Helge Palmcrantz

Who was Helge Palmcrantz?

Helge Palmcrantz, Swedish inventor and industrialist, was born in Hammerdal, in the province of Jämtland, the son of a captain in the Jämtlands fältjägarregemente. He was enlisted as a cadet in his father's regiment, where he worked on land survey. After a couple of years he left the regiment to study at the Technological Institute of Stockholm.

In partnership with his brother-in-law, Theodor Winborg, Palmcrantz founded a small but growing factory on Kungsholmen, Stockholm, where they manufactured reaping machines, mowers and other agricultural equipment of their own design.

In 1873 Palmcrantz patented the multi-barrel, lever-actuated, machine gun that would later be known as the Nordenfelt machine-gun after his financial backer, Thorsten Nordenfelt. Palmcrantz met Nordenfelt in 1875 and the latter's company became his British agent. They agreed to market the machine-gun under the then well known Nordenfelt brand. It was Nordenfelt who convinced Palmcrantz to increase the caliber of his gun to one inch, making it a suitable weapon for use against the growing threat of torpedo boats.