SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
rocket throwers. They used very large bamboo rockets which had a range of hundreds of metres. The British
were determined to learn from their mistakes and a British officer, William Congrieve, began work on
developing even bigger and better rockets. Within a few years Congrieve had developed 14 kg iron rockets
that could be fired over 3200 m. These rockets were successfully used against Napoleon in the battle of
Waterloo and during the US War of Independence.
By the 1889s other applications for rockets were being developed. They were used for signalling,
for whaling, and even for rescuing people from sinking ships. If a boat got into trouble near to the shore, a
rocket with a thin rope tied to it would be fired out over the boat; survivors in lifeboats could use the ropes
to pull themselves ashore. These traditional rockets are still used as distress signals on boats and planes.
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