Mystery Drawing – War Rocket 1877

[William Lindsay]

Hi, Does anyone know anything about this drawing? As you can see it is entitled Hale-Macdonald War Rocket 1877. I assume it is a kind of torpedo. There is a write up of it in Trove dated 20 August 1887 but I haven’t come across a drawing of it before. The drawing was done by Lieutenant M Bryan RN in one of his note books. More information about him will feature in the Navy Records Society online magazine in the Autumn.
Bill

[William Lindsay]

Try this photo

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[Nicholas Blake]

The Hale-Macdonald war rocket is the subject of a paper in the Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, Volume 21, helpfully scanned by Google here: <https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bJ4EAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA971&dq=%22hale-macdonald+war+rocket%22&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjBvJ7trsLqAhVRTxUIHWtZBdIQ6AEwAHoECAAQAg#v=onepage&q=%22hale-macdonald%20war%20rocket%22&f=false&gt; Tldr; it is an improved torpedo, but designed both for land and sea service.

[Gareth Cole]

I’m pretty sure these were modifications of the Congreve rocket. See ‘William Hale’s “improvements in rockets”’: https://doi.org/10.1016/0734-743X(95)00031-5 (if you have access). Also some info in “Technology on the Spot: The Trials of the Congreve Rocket in India in the Early Nineteenth Century”: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41682702. Also a bit in this on pp. 98-100: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=WH3lAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Ordnance+Memoranda,+Volume+21#v=onepage&q&f=false

[William Lindsay]

Many thanks Nicholas and Gareth. Now I know where Lt Bryan got his information and from where he drew his diagram. Interesting. Many thanks.

[Sam Willis]

Would anyone be interested in writing a 1000-word introduction placing this in context for the Navy Records Society Online Magazine?
Sam

[Sam Willis]

Would anyone be interested in writing a 1000-word introduction placing this in context for the Navy Records Society Online Magazine?
Sam

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