How did the invention of the rocket harpoon change whale hunting in the 1860s?

During the 1860s, the invention of the rocket harpoon by American Thomas Roys was intended to modernize whale hunting, but it ultimately achieved only limited success.1

While the industry sought technological advancements to target faster and heavier species like rorquals—which were previously too elusive to catch using traditional hand-thrown harpoons—the rocket harpoon did not immediately transform the field. It was not until the subsequent innovations of Norwegian Svend Foyn, such as the steam-powered whale catcher and the forward-mounted, muzzle-loading harpoon cannon, that whaling truly entered the modern age. Foyn’s cannon fired a heavy harpoon equipped with a time-delay grenade, which proved far more effective at causing lethal damage to vital organs than earlier experimental designs.12