| Authorised form of name | Watts; Sir; Philip (1846 - 1926); naval architect |
| Dates | 1846 - 1926 |
| Nationality | British |
| Place of birth | Deptford, Kent, England |
| Date of birth | 30 May 1846 |
| Place of death | 4 Hans Crescent, Chelsea, London, England |
| Date of death | 15 March 1926 |
| DatesAndPlaces | Burial:
Brompton cemetery, London, England |
| Occupation | naval architect |
| Research field | Naval architecture |
| Activity | Education:
Dockyard School, Portsmouth; Royal School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, South Kensington (1866).
Career:
Constructor to the Admiralty, becoming Chief constructor (1870-1885); director of the War Shipping Department of Armstrong, Whitworth and Co. at Elswick (1885-1901); returned as director of the company (1912); Director of Naval Construction at the Admiralty (1902-1912); appointed to the Royal Commission on Fuel and Engines (1912); died of pneumonia (1926).
Honours:
KCB 1905 |
| Membership category | Fellow |
| Date of election | 14/06/1900 |
| Age at election | 54 |
| Proposer | Thomas Henry Tizard |
| William James Lloyd Wharton |
| Alexander Blackie William Kennedy |
| Francis Elgar |
| Edward James Reed |
| Frederick Augustus Abel |
| John Isaac Thornycroft |
| Frederick Bramwell |
| William H White |
| Kelvin [William Thomson] |
| William George Armstrong |
| RSActivity | Royal Society roles:
VP 1915-1916 |
| Relationships | Parents: John Watts, of Havelock Park, Southsea, then chief assistant to John Fincham, shipwright at Portsmouth Dockyard, a famous builder of warships, and Mary Ann Featherstone.
Spouse: Elise Isabelle Simonau, daughter of Chevalier Gustave Simonau (1875), daughter of Chevalier Gustave Simoneau de St Omer, of Brussels.
Children: Two daughters. |
| OtherInfo | Remembered for his revolutionary warship design, including the Elswick cruiser and the HMS Dreadnought, a Royal Navy battleship. |
| Related images | Discover a selection of related images in our picture library |
| Source | Sources:
Bulloch's Roll; DNB
Obituaries:
Proc Roy Soc Series A 1927 vol 113 pp vi-xi, plate, signed by E H T d'E
References:
Vanity Fair 07 April 1910 |
| Code | NA6152 |
| RefNo | Title | Date |
| MS/525/5/2/11 | Letter from Philip Watts, 10 Chelsea Embankment to [Dugald] Clerk | 3 March 1915 |
| MS/525/6/1/7 | Letter from Phillip Watts, 10 Chelsea Embankment, to Dugald Clerk, 57 & 58 Lincoln's Inn Fields | 3 December 1914 |
| MS/525/5/4/13 | Letter from Sir Philip Watts, 11 Windsor Crescent, Newcastle-on-Tyne, to [Dugald] Clerk | 27 October 1917 |
| MS/525/6/8/21 | Letter from Philip Watts, Elswick Shipyard, Newcastle upon Tyne, to Dugald Clerk, 57-58 Lincoln's Inn Field, London | 11 August 1915 |
| NLB/39/220 | Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir Philip Watts, Fellow of the Royal Society | 12 December 1908 |
| NLB/39/310 | Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison to Sir Philip Watts, KCB, Fellow of the Royal Society | 16 December 1908 |
| NLB/54/875 | Copy letter from Robert William Frederick Harrison, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Philip Watts, FRS | 26 October 1917 |
| NLB/62/47 | Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Philip Watts, FRS | 23 November 1921 |
| NLB/67/344 | Copy letter from Francis Alexander Towle, Assistant Secretary of the Royal Society; to Sir Philip Watts, KCB, FRS | 8 December 1924 |
| NLB/69/417 | Copy letter from Sir Ernest Rutherford, President of the Royal Society; to Lady Watts | 25 March 1926 |
| MS/525/6/1/1 | 'As to a device for catching submarines': report by Philip Watts | 3 December 1914 |
| MS/525/6/2/26 | Note on the propulsion of submarines by Philip Watts | 1914 [?] |
| MS/525/6/2/27 | Note on the propulsion of submarines by Philip Watts | 1914 [?] |
| EC/1900/16 | Watts, Sir Philip: certificate of election to the Royal Society | |
| RR/25/1 | Referee's report by Philip Watts, on a paper 'Chances of loss of merchant ships' by W S Abell | 10 September 1918 |
| MC/23/443 | Letter from [George J] Stevens, 25 Eastlake [Road], London SE, to [Robert] Harrison, Assistant Secretary, [Royal Society] | 8 July 1908 |
| ACS/1/1/413 | Letter from Philip Watts, Admiralty, S. W., to [Alan Archibald Campbell] Swinton, 66 Victoria [Street], London, S. W. | 15 February 1907 |
| ACS/1/1/414 | Letter from Philip Watts, 10 Chelsea Embankment, S. W., to [Alan Archibald Campbell] Swinton | 6 February 1915 |
| ACS/6/1/55 | Group and individual portraits taken by Alan Archibald Campbell Swinton | 1909-1914 |