THE military HTHE ultIimaSte vTisualO GUIDE TRO thYe weapoBns thOat shaOped theK world THE milita ry HTHE ultIimaSte vTisualO GUIDE TRO thYe weapoBns thOat shapOed the Kworld ROYAL ARMOURIES CONSULTANTS LONDON • NEW YORK ROYAL ARMOURIES MUNICH • MELBOURNE • DELHI Acknowledged as one of the world’s finest museums of arms and armour, Senior Editor Gareth Jones Royal Armouries holds in trust for the Editorial Team Hannah Bowen, Hugo Wilkinson, British nation one of the greatest and Alison Sturgeon, Steve Setford, Andy Szudek, Satu Fox most comprehensive collections ever Senior Art Editors Michael Duffy, Sharon Spencer assembled – a treasure of international Design Team Keith Davis, Steve Woosnam-Savage importance. Spanning antiquity to the Photographer Gary Ombler present day, the collections include Production Editors Ben Marcus, Tony Phipps Royal armours, the arms and armour Production Controller Linda Dare of the English Civil Wars, weapons Picture Research Sarah Smithies, Roland Smithies from the Board of Ordnance and Cover Designer Mark Cavanagh Ministry of Defence, civilian hunting Managing Editor Stephanie Farrow and sporting pieces, and Oriental Managing Art Editor Lee Griffiths arms and armour. Cobalt ID Thom Richardson The Stables, Wood Farm Keeper of Armour and Oriental Collections Deopham Road, Attleborough Robert C Woosnam-Savage Norfolk NR17 1AJ Curator of European Edged Weapons Managing Editor Marek Walisiewicz Managing Art Editor Paul Reid Jonathan Ferguson Editors Richard Gilbert, Louise Abbott Curator of Firearms Art Editors Darren Bland, Lloyd Tilbury Mark Murray-Flutter DK India Senior Curator of Firearms Managing Editor Saloni Talwar Trevor Weston Senior Editors Neha Gupta, Priyanka Naib Manager of Modern Military Firearms Editorial Team Surbhi Kapoor, Suneha Dutta Managing Art Editor Romi Chakraborty Karen Watts Senior Designers Govind Mittal, Anis Sayyed Senior Curator of Armour and Art Design Team Pankaj Bhatia, Amit Varma, Honlung Zach Nicholas Hall Senior DTP Designer Harish Aggarwal DTP Designers Vishal Bhatia, Jagtar Singh, Keeper of Artillery Dheeraj Arora Philip Magrath CTS Manager Balwant Singh Curator of Artillery Production Editor Pankaj Sharma Managing Director Aparna Sharma ADDITIONAL First published in Great Britain in 2012 by CONSULTANTS Dorling Kindersley Limited 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL Penguin Group (UK) Brian Lavery Curator of Naval History 2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1 National Maritime Museum, Greenwich 001 – 182907 – Oct/2012 Stephen Woolford MBE Head of Interpretation and Collections Copyright © 2012 Dorling Kindersley Limited Imperial War Museum, Duxford All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in CONTRIBUTORS a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise R G Grant without the prior written permission of the copyright owners. Philip Parker A CIP catalogue record for this book is available Ian Bottomley from the British Library Charles Phillips ISBN 978-1-4093-8344-4 Roger Ford Adrian Gilbert Printed and bound in China by Leo Paper Products Ltd Malcolm Claridge Discover more at www.dk.com Weights and measurements given in this book are expressed in their metric and imperial equivalents, wherever the information is available. However, there are various different conventions for the measurement of calibre and displacement. Please refer to p.446 for more details. INTRODUCTION The development of arms and armaments is central to the story of military history. While the aims and intentions of humans at war have remained essentially the same since the very dawn of civilization, the history of weaponry and tactics has been a process of near-constant adaptation, reinvention, and progression, with the result that battlefield technology has grown increasingly effective, and ever more deadly. The earliest weapons took the form of stone axes and clubs, but, with the adoption of bronze, and then iron, these were improved, developed, and then superseded. Swords, spears, and bows dominated the field of battle from the era of Ancient Egypt and Assyria to the high Middle Ages, until the introduction of gunpowder weapons in Europe in the 14th century. This invention heralded a sea-change in