction to refineries...
s offshore. He was elected president of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers
Institution of Mechanical Engineers
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers is the British engineering society based in central London, representing mechanical engineering. It is licensed by the Engineering Council UK to assess candidates for inclusion on ECUK's Register of professional Engineers...
in 1951 and was an honorary fellow of the City and Guilds of London Institute
City and Guilds of London Institute
The City and Guilds of London Institute is a leading United Kingdom vocational education organisation. City & Guilds offers more than 500 qualifications over the whole range of industry sectors through 8500 colleges and training providers in 81 countries worldwide...
. He was also made an honorary fellow of Imperial College London
Imperial College London
Imperial College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom, specialising in science, engineering, business and medicine...
in 1953. In 1959 he received the Redwood Medal of the Institute of Petroleum
Institute of Petroleum
The Institute of Petroleum was a UK-based professional organisation that merged with the Institute of Energy in 2003 to form the Energy Institute....
. He was elected president of the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1959. However he died just three months into his term at St Thomas's Hospital, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 28 January 1960.
Personal life
Hartley married Dorothy Elizabeth Wallace, the daughter of a ShanghaiShanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
-based marine engineer, in 1920 and had two sons. Dorothy died in 1923, and in 1927 he married Florence Nina Hodgson with whom he had a further two sons.