EXPLOSIVES, PROPELLANTS, AND ARTILLERY AMMUNITION.
The Interallied Ordnance Agreement of the late fall of 1917, supplying
to the United States as it did French and British artillery and other
heavy ordnance supplies until the developing American ordnance industry
could come into production, nevertheless called upon the United States
to produce heavily the explosives and propellants that are of such
major importance to a modern army. These commodities were needed by the
armies of France and Great Britain more than any other sort of ordnance
which America could supply.
The result was an enormous production of propellants and explosives
in the United States during the period of American belligerency, no
other prime phase of the ordnance program being carried to such a stage
of development. The reader will clearly see the distinction between
propellants and explosives. The propellant is the smokeless powder that
sends the shell or bullet from the gun; the explosive is the bursting
charge within the shell.
To realize the expansion of the American explosives industry during
the war period, consider such figures as these: America in 19 months
turned out 632,504,000 pounds of propellants--the powder loaded
into small-arms cartridges or packed into the big guns behind the
projectiles to send them against the enemy. In those same 19 months
France produced 342,155,000 pounds of propellants and Great Britain
291,706,000 pounds. The American production was practically equal to
that of England and France together.
In those 19 months we produced 375,656,000 pounds of high explosives
for loading into shell. In the same 19 months England produced
765,110,000 pounds of high explosives and France 702,964,000 pounds.
America was below both France and England in total output, but in
monthly rate of output America had reached 47,888,000 pounds as
against France's 22,802,000 pounds and England's 30,957,000 pounds.
Our rate of manufacturing propellants at the end of the fighting was
up to 42,775,000 pounds as against France's 17,311,000 and England's
12,055,000.
Figure 9 shows graphically the achievements of America in manufacturing
propellants and explosives.
In the production of artillery ammunition a comparison with France
and Great Britain shows that our monthly rate in turning out unfilled
rounds of ammunition at the end of the war was 7,044,000 rounds, as
against 7,748,000 rounds for Great Britain and 6,661,000 rounds for
France. In producing complete rounds of artillery ammunition, our
monthly rate at the signing of the armistice was 2,429,000 rounds while
that of Great Britain was 7,347,000 rounds and that of France 7,638,000
rounds.
[Illustration:
FIGURE 9.
PRODUCTION OF SMOKELESS POWDER AND HIGH EXPLOSIVES, FRANCE AND
UNITED STATES COMPARED WITH GREAT BRITAIN.
AVERAGE MONTHLY RATE, AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, AND OCTOBER, 1918.
_Smokeless powder_: Pounds. Per cent of rate for Great Britain.
Great Britain 12,055,000 ========== 100
France 17,311,000 ============== 144
United States 42,775,000 ==================================== 355
_High explosives_:
Great Britain 30,967,000 ========== 100
France 22,802,000 ======= 74
United States 43,888,000 ============== 142
TOTAL PRODUCTION, APRIL 6, 1917, TO NOVEMBER 11, 1918.
_Smokeless powder_: Pounds. Per cent of rate for Great Britain.
Great Britain 291,706,000 ========== 100
France 342,155,000 ============ 117
United States 632,504,000 ====================== 217
_High explosives_:
Great Britain 765,110,000 ========== 100
France 702,964,000 ========= 92
United States 375,656,000 ===== 49]
In the 19 months of our participation in the war our production of
unfilled rounds in ammunition was 38,623,000 rounds, while that of
France was 156,170,000 rounds and that of Great Britain 138,357,000
rounds. In that time we had produced 17,260,000 complete rounds, while
France had produced 149,827,000 rounds, and Great Britain 121,739,000
complete rounds.
The entrance of the United States into the war found the existing
American explosives manufacturers operating to the very limit of their
capacity in production for the allied governments and for general
commercial purposes.
Since the outbreak of the war in 1914 the explosives business in this
country had increased enormously and the trained men familiar with
manufacturing operations and conditions in this highly specialized and
extremely dangerous industry had fallen short of meeting demands.
When we entered the war, therefore, it became necessary at once to
distribute this limited force of experts as equitably as possible and
to put chemists, engineers and other specialists in the various plants
under the supervision of this trained personnel so as to produce in as
quick a time as possible a vastly enlarged force of competent operators
and supervisors for the production of explosives.