warfare, as human strength was aided and then all but replaced by chemical and mechanical power, a process that accelerated during the Industrial Revolution, with an exponential growth in the range and accuracy of weapon systems, both on land and at sea. War then reached the skies in the early 1900s, expanding the reach of military might across the globe, and, while the advent of the nuclear bomb in 1945 made the prospect of full-scale conflict almost too terrible to contemplate, it did not stop the pace of technological change in conventional arms during the rest of the century. In the modern age, the increasing sophistication of “smart” weapons has heralded a revolution in warfare, and we have reached an era in which human combatants are slowly being replaced by computer-controlled machines. The following pages offer a beautifully illustrated account of this process, showcasing significant armaments and other military pieces across 5,000 years and a vast geographical range. However, this majestic book – a fruitful collaboration between leading military history writers and expert consultants from the Royal Armouries, the Smithsonian, and other specialist institutions – is much more than simply a catalogue of weaponry. It offers gripping accounts of the key battles, landmark events, and historical figures whose legacies have changed the reality of warfare; it explores the role technologies and tactics played in determining the outcome of conflicts; and it charts the impact of these events on the balance of power and boundary, the rise and fall of nation and empire, and on the course of human history. CON T E N TS Introduction 5 TO 500 500–1500 CHARIOTS KNIGHTS AND SWORDS AND BOWMEN Introduction 12 Introduction 48 Knights and Bowmen: The Battle of Crécy 80 Key Development: The First Warriors 14 Key Development: The Weapons of Early Medieval Europe 50 Key Development: Stone and Bone Weapons 16 Sieges and the Art of Fortification 82 Viking Weaponry and Armour 52 Early Metal Weapons 18 Medieval Fortification: Bodiam Castle 84 A Viking Longship: Ancient Siege Warfare: Havhingsten Fra Glendalough 54 Key Development: The Siege of Lachish 20 Gunpowder Makes its Mark 86 Anglo-Saxons and Normans 56 Ancient Egyptian Weaponry 22 Siege Engines and Early Cannon 88 Defeat of the Anglo-Saxons: Key Development: The Battle of Hastings 58 Key Development: Hoplites and Phalanxes 24 Arab and T urkish Conflict 90 Key Development: Hoplite Armour and Weapons 26 Armoured Cavalry in Medieval Europe 60 The Middle East 92 Phalanx and Cavalry: The Battle of Issus 28 Knights’ Armour and Weapons 62 The Crusades 94 A Greek Trireme: Olympias 30 Full Steel Plate Protection: Key Development: East Asian Warfare 96 Key Development: Medieval Armour 64 The Roman War Machine 32 Mongol Armour and Weapons 98 Knights’ Helmets 66 Roman Legionary’s Armour Steppe Horsemen: The Mongols at War 100 and Weapons 34 A Clash of Knights: East Asian Weapons and Armour 102 The Battle of Bouvines 68 Key Development: Fortification on a Grand Scale: The Engineering of Roman Conquest 36 European Swords 70 The Great Wall of China 104 Roman Fortification: Arbeia 38 Key Development: Key Development: Medieval Infantry 72 Enemies of Rome 40 Warriors of Pre-Columbian America 106 Infantry Armour and Weapons 74 Key Development: Asian Traditions 42 Pre-Columbian Weaponry 108 Medieval Archers 76 An Ancient Chinese Army: Clash of Civilizations: The T erracotta Warriors 44 Long Range Power: Crossbow 78 Aztecs and Conquistadors 110 1500–1680 1680–1815 PIKES AND FLINTLOCK GUNPOWDER AND BAYONET Introduction 114 Introduction 158 Weapons of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars 190 Key Development: Pikes and Muskets 116 Key Development: 18th-century Uniformed Armies 160 Forefather of the Modern Rifle: Field Artillery and Naval Cannon 118 Baker Rifle 192 Uniforms of European Armies 162 European Infantry Armour Cavalry and Infantry Square: and Weapons 120 Plug, Socket, and Sword Bayonets 164 The Battle of W aterloo 194 Simple But Effective Firearm: 18th-century Swords 166 Key Development: Matchlock Musket 122 18th-century Guns 168 Naval Battles in the Age of Sail 196 Pikes and Matchlock Muskets: Flintlock Muskets and Bayonets: Naval Guns and Kit 198 The Battle of