In 1847, the engineer William George Armstrong founded the Elswick works at Newcastle, to produce hydraulic machinery, cranes and bridges, soon to be followed by artillery. In 1882, it merged with the shipbuilding firm of Charles Mitchell to form Armstrong Mitchell & Company and at the time its works extended for over a mile (about 2 km) along the bank of the River Tyne.[1] Armstrong Mitchell merged again with the engineering firm of Joseph Whitworth in 1897.[2] The company expanded into the manufacture of cars (Armstrong Siddely) and trucks in 1902, and created the Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft in 1920. Armstrong Mitchell and later Armstrong Whitworth built many merchant ships, freighters, tank-ships, and dredgers
In 1927, it merged with Vickers Limited to form Vickers-Armstrongs.