Summed up, the problem that faced the Ordnance Department was, while
maintaining the current great production of explosives, to expand
enormously the facilities for further production, to provide personnel
for operating these expanded facilities, to build up entirely new
manufacturing plants for making both propellants and high explosives,
and in addition to all of this, to bring into existence huge loading
plants.
In all, 53 new plants for making explosives and propellants and for
loading these were undertaken at a cost of approximately $360,000,000.
When the armistice was signed a very large part of this construction
work had been completed and was in an efficient state of operation.
How creditably this reflects upon America can be understood when it is
made plain that in addition to the development of production there was
also to be worked out the very intricate question of design, not only
of the plants themselves but also of their products, which required an
exceptional degree of technical skill and thorough control.
Prior to our entry into the war the Ordnance Department had depended
upon ammonium picrate, known in the Army vernacular as explosive "D,"
as a bursting charge for our high-explosive shell.
During the progress of the European conflict the British had
developed an explosive they called amatol, which is a mixture of
trinitrotoluol--T. N. T.--and ammonium nitrate. As this had proved to
be entirely satisfactory in actual service on European battle fields,
and as ammonium nitrate could be produced here in large quantities, we
adopted it.
The Ordnance Department eventually put into effect a standard policy
for the use of high explosives. Every effort was being made to conserve
the supply of T. N. T., and consequently this explosive was specified
for the shell of smaller calibers only. The standard filling scheme
was as follows: T. N. T. for shell between and including the calibers
of 75-millimeter and 4.7-inch; amatol for shell of calibers between
4.7-inch and 9.2-inch, including the latter; ammonium picrate, or
explosive D, for shell of 10-inch caliber and higher. While these were
the standards the scheme was not always followed rigidly. As a matter
of fact amatol was loaded into shell of all sizes and so was T. N. T.,
although explosive D was never used in shell smaller than those for the
10-inch guns. These departures from standard practice were due to the
necessity for keeping certain plants in production and to other special
causes and exceptional circumstances.
Production of large quantities of T. N. T. and ammonium nitrate was
the first big problem to be solved by the high-explosives section of
the Ordnance Department. All the work of the explosives section can be
subdivided under four group heads--raw materials, propellants, high
explosives, and loading.
RAW MATERIALS.
The first steps taken in the endeavor to meet the need for raw
materials were to increase greatly the available means for obtaining
toluol, phenol, caustic soda, sodium nitrate, sulphuric and nitric
acids, ammonia liquor or aqua ammonia, and to attempt to provide a
substitute for cellulose in case a shortage of cotton should render its
use necessary.
How to increase the supply of toluol, the basic raw material from
which T. N. T. is made, was the greatest and most pressing of all the
problems in regard to the existing raw materials. Before the war the
sole source of this ingredient was from by-product coke ovens. The
monthly capacity of these ovens in 1914 was, approximately, 700,000
pounds. By April, 1917, when we stepped into the conflict, this
capacity had been increased to 6,000,000 pounds a month.
By the time the armistice was signed our efforts for greater production
had been carried on so successfully that the supply had been increased
to 12,000,000 pounds a month, and the average cost of this was only 21
cents a pound. This tremendous increase of production not only took
care of all demands for commercial purposes and permitted the shipment
of about 11,000,000 pounds to the allied Governments, but was more than
ample to take care of our own entire explosives program, leaving a
stock on hand December 1, 1918, of 17,000,000 pounds.
A few details of how this tremendous increase in production was brought
about through the energies of the officials charged with this task and
the most efficient and whole-hearted cooperation of patriotic business
concerns are interesting.
Three general sources existed from which toluol was obtained: first,
from the by-product recovery coke ovens; second, by the stripping or
absorbing of toluol from carbureted water and coal gas; and third, by
the cracking or breaking down of oils.
In augmenting the supply of toluol through the first process,
construction of additional by-product coke ovens by the following big
steel companies was arranged:
-------------------------------------------------+----------------------
Company. | Toluol capacity
| per year.
