The Mechanised Metropolitan Constabulary

The City of London's Metropolitan Police was one of the earliest forces to introduce a Mechanised Constabulary Division. The first mechanically-assisted Constables took to the beat only fourteen years after the Met's founding. In this, as with the adoption of advanced detection methods and psychological profiling, Scotland Yard was to prove ahead of its time, blazing a trail for police forces around the world to follow.
The arrival on the capital's streets of the fearsome contraptions was met with dismay by London's criminal underclasses. Nothing put a quicker stop to a tavern brawl or unlicensed political assembly than the stomp of one of the "Automatic Peelers", as the Mechanised Constables became known.
The burgeoning middle-classes also regarded the new-fangled police machinery with trepidation. Letters of complaint arrived regularly at the offices of The Times, raising the issues of startled horses and ladies of gentle nature being overcome by the mere sight of the mechanical behemoths. Questions were asked in the Houses Of Parliament, with the Prime Minister quizzed at length over the damage done to flowerbeds in Hyde Park by a Constable in powered pursuit of a vagabond.
Despite these concerns, the Mechanised Constables became a common sight on city streets throughout the Empire, and eventually a reassuring symbol of the maintenance of order.

Her Majesty's Dreadnought VICTORY

By the turn of the century the traditional dominance of the Imperial Navy over the oceans was in question, with the Prussian and Vulgarian Dreadnought fleets closing the technological gap. The Victory was the Admiralty's response.

At the time of her launch she was the largest and most expensive vessel afloat, costing the then-vast sum of one and a half million pounds. Armed with six long-range guns designed to fire the new nitroglycerine shells, she was capable of a devastating strike against both naval and shore targets. For close-range defence she was also equipped with carbines and anti-aircraft weapons.

She was also home to a midget submarine and a squad of the famous Navy Seal-Divers. These brave men, equipped with their distinctive diving apparatus made from the skins of rare seal pups, were to become world-famous for their exploits - in particular the daring wartime raid on the Prussian submersible yards of Kiel.

Interested readers can see a rare colour photograph of the Victory and a collection of technical blueprints here.

The Imperial Ambulatory Hussar

The Ambulatory Hussar was hailed as a triumph of Imperial engineering and design upon its introduction. However, the reputation of this fighting machine was to descend into infamy following the shameful use of mechanised troops against a peaceful political meeting in St Peter's Field in Manchester in 1869.

This engraving from the Times shows the strength of the national outcry over the use of the troops. The Prime Minister was shouted down by Opposition members in the House of Commons during an emergency debate, and the Press was highly-critical of Imperial Army Command for allowing "the deployment of armoured titans against a legitimate assembly of the very people they were sworn to protect".

Further images of this infamous mechanical contraption may be viewed here.

The Earl of Rosebery and his Bentley Sky Phantom

The photographic image above shows Archibald Philip-Primrose Rosebery, the flamboyant 5th Earl of Rosebery, at the controls of his beloved Bentley Sky Phantom.

Rosebery was one of the most famous society figures of his day; a succesful racehorse owner and author of political biographies, even enjoying a brief spell as Prime Minister from 1894-95.

Retiring from the Government citing boredom, he was to go on to succesfully woo the richest heiress in the Empire. This astute match, coupled with one of his horses winning the Derby, was to enable Rosebery to indulge his long-held fascination with aeronautics. He slowly built up one of the finest collections of vintage flying machines in the Empire, the envy of many a museum curator.

His pride and joy was the Bentley Sky Phantom, saved from scrap in 1901 and painstakingly-restored by his own hand, becoming the last airworthy Phantom in existence.

More images of the Bentley Sky Phantom, many of them in colour, may be viewed here.

O'Neill's Midget Submarine

Produced by the O'Neill's Company of Belfast and crewed by actual midgets, the iconic Midget Submarine was perfectly designed for operations in shallow coastal waters.

Only the shortage of potential crew members limited a wide deployment of this submersible for duties throughout the Empire. Missives from the Admirality Office at the time bemoaned "the lack of available midget sailors for use in a Navy which modern sensibilities forbade the employ of children".

The only Midget Submarine to see action was the "Little Pig", captained by Jock "Stumpy" McGurk. In a daring incursion into the Vulgarian fjords, the small craft used its single Explosive Harpoon to sink the battleship "Dragon", bringing an abrupt end to Vulgarian naval ambitions in the Baltic.

More images of the Midget Submarine, many of them in full colour, may be seen here.

The Arctic Expeditionary Force

The photograph above shows one of the light artillery support vehicles of the Imperial Arctic Expeditionary Force. In 1877 these troops were sent to the island of Svalbard to support the Kingdom of Norway in their increasingly-fractious territorial disagreements with the Russian Empire.

