Cdr. C. C. Mitchell
1963 Bio Note [1]
Cdr C. C. Mitchell, O.B.E., R.N.R., B.Sc. (Member), was recently elected Chairman of the Scottish Branch. He has been Director of Research and Technical Development of Brown Bros and Co. Ltd since 1960.
Cdr Mitchell was educated at Edinburgh Academy and graduated from Edinburgh University in 1925. He joined Mactaggart, Scott and Co. Ltd in that year and became Technical Director of the firm in 1931. He developed aircraft catapults and hydraulic arresting gear for aircraft carriers during that time. He designed all the arresting gear in use on carriers of the Royal Navy during the 1939/45 war.
In 1941 he joined the staff of the Engineer-in-Chief, Admiralty, in charge of flight deck machinery. Subsequently, he served in Washington, with the British Pacific Fleet, in France and, in 1945, in Germany where he investigated V.1 launching sites.
In 1946 he began work on the development of a slotted cylinder catapult for the Admiralty. He is Consultant to the Bureau of Aeronautics of the U.S. Navy Department. He has twice been honoured by the United States; in 1955 he was awarded the Newcomen Gold Medal by the Franklin Institute for his work on the steam catapult and, in 1958, he was invested with the U.S. Medal of Freedom.
Cdr Mitchell joined the Institution in 1924 and became a full Member in 1938.
1969 Obituary [2]