science

Thorsten Nordenfelt

Thorsten Nordenfelt is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Thorsten Nordenfelt rather than just read about it. In short: Thorsten Nordenfelt (1 March 1842 – 8 February 1920) was a Swedish inventor and industrialist. Career Nordenfelt was born in Örby outside Kinna, Sweden, the son of a colonel.

Key takeaways

Thorsten Nordenfelt belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Thorsten Nordenfelt to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Thorsten Nordenfelt from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Thorsten Nordenfelt (1 March 1842 – 8 February 1920) was a Swedish inventor and industrialist.

Career Nordenfelt was born in Örby outside Kinna, Sweden, the son of a colonel. The surname was and is often spelled Nordenfeldt, though Thorsten and his brothers always spelled it Nordenfelt, and the 1881 Census shows it as Nordenfelt. The family home in that year was Leinster Lodge on the Uxbridge Road, Paddington in west London. Thorsten worked for a Swedish company in London from 1862 to 1866 and migrated to England in 1867 when he married Emma Stansfeld Grundy. Thorsten Nordenfelt and his brother-in-law started a small business to trade Swedish steel for British rails in 1867. Later on he founded Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company, ltd to develop a machine-gun designed by Helge Palmcrantz that would be referred to as the Nordenfelt gun. His company also designed a range of anti-torpedoboat guns in calibres from 37 to 57 mm, that were produced in Erith, Kent, Stockholm and Spain. Under pressure from Rothschild and Vickers his company merged with Maxim's in 1888 to form The Maxim Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company. After a personal bankruptcy Nordenfelt was forced out of the Nordenfelt-Maxim company in 1890 and left England for France, where his new company, Société Nordenfelt, designed the eccentric screw breech used on the French 75. Legal action followed (Nordenfelt v Maxim, Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Co Ltd) over a non-compete clause Nordenfelt had signed. In 1903 he returned to Sweden and retired. In 1902 a public house named after Thorsten Nordenfelt was built at 181 Erith Road, Erith just along from the Gun and Carriage works of Vickers, Sons and Maxim (previously Maxim Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company) . Named 'The Nordenfelt Tavern' it was built to the design of Jonathan G. Ensor (1852/3-19??), architect for brewer Watney Combe & Reid.

Submarines Discussions between Thorsten Nordenfelt and the English reverend George Garrett led to the production of a series of steam-powered submarines. The first was the Nordenfelt I, a 56-tonne, 19.5-metre long vessel similar to Garret's ill-fated Resurgam (1879), with a range of 240 kilometres and armed with a single torpedo and a 25.4 mm machine gun. It was manufactured by Bolinders in Stockholm in 1884–1885. Like the Resurgam, it operated on the surface using a 100 HP steam engine with a maximum speed of 9 kn, then it shut down its engine to dive. She was purchased by the Greek Government and was delivered in parts, assembled in Piraeus by the IFAISTOS machine works in 1886. Following the acceptance tests, she was never used again by the Hellenic Navy and was scrapped in 1901. Nordenfelt then built the Nordenfelt II (Abdül Hamid) in 1886 and Nordenfelt III (Abdül Mecid) in 1887, a pair of 30-metre long submarines with twin torpedo tubes, for the Ottoman Navy. Abdül Hamid became the first submarine in history to fire a torpedo while submerged. Nordenfelt's efforts culminated in 1887 with the Nordenfelt IV which had twin motors and twin torpedoes. It was sold to the Russians, but proved unstable and ran aground off Jutland; it was scrapped when the Russians refused to pay for it. Abdülhamid and Abdülmecid were in Istanbul in 1914. The submarines were briefly considered for use in harbour defence but it was found that their hulls were too badly corroded.

References

Bibliography Ahlberg, Lars; Caruana, J. (1991). "Question 1/90". Warship International. XXVIII (2): 190–192. ISSN 0043-0374.

External links

"Nordenfelt, Torsten Vilhelm" . Encyclopedia Americana. 1920.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Thorsten Nordenfelt

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Thorsten Nordenfelt claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Thorsten Nordenfelt before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Thorsten Nordenfelt ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Thorsten Nordenfelt

In research: Thorsten Nordenfelt appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Thorsten Nordenfelt in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Thorsten Nordenfelt is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1842 births, 1920 deaths, Firearm designers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Thorsten Nordenfelt outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Thorsten Nordenfelt in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Thorsten Nordenfelt means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Thorsten Nordenfelt out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Thorsten Nordenfelt in simple terms?

Thorsten Nordenfelt (1 March 1842 – 8 February 1920) was a Swedish inventor and industrialist. Career Nordenfelt was born in Örby outside Kinna, Sweden, the son of a colonel.

Why does Thorsten Nordenfelt matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Thorsten Nordenfelt?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Thorsten Nordenfelt.