The American Civil War was fought only a few years before many modern technologies started seeing service (or at least widespread service) in national armies. Breechloading rifles started becoming common in the mid-1860s, typically based on a conversion of existing muzzle-loading designs as with the Springfield Model 1866. Breechloading artillery and early machine guns such as Gatling guns and the mitrailleuse were also starting to see use. Naval warfare was starting to change with the development of mastless oceangoing turret ironclads such as HMS Devastation and the development of torpedoes. Strategic and tactical communication technology was improving with the completion of the second transatlantic cable and the development of the heliograph. How would the balance of power and course of the American Civil War had changed if the secession crisis had been delayed a few years before erupting in the 1870s?