-------------------------------------------------+----------------------
| _Pounds._
Jones & Laughlin Steel Co., Pittsburgh, Pa. | 5,770,160
The Sloss-Sheffield Co., Birmingham, Ala. | 2,019,556
United States Steel Corporation, Clairton, Pa. | 2,308,064
International Harvester Co., Chicago, Ill. | 1,585,794
United States Steel Corporation, Birmingham, Ala.| 2,019,556
Rainey-Wood Co., Swedeland, Pa. | 2,163,810
The Seaboard By-Product Co., Jersey City, N. J. | 1,081 905
Pittsburgh Crucible Steel Co., Midland, Pa. | 2,019,556
-------------------------------------------------+----------------------
The total cost of these additional ovens was about $30,000,000, which
was met by private capital after contracts for the purchase of the
product had been made, insuring a secure return on the investment.
Production was to begin in 1919.
In addition to this there was arranged construction for 320 additional
ovens at the following places:
-------------------------------------------+-----------+----------+-----------
Company. | | | Estimated
| Date of |Estimated | time of
| contract. | cost. |completion.
-------------------------------------------+-----------+----------+-----------
Donner Steel Co., Buffalo, N. Y. |May, 1918 |$6,000,000| Mar., 1920
Birmingham Coke Co., Birmingham, Ala. |July, 1918 | 2,500,000| Oct., 1919
Domestic Coke Corporation, Fairmont, W. Va.|Sept., 1918| 2,700,000| Nov., 1919
Domestic Coke Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio |July, 1918 | 1,500,000| Feb., 1920
International Coal Products Corporation, |May, 1918 | 2,000,000| Aug., 1919
Clinchfield, Va. | | |
-------------------------------------------+-----------+----------+-----------
From these sources the monthly production of toluol in 1920 would have
been increased by 600,000 pounds a month.
While all these arrangements for vastly increasing the supply of
this chemical in 1919 and 1920 were being made, technical experts of
the Ordnance Department stimulated production by visiting existing
by-product coke ovens and advising as to changes and alterations in the
plants, both in regard to equipment and methods of operation.
Investigations were made early in the summer of 1917 on the possibility
of recovering toluol by stripping illuminating gas, and a report was
made on this subject in October, 1917. Construction of the necessary
plants to carry out this plan was begun late in November, and the
first plants were in operation in April, 1918. This was considered a
remarkable record, in view of the fact that the operating personnel for
the purpose had to be established and trained in this entirely new line
of activity.
In this connection it is extremely interesting to note that the
American people in 13 of the largest cities of the country played an
unconscious part in contributing to the successful termination of
the war by using artificial gas of considerably less heating power,
as a result of the removal of the toluol for explosive purposes.
For example, in New York City, due to the extraction of toluol, the
artificial gas there was reduced in heating value approximately 6
per cent and the candlepower lowered from 22 to 16 because of this
stripping process.
Contracts for taking the toluol from artificial gas were made
with companies in the following cities: New York and Brooklyn, N.
Y.; Boston, Mass.; New Haven, Conn.; Albany, N. Y.; Utica, N. Y.;
Elizabeth, N. J.; Washington, D. C.; Detroit, Mich.; St. Louis, Mo.;
New Orleans, La.; Denver, Colo.; and Seattle, Wash.
The total cost of the installations made for this purpose in these
cities in connection with the gas plants was about $7,500,000.
For the production of toluol by cracking crude oils or petroleum
distillates, three processes of the many submitted were officially
approved and contracts awarded for operation.
The first and most important of these was that of the General Petroleum
Co. of Los Angeles, Calif. Under their scheme a yield of 6 per cent
toluol was obtained from a petroleum distillate, of which there was a
large quantity available, by treatment under temperature and pressure.
To facilitate production of toluol by this means, two large plants,
one at Los Angeles and the other at San Francisco, were erected at a
cost of approximately $5,000,000. These plants have a monthly capacity
of 3,000,000 pounds of toluol and their construction destroyed all
possibility of a shortage in this vital raw material.
Another process was that known as the Rittman process, evolved by
a scientist of the Bureau of Mines. This scheme, which called for
producing toluol from solvent naphtha or light oils by cracking under
high pressure and temperature, was finally demonstrated to be capable
of operation under war conditions, and production had just started at a
plant on Neville Island, Pittsburgh, Pa., at the time of the signing of
the armistice.
A third process was that known as the Hall process, by which toluol
was also obtained by cracking solvent naphtha under high pressure and
temperature by another, different, mechanical system. This scheme was
in operation on a small scale during 1918 at the Standard Oil Plant,
Bayonne, N. J.
