Rocket (weapon)

“ In bombardment, as well as in the field, the quantity of instantaneous fire is equally important, and the greater number of Rockets that can be thrown, not only increase the number of fires, but, by distracting the enemy’s attention, prevent their extinction. To this end, therefore, an officer should always employ as many bombarding frames as possible; and here again he will find, that in bombardment, as well as in the field, the weapon affords him the means of extending his fire beyond the compass of his apparatus. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 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 ”

“ It is obvious, therefore, that in any comparison made of the powers of the Rocket with those of common artillery, whether an officer be called on merely to demonstrate its powers, or to carry it actually against an enemy, the foregoing maxim must be his rule; in fact, every thing should be demonstrated according to the spirit of its use; a single Rocket is not to be compared with a single gun shot, by firing it at a target. But the consideration is, whether for general service, the power of quantity in the fire of Rockets does not at least counterbalance the greater accuracy of the gun? ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ Here 158was a projectile which, in the days of smooth-bore ordnance had a good range and required no heavy gun or transport. Moreover, it formed its own time fuse. Congreve wrote: “Rockets are ammunition without ordnance, the soul of artillery without the body.” Many methods of fitting up rockets for warlike purposes have been evolved, invented and re-invented, most of which for practical purposes were useless.
It is the military use of the rocket, however, which presents the most interesting study in military pyrotechny. ”

“ Laughingly, passionately she flung an arm around the neck of the man in the long, drab laboratory coat, half strangling him as he bent over the two-foot model rocket, testing it with his soul in his finger-tips, from its cone-shaped 10 steel head to its steering compartment, thence to the supply chamber with all the little propelling rockets in it, down to its complicated nozzle, or tail. ”

“ 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. ”

“ I. "Even in a vacuum, where an ordinary propeller could not act, the bullet may become a prime mover, and co-operate with the gun. A rocket can burn without an atmosphere, and the recoil of the rushing fumes will impel the car onwards." ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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? ”

“ These men can always supply the ammunition quicker than it can be fired, and one or other must therefore advance towards the frame to meet No. 2 with the round prepared. No. 2 having thus received the Rocket, places it on the cradle, at the same instant that No. 1 puts a tube into the vent. No. 2 then points the frame, which has an universal traverse after the legs are fixed; he then gives the word “Ready,” “Fire,” to No. 1, who takes up his portfire and discharges the Rocket. No. 1 now sticks his portfire stick into the ground, and prepares another tube ”

“ These cars not only convey the ammunition, but are contrived also to discharge each two Rockets in a volley from a double iron plate trough, which is of the same length as the boxes for the sticks, and travels between them; but which, being moveable, may, when the car is unlimbered, be shifted into its fighting position at any angle from the ground ranges, or point blank up to 45°, without being detached front the carriage. ”

“ All rockets designed for service are cylindrical, having strong metallic cases, and armed, as we before observed, either with carcass composition for bombardment and conflagration, or with shells and case shot for field service. They are, however, of various weights and dimensions, from the eight-inch carcass or explosion rocket, weighing nearly three hundred weight, to the six pound shell rocket, which is the smallest size, used in the field. The sticks, which are employed for regulating their flight, are also of different lengths, according to the size and service of the rocket ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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 Congreve rocket, calculated as it is to convey carcass composition, balls, grenades, &c. if furnished with stars, crackers, &c. would produce an effect equal, if not superior to the balloon.
We remarked, that, in common sky rockets, the charges consist of a mixture of gunpowder, saltpetre, and charcoal, with occasionally other additions, as steel-filings. Rocket-stars, on the contrary, are usually formed of mealed powder, saltpetre, sulphur, and sometimes other substances according to the colour of the flame required. ”

“ The charge of rockets must always be driven above the piercer, and on it must be rammed a thin head of clay; through the middle of which bore a small hole to the composition, that when the charge is burnt to the top, it may communicate its fire through the hole to the stars in the head. To a rocket of four ounces, give to each ladle-full of charge 16 strokes ”

“ 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 ”

“ Firing rockets from cannon can only be practised under certain circumstances. The observations already made on the granulation of gunpowder will have prepared the reader for this announcement. When fired from a cannon under the old régime, the rocket was projected at high velocity, and the case of the rocket was destroyed by the very force which set it in motion. A rocket suitable for artillery should be cast of gun metal, with a frame of considerable strength. In form it should nearly approximate to an expansive bullet ”

“ 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. ”

“ If the Rocket is to be used as a Shot-rocket, the only thing to be attended to, is to take care that there is no powder in the shells, and that the plug is secured in the plug-hole. If the rocket is to be used as a shell-rocket at the longest range, the plug is to be taken out, and the shell filled, the fuze left at its full length, and the plug replaced. If at the shortest range, the fuze is to be entirely bored through, and the rocket composition bored to within an inch and a half of the top of the cone in the 24 pounder rocket, and to within one inch in the 12, 6, and 3 pounder rockets. ”

“ It is evident also, that as the weight of the Rockets diminishes by supplying the mounted men, the weight of the sticks also is diminished, and the centre of gravity may, if desired, be brought lower and lower, as the load diminishes, by taking the ammunition from the upper tiers gradually and equally on each side downwards. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Rockets.—As a signal in rock lighthouses, where it would be impossible to mount large pieces of apparatus, the use of a gun-cotton rocket has been suggested by Sir Richard Collinson, deputy-master of the Trinity House. A charge of gun-cotton is inclosed in the head of a rocket, which is projected to the height of perhaps 1,000 feet, when the cotton is exploded, and the sound shed in all directions. ”