Back in the late 19th century, the British military serving on the Polynesian islands tried to transport written correspondence using a modified Congreve rocket. This experiment, in general, was unsuccessful, as missiles often fell into the water, and a hard landing on land seriously damaged the cargo. For several decades, the British forgot about the idea of rocket mail. It wasn't until the early thirties that a promising proposal was implemented by enthusiastic designer Stephen Hector Taylor-Smith. Over the years, he has achieved outstanding success.
Stephen Hector Taylor-Smith, also known as Stephen Smith, was born in 1891 in Shillong in northeastern British India. Already in childhood, Stephen and his friends showed an interest in rocketry, although they did not implement it in the most appropriate way. The guys collected homemade rockets and launched them at the school pool site. Sometimes lizards caught in the nearest thickets became the payload of such products. Later, young experimenters tried to "send" small food products, medicines, etc. with the help of rockets. Unlike "experiments" with lizards, such launches had a real future.
Indian postage stamp dedicated to the centenary of S. G. Taylor-Smith
After leaving school, S. Smith got a job at customs in Calcutta. After a few years, he joined the police, and at the same time he completed his training as a dentist. In 1914, the inventor retired from the police and opened a private dental office.
Back in early 1911, Taylor-Smith attended aviator demonstrations and became interested in the problem of air transportation. In February of that year, India became one of the first countries in the world to formally establish an airmail system. At the same time, the first flight was performed with 6 thousand letters on board. Such innovations interested S. Smith, and he was carried away by both the postal theme and the development of technologies, primarily vehicles.
In Calcutta, S. Smith became one of the founders of the local philatelic club. In 1930, this organization was transformed into the Indian Air Mail Society. The members of the club not only were engaged in replenishing their collections, but also provided some support to the postal service. In addition, with the advent of original ideas, the Society was able to make a very interesting proposal to officials.
In the early thirties, controversy continued in British India over the future of airmail. Experts and amateurs have tried to determine how it is more convenient to transport letters and parcels: by airplane or by airships. Both options had pros and cons, which contributed to controversy. In 1931, news came to India about the successful experiments of the Austrian Friedrich Schmidl, who decided to transport correspondence by missiles. A new topic appeared in the dispute, which, moreover, interested S. Smith.
One of the envelopes that flew from the carrier ship to Sagar Island
Probably Stephen Smith remembered his childhood "experiences" and immediately realized that the idea of rocket mail has a right to life and may well find application in practice. Soon, he again began to study powder rockets and look for ways to use them in the postal field. The theoretical studies and calculations were followed by the assembly and testing of real samples. In the creation and manufacture of the first missiles, as well as subsequent "serial" products, the inventor was helped by the Calcutta company Orient Firework, which produced pyrotechnics. During the tests, the search for the optimal fuel composition, the most successful version of the hull and stabilizers was carried out.
After a series of test launches of missiles with payload simulators, S. Smith and his colleagues prepared the first "combat" launch. On September 30, 1934, a ship with a simple beam launcher and a new design rocket left Calcutta. The rocket received a cylindrical body of variable diameter about a meter long. Its tail section accommodated a powder engine with the simplest wick ignition, and other volumes were given under the load. The load of Smith's first mail rocket was 143 letters in envelopes with corresponding marks.
The missile carrier stopped a few cables from the island of Sagar, after which the inventor set fire to the fuse and launched. The rocket successfully launched and headed for the island, but at the last moment of engine operation - almost over the target - an explosion occurred. The load was scattered around the area. However, enthusiasts were able to find 140 items, which were transferred to the local post office for further passage along the routes. Despite the explosion of the rocket in the air, the experiment was considered successful. The possibility of delivering light letters and postcards by rocket was confirmed, and in addition, it was established that detonating the rocket would not have excessively severe consequences.
Another envelope from the first rocket - the postage vignette is decorated in different colors
Soon, the pyrotechnic company prepared several new missiles for the next launches. S. G. Taylor-Smith and his comrades experimented with the size and weight of the rockets. They were loaded with mail and even small-format newspapers. Also, various experiments were carried out with shooting from different sites and in different conditions. The rockets were launched from ship to shore and from land to land, day and night, as well as in different weather conditions. In general, the launch results were satisfactory, although accidents occurred again.
The tests used missiles of a similar design, which had different sizes and weights. The largest sample was 2 m long and weighed 7 kg, of which a kilogram or one and a half was for the payload. Smaller samples were taken on board a pound of cargo or a little more. Due to the engine power and the elevation angle at the start, it was possible to obtain a flight range of up to several kilometers. Light rockets flew 1-1.5 km. The products did not differ in high accuracy, but they turned out to be suitable for real operation: the recipient did not need to spend a lot of time searching for the rocket and the way to it.
Larger rockets were supposed to be used for both letters and parcels. On April 10, 1935, another rocket flew across the river, covering about 1 kilometer. In her cargo hold were bags of tea and sugar, spoons and several other items for table and household purposes. The possibility of transporting parcels in principle has been confirmed.
Letter from a rocket launched in December 1934 from the Kolkata area towards a ship at sea
Soon, these opportunities were used outside the test. On May 31, 1935, an earthquake struck Baluchistan, and S. Smith took part in the rescue operation. With the help of his rockets, medicines and dressings, as well as grain and cereals were transported across the river. Rupnarayan. The first such launch took place on June 6. In the context of a humanitarian catastrophe, even a few kilograms of medical products and provisions were of great value. Together with the help, the victims received postcards with words of support.