Phenol, one of the essentials in the manufacture of picric acid, was
another raw material, the production of which was greatly augmented.
At the time of our entry into the war the monthly production amounted
to 670,000 pounds, while in October, 1918, it had been increased to
13,000,000 pounds. In December, 1917, the price of phenol as fixed
by the War Industries Board was 46 cents a pound, while Government
contracts in force a year later had reduced this figure to 31 cents a
pound.
The price of sulphuric acid jumped from $14 a ton to $60 a ton early in
the war, while nitric acid advanced from 5¼ cents a pound to 10 cents.
The shortage of sulphuric acid was met by the erection of both chamber
and contact plants in all high-explosives factories built for or under
direction of the Ordnance Department.
Both pyrites and sulphur were used at the beginning of the war, but the
submarine warfare stopped the importation of the pyrites from Spain,
and therefore sulphur deposits in Texas and Louisiana were depended
upon. A destructive storm in the early part of 1918 temporarily
curtailed the production from Louisiana deposits, but repairs were made
in time to prevent its effect being felt by the acid manufacturers.
The submarine also had the effect of lessening the importations from
Chile of sodium nitrate, which prior to the war were depended upon
entirely in the production of nitric acid. It became necessary,
therefore, to develop other methods of production. After investigations
a plant for the fixation of nitrogen under what is known as a modified
Haber process was erected at Sheffield, Ala., while a plant for the
same purpose using the cyanamide process was erected at Muscle Shoals,
Ala.
Both of these were equipped for the oxidation of ammonia to nitric
acid, each using a different process. When the armistice was signed
these plants were just coming into production. The existence of these
two nitrate plants insures the independence of this country in its
supply of commercial nitrogen, either for peace or for war.
There were also in course of erection, though not in operation on
November 11, 1918, great plants for the extraction of nitrogen from
the air, at Toledo and Cincinnati, Ohio, but construction on these two
plants, each of which was to cost $25,000,000, was stopped when the
armistice was signed.
PROPELLANTS.
In army usage the term "propellant" includes both smokeless powder and
black powder.
At the outbreak of the European war, the producing capacity in this
country for smokeless powder was approximately 1,500,000 pounds a
month. By the time the United States got into the war this capacity had
been increased from 25 to 30 times, and under the explosives program
laid down by us it was indicated that even this capacity would have to
be greatly increased.
The increase in the production of smokeless powder was helped by the
construction of two of the largest smokeless-powder plants in the
world--one known as the Old Hickory Plant, located almost on the site
of Andrew Jackson's old home at Nashville, Tenn., and the other at
Nitro, near Charleston, W. Va.
The Old Hickory Plant was the larger and more complete of the two. It
is probably the biggest plant of its kind in the world and is entirely
self-contained; in other words, the plant actually takes the crude, raw
cotton and, producing both the acid and solvents used, puts it through
every process until the final product is attained.
Nine powder lines were planned for this enterprise, each with a
capacity of 100,000 pounds per day, although developments from the
early operations indicated that the ultimate production of the plant
would reach 1,000,000 pounds a day.
The estimated cost of this huge undertaking was in the neighborhood of
$90,000,000. Negotiations were begun in October of 1917 and led to a
contract with the du Pont Engineering Co., under which this concern was
to construct the plant and operate it for a six months' period after
its completion.
Operation of the first powder line in the plant was to start September
15, 1918, or seven and one-half months after the signing of the
contract. Ground was broken March 8, 1918, and work was pushed so
efficiently and successfully that on July 1, 1918, the first powder
line was put in operation, 75 days ahead of the schedule called for in
the contract.
Some idea of the magnitude of this enterprise can be realized in the
statements that the plant covers an area of 5,000 acres and that in
addition to the powder plant proper there was built a city, housing
twenty odd thousand people, complete with schools, churches, and
all other elements that go to make up a town. There was also built
in connection with the plant a number of subprocess plants for
the manufacture of purified cotton, sulphuric acid, nitric acid,
diphenylamine, and other chemicals used in powder manufacture. Each of
these was an undertaking of no little size in itself.
Operation of the plant during the four and one-half months preceding
the signing of the armistice showed a production in excess of contract
requirements. On November 11, 1918, the plant was over 90 per cent
complete and about 50 per cent in operation. At that time 6,000,000
pounds of powder over and above contract expectations had been
produced, the total capacity having reached 423,000 pounds a day.
