| Industry | Chemistry |
|---|---|
| Fate | Company Information Successor |
| Founded | 1912 |
| Headquarters | Hercules Plaza, Wilmington, DE, USA 19894 |
| Key people | Craig A. Rogerson, President and CEO Allen A. Spizzo, VP and CFO Paul C. Raymond III, VP and President, PTV John E. Panichella, VP and President, Aqualon Edward V. Carrington, VP of HR |
| Products | chemical |
Hercules, Inc., was a chemical and munitions manufacturing company based in Wilmington, Delaware, which was formed in 1912 as the Hercules Powder Company. Hercules was spun-off from the DuPont Corporation as a result of U.S. federal government actions in the field of antitrusts. Hercules, Inc., operated under this name until 2008, when it was merged into Ashland, Inc.
Hercules, Inc., was one of the major producers of smokeless powder for warfare in the United States during the 20th century. At the time of its spin-off, the DuPont Corp. retained the processes and patents for the production of "single-base" nitrocellulose gunpowders, whereas Hercules, Inc., was given the patents and processes for the production of "double-base" gunpowders that combined nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine.
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Beginning in 1959, Hercules, Inc., began to diversify into the production of large solid-fuel rocket motors, and it soon became a primary producer of these, especially for the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, and U.S. Army - and to a lesser degree for the civilian National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). One of its major solid-fuel rocket products was stages for the four-stage solid-fueled Minuteman intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the U.S. Air Force, of which 1,000 were made and deployed at Air Force Bases in several northern states during the 1960s. In addition, all of the missiles of the Minuteman I series were removed from service and replaced with the Minuteman II and Minuteman III series of more-advanced ICBMs. Hence, the Minuteman ICBM program was a huge project and a major source of revenue for Hercules, Inc.
Hercules, Inc., also produced the solid-fueled rocket motors for the two-stage Polaris missile system of intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) for the U.S. Navy in its 41 for Freedom series of 41 George Washington-class ballistic missile submarines. These nuclear submarines carried 16 Polaris missiles apiece for a grand total of 656 missiles. In addition, the Polaris series consisted of the successively-improved Polaris A-1, Polaris A-2, and Polaris A-3 missiles. The early Polaris submarines that had been armed with the Polaris A-1 were upgraded to the Polaris A-2; and then all that had been armed with the Polaris A-2 were upgraded to the Polaris A-3.
For some of the early Polaris submarines, the Polaris A-3 was the end of their upgrades, but a large number of them (about 31) were further rearmed with the more-advanced and longer-ranged two-stage Poseidon C-3 missile. Hence, the Polaris missile submarine program was also a huge project and a major source of revenue for Hercules, Inc.
During the 1960s, Hercules, Inc., also made solid-fuel rocket motors for hundreds of the U.S. Army's Honest John missile, a mobile tactical missile for carrying tactical nuclear weapons for U.S. Army divisions. The Honest John missile was mostly deployed with the U.S. Seventh Army in West Germany as part of the American commitment to NATO to defend Western Europe against aggression from the Warsaw Pact, using nuclear weapons on Eastern Europe, if necessary. None of the Honest John, Minuteman, Polaris, or Poseidon has ever been used in combat, and the threat of nuclear war has been sufficient to deter aggression and to obviate the need of the use of nuclear weapons for defense.
During the 1970s and 80s, the Honest John missile was removed from deployment, scrapped, and replaced by the more-advanced Lance missile by the U.S. Army in Europe. Of all of the missiles mentioned above, only a reduced number of the Minuteman missiles remain in service at Air Force Bases in the United States, with all of the others having been removed from deployment and scrapped, along with all of the Polaris and Poseidon submarines.
For space exploration and satellite launches by the U.S. Air Force and NASA, Hercules, Inc., developed and manufactured the two large, strap-on solid-fueled booster rockets for the otherwise liquid-fueled, and huge, Titan III and Titan IV rockets. These strap-on rockets were used on the Titan IIIC, Titan IIID, and Titan IIIE rockets, and on all of the Titan IV rockets that were ever produced.
