7 Editors’ Foreword When we chose the theme for this issue, ‘Scientific and Technological advances in the Navies of the Georgian Era’, we had no inkling we would get so many impressive proposals – all on pertinent topics relevant to naval history at the dawning of the Industrial Revolution. This year’s contributors gave us quality content on inventions and innovations that facilitated the evolution of naval sea power, particularly in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic wars. We felt gratified that our talented authors gave us more than meticulous research; they fashioned dramatic stories of exploration and adventure, achievement and folly, death and survival, and the accomplishments of geniuses. Our lead article by fellow 1805 Club members, Captain John Wills RN, Rtd, and Kenneth Flemming, documents the life of Samuel Bentham, Royal Navy engineer, a brigadier-general for Russia under Catherine the Great, and the Royal Navy’s Inspector General of Naval Works, 1796 to 1805. In the latter position he invented a fresh water system for ships at sea, developed steam power machinery for slitting timber, improved dockyard firefighting methods and dredging operations, and mechanised the manufacture of ships’ blocks, while expanding dockyard facilities, personnel and efficiencies. Lieutenant-Colonel Aaron Bright, US Army, and professor at the US Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, tells a searing tale about cannons that exploded in battle, maiming and killing the sailors who manned them. A young officer in the Royal Artillery, Thomas Blomefield took on the problem, making cannons safer and more efficient, and Royal Navy firepower more formidable. Frequent contributor Anthony Bruce details the life of Benjamin Robins, mathematician, engineer, and England’s expert in the science of naval gunnery, who invented the carronade and gave the Royal Navy more accurate artillery. Retired US Navy Commander and naval historian Christopher Pieczynski tells the story of a weapon that the British hated: Robert Fulton’s torpedo. In the War of 1812, while the British cursed these ‘infernal machines’, Yankees copied Fulton’s blueprints to devise ways to sink HM ships. And most of us remember Fulton only for his steamboat! Fellow 1805 Club member, Captain Michael Barrett RN, studies the history of hydrography and cartography. Readers will enjoy his piece on improvements to naval charts during the Georgian era. Canadian Paul Martinovich, a retired
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