Breadth Study 2: Technological Innovation Flashcards
How much of the world’s manufacturing happened in britain in 1860?
1/4
What factor lead to a peak in British industrialisation?
The first railway systems
When did the first intercity railway open?
1830
Manchester-Liverpool
Why did the Royal Navy undergo major improvements in the 1790s?
Because of poor performance in the American war of independence 1775-83
Under who, did Royal Navy reform in the 1790s happen?
Lord Howe
Rear Admiral Middleton
Major general blomefield
How fast was shipbuilding in the 1780s?
It was kept at wartime levels, even in the period of peace
Ships built/repaired at record speed
Who was behind the ‘coppering’ initiative?
Rear Admiral Middleton
What was coppering?
Process of nailing copper sheets to the hulls of ships to protect them from shipworm/ marine organisms that slowed ships down
It was expensive but it improved vessel performance and meant they could stay at sea for longer
Who/what organisation improved the quality of Naval guns?
The royal ordnance
Led by Major general Blomefield
How did Naval guns improve under Blomefield?
He made sure every new naval gun was fired 30 times before being installed on a ship
This proved it was soundly manufactured
The firing mechanism was also changed to a flintlock firing mechanism which was more accurate
Flintlock firing mechanism
A mechanism where a piece of flint struck metal to produce a spark, which would then ignite the gunpowder
When were the carronades first developed?
At Carron Ironworks, Falkirk in the 1770s
What was the carronade originally designed for?
To give merchant ships something to fight back with
The rationale was that is was easier to use than navy guns, could be fired from the deck, which wouldn’t affect the merchants carrying capacity
The carronade
Short cannon that fired grapeshot at short range
It’s shorter barrel and wider muzzle gave it a broader angle of fire than a conventional cannon
Quick to reload,required little gunpowder
Could be devastating to the deck of an enemy vessel
Where did the biggest naval developments stem from?
Actions of private companies
Grapeshot
Ammunition that consisten of a number of small balls being fired together from a cannon
Why did the British Navy adopt the carronade?
They always had a traditional strength of being manouverable- this helped
It gave britain an advantage in close quarter fighting, it was risky boarding an enemy ship, using carronade meant they could fire at an enemy deck, and clear it before boarding party went on the ship
First use of a carronade
1782
A frigate called HMS Rainbow
It led to the surrender of the french ship ‘Hebe’
Give one example of the Carronade being used successfully by the British navy
HMS Glatton, 1795, was fitted entirely with carronade which was rare
It was overtaken by a squadron of french ships in the Indian Ocean which assumed it was an easy target, so they came close in an attempt to board it
The fire from HMS glatton caused the ships to withdraw because they were so badly damaged
Carronade at Trafalgar
2 68-pounder carronade on HMS victory, cleared the top gun deck when fired through the stern windows of the french battle ship ‘Bucentaure’
When were carronade phased out of Royal Navy service?
1851
Why did the use of carronade decline?
Change in navy tactics after the end of the french wars
It became standard to fight at a distance, with the increase of long range gunnery
The carronade were only good for short distance
What did carronade demonstrate the impact of, and how was this significant?
Illustrated the power of grapeshot against an enemy
The development of high explosive shells can be owed to the effectiveness of carronades
Shrapnel wounds from high explosive shells would be the most common wound in WW1
What other area than grapeshot, did carronades draw attention to?
Windage
What is windage?
The gap between a projectile and the inside of the gun barrel
How did the carronade assist the solution to windage?
Ideally the gap should be as small as possible, so as much of the gumpowder is used to propel the ball as possible
Windage could be tighter in carronades than in lng barrellled guns
Developments in engineering of more precise shells and rifled barrels meant windage was no longer an issue
When did the British experience rockets?
In southern India in the 1790s
Indian rockets were brought back after the British won the Mysore war, to Royal Arsenal at Woolwich in London
Who examined the rockets brought back from India and what was the significance of this?
By sir William Congreve, a British engineer
He developed a British variant, in belief they could be profitable if the military adopted them
What does the development of the British rockets by Congreve show about technological innovation in the military?
That individual entrepreneurship drove innovation
Congreve spent a lot of his own money on experiments (not the government) and he had a working model by 1806
When were Congreve Rockets adopted by the navy and army?
In 1806
Small numbers were used in the french wars
Describe the events of the first successful use of rockets by the Royal Navy
As part of an attack on Boulogne
In October 1806, 24 small warships fired 2’000 rockets at the city
Limited physical damage but significant psychological damage
why did Congreve rockets result in psychological damage in Boulogne, for the targets and firers?
Windage made rocket flight path unpredictable
Lots of smoke and noise
What french war naval battle were Congreve rockets used at and how did the tactics differ compared to Boulogne?
Copenhagen 1807
Same method but they added conventional weapons in order to bombard the city
What was the most notable use of Congreve rockets?
Fort McHenry in 1814 during the battle of Baltimore
Bombardment that lasted over 24 hours but they did not surrender
What did Fort McHenry highlight about the use of rockets?
That although they were loud and frightening they were inaccurate
So troops were unlikely to be physically affected
How did the Navy use Congreve rockets?
For ship-to-ship bombardment
Rocket rails, for rockets to be launched from, were easily fitted to the side of boats and ships could carry large numbers of rockets
What was the advantage of rockets for the navy?
They had a greater range than guns
So ships could anchor outside gin range and still attack onshore targets
the issues with rockets for the Navy
They had erratic flight patterns
Didn’t do the same damage as cannonballs could