The second powder plant, located at Nitro, is somewhat smaller
than the Old Hickory Plant. It has a capacity of 625,000 pounds of
smokeless powder a day. It was built under the direction of D. C.
Jackling, director of United States Government explosive plants, by the
Thompson-Starrett Co., of New York. The contract was dated January 18,
1918, and ground was broken February 1. A contract for the operation of
the plant was signed with the Hercules Powder Co., and at the time of
the armistice the output was running approximately 109,000 pounds a
day, with the expectation of early and speedy increase. As in the case
of the Old Hickory Plant, a large village and many subprocess plants
were constructed in connection with this enterprise.
[Illustration: NITRO, WEST VIRGINIA.]
When the war began smokeless powder was dried by the circulation of
warm dried air for a long period of time over the damp powder as it
came from the solvent recovery house. This process required from six
weeks for small-caliber powder to nine months for large-caliber powder.
This time-consuming method being obviously impracticable in war, the
Ordnance Department authorized the so-called water-drying process. This
consists in the immersion of the powder as it comes from the solvent
recovery house in warm water for varying periods up to 72 hours, the
water then being expelled by filtration or centrifugal force and the
surplus external moisture dried off by hot air. By this method the time
of drying was reduced to 4 days for the small-caliber powder and to 22
days for powder for the larger caliber guns.
Just prior to the signing of the armistice an entirely new drying
process had been experimentally tried out. This was known as the Nash
or alcohol-drying process. The preliminary tests indicated that this
method was a great improvement both in safety and in the reduction of
cost. The indications were that drying could be reduced from days to
hours by this new method. The Nash process also insured apparently a
more uniform and tougher grade of powder, both of which characteristics
were greatly to be desired.
In spite of the rise in price of labor and of almost everything else,
the cost of powder was being reduced. At the beginning of the war cost
figures were 80 cents a pound for small-arms and 53 cents a pound for
cannon powder. When the armistice was signed these costs had been
reduced to 62 cents for small-arms powder and 41¼ cents for cannon
powder.
At the time of the signing of the armistice there was on hand
approximately 200,000,000 pounds of smokeless powder.
It early became evident that the supply of cellulose, even though
all available sources of supply were utilized to the utmost, would
nevertheless be insufficient to meet our vast production program.
For years it had been rumored that the Germans in the manufacture of
their smokeless powder had been using, with great success, cellulose
produced from wood pulp. Following out this idea, experimental work was
undertaken in an effort to develop cellulose that could be produced
from wood pulp in suitable physical form for nitration and which would
meet the chemical requirements.
In the southern and southwestern portions of the United States there
are large tracts of land from which timber has been removed and there
are also vast acreages of swamp lands. Processes developed by the
Ordnance Department had in view the idea of taking as much of these
lands as possible for farming and reforesting and utilizing the tree
stumps thereon. These stumps contained quantities of turpentine and
resin that could be recovered and the resultant pulp after proper
treatment could be prepared in suitable form as cellulose for nitration
purposes.
The question of black powder, while an important one, did not present
many difficulties excepting one, the necessary supply of potassium
nitrate. This was because Germany was the principal source of the
potash. It was thought that sodium nitrate might possibly have to be
used as a substitute. Experimental work along these lines indicated
that by using certain precautions, this substitution, if necessary,
could be made, although it was never adopted.
Black powder of all grades for military purposes was being produced
at the rate of 840,000 pounds a month, at a cost of 25 cents a pound,
at the time the armistice was signed. At that time there was on hand
6,850,000 pounds of black powder.
If the war had continued the United States could have produced during
the year 1919 more than 1,000,000,000 pounds of smokeless powder.
Two-thirds of this would have been available for our overseas forces
and the balance would have gone to the allied governments. This rate
of production would have amounted to about seven times the quantity of
explosives normally manufactured in peace times.
LOADING THE PROPELLANTS.
In addition to solving the problem of producing a sufficient quantity
of propellant powder there was also the problem, just as important,
of assembling this powder into fixed ammunition, or loading it into
bags. The Frankford Arsenal and commercial cartridge factories, after
expansion, were enabled to take care of the expanded small-arms
program. But it became necessary for the Government to erect and
operate several great bag-loading plants. These were located at
Woodbury, N.J., Tullytown, Pa., and Seven Pines, Va.
