Biographical entry Brennan, Louis (1852 - 1932)

Summary

Louis Brennan invented a torpedo propelled by counter-rotating screws, a monorail locomotive with gyroscopic stabilisers and a helicopter.

Details

Born Castlebar, Ireland, 28 January 1852. Died Montreux, Switzerland, 17 January 1932. CB 1892. Arrived Melbourne 1861. Watchmaker; apprentice engineer; developed a torpedo 1874 which was patented 1877, awarded 110,000 pounds in 1887 when the torpedo was accepted by the War Office in Britain; superintendent of the government factory, Gillingham, Kent, established to manufacture the torpedo 1887-96, consulting engineer 1896-1907; invented a monorail locomotive with gyroscopic stabilisers, model shown 1907, public trial at Gillingham 1909, rejected by the government; ministry of munitions during world War I; Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough 1919-26, working on the development of the helicopter, but model crashed on a trial run October 1925. Foundation member, National Academy of Ireland 1922.

Published resources

Book Sections

• Sandow, Mary, 'Brennan, Louis (1852-1932)', in Douglas Pike (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 3, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1969, pp. 223-224. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A030208b.htm. Details

Online Resources

• 'Brennan, Louis', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1469676. Details

See also

• Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Technology in Australia 1788-1988, Online edn, Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, Melbourne, 3 May 2000, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/tia/index_b.html. Details