Russian submersibles had, five years previously, planted the double-headed eagle flag on the seabed beneath the Arctic ice, ostensibly claiming the entire Arctic Ocean as their sovereign territory. Naturally, the Norwegians objected strongly to this claim, and the area around the islands of Svalbard and Novaya Zemelya became the scene for a high-stakes game of political gamesmanship and military maneuvre.

Imperial commanders were reluctant to become involved, convinced they could do little to assist; the Imperial Navy was ill-suited to the ice-clogged waters and the Royal Aeronautic Corps could not fly dirigibles in the frigid and stormy skies. However, following a direct appeal to the Queen, Imperial military chiefs were instructed to do all they could to support the Norwegians.

The following summer, the Arctic Expeditionary Force left harbour and sailed for Svalbard. Despite the Force never seeing any action, this open show of support from the Empire was to give the Romanov dynasty pause for thought. The brief hiatus in Russian operations allowed the Norwegians to properly arrange their defence forces, albeit for a conflict that never materialised. Russian plans for territorial expansion were to be forgotten in the chaos of Revolution only a few years later.

In truth, the Arctic Expeditionary Force was woefully ill-equipped. Most commentators agree that if conflict with Russian forces had ensued on Svalbard, Imperial troops would have been quickly overwhelmed. This was an Imperial bluff that could have proved an embarassing defeat.

Further photographic images of this vehicle may be viewed here.

Sopwith Hurricane

The Sopwith Aeronautical Company was founded by Tommy (later Sir Thomas) Sopwith in Kingston-upon-Thames in 1867. The well-to-do gentleman sportsman and keen aeronaut formed his company with a group of like-minded acquaintances and opened their first factory in a disused ice rink. A number of experimental aeronautical designs emerged from the factory in Kingston in the early years, the most-succesful being a heavy triplane for the cargo market and an observation balloon for the Office of the Navy.

In 1883 production was to commence on the Hurricane, the most famous of Sopwith's aircraft. Its revolutionary 8-cylinder Merlin Steam Turbine, coupled with an innovative variable-pitch propellor, saw it move quickly to the fore in the world of military aviation. The Hurricane was the first aircraft to use mixed alloy construction techniques; its beams a strong but lightweight combination of steel and Cavorite. This gave it a higher operating ceiling and a longer range than any other fighter of its time.

The model picture here is fitted with a 0.5" Vickers Gun, firing high explosive nitroglycerine rounds. The pilot is Squadron Leader Stephen "Goose" Gourlay who was to become the first of the Royal Aeronautic Corps' many decorated Aces. Further photographic images of the celebrated Squadron Leader and this famous aircraft may be viewed here.

Tiger Moth

In an age of massive steel and iron airships, held aloft through the gravity-defying properties of Cavorite, the Royal Aeronautic Corps' "Tiger Moth" was an anachronistic throwback to the earlier days of aviation.

Sparingly constructed, predominantly from wood and canvas, the Tiger Moth was incredibly light. This allowed it to gain very high altitude (the effective ceiling of the aircraft was limited by pilot endurance rather than technical factors), able to attack even the highest-operating airships from above, dropping liquid-explosive incendiary bombs into the gas envelopes in a crippling blow.

Hugely successful in this specialised role, the Tiger Moth aircraft was to operate for many years as a mainstay of the Corps' defence strategies for the home islands of the Empire.

Further images of the Tiger Moth may be viewed here.

HMS "Pollyanna" - Imperial Pocket Battleship

The Pollyanna is a fine example of the P-Class pocket battleships which formed the backbone of the Imperial Atlantic Fleet from their introduction in 1852 until their replacement with the D-Class Destroyers during the 1890s.

This particular vessel, affectionately named "Polly Pocket" by her crew, saw extensive action during the Gibralter Incident of 1866, and was responsible for the sinking of seven Seccesionist gunboats.

In the Great Winter Storm of 1871, the Pollyanna was to engage in a daring and heroic mercy mission, delivering much-needed food and medical supplies to St Kilda. The islanders had been denied airship supply for three months due to the appalling weather, and the situation was becoming desperate. Defying terrifying seas, and the rocky approaches to the island, the Pollyanna completed its mission, undoubtedly saving many lives and earning the Captain and crew a letter of commendation from Her Imperial Majesty herself.

The interested reader may view more photographic images of the Pollyanna here.

Steam Stevedore

As the carrying capacity of merchant vessels increased, and the bustling Imperial docks and air-yards became busier and busier, a growing emphasis was to be placed on developing more efficient methods of handling cargo.

The Birmingham-based engineering firm run by Doctor Herbert Honeydew was to quickly dominate the growing market for power-assisted stevedoring. The model pictured in this advertisement of the time shows the most common Honeydew model, the Mark 6. Larger, more-powerful models were to see employment in the deep Cavorite mines of Southern Africa as well as in their established role as dockyard workhorses around the world.

