Francis of Uchatius

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Franz Freiherr von Uchatius
(1811–1881)

Franz Freiherr von Uchatius (born October 20, 1811 in Theresienfeld , Lower Austria , † June 4, 1881 in Vienna ) was an Austrian Lieutenant Field Marshal , artillery expert and one of the most ingenious designers and inventors in the field of Austro-Hungarian artillery .

Origin and military career

Franz Uchatius was the son of the Imperial and Royal Road Commissioner Vitus Uchatius, (* 1765 in Klattau (today Klatovy ), West Bohemia in the Austrian Empire ) and his wife Barbara (née Mutzbauer) from Leuchtenberg in the Upper Palatinate . He had a brother, Josef Uchatius. As a graduate of the grammar school in Wiener Neustadt , Franz joined the kk Artillery Regiment No. 2 as a cadet in 1829 . He received several years of mathematical and technical training in the school of the elite Bombardier Corps, perfected this training in the chemical and physical school as a laboratory assistant and assistant to a professor, and stood out for his extraordinary intelligence and hard work. When the Sultan of Turkey sent a few groups of officers to Vienna , where they were trained by artillery general and polyhistor Franz von Hauslab , Uchatius was their physics and chemistry teacher. He was one of the first to make daguerreotypes and photographs . Uchatius did not attach any great importance to this invention and sold it with all rights to the professional magician Ludwig Döbler , who became a rich man after a few years.

From 1837 Franz Uchatius was a fireworker ( sergeant in the artillery). In 1841 he was transferred to the Imperial and Royal Gun foundry of the Vienna Arsenal and in 1843 was promoted to lieutenant . From then on, Uchatius began to occupy himself even more with technical innovations. At this time he also succeeded in inventing the "fog imaging device ", which could project drawn images and was the first cinematographic demonstration device. Uchatius is therefore also considered the inventor of the "moving image".

In the revolution of 1848/49 in the Austrian Empire he took part in the campaigns in Italy and Hungary with the Imperial and Royal Field Artillery Regiment No. 3 . During the siege of revolutionary Venice, he and his brother Josef, both artillery lieutenants, proposed that several 30-pound bombs be thrown on the city using hot air-filled paper balloons. In 1849 Venice was actually bombed, which represented the first air raid in world history with 110 balloon bombs designed and manufactured by Uchatius. Remnants of these bombs can still be viewed today in the Army History Museum in Vienna.

In 1856 Franz Uchatius published an improved process for the production of steel, the " Uchatius steel " named after him today . Soon afterwards he invented a manufacturing process of so-called hard or steel bronze, which was 75% cheaper than cast steel and could be of almost the same quality as gun barrel material. As a result, Austria-Hungary had a cheaper gun material than steel and was able to make itself independent of foreign imports. Attempts to make ship guns from Uchatius bronze, however, were unsuccessful.

Awards

In 1851 he was promoted to captain , in 1857 he was awarded the Order of the Iron Crown, 3rd class, and due to the statutes of the order, he was raised to the Austrian hereditary nobility as "Knight of Uchatius" . In 1860, at the age of fifty, he was promoted to major and appointed head of the gun foundry. In 1867 he became a colonel , and in 1871 he was appointed commander of the artillery unit in the Vienna arsenal. In 1874 his achievements were honored by the promotion to major general . In 1875 he was awarded the Commander's Cross of the Order of St. Stephen , as well as the dignity of a secret council; 1876 ​​the elevation to the baron status . In 1877 Franz Freiherr von Uchatius received the Order of the Iron Crown, 2nd class. In 1879 he was appointed field marshal lieutenant .

End of life

Honorary grave of Baron von Uchatius in the Vienna Central Cemetery

The life of Franz Freiherr von Uchatius ended unexpectedly at the age of 70 without any hints or notes by suicide. It remains unclear to this day whether the cause was a mishap with the ship's guns or the knowledge that an incurable stomach ailment was the cause. His grave of honor is located in the Vienna Central Cemetery (group 14 A, number 35).

memory

In addition to steel production , which bears his name as the Uchatius process , the Uchatiusgasse in Vienna- Landstrasse (3rd district) commemorates him as one of the most important pioneers of technology who came from Austria. The army barracks in Kaisersteinbruch have also been named Uchatius barracks after him since 1967 .

Inventions

Image projection

1845 led his film-technical experiments that " magic wheels " by Simon Stampfer with the magic lantern combine to success. Thanks to this projector, moving images could now be shown to several people at the same time.

Steelmaking

In 1856 Uchatius published an improved, cheaper process for the production of cast steel (Uchatius steel).

Armaments engineering

In 1844, during his time as a lieutenant in the gun foundry, he designed the first friction fuse and invented a new method for the quantitative determination of carbon in pig iron.

During the siege of Venice , which had declared itself independent from Austria in 1848, he suggested that hydrogen-filled paper balloons bomb the city. On July 2, 1849, this first air raid in world history actually took place with 110 bombs manufactured by Uchatius - which, despite relatively minor damage to property, was not without consequences for the morale of the city's population, they felt defenseless against this new weapon from the air. Venice surrendered on August 22, 1849.

Uchatius also invented a process for the production of steel bronze . With this, his gun bronze, Uchatius created a gun barrel material that was considerably cheaper than steel and that made Austria independent from abroad in the production of guns. The first Uchatius bronze gun was cast in 1874. Soon the entire field artillery was equipped with guns made of this material. Uchatius took the construction conditions mainly from the test models supplied by Friedrich Krupp in Essen . Its artillery material, introduced in 1875, was used until the 20th century. For the projectiles , he constructed so-called hollow ring projectiles, which have since been used in almost all armies.

In 1861 Uchatius devised a material testing method for gun metals and invented the "powder sample" to measure the gas pressure in the gun barrel .

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Christian Ortner: The Austro-Hungarian Artillery from 1867 to 1918. Technology, Organization and Combat Procedures, Vienna 2007, p. 73.
  2. ^ Christian Ortner: The Austro-Hungarian Artillery from 1867 to 1918. Technology, Organization and Combat Procedures, Vienna 2007, p. 73.
  3. ^ Find a grave, August 5, 2004, accessed May 5, 2009.
  4. ↑ Harenberg - Adventure History August 22, 2019
  5. ↑ The Military and Awakening 1860-1890, page 236, accessed on May 5, 2009.

Web links

Commons : Franz von Uchatius  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Uchatius, Franz von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Uchatius, Franz Freiherr von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian general of the artillery and weapons technician
DATE OF BIRTH October 20, 1811
PLACE OF BIRTH Theresienfeld
DATE OF DEATH June 4, 1881
Place of death Vienna