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90-410: The Brennan torpedo is often claimed as the world's first guided missile, but guided torpedoes invented by John Ericsson , John Louis Lay , and Victor von Scheliha all predate it; however, Brennan's torpedo was much simpler in its concept and worked over an acceptable range at a satisfactory speed so it might be more accurate to call it the world's first practical guided missile. The Brennan torpedo

180-698: A 250 year lease for conversion into a luxury hotel and residential apartments. Prior to 1855, 'War Office' signified the office of the Secretary at War . In the 17th and 18th centuries, a number of independent offices and individuals were responsible for various aspects of Army administration. The most important were the Commander-in-Chief of the Forces , the Secretary at War , and the twin Secretaries of State ; most of whose military responsibilities were passed to

270-458: A 40 feet (12 m) high telescopic steel tower, which could be extended hydraulically. He was provided with a special pair of binoculars on which were mounted controls which could be used to electrically control the relative speeds of the twin winding engines. In this way he was able to follow the track of the torpedo and steer it with a great degree of accuracy. In tests carried out by the Admiralty

360-573: A business venture without first consulting the other." Personally, their friendship never faltered, though strained by the pressures of business and Ericsson's quick temper, DeLamater called Ericsson "John" and Ericsson called DeLamater by his middle nickname "Harry", intimacies almost unknown in Ericsson's other relationships. In time, the DeLamater Iron Works, situated facing the Hudson River on

450-434: A curved bottom lined on the inside with polished plates, so arranged that they reflect the sun's rays toward a cylindrical heater placed longitudinally above the trough. This heater, it is scarcely necessary to state, contains the acting medium, steam or air, employed to transfer the solar energy to the motor; the transfer being effected by means of cylinders provided' with pistons and valves resembling those of motive engines of

540-595: A distinguished canal and railway builder in Sweden. Their father Olaf Ericsson (1778–1818) had worked as the supervisor for a mine in Värmland. He had lost money in speculation and had to move his family to Forsvik in 1810. There he worked as a director of blastings during the excavation of the Swedish Göta Canal . The extraordinary skills of the two Ericsson brothers were discovered by Baltzar von Platen (1766–1829),

630-600: A larger frigate . The sloop eventually became the USS ; Princeton , named after Stockton's hometown in New Jersey and the famous university located there. The ship took about three years to complete and was perhaps the most advanced warship of its time. In addition to steam-powered twin screw propellers, it was originally designed to mount a 12-inch muzzle-loading gun on a revolving pedestal. The gun had also been designed by Ericsson and used hoop construction to pre-tension

720-576: A miner and surveyor by his father. He then improved ship design with two screw- propellers rotating in opposite directions (as opposed to earlier tests with this technology, which used a single screw). However, the British Admiralty of the Royal Navy disapproved of the invention in the late 1830s , which led to the fortunate contact with the prominent American naval captain (and later commodore ) Robert Stockton (1795-1866), who had Ericsson design

810-532: A much safer and more practical means of power for small industry than steam engines. Ericsson's incorporation of a 'regenerator' heat sink for his engine made it tremendously fuel-efficient. Apparently in the post Civil War era some time before or around 1882, from the publishing date, a ship was purchased by a Captain Charles L. Dingley called the Ericsson with a weight of 1,645 tons that was built by John Ericsson (Although

900-948: A new Secretary of State for War in 1794. Others who performed specialist functions were the controller of army accounts, the Army Medical Board , the Commissariat Department, the Board of General Officers, the Judge Advocate General of the Armed Forces , the Commissary General of Muster , the Paymaster General of the forces , and (particularly with regard to the Militia ) the Home Office . The term War Department

990-454: A novel design of armored ship which included a rotating turret housing a pair of large cannons. Despite controversy over the unique design, based on Swedish lumber rafts, the keel was eventually laid down in a New York shipyard and the experimental ironclad was launched on March 6, 1862. The ship went from plans to launch in approximately 100 days, an amazing achievement. On March 8, the former heavy steam frigate USS Merrimack , rechristened as

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1080-626: A propeller-driven steamer for him and invited him to bring his invention across the Atlantic Ocean to the United States of America, as it would supposedly be more welcomed in that more free-thinking place. As a result, Ericsson moved to New York City in 1839. Captain Stockton's plan was for Ericsson to oversee the development of a new class of naval warship of a larger heavier frigate with Stockton using his considerable political connections to grease

