George Standen

Jun 9 2008 by David Charters, Liverpool Daily Post

WAR and the weapons of war featured greatly in his life, but the man, who would be called the “father of British nuclear submarines”, was kind and considerate – the possessor of high principles and straight words, delivered with a little smile, which arose from a dry but keen sense of humour.

The father was a ganger on the railways, who knew that education would open the way for his sons, George and Robert.

So the family made the sacrifices which enabled the brothers to enter Liverpool University on scholarships gained from Ulverston Grammar School in Furness. Both studied mechanical engineering and George, who had been born in 1916 (the year of the Somme), graduated with a first class honours degree.

During this time, he had met Muriel Wood, the sweetheart, whom he married in 1940. Standen’s outstanding promise was quickly spotted and he secured a position with the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough and then in 1942 in Boscombe Down.

His expertise lay in measuring the stress on the wings of war planes, such as Wellingtons and Lancasters – also, crucially, developing self-sealing petrol tanks which helped aircraft resist direct gunfire.

To his lasting pride and delight, he gave a lecture at this time, attended by Barnes Wallis, inventor of the Bouncing Bombs, famous for bursting the dams in the Ruhr Valley.

In 1947, Standen was recruited by Vickers shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness and was involved in building HMS Explorer, then the world’s fastest submarine.

Britain responded to mounting Cold War tensions by developing a fleet of submarines armed with Polaris nuclear missiles. In the late 1960s, Standen worked closely with the Cammell Laird yard in Birkenhead, which had been commissioned by the Ministry of Defence to build the Revenge and Renown, while Vickers did the Resolution and Repulse.

Later, Standen, a wiry man with thick black hair, worked on surface ships including HMS Sheffield, as well as submarines for the Brazilian and Israeli navies.

This work led to him being awarded the MBE and then the OBE in 1970.

Standen supported Liverpool FC and Barrow Rugby League Club, where he was a director, always remembering that the late, great Emlyn Hughes was a Barrow boy, who played football for Liverpool.

Standen was widowed three years ago. He and Muriel had three sons, Ian, Colin and Nick.

George Standen, engineer; born September 10, 1916, died May 21, 2008.