The ordinary cartridge fired from the rifle is familiar to most people.
The projectile is fitted into the metal case in which the explosive
force is contained. Projectiles for big guns are made along similar
lines, until the 4.7-inch gun is reached. Up to and including guns
of this caliber the projectile is fired with what is known as fixed
ammunition--that is to say, the shell itself is fixed into a metal
container which holds the powder.
Guns above the caliber of 4.7 inches, however, are fired with unfixed
ammunition--that is, the powder is loaded in silk bags, the projectile
placed in the gun, and a number of bags, depending upon the size of the
charge necessary, put into the breach of the gun behind the projectile.
The powder is then ignited and the big shell ejected by the gases
generated.
From the mills the powder is shipped to the bag-loading plants in bulk.
The silken bags are manufactured in huge quantities by industrial
plants and forwarded to the bag-loading plants, where are also daily
received large quantities of metal and fiber containers, into which are
loaded bags packed for overseas shipment not to be unpacked again until
they have reached the battle field.
Filling the bags is a precise and delicate operation. Chances can not
be taken or averages struck. Errors may mean the possible loss of
battles. A battery commander who has figured his range and who is about
to drop a number of high-explosive shell on an enemy battery must know
exactly how much powder he has behind his charge. If more powder is in
the bag than he calculates on, he will overshoot his mark; if less, the
shell instead of dropping upon an enemy battery may explode in midst of
his own advancing troops.
The three bag-loading plants the Government constructed at Woodbury,
Tullytown, and Seven Pines were built to load bags that were to be
used in firing guns from 155-millimeter caliber up to a caliber of 10
inches. The estimated average capacity of each plant was 20,000 bags a
day, but as a matter of fact a maximum capacity of 40,000 bags a day at
each plant had been reached before the signing of the armistice. Two
shifts a day were used at these plants most of the time. In each shift
there were approximately 3,500 operatives, most of them women.
At each of these plants, which are located in comparatively isolated
points, because of the dangerous work, special housing facilities had
to be constructed. For example, at Tullytown there were 70 bungalows,
13 residences for officers and executive heads, and six 98-room
dormitories, while at Woodbury 19 great dormitories were built to house
workers.
The number of buildings at Tullytown is 215. They range from
guardhouses to electrical generating stations for power and light.
Besides this construction there are between 22 and 30 miles of railroad
track laid at each of these points. The extremely dangerous nature
of the work makes it necessary to store not more than 400,000 pounds
of explosives in a single building, and where powder is stored the
buildings are at least 350 feet apart.
Up to the time of the signing of the armistice there were loaded
into small-arms ammunition 19,741,500 pounds of powder; there were
assembled into fixed ammunition approximately 33,000,000 pounds of
smokeless powder; and there were assembled into bags, properly packed
for shipment, approximately 32,300,000 pounds of smokeless powder.
HIGH EXPLOSIVES.
When Europe was plunged into the great war in August, 1914, the
American production of trinitrotoluol for commercial purposes amounted
to approximately 600,000 pounds a month of varying grades of purity.
This quantity was almost entirely consumed in the making of explosives
for blasting purposes. When we entered the war this production had been
increased to 1,000,000 pounds a month, exclusive of that which was
being used here commercially. Under pressure of our own war-time needs
the production of this highly important explosive chemical had been run
up to 16,000,000 pounds a month at the termination of hostilities in
November, 1918.
During the early stages of the war the average price of T. N. T.
for military purposes was $1 a pound. Largely, however, because of
the tremendous quantity production and enormous economies effected
by reason of this, and despite the scarcity of raw materials, and
notwithstanding the greatly increased labor cost, this price had been
reduced at the time of the signing of the armistice to 26½ cents
a pound. There were in the course of erection at the time of the
armistice, two great Government T. N. T. plants--one at Racine, Wis.,
that was to have a capacity of 4,000,000 pounds a month, and one at
Giant, Cal., with a capacity of 2,000,000 pounds a month.
During the war three grades of T. N. T. were produced. Grade I was
used for booster charges--that is, those charges which initiated the
explosive wave in the main shell charge. Grade II was used as a shell
filler; while Grade III was utilized with ammonium nitrate in producing
amatol.
