alternatehistory.com

27 January

The second Anglo-Ashanti War draws to a close, largely due to mutual apathy over the topic.


30 January

Wilkes privately agrees to contribute to the naval analysis of Butler's works on the Union's failures of strategy in the late war.
Also on this date, the third prototype of the Armstrong-Elswick breech is tested for a 7" gun. The system performs as advertised up to 24 lbs of powder - a considerable improvement over the previous breech - but it has a tendency to jam shut after only a few fires and is cumbersome to use at speed.

Armstrong considers this useful information - and jokes to one of the engineers that if all else fails this is still a RML gun that is easier to clean.


1 February

Prussian infantry occupy a hill facing the Dannevirke, screened by cavalry. There is a small engagement in which a Danish cavalry troop is evicted from the hill, and then the slow process begins of emplacing heavy artillery.
The engineers have chosen the site well - it is well back from the Dannevirke, and the cannon there are unable to range the hill (but it is known to be in range of the heavy Krupp guns, as confirmed by one Potsdam officer who has very well-practiced Polish.)


3 February

The US war department formally sues several supposed firearms manufacturers or suppliers, for total non-delivery of ordered small arms or outright war profiteering. Among those sued is James Pierpont Morgan, part of a scheme which purchased 5,000 surplus (and dubiously sound) rifles only to then sell them back to the government at roughly a 500% markup.

4 February

Ushidoshi Maru - now arrived in Japan - is shown off to the Shogun and some of his top men.
They are unimpressed by the design, which is a bit pedestrian, but the thick armour does meet with their approval - especially when it is explained that the only guns in Japan which can pierce her are the pivot guns on some British warships.