Quote:
Originally Posted by Naytikos
In my limited experience of MIMCo I rather doubt they were organised enough to record serial numbers against particular ship's names. The invoices to the shipowner certainly had the serial numbers on them but I think that's as far as it went.
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Ship's name and equipment serial numbers was recorded on all relevant documentation for every order and, for ships with Rental/Maintenance contracts, held on the individual ship's file, together with copies of all service records relating to every subsequent service visit. Many hundreds of those files were kept, in a horizontal filing system, floor to ceiling in a room about 40' x 20' and kept current by two filing clerks.
In the 1990s, following reorganisation within GEC and Marconi, MIMCo no longer reported directly to Sir Arnold Weinstock at GEC but firstly to GEC-Marconi HQ at Stanmore and later to MCSL at New Street. Subsequently this proved to have a very negative effect on the Marine company's fortunes.
In order raise funds for MCSL (following their mobile radio debacle) the MIMCo-owned Elettra House building was put up for sale (it is now a VW dealership) as were several of the depots around the UK. The resultant revenue was transferred to MCSL, who had taken over the running of the company. MIMCo HQ was moved into much smaller accommodation in a building on a MCSL-owned site on Waterhouse Lane. One of the filing clerks was made redundant. After a year or two there, that site too was sold to become a retail trading estate, the remaining filing clerk was made redundant (along with others) and what was left of MIMCo's HQ staff were transferred into the old Canteen in New Street.
Due to the down-sizing involved in these moves, there was no room to store the heritage material. It was offered to the Company Archivist but rejected since there were no sufficient resources available within the organisation to take it on. Accordingly all non-current R/M files and all the old supply and installation records, beyond the mandated requirements of company law, did indeed go into the skip.
A great loss to the history of marine radio and the British MN but, at the time, nobody was interested in taking the records. Chelmsford Council and its Museum and the Essex Records Office were not interested. Even when the entire GEC-Marconi empire collapsed, all the historic records pertaining to the very development of radio and Giulgielmo Marconi's personal correspondence (that had been amongst the items looked after by the Archivist's department) were rejected and were in danger of being dumped or disposed of privately to the highest bidder. Eventually money was raised elsewhere to fund the rescue and transfer of the records to Oxford University's Bodleian Library.
Radio began here in the UK but all the information about its inception and achievements were almost lost due to the country's apathy concerning scientific and engineering matters.