Thomas Lloyd (naval architect)

[3] Tutored by some of the foundational educators of Naval Architecture in Britain, including James Inman, Lloyd was part of a cohort of leading naval architects in England which included the likes of Augustin Francis Bullock Creuze, William Morgan, Isaac Watts, and Jeremiah Owen who emerged from the school in the 1820s before its closure due to political interference in 1837.

He held this position for five years, mainly conducting inspection of machinery throughout England and Scotland, and sitting on several important scientific commissions.

During this time, he made crucial investigations and experiments into screw propellers, establishing the superiority of Sir Francis Pettit Smith’s invention over the paddle-wheels then in use in the Navy.

Following the 1851 Exhibition, Lloyd and several of along with Sir Joseph Whitworth, John Penn, and Isaac Watts were granted permission by the French Government to visit their arsenals.

Fitted with engines of 600 horsepower, the Agamemnon gained speeds greater than had been contemplated previously, and was considered a great success by contemporaries.

[3] This development indirectly led to the Agamemnon laying the first Submarine communications cable connecting England with America in the 1850s, which Lloyd was asked to participate in by the Atlantic Telegraph Company.