THE BROME-WALTON FAMILY. 
31 
The first employment of Bomb-ships, of which, we have present record, 
was at the siege of Calais, 1347, when Edward III. secured his lines 
by causing his Navy to lie near the shore, every ship being well filled 
with bombardes and other artillery 1 2 —which were mounted en barbette . 3 
The Bomb-ships of this period are represented with one deck and one 
mast 3 ; and the first R.N. List in which “ Bomb-ships” are particularised 
is dated November, 1658; although land-service mortars accompanied 
the expedition to the Palatinate, 1620 ( tf Cleaveland MSS.” p. 33), and 
both sea and land-service mortars are depicted in the English prints of 
1603. 
The French did not employ mortars for land service until the siege 
of Gravelines , 1658 (according .to Monsr. Le Blond), and these were 
made by Mr. Malthus, an Englishman 4 ; nor for Bomb-ships until 
bombardment of Algiers, 1681 5 6 ; and, although English Bomb-ships 
have been shown to have been incorporated in our Royal Navy List of 
1658, their first permanent establishment dates from the Ordnance 
Royal Warrant of 1686—quoted in full on p. 106 of the “'Cleaveland 
MSS.”—when the office of Chief Bombardier of England 6 was created 
analagous to that of the Master-Gunner of England. The extraordinary 
success of the Bomb-ships at the siege of St. Malo, 1693, with Admiral 
Benbow's squadron won the Royal favour of our Sailor King, and en¬ 
sured their permanency. 7 
The Bomb-ship (vessel or ketch), named the Furnace, which Borgard 
commanded in 1702, in Spain, with Charles Brome as one of his 
matrosses, was armed with two 13-in. brass mortars (in addition to 
swivels), and had 800 empty bombs of 12f, 800 fixed fuzes, 24 spare 
fuzes, 20 round carcasses 12f. 8 In 1757, when Captain Charles Brome's 
grandson, Lieut. Fireworker Joseph Walton (son of Captain Joseph 
Brome), commanded the same ship—for siege of Louisbourg—she had 
two 13-in. mortars and eight heavy 6-prs. 9 
Port-holes not having existed until suggested by Colonel Congreve, 
R.A., in 1796, the mortars and guns were mounted en barbette. Colonel 
Congreve then stated that up to that year these mortars had always 
1 Rapin’s and Grafton’s “ Chronicles,” quoted in “ Cleaveland MSS.,” p. 4. That bombardes 
meant exclusively cannon, because bombs (grenadoes) were not then known, is the mere ipse dixit 
of 17th Century—of which more anon. Mortars and bombs are coeval with cannon.— Traite 
d’Artillerie par Le Blond, p. 36. 
2 Port-holes first appear in the representation of Henri Grace (! a” Dieu, 1515 (“ 1ST aval His¬ 
tory,” James, Vol. I., p. 6). Port-holes (embrasures) for Bomb-ships, were approved by the 
Admiralty, 1796-7, on recommendation of Colonel Congreve, i l.A. (Official Report in R.A. record 
office). 
3 “ Archaeologia,” Vol. VI., pp. 202, 205, 207. 
4 Traite d’ Artillerie, par Le Blond, 1745, p. 37 of English translation. A copy of Malthus’s 
Treatise is in R.A. Institution. 
5 “ Military Dictionary,” 1779 (Smith). 
6 The Succession List of Chief Bombardiers of England has not yet been compiled. The office 
soon degenerated into an offichim sine locum when Marlborough got into power ; Colonel Jonas 
Watson, R.A., whose portrait is in R.A. Institution, held the honorary dignity. The Chief Bom¬ 
bardier is now represented by the Royal or Queen’s Bombardier at Windsor Castle. 
I “ Cleaveland MSS.,” pp. 132, 135. 
8 Ordnance Warrants Book, 1715. 
9 Colonel Congreve’s Report to the Admiralty, 1796. 
Serpent, 
Mortar, 
Biredrake, 
Grenado. 
