While we were staying with friends near Glasgow they took us to the Denny Tank at the Scottish Maritime Museum in Dumbarton.   Many ships were built there, including the famous Cutty Sark,  until the yards were closed in the mid 20th century.  Although the Denny Tank sounds dull, we found it very interesting learning about the world’s first commercial ship testing tank built in 1883, in which scaled models of ships underwent trials prior to construction.   Simulations of sea conditions on different types and shapes of hulls, paddles and propellers were done in a 100 metre long tank so enabling the best type of hull to be made.  The tank was also used for research and testing submarines until the 1980s.  The Denny family were very innovative as their tank applications even helped to design the first helicopter and hovercraft and stabilisers. The photo shows the Denny logo with the  elephant taken from Dumbarton’s civic arms symbolising the strength and stability of the company’s products, nearby Dumbarton Rock and  ships.