Technolgy of War
U.S. Rifle Model 1889 ("Trapdoor")
http://spanamwar.com/trapdoor.htm
Single shot, black powder weapon was carried by many of the United States troops in the Spanish American War
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http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/images/h42969.jpg
The USS OREGON was one of the newest American battleships in 1898. The greatest advantage of this class of battleships was the capacity of the coal bunkers, allowing the ships to cross the ocean without recoaling. They were the first American vessels that combined this capability with heavy armor and armament, a great advantage in times of war.
The armor thickness and size of the main battery exceeded any that on any other ship in the US fleet, including the newer classes of battleships
Gatling Gun
http://spanamwar.com/Gatling.htm
The Gatling gun, one of the earliest forms of functional machines guns, was used during the Spanish American War, both on land and at sea. The use of the Gatling gun during the War is most well-known from its use in the assault on San Juan Hill.
By: Ryan Shimabukuro
Advancements in technology during the Spanish American War was one of the factors that led to what was a relatively short war. New guns and newly designed battleships allowed for quick decisive battles on land as well as at sea. The new technology developed for this war made the forces of the United States a more effective war machine. These developments ended the war within four months and as a result, American casualties were low.
The two main rifles used by the American infantry were the Model 1889 “trapdoor” rifle and the Model 1896 Krag-Jorgensen rifle. The “trapdoor” rifle was a single shot black powder rifle and was the main shoulder arm used at the beginning of the war.(1) The advantages of this gun were its knockdown power and the fact that the U.S. had a large number of the rifles in storage. However, as the war progressed soldiers began to experience the disadvantages of this rifle. One drawback was the rifles use of black powder. When fired, the rifle would leave an easily identifiable cloud of smoke, which enemy soldiers could see and fire upon. As a single shot rifle, the rate of fire for the “trapdoor” rifle was much slower than the Spanish Mauser rifle.(2) Spanish troops were able to fire multiple rounds while American soldiers had to constantly fire and reload their rifles. Another setback American soldiers encountered were that the rifle fired at a high trajectory rate making firing accurately difficult.(3)
The Model 1896 Krag-Jorgensen rifle was the more advanced of the two rifles but was in shorter supply. This rifle was a bolt-action magazine rifle and provided many advantages over the more commonly used “trapdoor” rifle such as rapidity of fire, ammunition reserve and ease of loading. The rifle used smokeless powder, which left no smoke cloud for the enemy to locate.(4) The rifle featured a cartridge that held five .30 caliber rounds. These rounds were smaller than the .45 caliber rounds used by the “trapdoor” rifle but because of their smaller size more ammunition could be carried. The .30 caliber rounds also fired on a flatter trajectory allowing for shots that are more accurate. The only disadvantage the gun had compared to its counterpart was its lower muzzle velocity and weaker knock down power.
The 7 X 57 mm Mauser rifle was the standard issue rifle for the Spanish forces. Like the American Krag-Jorgensen rifle, the Mauser had a five round magazine and used smokeless powder. The five round magazines featured a staggered column box, which improved the rifles compactness, which in turn made the rifle easier to maneuver with.(5) The smokeless powder made it difficult for the American soldiers to locate them. Theodore Roosevelt remarked on the difficulties of locating the Spanish army:, “as we advanced we were, of course, exposed,...But they themselves were entirely invisible. The jungle covered everything, and not the faintest trace of smoke was to be seen in any direction to indicate from whence the bullets came.”(6) The gun was superior to the American rifles for the most part because of its long non-rotary extractor that prevented double loading and improved the smoothness of operation. The superiority of the weapon was never more evident than at the battles of San Juan Hill and El Caney. At El Caney for example, 520 Spanish soldiers withstood attacks from nearly 12,000 American soldiers. Spanish soldiers were able to continuously fire on the Americans with accuracy and efficiency.(7) Though superior, the weapon proved to be no match for the overall efficiency of the American war machine.
Another important technological advancement that was used by American forces during the Spanish American War was the Gatling gun. The gun was invented in 1862 by R.J. Gatling and went through many modifications up to the war to fix problems such as jamming. The American army purchased eighteen model 1895 Gatling guns. The basic principle of the gun is that ten barrels revolve inside a supporting frame. As the barrels revolve, a mechanism automatically inserts rounds being fed from a vertical magazine atop the gun. Each barrel is then cocked and fired as they turn. Early versions of the weapon placed the gun on a fixed carriage but by the time of the war, it had been placed on a swivel mount.(8) This improved the efficiency of the weapon allowing the Americans to rake enemy positions.