1170-545: A quick answer to his financial worries but his business partner J.R. Temperley assumed control of the negotiations and demanded £100,000. The War Office agreed to this, but said that it would have to be paid out over a period of three years. Brennan accepted this, but Temperley demanded a further £10,000 for the delay, and after some argument the War Office agreed, also agreeing to pay Brennan a sizable salary to act as production chief. A scandal eventually blew up over this sum, which

1260-672: A revolutionary vessel for the French Navy . In 1851 he designed the Caloric ship Ericsson . Shortly after the American Civil War broke out in 1861, the Confederacy began constructing an ironclad ram upon the burnt hull hulk of the USS  Merrimack which had been partially burned and then scuttled / sunk by evacuating Federal troops before it was captured by militia forces loyal to the local Commonwealth of Virginia . Nearly concurrently,

1350-640: A separate Minister of Defence for the first time in 1947. In 1964, the present form of the Ministry of Defence was established, unifying the War Office, Admiralty, and Air Ministry. As early as 1718 letters from the Secretary at War were addressed from "The War Office". His department had several headquarters in London until it settled at Horse Guards in Whitehall during 1722. It remained there until 1858. Then, following

1440-506: A series of articles in the New York Times alleging that, by selecting the third-rate USS  Essex  (1874) to transport his remains, the US Navy was not paying proper respect to Ericsson. The Navy responded and sent the remains on the USS  Baltimore , escorted by other ships such as USS  Nantucket . On August 23, 1890, the fleet departed with a twenty-one gun salute and

1530-462: A slipway and parts of a telescopic control tower. Parts of the installation at Garrison Point survive including the direction stations on the face of the fort and parts of the slipway supports. The complete installation at Pier Cellars still exists although it was greatly modified during later use for midget submarines. At Malta the Tigne installation was later converted for use as the boom defence station but

1620-410: A steamer to recover fresh water for its boilers while at sea. His 'deep sea lead,' a pressure-activated fathometer was another minor, but enduring success. The commercial failure and development costs of some of the machines devised and built by Ericsson during this period put him into debtors' prison for an interval. At this time he also married 19-year-old Amelia Byam, a disastrous match that ended in

1710-559: A torpedo, and as the concept developed he sought the mathematical assistance of William Charles Kernot , a lecturer at Melbourne University . After earlier experiments with a single propeller, by 1878 Brennan had produced a working version about 15 feet (4.6 m) long, made from iron boiler plate, with twin contra-rotating propellers. Tests carried out in the Graving Dock at Williamstown, Victoria were successful, with steering proving to be reasonably controllable, although depth-keeping

1800-630: Is a major character in Harry Harrison's novels of alternate history , the Stars and Stripes trilogy . War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations in history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to

1890-558: Is exhibited in London: "the engine will prove the most important mechanical invention ever conceived by the human mind, and one that will confer greater benefits on civilized life than any that has ever preceded it" (John O. Sargent). This engine included a regenerator that would inspire many other hot air engine inventors. The caloric ship, powered by the fourth Ericsson engine was built in 1852. A group of New York merchants and financiers headed by John B Kitching, Edward Dunham, President of

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1980-481: Is thought that a different design of blower was used which was an 'Induced Draught' type, sucking the gases from the fire). The pair ran trials on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway but the railway declined to purchase the new designs. Their innovative steam fire engine proved an outstanding technical success by helping to quell the memorable Argyll Rooms fire on February 5, 1830 (where it worked for five hours when

2070-511: The CSS ; Virginia , for the new Confederate States Navy , was wreaking havoc on the wooden Union Navy Blockading Squadron in the lower / southern Chesapeake Bay of Virginia , sinking USS  Congress and USS  Cumberland and damaging / running aground the USS Minnesota off-shore of the northside peninsula from Newport News . The new Monitor appeared the next day, initiating

2160-573: The Imperial General Staff was virtually dismantled. Its role was replaced effectively by the Committee of Imperial Defence , which debated broader military issues. The War Office decreased greatly in importance after the First World War, a fact illustrated by the drastic reductions of its staff numbers during the inter-war period. Its responsibilities and funding were also reduced. In 1936,

