Rocket launcher

“ The system here shewn is the use of the Rockets by infantry—one man in ten, or any greater proportion, carrying a frame, of very simple construction, from which the Rockets may be discharged either for ground ranges, or at high angles, and the rest carrying each three rounds of ammunition, which, for this service, is proposed to be either the 12-pounder Shell Rockets, or the 12-pounder Rocket case shot, each round equal to the 6-pounder case, and ranging 2,500 yards. ”

“ It is evident, from this view of the weapon, that the Rocket System is not only capable of a degree of portability, and facility for light movements, which no weapon possesses, but that its ponderous parts, or the individual masses of its ammunition, also greatly exceed those of ordinary artillery. ”

“ Meanwhile the rocketeers had placed a little iron triangle in the road with a rocket lying on it. The order to fire is given, portfire applied; the fidgety missile begins to sputter out sparks and wriggle its tail for a second or so, and then darts forth straight up the chaussée. A gun stands right in its way, between the wheels of which the shell in the head of the rocket bursts; the gunners fall right and left; and those of the other guns, taking to their heels, the battery is deserted in an instant. ”

“ The advantages claimed for rockets over cannon are, unlimited size of projectile, portability, freedom from recoil, rapidity of discharge, and the terror which their noise and fiery trail produce on mounted troops.
Structure.—A rocket is essentially composed of a strong case of paper or wrought iron, inclosing a composition of nitre, charcoal, and sulphur,—the same as gunpowder, except that the ingredients are proportioned for a slower rate of combustion. If penetration and range be required, its head is surmounted by a solid shot ”

“ It is evident, therefore, that however extended the magnitude of Rockets may be, and I am now endeavouring to construct some, the falling mass of which will be considerably more than that of the 13-inch shell or carcass, and whose powers, therefore, either of explosion or conflagration, will rise even in a higher ratio, still, although the first cost may exceed that of any projectile at present thrown, on a comparison of effects, there will be a great saving in favour of the Rocket System. ”

“ With the first streaks of livid dawn, a Congreve rocket flashes skyward from Sir Edward's headquarters. The rocket is the English signal to advance. In a moment, General Gibbs, General Keane, and Colonel Dale with his “praying” Highlanders are in motion.
The signal rocket uncouples thousands upon thousands of fellow rockets; the air is on fire with them as they blaze aloft in mighty arcs, to fall and explode among the hunting-shirt men. ”

“ The rocket lay huddled in the belly of the launching tower, her needle-like body quiet, waiting, her control panels flashing signals and instructions to her masters, her circuits buzzing with the tenseness of the seconds before blast off. ”

“ My experience with rockets goes to justify me in asserting that rockets discharged from a gun, under certain circumstances, can be as effectually controlled, and kept to a direct course, as a bullet fired from a rifle. The rocket, however, may be fired a much greater distance than we have ever been able to project a bullet; because, in addition to the force which projects it from the gun, its flight is maintained by the self sustaining agency in the body of the rocket. Rockets require a much smaller charge of powder to project them than that which is used for a bullet ”

“ After World War II, captured V-2 rockets were used to train American technicians in missile launch procedures and to carry the first payloads of scientific instruments into the upper atmosphere in the United States.
The operational V-2 rocket structure consisted of three sections. The nose housed the warhead and control mechanisms. The fuel tanks carried liquid oxygen and alcohol propellants. The rocket engine, turbopumps, and control surfaces were contained in the tail section. ”

“ These large Rockets have from their weight, combined with less diameter, even more penetration than the heaviest shells, and are therefore equally efficient for the destruction of bomb proofs, or the demolition of strong buildings; and their construction having now been realized, it is proved that the facilities of the Rocket system are not its only excellence, but that it actually will propel heavier masses than can be done by any other means ”

“ It should be observed that, with due care, the Rocket ammunition is not only the most secure, but the most durable that can be: every Rocket is, in fact, a charge of powder hermetically sealed in a metal case, impervious either to the ordinary accidents by fire, or damage from humidity. I have used Rockets that had been three years on board of ship, without any apparent loss of power ”

“ But independent of this comparison as to quantity, there are others in which the Rocket has advantages exclusively its own: there are situations where artillery cannot by any means be brought into action, while there is no situation, no nature of ground, which is passable to an infantry soldier with his musket in his hand, that is not equally to be passed by the Rocketteer with his arm and ammunition. ”

“ The explosion of substances in the air, after having been carried to a considerable elevation by rockets, is a familiar performance. In 1873 the Board of Trade actually proposed a light-and-sound rocket as a signal of distress, which proposal was subsequently realized, but in a form too elaborate and expensive for practical use. The idea of the gun-cotton rocket with a view to signaling in fogs is, I believe, wholly due to the Deputy Master of the Trinity House. ”

“ The self-propelled rockets have not been altered in essential features since the remote centuries when the Chinese first used them in celebrations. A cylindrical shell is mounted on a wooden stick and when the powder in the shell burns the hot gases are ejected so violently downward that the reaction drives the shell upward. At a certain point in the air, various signals burst forth, which vary in character and color. One of the advantages of the rocket is that it contains within itself the force of propulsion ”

“ The advantages of the rocket over the shot apparatus are obvious—the lightness and mobility of the rocket trough as compared with a mortar, the fact that the rocket traces its own flight, which can be seen and followed even at night, not to mention greater simplicity in working. However, it was not until 1855, when a rocket of greater range was invented by Col. Boxer, of the Royal Laboratory, that the rocket as a line carrier came into its own. ”