Soon after the first dispatch of the parcel, S. Smith "invented" a new type of postage - the rocketogram. One of the printing houses, by special order, printed 8,000 of these postcards in four different colors. Rocket charts were viewed as promotional materials that could draw public attention to a promising project. Indeed, such shipments, which were in the air on a rocket, were actively bought up by philatelists and made a significant contribution to the financing of the program, as well as glorified it abroad.
In the same period, S. Smith and his colleagues made their first trip to the Kingdom of Sikkim, a British protectorate in the Himalayas. The local chögyal (king) Tashi Namgyal took a great interest in the rocket mail. Several launches were carried out in his presence. On several occasions, the king personally lit the fuse. Each launch turned into an official ceremony. In April, after sending the 50th anniversary rocket, the inventor was awarded a special royal certificate. It should be noted that the interest in rocket mail was justified. The small kingdom often suffered from landslides and floods, and mail rockets could become a convenient means of communication during the fight against the elements.
One of the mail rocket launches in the Kingdom of Sikkim. On the far right is Stephen Smith. In the center (presumably) - Chögyal Tashi Namgyal
An interesting experimental launch of a mail rocket took place on June 29 of the same year. The rocket was supposed to fly over the Damodar River, during which it was supposed to deliver a special cargo. The head compartment contained 189 rocket records, as well as a live chicken and rooster. The rocket did not have a parachute for a soft landing, but a sandy beach was chosen as the place of its fall, which to a certain extent increased the chances of birds. The calculations turned out to be correct - the "passengers" remained alive, although they were scared to death. India's first rocket-flying birds were donated to a private zoo in Calcutta. The experimental animals died a natural death of old age at the end of 1936. This fact has become an additional confirmation of the overall safety of missile transportation.
Meanwhile, S. G. Taylor-Smith conducted a new experience with a live passenger. They put 106 postcards in the rocket, an apple and a snake named Miss Creepy. The snake endured a short flight in all senses in cold blood. The apple also did not receive significant damage. As for the batch of racogram, they soon went on sale and went to collections.
In February 1936, S. Smith became a member of the British Interplanetary Society, an organization planning to develop rocket and space technologies. Apparently, Taylor-Smith became the first member of this organization from British India. The Society published several periodicals devoted to rocketry and space. The Indian inventor was interested in new publications, but probably never found ideas in them suitable for implementation in his own project.
Sikkim Rocket Mail Envelope
In the second half of the thirties, S. Smith and his comrades were engaged in the development and manufacture of new missiles, test launches and the search for new technical solutions. Unfortunately, the enthusiasts did not have the proper education and also faced known problems in the field of materials and technology. However, the available production facilities made it possible to solve some of the urgent problems. In parallel with new development activities, Indian Rocket Mail was working on behalf of customers. Specialists were ordered to deliver letters and small loads to hard-to-reach areas. It is known about new episodes of participation in rescue operations.
After the outbreak of World War II, Stephen Smith began looking for ways to use his missiles in the military. The first and most obvious was the use of mail rockets as a means of communication. In addition, he developed a reconnaissance rocket. It used an inexpensive commercial Kodak Brownie camera as a means of aerial photography. It is known about two unsuccessful launches of such missiles.
Whether new special modifications of the mail rocket were developed is unknown. During this period, fearing enemy intelligence, the inventor preferred not to talk about his plans and not leave too many records. As a result, a certain part of his ideas simply disappeared.
The history of Smith's rocket mail begins to trace again in late 1944. The available gunpowder did not have high characteristics, and the inventor could not get more perfect mixtures. As a result, he was forced to start experimenting with alternative types of engines. A whole series of rockets with compressed air engines were assembled and tested. The launches of such missiles began in the late autumn of 1944. The last rocket was launched on December 4, showing the futility of such a design. Compressed gas could not compete even with low-quality gunpowder.
One of the variants of the 1935 racogram. Rocketgram dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the coronation of George V
As far as is known, after the failure with the "gas" missiles, Stephen Hector Taylor-Smith stopped working in the field of rocket mail. As it stands, the system he created had very limited prospects associated with a number of serious limitations. Further development of the project, as a result of which it was possible to obtain higher flight performance, was associated with the use of new materials, and also made special demands on production facilities. Unable to fulfill all these requirements, the inventor and his colleagues refused to continue the work.
S. G. Taylor-Smith passed away in Calcutta in 1951. By this time, his rocket mail project was finally stopped and had no chance of renewal. However, the work of the Anglo-Indian enthusiast was not forgotten. In 1992, the Indian Post Office issued an official stamp commemorating the centenary of the country's rocket mail founder.
According to known data, from 1934 to 1944 S. Smith and his colleagues built and launched from 280 to 300 missiles of all variants. Products differed in size, weight, range and payload. At least 80 missiles launched carried real payloads in the form of letters, postcards, or larger cargo. Thus, from the point of view of practical application, the Taylor-Smith project turned out to be perhaps the most successful and long-lived in the history of world rocket mail.
Mail rockets S. G. Taylor-Smith did not have high flight technical data and could not deliver heavy parcels over long distances. However, they coped well with small loads and in practice proved their ability to solve certain transport problems. Unfortunately, the lack of the necessary technologies did not allow the continuation of the development of the most interesting project, but even in its existing form it occupies a special place in the history of Indian and world mail.