2250-486: The Jämtland Ranger Regiment , as a Second Lieutenant , but was soon promoted to Lieutenant. He was sent to northern Sweden to do surveying, and in his spare time he constructed a heat engine which used the fumes from the fire instead of steam as a propellant. His skill and interest in mechanics made him resign from the army and move to England in 1826. However, his heat engine was not a success, as his prototype

2340-442: The Liverpool and Manchester Railway . It was widely praised but suffered recurring boiler problems, and the competition was won by English engineers George and Robert Stephenson with Rocket . Two further engines were built by Braithwaite and Ericsson, named William IV and Queen Adelaide after the new king and queen. These were generally larger and more robust than Novelty and differed in several details (for example it

2430-527: The U.S. Navy , who unjustly blamed him for the fatal accident of that new vessel. A new partnership with Cornelius H. DeLamater (1821–1889), of the DeLamater Iron Works in New York City resulted in the first armoured ironclad warship equipped with a rotating gun turret , USS  Monitor , which dramatically saved the U.S. ( Union Navy ) naval blockading squadron from destruction by an ironclad Confederate States naval vessel, CSS  Virginia , at

2520-618: The Union's United States Navy , including additional twin turret versions, and contributed greatly to the further continued success of the blockade of Southern coasts and port cities with naval victory of the Union over the rebellious states. Despite their low draft and subsequent problems in navigating in high seas, plus frequent engine break-downs, many basic design elements of the Monitor class were copied in future warships by other designers and navies around

2610-811: The United States Congress had recommended to the U.S. Navy Department in August 1861 that armored ships be built for the American Navy. Ericsson still had a dislike for the U.S. Navy because of his personal experience with now Commodore Stockton, but he was nevertheless convinced by 16th President Abraham Lincoln 's hard-working new Secretary of the Navy , Gideon Welles (1802-1878, served 1861-1869), and railroad executive / shipbuilder Cornelius Scranton Bushnell (1829-1896), to submit an ironclad ship design to them. Ericsson later presented drawings of USS  Monitor ,

2700-528: The War Office proved more amenable, and in early August 1881 a special Royal Engineer committee was instructed to inspect the torpedo at Chatham and report back directly to the Secretary of State for War, Hugh Childers . The report strongly recommended that an improved model be built at government expense. At the time the Royal Engineers - part of the army - was responsible for Britain's shore defenses, while

2790-458: The breech , adding to its strength and allowing safe use of a larger charge. Other innovations on the warship design included a collapsible smoke funnel and an improved recoil system for the artillery. The relations between Ericsson and Stockton had grown tense over time and, approaching the completion of the ship, Stockton began working to force Ericsson out of the shipbuilding project. Stockton carefully avoided letting outsiders know that Ericsson

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2880-583: The 1867 confederation of the Dominion of Canada , was to split the military administration of the British Empire much as the War and Colonial Office had: In February 1855, the new Secretary of State for War was additionally commissioned as Secretary at War, thus giving the Secretary of State oversight of the War Office in addition to his own department. The same procedure was followed for each of his successors, until

2970-597: The Army Council was recommended by the War Office (Reconstitution) Committee, and formally appointed by Letters Patent dated 8 February 1904, and by Royal Warrant dated 12 February 1904. The management of the War Office was hampered by persistent disputes between the civilian and military parts of the organisation. The government of H.H. Asquith attempted to resolve this during the First World War by appointing Lord Kitchener as Secretary for War. During his tenure,

3060-633: The Cabinet. The disastrous campaigns of the Crimean War resulted in the consolidation of all administrative duties in 1855 as subordinate to the Secretary of State for War, a Cabinet job. He was not, however, solely responsible for the Army; the Commander-in-Chief had a virtually equal degree of responsibility. This was reduced in theory by the reforms introduced by Edward Cardwell in 1870, which subordinated

3150-463: The Commander-in-Chief to the Secretary for War. In practice, however, a large influence was retained by the conservative Commander-in-Chief Field Marshal Prince George, 2nd Duke of Cambridge , who held the post between 1856 and 1895. His resistance to reform caused military efficiency to lag well behind that of Britain's rivals, a problem that became obvious during the Second Boer War . The situation