White Mountain 124 The Battle of Fontenoy 170 Carronnades and Key Development: From Lance to Pistol 126 Riflemen of the Other Naval Guns 200 Cavalry Armour and Weapons 128 American Revolution 172 Navigation and Key Development: Weapons, Uniforms, and Kit Communication at Sea 202 The Islamic Empires at War 130 of the American Revolution 174 Naval Swords 204 Ottoman Armour and Weapons 132 Key Development: Naval Warfare in the Age of Sail: The Development of Siege Warfare 176 Cavalry and Cannon: The Battle of the Nile 206 The Battle of Mohacs 134 Field Artillery and Naval Cannon 178 Weapons, Uniform, and Kit Mughal Armour and Weapons 136 Early Modern Siege Warfare: of an Ordinary British Sailor 208 The Siege of Namur 180 Key Development: Warfare in East Asia 138 British Naval Officer’s Uniform 210 Key Development: East Asian Swords 140 18th-century British Ship of the Line: Armies of the Revolutionary Era 182 HMS Victory 212 East Asian Weapons 142 French Revolutionary and Japanese Armour 144 Napoleonic Infantry 184 Samurai and Foot Soldiers: Uniforms of Chasseur The Siege of Osaka Castle 146 and Cuirassier 186 Key Development: British Uniform and Kit European Naval Warfare 148 of the Napoleonic Wars 188 A Mediterranean Galley: Galera Real 150 The Age of Galleys: The Battle of Lepanto 154 1815–1914 1914–1945 INDUSTRY THE AND IMPERIALISM WORLD WARS Introduction 218 Introduction 276 Capital Ships 328 Key Development: Key Development: Super Dreadnought Battleship: The Beginnings of Modern Warfare 220 Trench Warfare 278 USS Texas 330 Flintlock Muskets and Uniforms and Equipment 280 Cruisers 334 Breech-loading Rifles 222 Heavy Machine-guns 282 Destroyers and Escorts 336 Flintlock and Percussion Pistols, Light Machine-guns Submarines 338 and Early Revolvers 224 and Machine-pistols 284 An Amphibious Invasion Force: Metallic-cartridge Pistols 226 World War I Defences: The Normandy Landings 340 Early Repeating Rifles 228 Bayernwald T rench 286 Key Development: Uniforms and Insignia Field Guns, Siege Guns, Air and Sea Battles 342 of 19th-century Armies 230 and Howitzers 288 Aircraft Carriers 344 Early Industrial Warfare: Trench-fighting Weapons 290 The Battle of Antietam 232 Carrier and Maritime Trench Warfare: Strike Aircraft 346 American Civil War Uniforms 234 The Battle of Arras 292 Air–Sea Combat: Infantry and Cavalry Swords Tanks and Armoured Vehicles 294 The Battle of Leyte Gulf 348 and Bayonets 236 World War I Tank: Key Development: Tanks and Muzzle-loading Artillery 238 Mark V Tank 296 Infantry in World War II 350 Key Development: The Wars of Empires 240 Communications and Allied Armoured Equipment of World War I 298 Manually-loaded Repeater Rifles 242 Fighting Vehicles 352 Key Development: Machine-guns 244 Axis Armoured The Growth of Air Power 300 Fighting Vehicles 354 A New Kind of Firepower: Gatling Gun 246 Reconnaissance and World War II Armoured Vehicle: Breech-loading Artillery 248 Fighter Aircraft 302 T-34 T ank 356 Imperial Firepower: Bomber Aircraft 304 Anti-tank Weapons 358 The Battle of Omdurman 250 Fighter and Fighter-bomber Trucks, Half-tracks, Clothing and Weapons Aircraft 1939–1942 306 and Light Vehicles 360 of Africa and Oceania 252 Fighter and Fighter-bomber Uniforms and Equipment 362 Self-loading Pistols 254 Aircraft 1943–1945 308 Self-loading Rifles 364 Guerilla Warfare: Second Boer War 256 Bomber Aircraft 1939–1942 310 Military Medals Before 1914 258 Bomber Aircraft 1943–1945 312 Personal Weapons 366 Key Development: World War II Long-range Heavy Bomber: Water- and Air-cooled Steam, Ironclads, and Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress 314 Machine-guns 368 the First Battleships 260 Bombs and Missiles Artillery 370 Battleships 262 of World War II 318 Airborne Assault: The Age of Steam and Big Gun: Transport, Reconnaissance, Operation Market Garden 372 The Battle of Tsushima 264 and Liaison Aircraft 320 Airborne Forces Uniforms Japanese Pre-Dreadnought Battleship: Communications and Codebreaking and Kit 374 Mikasa 266 Equipment of World War II 322 Resistance Weapons Early Cruisers 270 World War Era Medals 324 and Equipment 376 Torpedo boats, Destroyers, Key Development: Nuclear Warfare: and Submarines 272 Battles at Sea in the World Wars 326 The Bombing of Hiroshima 378