Congreve’s Rockets were first used in October 1806 where 2000 rockets were fired in an attack on Boulogne.
Congreve’s Rockets had a major psychological effect on its targets.
Congreve’s Rockets were used during the 1807 bombardment of Copenhagen.
Congreve’s rockets had a larger range than cannons, so ships could anchor outside of gun range and bombard the enemy.
The Duke of Wellington was against the rockets, but they still saw use in the Battle of Waterloo.
Congreve’s rockets had a range of up to 2KM
Congreve’s rockets were cheap and easy to fire
Congreve’s rockets were used in the Anglo-Portuguese invasion of Southern France in 1814.
Congreve’s rockets were created in 1806
Congreve’s rockets were improved in the 1840s by William Hale who added spin to improve accuracy
The Carronade was first developed in the Carron Ironworks in Falkirk.
Carronades were invented in Scotland in 1778
The Carronade was an artillery piece with a short barrel, heavy shot and rapid rate of fire, firing grapeshot
Carronades were ineffective against fortifications, but effective against people and ships
Carronades were first used in 1782, by a ship called HMS Rainbow
HMS Victory had two carronades at Trafalgar in 1805
Carronades were phased out by the Royal Navy in 1851
Carronades were an important stepping stone in the development of artillery with a wide range of fire
Sir William Armstrong founded his engineering company in 1847
Armstrong guns were first manufactured in 1855
Armstrong guns were breech loading and rifled, increasing their accuracy and decreasing reload time
Armstrong guns were first used in action by the Royal Navy during the Battle of Kagoshima in 1863
Armstrong guns had a range of 5.25 miles
Armstrong guns used self-contained shells which solved the problem of barrel wear
Armstrong gun shells were made of soft metal that expanded when the gun was fired, gripping the rifling more tightly than normal
Due to shells, the Armstrong gun didn’t need gunpowder to function as it was contained in said shells
The Maxim gun was developed 1884 and entered use in 1886
The Maxim gun was the first fully-automatic machine gun — able to fire 600 rounds per minute
The barrel of a Maxim gun is surrounded by a sleeve full of water to prevent overheating
The heavy recoil of a Maxim gun was designed to eject the used bullet case and place the next one into the breech
The Maxim gun was so heavy that it needed a crew to move
In 1914, the Vickers gun was introduced, being an improved version of the Maxim gun
The Vickers gun was easier to mass produce, used more accessible ammunition, was more easily transportable than the Maxim gun
Following the introduction of immobile machine guns, warfare could no longer be as mobile, and soldiers could not operate in the open as they would be too much of a threat
The Vicker’s gun was able to fulfil the role of 40-50 riflemen at once
Men had to be trained well to use the Vicker’s gun, which meant specialised training was required on top of general infantry training
Sir William Tritton developed the first tank prototype and adopted the name “tank” in December 1915
The first prototype tank was called ‘Little Willie’ and was developed in Summer 1915
Caterpillar tracks were used on tanks to traverse difficult terrain (with some success)
“Big Willie” was the 2nd model of tank developed and became the staple tank used by the British in WW1