Henry Shrapnel
Henry Shrapnel | |
---|---|
Wiltshire, England | |
Died | 13 March 1842 Southampton, England | (aged 80)
Allegiance | |
Service/ | British Army |
Rank | Lieutenant general |
Unit | Royal Artillery |
Battles/wars | Flanders Campaign (WIA) |
Lieutenant general Henry Shrapnel (3 June 1761 – 13 March 1842) was a British Army officer whose name has entered the English language as the inventor of the shrapnel shell.
Biography
Henry Shrapnel was born at
In 1784, while a lieutenant in the Royal Artillery, he perfected, with his own resources, an invention of what he called "spherical case" ammunition: a hollow cannonball filled with lead shot that burst in mid-air. He successfully demonstrated this in 1787 at Gibraltar.[2] He intended the device as an anti-personnel weapon.
In 1803, the British Army adopted a similar but elongated explosive shell which immediately acquired the inventor's name.
Shrapnel served in Flanders, where he was wounded in 1793. He was promoted to major on 1 November 1803 after eight years as a captain. After his invention's success in battle at Fort Nieuw-Amsterdam, Surinam, on 30 April 1804,[4] Shrapnel was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 20 July 1804, less than nine months later.
In 1814, the British Government recognized Shrapnel's contribution by awarding him £1,200 (equivalent to £89,299 in 2021) a year for life.[5] Bureaucracy however prevented him from receiving the full benefit of this award.[1] He was appointed to the office of Colonel-Commandant, Royal Artillery, on 6 March 1827. He rose to the rank of lieutenant general on 10 January 1837.[6]
Shrapnel lived at Peartree House, near Peartree Green, Southampton from about 1835 until his death.[7][8]
See also
References
- ^ a b John Sweetman (2004). "Shrapnel, Henry (1761–1842)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
- ISBN 978-1-84614-177-5.
- ISSN 0098-7484.
- ISBN 978-0-900966-43-9.
- ^ Long, Tony (March 2008). "March 13, 1842: Henry Shrapnel Dies, But His Name Lives On". Wired. Archived from the original on 3 June 2008.
- ^ Vetch, Robert Hamilton (1897). . Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 52. pp. 163–165.
- ^ Vale, Jessica (1980). "Peartree House". Lost Houses of Southampton. bitterne.net. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
- ^ "Peartree House". Port Cities: Southampton. plimsoll.org. 1930. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2012.
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