3240-950: The Committee on Armaments of Home Ports issued a report in which they recommended the removal of all Brennan torpedoes from fixed defences due to their comparatively short range and the difficulty of launching them at night. Manufacture of the Brennan torpedo finished in 1906. In 1891 It was intended to build 15 stations as indicated in a report to the Director of Artillery. We have now completed or in progress 7 installations viz. Thames (Cliffe), Medway (Garrison Pt), Portsmouth (Cliff End/Fort Albert), Plymouth (Pier Cellars/Cawsand Bay), Cork Harbour (Fort Camden), Malta (Tigné and Ricasoli). Further sites proposed as funds become available at Plymouth (Bovisand), Milford Haven, Clyde, Forth, Falmouth, Hong Kong, Singapore and St Lucia. The first seven were completed but out of

3330-813: The Corn Exchange Bank, and G.B. Lamar, president of the Bank of the Republic, backed the project and in April, 1852, the keel of the ship was laid at the yard of Perine, Patterson, and Stack in Williamsburgh. At about the same time the construction of the engine was commenced by Messrs Hogg and Delamater. Hull and machinery were built in the greatest possible secrecy, both Ericsson and his financial backers being convinced that their ship would revolutionize ocean transport by its economy and safety, and that competitors would if possible copy

3420-563: The House of Commons, routinely presented the House with the Army Estimates, and occasionally spoke on other military matters as required. In symbolic terms, he was seen as signifying parliamentary control over the Army. Issues of strategic policy during wartime were managed by the Northern and Southern Departments (the predecessors of today's Foreign Office and Home Office ). From 1704 to 1855,

3510-521: The Lincoln Memorial. The stamp pictures the memorial design by J. H. Frazer. The seated figure of Ericsson has the figures above and behind him of Vision, Labor and Adventure. Monuments in honor of John Ericsson have been erected at: Ships named in his honor: Organizations: Mount Ericsson, a mountain summit located in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California, is named in his honor. Ericsson

3600-504: The Navy , Thomas Walker Gilmer (of the Presidential Cabinet of 10th President John Tyler , 1790-1862, served 1841-1845), as well as six others accompanying them. Stockton attempted to deflect the blame onto Ericsson, with moderate success, despite the fact Ericsson's gun was sound and it was instead Stockton's second gun that had failed. Stockton also refused to pay Ericsson, and by using his political connections, Stockton blocked

3690-643: The Royal Navy was responsible for its seaward protection. In 1883 an agreement was reached between the Brennan Torpedo Company and the government. The newly appointed Inspector-General of Fortifications in England, Sir Andrew Clarke , appreciated the value of the torpedo and in spring 1883 an experimental station was established at Garrison Point Fort , Sheerness on the River Medway and a workshop for Brennan

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3780-703: The Swedish flag hoisted on every ship of the squadron. Around 100,000 people turned out for the funeral procession and departure ceremonies, including several veterans of the USS Monitor . His final resting place is at Filipstad in Värmland , Sweden. The stamp commemorating John Ericsson on April 20, 1926, coincided with the unveiling of the Ericsson Memorial in West Potomac Park , Washington, DC directly south of

3870-532: The U.S. Navy bureaucracy from paying him. When Ericsson arrived from England and settled in New York City, he was persuaded by Samuel Risley of Greenwich Village to give his work to the Phoenix Foundry. There he met industrialist and iron / steel foundry owner Cornelius H. DeLamater (1821–1889), and soon a mutual attachment developed between the two. Rarely thereafter did Ericsson or DeLamater enter upon

3960-471: The War Office was directed initially by the Secretary at War , whose role had originated during the reign of King Charles II as the secretary to the Commander-in-Chief of the Army . In the latter part of the 17th century, the office of Commander-in-Chief was vacant for several periods, which left the Secretary at War answering directly to the Sovereign; and thereafter, even when the office of Commander-in-Chief

4050-425: The above section on John Ericsson's Friendship with Cornelius H. DeLamater says that the ship known as the Ericsson was built by the DeLamater Iron Works) to try out the hot air engine as a motive power in open ocean navigation. Decades later, in 1883 John Ericsson built a solar air engine of 1 HP. The leading feature of the sun motor is that of concentrating the radiant heat by means of a rectangular trough having

