Gio. Ansaldo and Co
Locomotive engineers, ship builders and heavy engineers of Sampierdarena, Genoa, Italy.
1846 The Sampierdarena works were founded by Messrs Taylor and Prandi
1853 Acquired by Gio. Ansaldo et Cie and adopted that name.
1858 Giovanni Ansaldo died.
1882 Death of one of the founders, banker Carlo Bombrini. At that time the business was in difficulties, but Bombrini's sons Carlo Marcello and Giovanni Bombrini came to the rescue, appointing Ing. Antonio Omati. Some British engineers were appointed, including three who stayed with the firm for many years, namely Charles de Grave Sells, T. H. Baird, and C. H. Gilbert. The works at Sampierdarena were enlarged. and the shipyard transferred to Sestri Ponente.
1896 Description and drawings of engines and boilers for the Italian 'Armourclad' Sicilia, the third and last of the
Umberto type. 'The Sicilia was built in the Government Dockyard
at Venice, on the slip formerly occupied by the
Francesco Morosini, and was launched on July 6, 1891,
in the presence of the King and Queen of Italy. ..... The machinery of the Sicilia was constructed by
Messrs. G. Ansaldo and Co., at Sampierdarena, near
Genoa, and the carrying out of such work marked a
very distinct advance in the history of marine engineering in Italy. Up to that time Messrs. Ansaldo’s
works had not been of much importance, but on
the suggestion of the Italian Ministry of Marine
they entered into an alliance with the eminent
engineers, Messrs. Maudslay, Sons and Field, of
London, by which these latter undertook to assist
them in the modifications and extensions to be made
in the establishment at Sampierdarena, and took the
charge and responsibility of the preparation of all new
designs for the Italian Navy, as well as the absolute
responsibility for the construction of the engines, their delivery, their erection, and the carrying out of the
trials, with the result that to-day the establishment of
Messrs. Ansaldo is able to carry out work equal to any
in the world.
The machinery ..... is identical with that for the Umberto, and made to the drawings of Messrs. Maudslay,
from the designs of Mr. C. Sells, M.I.C.E., who has
designed the engines for a goodly number of vessels
for the Italian Navy, amongst them being the Dandolo,
8000 horse-power; Andrea Doria and Ruggiero di
Lauria, of 10,500 horse-power ; Liguria, 7600 horsepower ; Marco Polo, 11,000 horse-power; Carlo
Alberto and Garibaldi, of 13,000 horse-power; and
the Ammiraglio St. Bon, of 13,500 horse-power.
It had been proposed to adopt triple-expansion
engines, but the Italian authorities decided to repeat
the double compounds of the Umberto, and at ordinary
cruising speeds this type proves quite as economical as
triple-expansion engines.
The adoption of Joy’s valve gear allows the cylinders
to be placed close together, and the arrangement of the
main engines is very compact and well balanced. The
general plan of the work is similar to that carried out
under the specifications of the British Admiralty of
that period, except that the tests of material are rather
more stringent. ....'[1] [2]
1903 Ansaldo agreed with W. G. Armstrong Whitworth and Co Ltd., owner of the Pozzuoli artillery plant, to form a joint company Gio Ansaldo, Armstrong and Co., an industrial complex employing 16,000 workers.
1912 the agreement with Armstrong was ended and Ansaldo resumed its previous name.
For much more information on the development of the company and its products up to 1914, see The Engineer 1914/05/08 Supplement.
1922 The giant works and shipyard at Genoa faced closure
Post-WWII Ansaldo became part of the new group Finmeccanica