Albert Louppe
| Albert Louppe | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
Jules Albert Louppe 6 June 1856 Guny, Aisne, France |
| Died | 5 July 1927 Laval, Mayenne, France |
| Occupation | Explosives engineer Industrialist Politician |
| Spouse(s) | Hortense Gabrielle Steff |
| Children | 4 |
Jules Albert Louppe (6 June 1856 – 5 July 1927) was a French explosives engineer who became a politician. The Plougastel Bridge, or Albert-Louppe Bridge, near Brest in north-western France, is named after him.
Jules Albert Louppe was born into a peasant family in Guny, in the French department of Aisne. His schooling commenced nearby at Soissons, from where he won a place at the prestigious Collège Sainte-Barbe in Paris, later progressing to the national École Polytechnique. At the age of 19 he emerged from the École Polytechnique as a qualified explosives engineer.
By 1883 he had relocated to Finistère, where he became the General Director of the "Moulin-Blanc" (explosives) Powder mill in the at Le Relecq-Kerhuon near Brest. He later moved on to take over the Powder mill at Pont-de-Buis, but returned in 1905 to the "Moulin-Blanc", where working now as Chief Engineer, he remained till 1911.
Louppe's involvement in the manufacture of gunpowder brought him unwelcome publicity in the national press following the explosions of the battleships Iéna in 1907 and Liberté in 1911. The Liberté explosion also caused extensive damage to other battleships anchored nearby in Toulon Harbour. Following lengthy investigation cause of the explosion was tracked back to "Powder B" (Nitrocellulose gunpowder), recently introduced to battleship guns during the arms race at the beginning of the twentieth century, which was determined to have become unstable over time. Bitter and very public arguments erupted between Léopold Maissin and Albert Louppe. Maissin had succeeded Loupe as director of the "Moulin-Blanc" powder mill, and the kernel of the argument was over whether sub-standard ingredients delivered to the "Moulin-Blanc" plant by the "Pont-de-Buis" had caused the resulting Powder B produced by the "Moulin-Blanc" plant to become unstable. Loupe and Maissin each blamed one another and the national press ran with the story. Although the two men shifted their positions, the very public rancour between them continued, and in the end both men were retired from their directorships. Albert Louppe was urged by the government to take over the Powder mill at Saint-Médard, but he declined the offer, preferring, at least for the time being, to retire.
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