4140-403: The architect of Göta Canal . They were dubbed 'cadets of mechanics' of the Swedish Royal Navy , and engaged as trainees at the canal enterprise. At the age of fourteen, John was already working independently as a surveyor . His assistant had to carry a footstool for him to reach the instruments during surveying work. At the age of seventeen he joined the Swedish army in Jämtland , serving in

4230-456: The book Contributions to the Centennial Exhibition (1877, reprinted 1976) he presented his "sun engines", which collected solar heat for a hot air engine . One of these designs earned Ericsson additional income after being converted to work as a methane gas engine. Ericsson died on March 8, 1889, the anniversary of the Battle of Hampton Roads, in which his Monitor famously played a central role. His wish to be buried in his native land sparked

4320-430: The building required five years to complete, at a cost of more than 1.2 million pounds. The building is somewhat oddly shaped, forming a trapezoid in order to maximise the use of the irregularly shaped plot of land on which it was built: its four distinctive domes were designed as a decorative means of disguising the shape. It has around 1,100 rooms on seven floors. After 1964 the building continued to be used, under

4410-409: The couple's separation until Amelia's death. He was elected as a member to the American Philosophical Society in 1877. His only formal education was a basic officer's education and training during his time in the Swedish Army , achieving the military rank of captain . On March 27, 1822, John passed a surveyor's examination in the Royal capital city of Stockholm . As a child he was taught to be

4500-427: The design of at least the engine. On September 15, 1852, the ship was launched and in November the engine was turned over at the dock under its own power. It will be a failure. Smaller experimental engines based on the same patent design and built before the caloric ship will prove to be working efficiently. In his later years, the caloric engine would render Ericsson comfortably wealthy, as its boilerless design made it

4590-581: The dissolution of the Board of Ordnance, the War Office moved into the Board's former offices in Cumberland House , Pall Mall . Over the ensuing years it expanded into adjacent properties on Pall Mall before it was relocated to purpose-built accommodation, in what is now known as the Old War Office Building, in 1906. Between 1906 and its abolition in 1964 the War Office was based in a large neo-Baroque building designed by William Young , completed during 1906, and located on Horse Guards Avenue at its junction with Whitehall in Central London. The construction of

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4680-419: The driving belt powering the planing machine was taut and the non-driving side was slack. Brennan reasoned that if one dispensed with the non-driving side it would be possible to transfer energy to a vehicle and power it from a static power source. The concept was to place a drum of fine wire in the vehicle in place of the belt. The wire was attached to an engine to wind it in, rotating the drum that then propelled

4770-412: The establishment of the Colonial Office in 1854). From 1824, the British Empire (excepting India , which was administered separately by the East India Company and then the India Office ) was divided by the War and Colonial Office into the following administrative departments: NORTH AMERICA WEST INDIES MEDITERRANEAN AND AFRICA EASTERN COLONIES The War Office, after 1854 and until

4860-486: The exception of Ricasoli, the design of these was constrained by the existing structure and resulted in unique designs. In addition the ones at Fort Camden at Cork and Tigné at Malta together with proposed designs for Milford Haven followed a very similar layout while the Installations at Lei Yue Mun in Hong Kong and Pier Cellars at Plymouth were individual designs. The installation at Fort Albert has been completely destroyed. That at Cliffe Fort partially exists, including

4950-410: The famous Battle of Hampton Roads harbor at the southern mouth of the Chesapeake Bay (at the confluence of the James and Elizabeth Rivers ) in March 1862, during the American Civil War (1861-1865). Johan Ericsson was born at Långban in Filipstad Municipality , Värmland , in the Kingdom of Sweden in Northern Europe / Scandinavia . He was the younger brother of Nils Ericson (1802–1870),

5040-456: The first battle between ironclad warships on March 9, 1862, at the Hampton Roads harbor of southeastern Virginia . The battle ended in a tactical stalemate between the two ironclad warships, neither of which appeared capable of sinking the other, only causing minor damage on its opponent, but strategically saved the remaining Federal fleet from loosing any more now obsolete wooden warships and defeat. After this, numerous monitors were built for

