International Naval Journal

3-63

Authors: Kent R. Crawford, Donald E. Carlucci

The decades of the 1860s and 1870s were characterized by one of the most thorough-going Technical Revolutions the world had ever seen, which has been characterized as the ‘Second Industrial Revolution.’ And this Revolution affected the world’s Navies no less than every other human endeavor. In the field of ordnance, iron smooth-bore cannon firing solid round shot were replaced by rifled cannon, initially to lob elongated exploding shell with greater accuracy, but soon firing elongated solid shot needed to pierce armor plate. History recalls the many designers and/or manufacturers of the Great Guns. Yet the work of lesser known figures has been overlooked. This is a continuation of the story of Captain A.T. Blakely, R.A. by examining the work of John Mercer Brooke, a licensee, and his successor, Josiah Vavasseur. Context is provided by an examination of the gradual abandonment of the Armstrong System reliance on wrought iron and the eventual adoption of steel by the British Government.

74-80

Authors: Jesús María Medel Soteras

Throughout the ХХ century Spanish feluccas and sailing boats (A and B-classes) were of great importance in the work of the customs service. Most of them appeared in the customs fleet as a result of the confiscation of former ships detained with smuggling. As a result, practically no different from similar fishing and smuggling vessels, they could quietly fulfill their sentinel functions, at the most unexpected moment, detaining violators. Unfortunately, there is still no work allowing a systematic analysis of the service of vessels of A and B-classes. In this publication, compiled on the basis of the memoirs of Spanish customs veterans and the archive of the customs service, an attempt is made to reconstruct the biographies of vessels of A and B-classes, as well as photographic materials that give an idea of their appearance.