Technological development 1790-1918

• Short cannon that fired grapeshot at short range. 
• Having a shorter barrel but a wider muzzle gave the carronade a far broader angle of fire. It was quick to reload and used little gunpowder.
• Useful for close range fighting
• 'Crossing the T'
• Could clear the deck of an enemy vessel 
• First used in 1782 by HMS Raibow. 
• Battle of Trafalgar, the two 68lbers carronades on HMS victory cleared the top deck off of the Bucentaure

• Post-Napoleon long barelled guns became more accurate and quicker at firing 
• Carronades phased out by 1851
• Windage- narrow on the carronade. 
• Rifled barrels reduced windage. 
• Work done by the Carron Company that was important in solving this particular issue 

Navy

• First successful use of rockets by the Navy was in 1806. 
• Used again at Copenhagen in 1807
• Used in American Revolution in 1814 during the Battle of Baltimore. Lasted over 24hrs and did a lot of damage. 
• Highly innacurate and didnt do as much damage as cannonballs.

Army:

• George Prince of Wales kept the rocket programme going. Lobbied the generals and politicians to push on with trials and develop rockets for combat.
• Rockets saw action with European allies at the Battle of Leipzig in 1813.
• 1st Rocket Troop als saw action at the battle of Waterloo

The end:

• Used at Naval Bombardment of Algiers in 1816 and during the first Burma war. 
• William Hale- new more accurate artillery

Breech loading:

• Load through a hole close to the firer. The weapon didn't need to be moved and therefore was quicker and much simpler.  First breech loading cannons developed at the Armstrong Company in Northumberland. First gun was ready in 1858.

Armstrong's new cannon:

• Loading time reduced by placeing the projectile in the breech. Had a screw thread on the breech, so that it could be replaced and screwed back into position before the gun was fired.

Armstrong's guns and the armed forces:

• Adoped in 1859, saw action in the New Zealand Wars in 1861.
• Royal Navy adopted it with a slightly shorter barrel. Quick fire version adopted in 1894.

Impact and effect on tactics:

• Improved range and reliability. Higher killing power. Signalling became important for tactics. 

The Maxim Gun:

• First invented in 1884
• Large gun which needed a creew to move, set up and service. 
• Could fire 600 rounds a minute 

The Vickers Gun:

• Lighter and more reliable
• Used same .303 inch ammunition as infantry rifle
• Parcelled out to every infantry and cavalry division.
• By 1915 was replaced by the Lewis Gun which was a light machine.
• Reformed into Machine Gun Corps

The impact of the Vickers Gun:

• Fewer men needed to cover an area f land. 
• Same volume as 40 or 50 riflemen
• Soldiers needed to be trained better 

Concept of the tank:

• 'Landships' pushed forward by the Navy and Winston Churchill, joint venture by army in June 1915
• 'Tank' was adopted in 1915 as  a security measure and it was leaked that they were developing a 'water carrier' or 'water tank' for use in the middle east.

The development of Mark I:

• 'Little Willie' 1915 - benefit of catipillar tracks. 
• 'Big Willie' closer to the actual use of big tanks. December 1915 and renamed 'mother'. 
• First tanks were large, cumbersome and difficult to operate. Large engines and crews were required. Communication was also hard.

The Tank in action:

• Battle of Cambrai November 1917. 400 tanks supported the infantry and followed a creeping barrage during the first wave of the attack. Efficient at clearing the barbed wire and supporting infantry.

Impact of the tank:

• Great shock value. Allowed for war of movement. Developed into Blitzkreig etc