5130-401: The first submarine boat, first self-propelled torpedo, and first torpedo boat. When DeLamater died on February 2, 1889, Ericsson could not be consoled. Ericsson's own death only one month later in March 1889, was not surprising to his close friends and acquaintances." Ericsson then proceeded to invent independently the caloric, or hot air, engine in the 1820s which used hot air, caloric in

5220-414: The funding authorizations wheels. Finally, after the death of 9th President William Henry Harrison (1773-1841, served March-April 1841), and succession to the Presidency by his former Vice President John Tyler in the spring of 1841, funds were then allocated to the Navy under the new administration for a new design. However, they only received funding enough for a 700-ton Sloop-of-war design instead of

5310-419: The government of Stanley Baldwin appointed a Minister for Co-ordination of Defence, who was not part of the War Office. When Winston Churchill became Prime Minister in 1940, he bypassed the War Office altogether, and appointed himself Minister of Defence (though there was, curiously, no ministry of defence until 1947). Clement Attlee continued this arrangement when he came to power in 1945, but appointed

5400-459: The installation at Fort Camden in County Cork are visible to this day. The launching rails at Cliffe Fort in Kent are crossed by the public footpath and though heavily rusted are very easy to get close to. There is also a display at Lei Yue Mun Fort in Hong Kong which shows a replica Brennan Torpedo with the side cut away so the workings are visible. John Ericsson John Ericsson (born Johan Ericsson ; July 31, 1803 – March 8, 1889)

5490-440: The job of Secretary remained occupied by a minister of the second rank (although he was occasionally part of the Cabinet after 1794). Many of his responsibilities were transferred to the Secretary of State for War after the creation of that more senior post in 1794 (though the latter was also responsible for Britain's colonies from 1801, and renamed Secretary of State for War and the Colonies , an arrangement which only ceased with

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5580-424: The name The Old War Office, by the Ministry of Defence . On 1 June 2007 the building, other than the steps that give access to it, was designated as a protected site for the purposes of Section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 . The effect was to make it a specific criminal offence for a person to trespass on the building. In August 2013 it was announced that the building would be sold on

5670-473: The new Ministry of Defence (MoD). It was at that time, equivalent to the Admiralty , responsible for the Royal Navy (RN), and (much later) the Air Ministry , which oversaw the Royal Air Force (RAF). The name 'War Office' is also given to the former home of the department, located at the junction of Horse Guards Avenue and Whitehall in central London. The landmark building was sold on 1 March 2016 by HM Government for more than £ 350 million, on

5760-403: The office of Secretary at War was abolished altogether in 1863. In 1855, the Board of Ordnance was abolished as a result of its perceived poor performance during the Crimean War . This powerful independent body, dating from the 15th century, had been directed by the Master-General of the Ordnance , usually a very senior military officer who (unlike the Secretary at War) was often a member of

5850-443: The open market, with a goal of realising offers above 100 million pounds. On 13 December 2014 the Ministry of Defence confirmed that the building would be sold to the Hinduja Group for an undisclosed amount. The building was sold on 1 March 2016 for more than 350 million pounds, on a 250-year lease, to the Hinduja Group and OHL Developments for conversion to a luxury hotel and residential apartments. Hinduja and Raffles plan to open

5940-411: The operator was able to hit a floating object at 2,000 yards (1,800 m) and was able to turn the torpedo through 180 degrees to hit a target from the off side. Tomlinson states that in 1874 while watching a planing machine worked by a driving belt, Brennan stumbled on the paradox that it was possible to make a machine travel forward by pulling it backward. Beanse expands Brennan’s observation of

6030-527: The ordinary type. Practical engineers, as well as scientists, have demonstrated that solar energy cannot be rendered available for producing motive power, in consequence of the feebleness of solar radiation. On September 26, 1854, Ericsson presented Emperor Napoleon III of France with drawings of iron-clad armored battleships with a dome -shaped gun tower, and even though the French emperor praised this particular plan of an invention, he did nothing to bring it to practical application or to obtain and build such