“ Rocket engines able to supply this thrust have been under development for some time. For launching a satellite, or other space vehicle, the rocket engineer divides his rockets into two, three, or more stages, which can be dropped one after the other in flight, thus reducing the total weight that must be accelerated to the final velocity desired. (In other words, it is a great waste of energy to lift one huge fuel tank into orbit when the tank can be divided into smaller tanks—each packaged in its own stage with its own rocket motor—that can be left behind as they become empty.) ”

“ Rocket propulsion, of course, is not a new thing; the basic idea is centuries old. As applied to aerial warfare it was employed on a crude basis even in World War I. The Italians made public an experimental flight of a propellerless jet-type plane several years ago. Long before that, automobiles were driven by rocket engines, and special rockets for making meteorological soundings in the substratosphere were in use.... ”

“ Signal sky rockets without bounces, are nothing more than common sky rockets, closed and caped: rockets of this sort are very light, therefore do not require such heavy sticks as those with loaded heads, for which reason, you may cut one length of the rocket, off the stick, or else make them thinner. ”

“ Earlier practice was to turn down the top edge of the case on the heading composition to form a diaphragm.
The best-known form of rocket is the sky rocket, which is fitted with a stick held in position by having a dowelled end introduced into a rolled paper or metal tube secured to the side of the rocket. The object of the stick is to direct the flight of the rocket, and further serves to hold it in position for firing, being passed through two rings at a suitable distance one above the other on a stake, through which it slides easily. ”

“ The fin-stabilized X-4 air-to-air missile was guided to its target by means of electrical impulses which passed through two wires connecting the rocket to the launch aircraft until detonation. Once the missile was on its way to the target bomber, the fighter pilot directed its course with a separate small control stick in his cockpit. ”

“ Honorary rockets are the same as sky rockets, except that they carry no head nor report, but are closed at top, on which is fixed a cone, then on the case, close to the top of the stick, you tie a two ounce case, about five or six inches long, filled with a strong charge, and pinched close at both ends; then in the 132 reverse sides at each end, bore a hole, in the same manner as in Tourbillons; from each hole, carry a leader, into the top of the rocket. ”

“ The mouths of the rockets being rubbed with wet meal powder, lay them in the grooves, head to tail, and tie them fast; from the tail of the first rocket, carry a leader to the mouth of the second, and from the second to the third, and so on to as many as there are on the swivel, making every leader very secure, but in fixing these pipes take care, that the quick-match does not enter the bores of the rockets ”

“ The head is charged with composition more densely driven than is customary in the ordinary rocket; the tubes in the cylinder are also charged with a composition equally dense. The outer frame of the rocket is cast with suitable projections to fit the grooves of the gun: the spiral of these grooves is considerable, being one turn in every three feet, in order to impart to the rocket an effectual spinning motion when in a low state of velocity. ”

“ In battle also, where there is not, of course, time to prepare the ground as above stated, but where it is tolerably level, he may, in addition to the apparatus he possesses, add to his fire by discharging, from the intervals of his frames or cars, Rockets merely laid on the ground in the direction required: and, if an enemy be advancing upon him, there is, in fact, no limit to the volley he may be prepared thus to give, when at a proper distance, but the quantity of ammunition he possesses, the extension of his own ground, and the importance of the object to be fired at. ”

“ Towering rockets are made after this manner: Fix on a pound rocket a head without a collar; then take a four-ounce rocket, which may be headed or bounced, and rub the mouth of it with meal-powder wetted with spirit of wine: this done, put it in the head of a large rocket with its mouth downwards; but before it is put in, stick a bit of quick-match in the hole of the clay of the pound rocket, which match should be long enough to go a little way up the bore of the small rocket, to fire it when the large rocket is burnt out. ”

“ The vehicle’s main stage is powered by a rocket engine burning liquid oxygen and a hydrazine mixture. The second and third stages are contained in the “tub” on the nose of the rocket. Both use scaled-down Sergeant solid-propellant rockets: eleven in the second stage and three in the third. A final Sergeant motor is attached to the base of the satellite to provide the velocity necessary to place the vehicle in orbit. An electric motor spun the entire “tub” prior to launch and during the climb into space in order to stabilize the satellite. ”

“ Gas pressure generators are used to open Stage I and Stage II propellant storage valves, release staging nuts and terminate vernier rocket thrust. Two solid propellant vernier rocket motors are mounted inside the Stage II engine compartment. The pitch rockets are two solid propellant rockets mounted in the between-tanks area of Stage II, equidistant from one another. Pitch rocket nozzles are protected by external fairings which are ejected by the rocket blast at ignition. Initiators are used to start the vernier rocket motors and activate engine gas pressure generators. ”

“ Are all rockets furnished with a head? [xxxviii] What is understood by the furniture of a rocket? How are the serpents, stars, fire-rain, &c. forming the furniture of a rocket, discharged into the air, when the rocket has terminated its flight, or arrived at its maximum of ascension? What forms the difference between a balloon, in fire-works, and a rocket? As the balloon contains also furniture, and is projected vertically from a mortar, how is fire communicated to it, so as to burst it in the air? Is the fuse used, in this case the same as that for bombs, howitzes, and grenades? ”

“ The large rocket must have only half a diameter of charge rammed above the piercer, for if filled to the usual height, it would turn before the small one takes fire, and entirely destroy the intended effect; when one rocket is headed with another, there will be no occasion for any blowing powder; for the force with which it lets off, will be sufficient to disingage it from the head of the first fired rocket. The sticks for these sort of rockets, must be a little longer than for those headed with stars, rains, &c. ”