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ENCYCLOPDIA BRITANNICA
Bentham, Sir Samuel
b.
Jan. 11, 1757, England
d. May 31, 1831, London
British engineer, naval architect, and navy official in Russia (1780-91)
and England (from 1795) who was an early advocate of explosive-shell weapons for warships.
Bentham led Russian
vessels fitted with shell guns to victory over a larger Turkish force (June 7, 1788). As inspector of naval works in England,
he developed the Arrow class of sloops used against France. He was the brother of the philosopher Jeremy Bentham and father
of the botanist George Bentham.
One historian thought that if the admiralty had adopted those slopes, which
he had to them demonstrated their superiority, there would have been no victory of John Paul Jones during the American Revolutionary
War. (See my essay on Bentham.)
Jeremy Bentham: His Life and Impact--jk
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