6120-423: The other eight only the one at Hong Kong was completed. The plans for two installations at Dale Point and Great Castle Head, Milford Haven were drawn up but not carried out. Four Brennan installations were added to existing fortifications at Fort Albert on the Isle of Wight, Cliffe Fort on the Thames, Garrison Point at the entrance to The Medway and at Fort Ricasoli at the entrance to the Grand Harbour at Malta. With

6210-416: The other engines were frozen up), but was met with resistance from London's established 'Fire Laddies' and municipal authorities. An engine Braithwaite and Ericsson constructed for Sir John Ross 's 1829 Arctic expedition failed and was dumped on the shores of Prince Regent Inlet . At this stage of Ericsson's career the most successful and enduring of his inventions was the surface condenser , which allowed

6300-404: The remit of his office to cover general day-to-day administration of the Army. After Blathwayt's retirement in 1704, Secretary at War became a political office. In political terms, it was a fairly minor government job (despite retaining a continued right of access to the monarch) which dealt with the minutiae of administration, rather than grand strategy. The Secretary, who was usually a member of

6390-422: The rooms still exist. At Fort Ricasoli the complex of buildings still exist and the slipway is mostly intact. At Lei Yue Mun the installation has been incorporated into a museum with a replica Brennan Torpedo on display. At Fort Camden most of the installation still exists but is derelict. The only remaining original Brennan Torpedo is exhibited at the Royal Engineers Museum in Chatham, Kent . However, traces of

6480-523: The scientific parlance of the day, instead of steam as a working fluid. A similar device had been patented earlier in 1816 by the Reverend Robert Stirling (1790-1878), whose technical priority of invention provides the usual term 'Stirling Engine' for the device. Ericsson's engine was not initially successful due to the differences in combustion temperatures between burning Swedish wood and firing of British coal. In spite of his setbacks, Ericsson

6570-528: The torpedo, and in March 1879 it was successfully tested in Hobsons Bay , Melbourne. Brennan had by now established the Brennan Torpedo Company, and had assigned half of the rights on his patent to civil engineer John Ridley Temperley, in exchange for much-needed funds. Brennan and Temperley soon afterwards travelled to Britain, where the Admiralty examined the torpedo and found it unsuitable for shipboard use. However,

6660-431: The torpedo, each carrying several thousands yards of high-tensile steel wire. The drums were connected via a differential gear to twin contra-rotating propellers. If one drum was rotated faster than the other, then the rudder was activated. The other ends of the wires were connected to steam-powered winding engines, which were arranged so that speeds could be varied within fine limits, giving sensitive steering control for

6750-441: The torpedo. The torpedo attained a speed of 20 knots (23 mph) using a wire .04 inches (1.0 mm) in diameter but later this was changed to .07 inches (1.8 mm) to increase the speed to 27 knots (31 mph). The torpedo was fitted with elevators controlled by a depth-keeping mechanism, and the fore and aft rudders operated by the differential between the drums. In operation, the torpedo's operator would be positioned on

6840-437: The vehicle away from its start point. He demonstrated this by means of a cotton reel, with a pencil thrust through the hole in the centre. By resting the ends of this pencil on two books and unwinding the cotton by pulling it from underneath he caused the reel to roll forward, the harder he pulled the faster the cotton unwound and the quicker the reel travelled in the opposite direction. Brennan began making rough sketches of such

6930-510: The waterfront / west end of West 13th Street in Lower Manhattan 's westside, became known as the Asylum where Capt Ericsson had free rein to experiment and attempt new feats. The Iron Witch was next constructed, the first iron steamboat. The first hot-air invention of Capt Ericsson was first introduced in the ship Ericsson , built entirely by DeLamater. The DeLamater Iron Works also launched

7020-441: The world. The rotating gun turret in particular is considered one of the greatest technological advances in naval history, still found on modern warships today. Later Ericsson designed other naval vessels and weapons, including a type of torpedo and a destroyer , a torpedo boat that could fire a cannon from an underwater port. He also provided some technical support for John Philip Holland in his early submarine experiments. In

7110-719: Was a Swedish-American engineer and inventor. He was active in England and the United States. Ericsson collaborated on the design of the railroad steam locomotive Novelty , which competed in the Rainhill Trials on the Liverpool and Manchester Railway , which were won by inventor George Stephenson 's (1781–1848), Rocket . Later in North America , he designed the United States Navy 's first screw-propelled steam-frigate USS  Princeton , in partnership with Captain (later Commodore) Robert F. Stockton (1795–1866) of

