mrw311 - AnthologyMain MenuIntroductionThe Gatling Gun and Machine GunsRifles and HandgunsIronclad Battleships and Torpedo TechnologyThe Boer WarsStagnation and Fear of DestructionAnxious, Fictional Accounts of the FutureBibliographyMatthew Werkheiserbaf3c422a98f36dbd4c83c180176ff0854fcbc18
12016-11-27T03:07:42-05:00Iron Clad Ships of War5plain2016-12-14T01:31:23-05:00After fighting the Russians in 1854, the British Navy found itself utterly incapable of defending itself against enemies entrenched on shorelines since stone protected howitzers and cannons easily tore through wooden ships. As a result, this anonymous author hopes to persuade the admiralty to embrace the advancements of the “Iron-Clad” ship, thus offering their units more sufficient protection from cannon fire above the waterline. This defensive advantage would inevitably lead towards the invention of torpedoes, but the move from wooden to iron ships marks a moment in British history in which they moved towards trends elsewhere in the world, particularly the American iron steamers eventually employed for the first time during the Civil War.