Engineer's certificate for William Henry Swanson

Images(2)

Engineer's certificate for William Henry Swanson

Date18 February 1904

Object number00055222

NameCertificate

MediumInk on linen

DimensionsOverall: 65 × 325 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Ken Warby

Terms

DescriptionA First Class Engineer's certificate, Number 38718, issued by the British Board of Trade to William Henry Swanson at Newport, Monmouthshire, England, on 18 February 1904. William Henry Swanson was the grandfather of Ken Warby, who famously broke the world water speed record in 1978 in his self-made vessel SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA.HistoryThis First Class Engineer's certificate was issued to William Henry Swanson. Swanson was the grandfather of Ken Warby, famous for breaking the world water speed record in 1978, and donor of the certificate. The certificate is printed in red on white paper, with the details entered by hand in ink. Ken Warby was the designer, builder and driver of his speed boats, and achieved his world water-speed records on a shoestring budget. The boat SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA was built over two years in the backyard of his suburban Sydney home, using stringers, brackets, stock bits of timber, plywood, screws and epoxy, and launched in 1974. Warby first claimed the world record in 1977, taking his home-made hydroplane to a speed of 464.44 km/h and breaking American Lee Taylor's ten-year-old record of 458.98 km/h. But where Lee Taylor's record had cost close to $1 million in 1967, Warby built his boat in a suburban backyard with a military-surplus jet engine that cost $65. In 1978 he returned to Blowering Dam in the southern highlands of New South Wales and pushed his record to 511.11 km/h (317.68 m/h), where it still stands in 2012. Since Warby's record run, there have been two serious attempts to break it, by Americans Lee Taylor in 1980 and Craig Arfons in 1989. Both died when their boats came apart at 300 miles an hour. Three teams, two British and one American, have been touting plans to break Warby's record for several years, and though they're long on slick press releases and websites, they've been short on execution. Speaking of one British team that has been designing a boat for a decade, Warby said wryly that its leader is "the only man I know who has got more attention from talking about setting a world record than I have from doing it." And though Warby said he'll no longer try to set a new mark, he's confident his son, Dave, will do it in a modification of the design for Spirit of Australia. The Warbys once again are building their own boat and figure they'll be ready to go soon after they find a sponsor to pick up some of the costs. Warby was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) in recognition of his achievement. More information about SPIRIT OF AUSTRALIA's construction, configuration and condition can be found on the Australian Register of Historic Vessels www.anmm.gov.au/arhv.SignificanceThis engineering certificate from Ken Warby's grandfather displays the intergenerational history of the world famous Warby family's interest in boats and engines. In 2012 Ken Warby's son continues the project to build a boat that can break his father world water speed record.