7200-402: Was an enormous success. On October 20, 1843, she won a speed trial against the huge passenger liner, paddle steamer SS  Great Western , until then considered the fastest steamer afloat. Unfortunately, during a firing demonstration of Capt. Stockton's gun, the breech ruptured and exploded , killing visiting onboard observers of U.S. Secretary of State Abel P. Upshur and the Secretary of

7290-473: Was designed to burn birchwood and would not work well with coal (the main fuel used in England). Notwithstanding the disappointment, he invented several other mechanisms instead based on steam , improving the heating process by incorporating bellows to increase oxygen supply to the fire bed. In 1829 he and English engineer John Braithwaite (1797–1870) built Novelty for the Rainhill Trials arranged by

7380-605: Was initially used for the separate office of the Secretary of State for War; in 1855, the offices of Secretary at War and Secretary of State for War were amalgamated, and thereafter the terms War Office and War Department were used somewhat interchangeably. The War Office developed from the Council of War , an ad hoc grouping of the King and his senior military commanders which managed the Kingdom of England 's wars and campaigns. The management of

7470-539: Was later awarded the Rumford Prize of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1862 for his invention. In 1830, Ericsson patented his second engine, that can work either with steam, air or water. This rotative engine objective is to reduce the engine within more convenient limits without any corresponding loss of power. By 1833, Capt. Ericsson built his third engine, a hot air engine (or caloric engine) that

7560-508: Was not. The British Admiralty had meanwhile instructed Rear Admiral J. Wilson, the Commodore of the Royal Navy's Australian Squadron, to investigate the weapon and report back. Alexander Kennedy Smith was also working to obtain the Victoria government's backing for the project and raised the subject in the state's legislature on 2 October 1877. A grant was eventually awarded for the development of

7650-664: Was only remedied in 1904, when the job of Commander-in-Chief was abolished, and replaced with that of the Chief of the General Staff , which was replaced by the job of Chief of the Imperial General Staff in 1908. An Army Council was created with a format similar to that of the Board of Admiralty , directed by the Secretary of State for War, and an Imperial General Staff was established to coordinate Army administration. The creation of

7740-460: Was restored on a more permanent basis, the Secretary at War retained his independence. The department of the Secretary at War was referred to as the 'Warr Office' (sic) from as early as 1694; its foundation has traditionally been ascribed to William Blathwayt , who had accompanied King William III during the Nine Years' War and who, from his appointment as Secretary in 1684, had greatly expanded

7830-505: Was set up at the Chatham Barracks, the home of the Royal Engineers. Between 1883 and 1885 the Royal Engineers held trials and in 1886 the torpedo was recommended for adoption as a harbour defence torpedo. In 1884 Brennan received a letter from the War Office stating that they had decided to adopt his torpedo for harbour defence and he was invited to attend a meeting to decide the value of his invention. Brennan decided to accept £40,000 as

7920-412: Was similar in appearance to more modern ones, apart from having a flattened oval cross-section instead of a circular one. It was designed to run at a consistent depth of 12 feet (3.7 m), and was fitted with an indicator mast that just broke the surface of the water; at night the mast had a small light fitted which was only visible from the rear. Two steel drums were mounted one behind the other inside

8010-466: Was the primary inventor. Stockton attempted to claim as much credit for himself as possible, even designing a second 12 in (300 mm) gun to be also mounted on the Princeton . Unfortunately, because Stockton did not totally understand the design of the first gun (originally named "The Orator", renamed "The Oregon" by Stockton), the second gun was fatally flawed. When launched, the U.S.S. Princeton

8100-826: Was wildly extravagant in comparison to the £15,000 paid for manufacturing rights to the Whitehead torpedo only 15 years previously. The Brennan torpedo became a standard harbour defence throughout the British Empire and was in use for more than 15 years. Operational stations were established in the UK at Cliffe Fort, Fort Albert on the Isle of Wight and Plymouth . Other stations included Fort Camden in Cork Harbour , Ireland, Lei Yue Mun Fort in Hong Kong and Forts Ricasoli and Tigné in Malta. In 1905

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