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Hydrophone
"Photograph of standard hydrophone" (“Hydrophone/Receiver”). The hydrophone was first invented by Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian inventor. It was an underwater listening device able to detect sounds in the water by converting acoustic energy into electricity. It could determine the distance but not the direction of an object making it of limited use. Also, it did not transmit sounds making it submissive (“12 Technological Advancements of World War I”; “Hydrophone/Receiver”). -
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Continuity and Change
The hydrophone and echo-ranging system show continuity and change. Both devices were made for detecting objects underwater. This continuity was positive, as it led to a more narrowed focus of detecting U-boats, and the advancement of the device. The hydrophone could only tell the distance of an object and used a more simplistic idea, yet the echo-ranging system was more complex and could detect direction too. The change took 3 years positively, leading to the first successful active sonar. -
First Use of Gas Warfare: Chlorine Gas
The painting shows the Battle of Ypres ("Jack"). On April 22, 150 tonnes of chlorine gas was unleashed (“Germans Introduce Poison Gas”). A greenish-yellow cloud that smelt of bleach wafted across no man's land down into the Allies' trenches. It irritated the eyes, nose, lungs, and throats of the soldiers as well as killed men by asphyxiation with a high enough dosage (Everts; “Germans Introduce Poison Gas”). -
Tube Helmet
Object - gas mask (warmuseum.ca) The Tube Helmet was adopted by troops in November 1915. The anti-gas helmet featured two circular rim eyepieces, durable goggles, and a tube-shaped valve for the mouthpiece. The valve was fitted to breathe out as regular exhalation of carbon dioxide undermined the purpose of the mask (“PH ('Tube') Helmet, Anti-Gas: British”). -
Lewis Light Machine Gun
Artifact ("Bingham Small Arms Co.") In the summer of 1915, the Lewis Light Machine Gun was supplied to British, Canadian and Commonwealth troops. The gun featured an air-cooled 47-round magazine and made set up, transportation, and attack easy (“Firearms - Lewis Light Machine-Gun”; “Lewis Light Machine Gun, Mark I - Arms of the First World War”). It defined light machine guns as a class of firearm (“Lewis Light Machine Gun, Mark I - Arms of the First World War”). -
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Cause and Consequence
Chlorine gas and tube helmets evidently show cause and consequence. The number of casualties due to deadly chlorine gas was detrimental to the Allies' troops immediately. A solution was needed urgently, leading to the adoption of tube helmets. The anti-gas helmets protected soldiers from the harmful gases being released into the air. The cause created many casualties, an immediate, bad consequence, yet allowed for the invention and development of gas masks, a positive technological advancement. -
Depth Charges
Artifact - Depth Charge (warmuseum.ca) Depth Charges, developed in 1916, were canisters filled with high explosives that sank til a preset depth where a fuze would detonate (“Antisubmarine Depth Bomb”; “Depth Charge”; “Depth Charges”). Royal Canadian Navy ships used them to attack submerged U-boats (“Antisubmarine Depth Bomb”). Although rare, direct hits could destroy while misses would send off shockwaves loosening joints and damaging instruments (“Depth Charge”; “Depth Charges”). -
Echo-Ranging System
Diagram of how the system, sonar, worked (“Between World War I and World War II: The 1920s and 1930s”) This was the first active successful sonar system to exist (“SONAR (Inventions)”). Paul Langevin used quartz crystal between two steel plates to generate sound using the Piezoelectric Effect. It was not until 1918 when echoes could be received from a submarine as far as 1500m away meaning WWI ended before it had a chance to take on the German U-boats (“World War I: 1914-1918”). -
Mustard Gas
Photo of gas filling trenches (“WWI: Years of Deadlock. - Ppt Download”). Mustard Gas was first used on July 12, 1917, and caused 2 100 casualties just on day one (Everts). Effects were non-immediate and included temporary blindness, blistered skin, eyes and lungs, and infection (Everts; “Germans Introduce Poison Gas”). The gas caused 120 000 casualties, the most of any chemical weapon (Everts). -
Tommy Gun
Tommy Gun Practice - Painting (Batchelor) The Thomas Submachine Gun was patented this year. It was a 10lbs gun that shot .45 caliber ammunition and could use either a circular drum, 50-100 rounds or a box, 20-30 rounds, magazine. It had an effective range, yet the prototype was not completed until the end of WWI, making it more useful in WW2 (“Thompson Submachine Gun”). -
Discovery of Insulin
Photo of Banting at his desk (“Frederick G. Banting - Photo gallery”). Dr. Frederick Banting started pancreatic research at the University of Toronto in 1921 with his team. In January 1922, they discovered insulin, yet they could not announce it until spring. Insulin was used to prevent diabetes and control normal metabolism. It was also recognized for a Nobel Prize in 1923 (“The Discovery of Insulin”). -
Liquid-Propellant Rocket
Photo of Goddard and his rocket (Brain). Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid-propellant rocket with a successful flight on March 16, 1926. Fueled by liquid oxygen and gasoline, it flew for 2.5s, hit an elevation of 12.5m, and landed 56m away (“Brief History of Rockets”; “Robert Goddard and the First Liquid-Propellant Rocket”). It inspired the belief that if rocketry was developed, space travel was more than just science fiction (“Robert Goddard and the First Liquid-Propellant Rocket”).
