Hale rocket

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Rocket and its cross-sectional drawing
Guide vanes

The Hale'sche rocket was a rocket weapon developed by the Englishman William Hale around 1840. The rocket was the first to use rotation to stabilize flight.

technology

rocket

The Congreve missile was introduced to various armed forces in the early 19th century. After that, much effort was made to develop missiles without the cumbersome command staff. William Hale succeeded in doing this around 1840. Like the later version of the Congreve rocket with the guide rod in the middle, the Hale rocket also used several thrusters in the base plate. At Hale, however, small guide vanes were attached around the thrusters, which set the rocket into a stabilizing rotation ( twist ). This made the cumbersome management staff obsolete and increased accuracy.

As with the Congreve rocket, the propellant did not consist of loose powder, but rather compacted into a solid mass. The propellant charge was hollowed out in the shape of a cone with the purpose of increasing the surface area of ​​the burning charge in order to generate enough gas pressure to propel the rocket. He generated the thrust for a few seconds; on the British 9 or 24 pounder missile for 8 or 10 seconds.

The rocket hull was initially made of iron , later of steel , and could accommodate various warheads. Hale designed the missiles in different sizes: from 3 to 100 pounds. The United Kingdom mainly used 9 and 24 pounders in different, each improved versions (Mark I to Mark IV). The range was between 1300 and 1700 meters for the 24-pounder and around 1400 meters for the 9-pounder.

Some states acquired patents from Hale and produced missiles according to the same principle, although they differed in details and dimensions. The Americans use 6-pounders with a diameter of 2¼ inches and a range of about 1,600 feet and 16-pounders with a diameter of 3¼ inches and a range of about 2,000 meters. The Austrians divided their rockets into 4 and 6 pounders, both 2 inches in diameter. Added to this was the weight of the warhead, so that, for example, the missile with an explosive warhead weighed 7 or 9 pounds. The range was accordingly 1200 or 1900 paces.

Launch devices

The armed forces using the Hale missile developed a variety of launch devices. The American variant was a tube on a simple tripod.

The Austrians were dissatisfied with the starting device offered by Hale and developed a completely new one. The three-legged starting frame (frame 14.5 kg + weight 5.6 kg) allowed the setting of a defined height and lateral direction and had a short launch tube. A weight could be hung underneath for more stability. The frame could be dismantled for transport. There were also more elaborate Austrian launch racks with a restraint brake so that the rocket only started when enough thrust had been built up. This prevented dangerous situations in which the rocket did not immediately develop sufficient thrust, sagged after leaving the launcher and then continued to fly in an uncontrolled manner.

The British used two varieties of starters. On the one hand, it was a frame with a tub-shaped launching device. For service on warships there was a launch tube in the form of a rotating gun .

  • Austrian starting frame

  • British launch vehicle

  • British starter tube for warships

commitment

Since the UK was not interested in Hale's invention, he sold the rights to the US for a very large sum of $ 20,000 at the time. The United States Navy Officer John Dahlgren was entrusted with the organization of the production of the missiles in the Washington Navy Yard in January 1847 . It was therefore also American soldiers who first used the Hale missile in the Mexican-American War when it landed in Veracruz . During the American Civil War , they were occasionally used by both sides, both Union forces and Confederate forces . In the 1850s and 1860s, the Russian Empire , Italy , Hungary and Austria introduced the missiles.

The Austrians in particular were proponents of the missile weapon. In the war year 1866 ( German War and Third Italian War of Independence ), however, the rocket was only used to a significant extent in the naval battle of Lissa . From then on Austria relied more and more on tube artillery. Remaining stocks were used up in the fight against insurgency in the Bay of Kotor and in Krivošije in 1869 .

The United Kingdom used the missile to a small extent in the Crimean War (1853-1856), but it was not officially introduced until 1867. But a little later, the tubular artillery experienced great increases in performance from breech- loaders with rifled barrels , so that from around 1870 the rockets were considered obsolete. Nevertheless, the United Kingdom used the Hale rocket until 1899 against technically inferior opponents in Africa and South Asia . There it was still able to exploit the advantage of easier transport over the heavy artillery on wheel mounts.

Lifelines thrower

Lifeline throwing device from Hooper

Just like the Congreve rocket, the Hale rocket was used as the basis for a lifeline throwing device . With the help of the device developed by the Englishman James Humphrey Singleton Hooper, a lifeline could be fired from the bank to the nearby wrecked ship. Since the rocket rotated for stabilization, a pivot bearing was attached to the end of the rocket. A short metal chain was attached to this pivot bearing, then the actual line. The chain was necessary so that the hot exhaust gases would not burn the line. In attempts by the Ordnance Department of the United States Army in 1880, however, the device could not convince.

literature

Web links

Commons : Hale rocket  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dr. Jaromir Hirtenfeld (ed.): Some about Hale'sche rockets in Military newspaper , Volume 13, 1860 pp. 300-301
  2. ^ Riper: Rockets and Missiles , 2007, p. 18
  3. ^ Karl Theodor von Sauer: Plan of the weapon theory , Munich, 1869, Cotta'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung , p. 467 ( online )
  4. ^ War Office: Treatise on ammunition. , 1874, p. 232
  5. ^ W. Johnson: Hale, William (1797–1870) , in: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography , Oxford University Press , 2004
  6. ^ War Office: Treatise on ammunition. , 1874, pp. 227-232
  7. ^ Jack Coggins: Arms and Equipment of the Civil War , Courier Corporation, 1962 ISBN 9780486131276 p. 97 [1]
  8. ↑ Streffleur: Streffleur's military magazine, Volume IV, Volume 2 , 1865, pp. 371–373
  9. ^ Russell E. Lewis: Warman's Civil War Collectibles Identification and Price Guide , Verlag Krause Publications, 2010, ISBN 9781440214776 , p. 79 [2]
  10. ↑ Dolleczek: History of the Austrian Artillery from the Earliest Times to the Present , 1887, pp. 351 & 355
  11. ↑ a b Ortner: The Development of Modern War Rockets in the 19th Century , 2010, p. 23
  12. ^ War Office: Treatise on ammunition. , 1874, pp. 233-236
  13. ↑ a b c Riper: Rockets and Missiles , 2007, pp. 18-19
  14. ↑ David K. Allison: John A. Dahlgren: Innovator in Uniform in Captains of the Old Steam Navy: Makers of the American Naval Tradition 1840-1880 , Naval Institute Press, 2013, ISBN 9781591140542 , p. 30 [3]
  15. ↑ Andrew F. Mazzara: Marine Corps Artillery Rockets: Back Through The Future , 1987, Chapter 2: "THE SOUL OF ARTILLERY" [4]
  16. ^ Ortner: The development of modern war missiles in the 19th century , 2010, p. 22
  17. ↑ Alexander Lyle: Report on Foreign Life-saving Apparatus , United States Government Printing Office , 1880, pp. 312-314, 319-320 [5]
  18. ↑ Patent US196019 A Improvement in rockets from October 9, 1877 [6]
  19. ^ Edward Samuel Farrow: Farrow's military encyclopedia , 1885 Vol II pp. 47-48 [7]