The gun gave the Americans tremendous firepower that was evident during the San Juan Hill assaults. U.S. forces used three Gatling guns at San Juan Hill and in a time frame of only eight minutes each gun fired 6,000 rounds. This allowed the American forces to capture positions that seemed unconquerable. This represented the first time the Americans had close support machine guns.
Advancements in technology were evident in the American Navy as well. The Americans began a massive reconstruction of their Navy during the 1880’s.(9) Spanish action in Cuba and the development of a new imperialism contributed to the U.S. Navy’s entrance into the global race for naval Superiority.(10) Another influential factor in the reconstruction of the navy was naval strategist and historian Alfred Thayer Mahan. Mahan strongly influenced presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt to improve the navy. He believed in continual expansion throughout the Pacific and a naval fleet built around the battleship.(11) He argued that these boats must be offensively -oriented boats with large armaments and good protection to score quick decisive victories. Prior to this time the American navy depended on small hit and run cruisers.(12) From 1890 to the beginnings of the Spanish American War, the U.S. focused its attention on battleship development. The belief was that the battleship was the key for the U.S. to solidify itself as a world power.(13)
The Indiana class as well as the Iowa class battleships served as the newer types of battleships during the war. The Indiana class battleships consisted of the Indiana and her two sister ships the Massachusetts and the Oregon. These ships were designed to carry the heaviest armament and armor possible.(14) As the main battery, each had four thirteen-inch guns mounted in twin turrets fore and aft.(15) Eight-inch guns mounted in four wing turrets on the upper deck provided the ships intermediate battery.(16) As their secondary battery they each had four six-inch guns, twenty six-pounder quick-firers and six one-pounders. A newly developed rangefinder was put into use on these boats and proved to be highly effective.(17) The greatest advantage that this class of ship offered was the capacity of the coalbunkers. The large capacity allowed the ships to cover large amounts of ocean without re-coaling.(18)
However, these boats were not without their flaws. They all had relatively low free boards that made operating the main battery difficult to operate in heavy seas.(19) Another problem was that the gun mountings were not centralized. This meant that if the guns aimed to the side, the ship would sink to the side to which the guns were aimed.(20) This reduced the arc of elevation by five degrees, thus shortening their range. This problem was fixed in the Iowa class battleships. The guns of the Iowa class ships were balanced around their axes of rotation, unlike the unstable thirteen-inch turrets of the Indiana class.(21) Although the guns were slightly lighter than those of the Indiana class, they proved to be combat effective in the blockade of Cuba and in the battle of Santiago de Cuba on 3 July 1898.(22) Gaining control of Cuba’s waterways prevented re-supply of the Spanish forces and enabled U.S. forces to land its forces safely.(23)
Although these weapons and boats had their drawbacks, they still proved highly effective. The technology of war that the Americans used gave them an advantage over the Spanish. The reconstruction of the navy and improvements in American rifles and firearms proved to be highly influential to the success of U.S. forces. These changes made U.S. forces a more efficient war machine and allowed for a quick war and kept American casualties down.(1) Spanish American War Centennial Website, “Weapons”; available from http://spanamwar.com/weapons.htm; internet; accessed 11/2/05
(6) Roosevelt, Theodore, The Rough Riders (New York: DaCapo Press, Inc., 1990) 89.
(7) Spanish American War Centennial Website, “Spanish Account for the battle of El Caney”; available from http://spanamwar.com/Elcaneysp.htm; internet; accessed 11/2/05
(8) Spanish American War Centennial Website, “weapons”; available from http://spanamwar.com/weapons.htm ; internet; accessed 11/3/05
(9) Reilly, John C. American Battleships 1886-1923 (Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, 1980), 4
(11) Houghton Mifflin college division, “Mahan, Alfred Thayer”; available from http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/rcah/html/ah_055600_mahanalfredt.htm ; internet; accessed 11/28/05
(13) Reilly, John C. American Battleships 1886-1923 (Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, 1980), 5
(18) Spanish American War Centennial Website, “United States Navy”; available from http://spanamwar.com/usnavy.htm ; internet; accessed 11/4/05
(21) Reilly, John C. American Battleships 1886-1923 (Annapolis: United States Naval Institute, 1980), 75
(23) Wikipedia, “Spanish American War”; available from http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish-American_War ; internet; accessed 11/8/05
