John Dolphin

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "John Dolphin" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

John Dolphin
Birth name	John Robert Vernon Dolphin
Nickname(s)	JRV
Born	(1905-10-01)1 October 1905 Christleton, Cheshire, England
Died	2 May 1973(1973-05-02) (aged 67) Whitchurch-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	British Army
Years of service	1928–1949
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Service number	39713
Battles / wars	World War II
Awards	Commander of the Order of the British Empire Territorial Decoration

John Robert Vernon Dolphin CBE TD (1 October 1905 – 2 May 1973) was a British engineer and inventor, who joined the Secret Intelligence Service and then became the Commanding Officer of the top-secret Second World War Special Operations Executive (SOE) "Station IX", where specialist military equipment was developed. During his time there his inventions included the Welman submarine and the Welbike.

On leaving the British Army, Dolphin founded a number of companies, including the Corgi Motorcycle Co Ltd. in 1946 and also set up Dolphin Industrial Developments Ltd and Hydraulic Developments Ltd, which he ran until 1950, when he became Chief Engineer at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment. Dolphin then went on to become Engineer-in-Chief at the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Research Group until 1959, became joint Managing Director of Lansing Bagnall Ltd and J. E. Shay Ltd until 1964, and a Director of TI (Group Services) Ltd, where he successfully secured patents for a number of inventions, including sheet piling revetments, improvements to fork lift trucks and the forerunner of the modern mobility scooter.^{[citation needed]}