William Hale | |
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.jpeg) William Hale, 1840s | |
| Born | 21 October 1797 (1797-10-21) |
| Died | 30 March 1870(1870-03-30) (aged 72) |
| Known for | Invention of the rotary rocket |
William Hale (21 October 1797 – 30 March 1870),[1] was aBritishinventor androcket pioneer.
Hale was born inColchester,England in 1797.[2] He was self-taught although his grandfather, the educator William Cole, is believed to have tutored him.[3] By 1827 he had obtained his first patent; he also won a first class Gold Medal of theRoyal Society of Arts inParis for his paper on ship propulsion using an early form of jet propulsion.[3]
Hale was inducted into theInternational Space Hall of Fame in 2004.[4]
In 1844, Hale patented a new form of rotary rocket that improved on the earlierCongreve rocket design. Hale removed the guidestick from the design, instead vectoring part of the thrust through canted exhaust holes to provide rotation of the rocket, which improved its stability in flight.[1]
These rockets could weigh up to 60 pounds (27 kg) and were noted for their glare and noise on ignition.
Hale rockets were first used by theUnited States Army in theMexican–American War of 1846–1848. Although theBritish Army experimented with Hale rockets during theCrimean War of 1853–1856 they did not officially adopt them until 1867. In theAmerican Civil War of 1861-1865 the Union forces deployed the Hale rocket launcher, a metal tube that fired 7-and-10-inch (18 and 25 cm) long spin-stabilized rockets up to 2,000 yards (1.8 km). It was only generally used by the U.S. Navy.[5]
Media related toWilliam Hale (British inventor) at Wikimedia Commons
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