Ernest Cox
(1883-1959)

Died aged c. 76

Ernest Frank Guelph Cox (1883–1959) was an English engineer, with knowledge in electrical and mechanical engineering, which he notably deployed in marine salvage. Between 1924 and 1931 his Cox & Danks Shipbreaking Co. successfully raised 35 ships of the German Imperial Navy High Seas Fleet that had been scuttled at Gutter Sound, Scapa Flow, in 1919. A tough but caring employer, after a series of fatalities and accidents to his employees, Cox sold his marine salvaging business to the Alloa Shipbreaking Company in 1932. He remained a consultant to the British Admiralty throughout his remaining career, and retired in the early 1950s after selling his profitable scrap metal business to Metal Industries Group.

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Commemorated on 2 plaques

Ernest F. G. Cox 1883-1959 Engineer and Marine Salvage Expert Educated here 1890-1897

Blakenhall Community Centre, Dudley Road, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom where they was

Ernest F. Cox born Wolverhampton, 1883, died 1959 engineer and marine salvage expert. After the interned WWI German High Seas Fleet was scuttled in Scapa Flow in 1919, Cox bought them from the Admiralty. Between 1924 and 1931, his company Cox & Danks raised 32 of these warships, providing a considerable boost to Orkney's economy, and pioneering salvage techniques still in use today. This plaque was placed on 30th July 2010 to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the raising of the SMS Hindenburg - until recently, the largest ship ever salvaged.

Cos and Danks former works, Oldbury (?), Wolverhampton, United Kingdom where they worked