Editing Congreve rocket (section)

===Whale hunting (1821)===
On her voyage to the Greenland whale fishery in 1821 {{ship||Fame|1786 ship|2}} carried Congreve rockets. Sir William Congreve equipped her with rockets at his own expense to test their utility in whaling hunting. The Master General of Ordnance and the First Lord of the Admiralty had Lieutenant Colquhoun and two Marine artillerymen accompany the rockets. Captain Scoresby wrote a letter from the Greenland fishery in June reporting that the rockets had been a great success.<ref>"Ship News". ''Morning Chronicle'' (London), 25 July 1821; Issue 16307.</ref> Subsequent reports made clear that the rockets were fired from about 40 yards and were highly effective in killing whales that had already been conventionally harpooned.<ref>"The Congreve  Rocket". ''Morning Post'' (London), 6 October 1821; Issue 15775.</ref>

A separate trial took place on another whaler. A letter from Captain Kay, of the ship ''Margaret'', of London, dated 7 September, addressed to Lieut. Colquhoun, R.A., says:

<blockquote>I have taken the liberty of inclosing you an account of a few trials I have made of Congreve's Rockets. Fearing the harpooners would not fire it correctly, I had determined to try its effect myself, and it was not until the 8th June that an opportunity presented. Early on that morning a whale, of the largest size, was discovered near the ship; I immediately pursued it, and when sufficiently near, fired a rocket into its side; the effect it had on the fish was tremendous{{snd}}every joint in its body shook, and, after lying for a few seconds in this agitated way, it turned on its back and died. It appeared on flinching, that the rocket had penetrated through the blubber and exploded in the crann (sic) near the ribs; the stick and lower part of the rocket was taken out entire, the upper part was blown to pieces. My next attempt was on the 9th July, on a whale of the same size as the former, but owing to the rapid motion of the fish, and a heavy swell of the sea, which rendered the boat unsteady, the rocket entered below the middle part of the body, in consequence of which its effect was considerably lessened, its frame, however, was much shook by the explosion, and it immediately sunk, but rose again, blowing an immense quantity of blood: it was then struck with a harpoon, and killed with lances. On flinching, part of the stick of the rocket could only by found; it therefore appears probable that the rocket had burst in the inside of the fish.<ref>{{cite news|title= Congreve Rockets|newspaper= Morning Post |date= 25 September 1822|page= 1}}</ref></blockquote>

In December Lieutenant Colquohon demonstrated the use of the rockets at Annapolis, Maryland. A newspaper story gave a detailed account of the experiments he performed.<ref>"Whale Fishery – Congreve Rockets". ''Maryland Gazette and Political Intelligencer'' (Annapolis), 20 December 1821; Issue 51.</ref>