Royal Arsenal, Woolwich

ARE/RA Armaments Research Establishment, Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, Engl... 

The self-propelled or locomotive torpedo was the brainchild of Robert Whitehead, an Knglish marine engineer. With contra-rotating propellers driven by a clockwork motor (compressed air drive came later) and with a percussion operated explosive in its nose, it first went into production at the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, in the mid-1870s. 

Armoment Reseorch Establishment, Royal Arsenal (ARERA) is located at Woolwich, England... 

As a further step to conserve supplies of acetone-based cordite — due to its stability and uniformity of effect, the preferred choice for naval gunnery — the Research Department at the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich devised a new type of cordite for land service. This was known as cordite RDB. In place of highly nitrated insoluble guncotton, soluble nitrocellulose was substituted, and ether-alcohol was used as the solvent. This resulted in scarcity and higher prices for ether-alcohol, produced by the alcohol distilleries. Despite this, and although it was more expensive to manufacture, cordite RDB was accepted for use in May 1915, and put into production as a war emergency measure. ... 

Adair Crawford (Ireland , 1748-9-Lymington, 29 July 1795), F.R.S. 1786, was a physician in St. Thomas s Hospital, London, then professor of chemistry at Woolwich Arsenal, where he was assisted by Cruickshank in the discovery of strontium (see p. 656). Craw ford visited Scotland in 1776 and became acquainted with Black s and Irvine s researches on heat. He began researches on animal heat and combustion in Glasgow in 1777 and communicated them in the autumn of that year to Dr. Reid, Mr. Wilson, and Dr. Irvine. In the session 1777-8 they were made known to many of the professors and students in Edinburgh and in the winter they were explained by Crawford to the Royal Medical Society in Edinburgh. They were published in 1779. ... 

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