Invention Timeline - George W. Manby, British Officer; Invented the Mortar that Shoots a Rope to Shipwrecked Mariners
b. ? 1765 and d. November 18, 1854
British officer. About 1808 he invented a mode of saving life by shooting from a mortar a rope to mariners shipwrecked near the coast.
Mournful wave! I deemed thy song
Was telling of a mournful prison,
Which, when tempests swept along,
And the mighty winds were risen,
Foundered in the ocean’s grasp,
While the brave and fair were dying.
Wave! didst mark a white hand clasp
In thy folds as thou wert flying?
—A Dying Wave: Anonymous
Throw out the Life-line across the dark wave,
There is a brother whom some one should save;
Somebody’s brother! oh, who then will dare
To throw out the Life-line, his peril to share?
Throw out the Life-line with hand quick and strong;
Why do you tarry, my brother, so long?
See! he is sinking; oh, hasten to-day-
And out with the Life-boat! away, then, away.
—E. S. Ufford
1802—Life-boats first invented.
1819, June 20—First American steamer at Liverpool was launched.
1821—First seagoing steam vessel, made of iron, was constructed in England.
1880—First iron steamship was built in the United States.