Doctor Honeydew was famous at the time for personal appearances in his company's advertisements, always seen at the controls of the machinery. This was in response to safety concerns raised during the early adoption of power-assistance following a number of unfortunate operator fatalities.

The good Doctor was also notable for his pacifist beliefs, refusing to develop military versions of his reliable and popular machines, despite the obvious opportunity for considerable financial gain.

Newly-unearthed colour photographs of the Honeydew Mark 6, piloted by the Doctor himself, may be seen here.

The Lunar Expeditionary Landing

The Lunar Expeditionary Landing of 1898 was a triumph of Imperial technological ingenuity. The landing craft, christened "Mabel", put down on the Moon's Sea of Tranquility to establish Salisbury Base Camp on May 24th, the Queen's birthday.
Lofted skwards through a combination of Cavorite lift and rocket propulsion, the Lunar Expedition took three days to make the transit through the aether to the Moon. Captain W.E. Johns and Doctor Alexander "Alec" Watt were later to describe the journey as "deeply unsettling" and "rather peculiar". One can only imagine the discomfort they experienced whilst floating free of the reassuring certainty of the Earth's gravitational field.
That the two men made this epic journey and returned to the safety of their home planet alive is one of the greatest feats of exploration and scientific achievement of the modern age. Imperial men of science continue to study the variety of minerals brought back by the Expedition, and these have greatly increased our understanding of the early history of our solar system.
Despite the unwieldiness of their "vacuum suits", the two lunar explorers carried out many experiments during their nine hours on the surface of the Moon. Captain Johns was pleased to report that he struck a cricket ball, bowled by Doctor Watt, a distance of two full miles.
The Expedition was to establish that commercial mining operations would never be able to recoup the considerable costs of travelling to and fro between the Earth and her closest neighbour. Sadly, the famous Expedition of 1898 remains the only occasion on which men from planet Earth have walked on the soil of another world.
More of the photographic images from the Expedition can be seen here.

The Iron Fusiliers - Imperial Armoured Infantry

It was only with the abolition of the Board of Ordnance in 1891 that artillery and armoured infantry fell under the control of the Imperial War Office. Technical innovation, stifled under the notoriously-conservative Board, was to become a hallmark of Imperial Army Engineers in the following years.
One of the most famous developments of the time was the so-called "Iron Fusilier"; a steam-powered armour, giving the soldier inside great strength and excellent protection.
Despite the many advantages, and some proven (although admittedly small-scale) success on the battlefield, armoured infantry was never to become as widespread in Imperial forces as amongst Continental armies, notably the Prussian. The reasons as to why are many and varied, but it could be argued that such development fell foul of a deep-seated suspicion of mechanised warfare amongst senior Imperial officers. General Gascoyne, the flamboyant Cavalry commander, once remarked that he "would rather ride into battle astride a mule than be canned like a pilchard in one of those contraptions".
The particular model pictured is the Richards Version 2, and more illustrations may be perused at the reader's leisure here.

HMSV "Nautica"

Despite the rapid buildup in numbers of submarine craft in other navies (notably the Prussian and Manchurian), Imperial Naval Chiefs were initially sceptical of the promise held by these vessels. An announcement in The Times regarding the launch of Nautica's sister-craft "Thorn", makes clear the prevailing Navy attitude;

"It is understood that no ceremony will take place at the forthcoming launch of the first British submarine at Barrow-in-Furness. The Admiralty regards these boats as wholly in the nature of an experiment and like all other experiments carried out from time to time this one will be carried out with every privacy."

This attitude was to change markedly with the decimation of the Russian Pacific Fleet by Manchurian submarines during the short conflict of 1882. HMSVs Thorn and Nautica were to be quickly followed by bigger and more-heavily armed submarines, as a new branch of the Imperial Navy came into existence; "The Silent Service".

Both Nautica and Thorn were decommisioned and scrapped in 1897, however a collection of photographic images of Nautica survives, and can be viewed by the interested reader here.

HMS Dauntless

The Royal Aeronautic Corps vessel HMS Dauntless was launched from the Belfast airyards of Harland & Wolfe in August 1896.

Designed for the purpose of aerial bombardment, the Damocles Class was originally fitted to carry large conventional munitions. However, the weight of this payload was to limit both range and operating ceiling - relegating the Damocles vessels to a supporting role.

With the development of new Liquid Nitroglycerine munitions, the Damocles Class ships were refitted to carry these lighter and more powerful explosive devices. This change has seen the Damocles Class vessels become a key component in the Corps' projection of Imperial power in the skies of Northern Europe.

The move to the more volatile liquid explosive has not been without cost however. June 1901 saw the tragic loss of 3 aircrew and 14 ground support staff in an explosion at the Farnborough airdock during the loading of the Dauntless' sister vessel, HMS Defiant.

A collection of further photographic images of HMS Dauntless, many of them reproduced in full colour, may be viewed here.