After the end of production and firing of NASA's huge Saturn IB and Saturn V rockets, the Titan IV was the largest and heaviest unmanned rocket available anywhere in the world, and especially in the Titan IV-Centaur version. The Titan IV-Centaur was used for special launches of heavy space probes into the Solar System, such as the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn which was launched in 1997. The Titan IV is no longer manufactured, and the last one of these was fired during a launch in October 2005.[1]
Some of the more recent gunpowders marketed to reloaders include the brand names "Bullseye", "2400", "Reloader", "Unique", and "Red Dot".[2] These gunpowders are still being manufactured by the Alliant Powder company in Radford, Virginia.
In its later years, Hercules, Inc., manufactured and marketed worldwide specialist chemicals that were used in a wide variety of industrial, home, and office markets, and it and had over 4,500 employees. Hercules was composed of two major divisions: the Paper Technologies and Ventures (PTV) division and the Aqualon division. In 2005, the former accounted for 49% of its sales and 35% of its operating sales, with the latter producing 37% and 68% respectively.[3]
As of July 11, 2008, Hercules was to be acquired by Ashland Inc. for $3.3B.[4] The acquisition was completed on November 13, 2008.[5]
Hercules, Inc. was the defendant in a 1989 lawsuit stemming from a 1976 contract with Brown Machine after James Miller, a Hercules employee, injured himself using a trim press used to make Cool Whip bowls. Miller originally sued Brown directly, as it was the manufacturer of the equipment. Brown settled the suit for nearly $160,000 before it went to trial. It subsequently sued Hercules to recover the cost of the settlement with Miller, alleging that the original contract contained an indemnification clause. Brown prevailed against Hercules at trial, but Hercules successfully appealed.[6]
By the end of the 1990s, Hercules, Inc., had sold off a signicant number of its divisions that had not been profitable for the company. This has caused the price of shares of common stock in Hercules to rise above 70 dollars. Also, several successful cost-savings programs were implemented in addition of corporate buying its own shares. Also at that time, Hercules had a significant amount of assets available for possible purchases of other corporations. Hercules, Inc., had a Paper Technology Division (PTD) whose products were slowly becoming commodities. In order to survive, this division needed to obtain new products.
First, Hercules, Inc., tried to purchase the Allied Colloids Company, but this was not successful. Next, Hercules bought the Betz-Dearbon Corporation. Betz-Dearborn produced mostly chemicals for paper processing, and the Hercules PTD produced mainly functional chemicals for paper. According to some business analysts, Hercules, Inc., paid about three times as much for Betz-Dearborn as compared with its actual value.
Soon after the purchase of Betz-Dearborn, the price per share of stock in Hercules, Inc., had dropped from above $70 to below $10 (ten dollars). It has been also speculated that Hercules, Inc., was close going bankrupt after this failed purchase operation. Afterwards, several senior managers were forced out of the company because of this failure. The price of stock shares in Hercules, Inc., has never recovered from this debacle. Finally, Hercules, Inc., was sold off to the Ashland Corporation.
The history of Hercules Inc. was recently the subject of the song "Hercules", by San Fransisco-based poet and rapper George Watsky.
Aqualon produces products for physical property modification of aqueous systems which are sold into a wide variety of industries including personal care, food additives, and construction.
Paper Technologies produces specialty chemicals to the pulp and paper industry. These products include functional, process, and water treatment chemicals for a wide variety of pulp and paper applications.
Functional chemicals can be divided in three main groups. Wet strength resins, Rosin sizes and AKD -sizes. Significant persons developing functional chemicals in Hercules could be mentioned: Dr. Keim on his efforts developing PAE wet strength resin, Mr Kai Kiviö on his efforts on developing cationic rosin size. Basis of AKD -technology Hercules acquired more or less voluntary from German BASF after the Second World War.
Ventures produces specialty chemicals for a variety of markets, including adhesives and sealants, paints, inks, coatings, lubricants, rubber, plastics, and building and construction.
Hercules Incorporated, in collaboration with Professor Kaichang Li of Oregon State University and Columbia Forest Products, received a 2007 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award for the Greener Synthetic Pathways category in developing and commercializing a formaldehyde-free adhesive made from soy flour and Hercules’ unique polymer chemistries.
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