In view of the fact that high explosives were produced in such enormous
quantities and that it was necessary to carry on these tremendous
manufacturing operations with an inexperienced force, the toll of life
taken in the production was remarkably small. Only two explosions of
any magnitude occurred in plants where explosives were manufactured and
both of these took place in T. N. T. producing plants. One of these
happened at Oakdale, Pa., in the plant of the Aetna Explosives Co. in
May, 1918. This cost the lives of 100 persons. The other took place on
July 2, 1918, at Split Rock, N.Y., in the plant of Semet-Solvay Co.,
where 60 people lost their lives. At the time of the explosions neither
of these plants was operating on War Department contracts.
Before the great war about 58,000,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate
used in the manufacture of commercial explosives were being produced
annually in this country, at an average cost of about 12 cents a pound.
By January, 1917, the commercial explosives manufacturers had extended
their facilities so that they had increased their production by
1,700,000 pounds monthly. This expansion, however, was insufficient to
meet our demands, and a Government ammonium nitrate plant was erected
at Perryville, Md. This plant was operated under the supervision of the
Atlas Powder Co., who also cooperated in its erection.
It did this manufacturing under the Brunner-Mond process that was
developed in England under the patents of Capt. Freeth. Under this
process ammonium nitrate is produced by the double decomposition of
ammonium sulphate and sodium nitrate.
In December, 1917, the Atlas people detailed several technical men to
go to England and study the Brunner-Mond process as carried on there.
In 1918 these men returned to the United States and prepared designs as
a result of the information they had gained abroad.
Ground was broken for the plant at Perryville March 8, 1918, and it
was in production by July 15. This plant is a large one, of excellent
construction, and absolutely fireproof, as is necessary because of the
nature of the work conducted in it. Because of the type of the building
the rapidity of its construction may well be classed as phenomenal.
Even while the plant was being put up, experimental work of a highly
technical nature was being carried on.
At the time of the signing of the armistice production of ammonium
nitrate at the Perryville plant had reached 452,000 pounds a day, and
this was greatly in excess of that being obtained at the English plant
of a similar size that had been in operation for months before ground
had been broken for our American plant.
Each of the Government-owned nitrogen fixation plants at Muscle Shoals,
Ala., and Sheffield, Ala., was also equipped to produce ammonium
nitrate by neutralization. Our total capacity from all sources at the
time of the signing of the armistice was 20,000,000 pounds monthly.
Ammonium nitrate is the one material in the field of explosives that
shows an increase in price over that of normal times. The average cost
of this substance used for military purposes was 17½ cents a pound.
There were on hand 60,500,000 pounds of ammonium nitrate on November
11, 1918.
Picric acid as such is not used by this country directly for military
purposes. But it is one of the raw materials used in producing ammonium
picrate, or explosive D, and in the manufacture of the poisonous gas
known as chlorpicrin.
Picric acid is, however, the main explosive used by the French, who
had placed enormous contracts for this material with explosives
manufacturers prior to the entry of the United States in the war.
Because of our purchase of early large supplies of ammunition and guns
from the French Government, to be largely paid for by picric acid,
large contracts were entered into by our Government for this explosive,
which was produced here in accordance with French specifications and
subject to joint inspection by our officers and the French.
In November, 1917, we were turning out 600,000 pounds of picric
acid monthly, and a year later this had been increased to a monthly
production of 11,300,000 pounds; the average cost was 56 cents a pound.
To insure production quickly for the needs of the times, three
Government picric-acid plants were authorized. One of these was located
at Picron, near Little Rock, Ark., to be operated by the Davis Chemical
Corporation; another was located at New Brunswick, Ga., to be operated
by the Butterworth-Judson Corporation; and the third was located at
Grand Rapids, Mich., for operation by the Semet-Solvay Co. All of these
contracts were made on a cost-plus basis. Each of these plants was to
have a capacity of 14,500,000 pounds of picric acid a month. The plant
at Picron in Arkansas was the only one that had started production
before the signing of the armistice.
Ammonium picrate, otherwise known as explosive D in our Army annals,
is produced by the ammoniation of picric acid, and because it is more
insensitive than picric acid and is less liable to form sensitive salts
with metals it is used as the explosive charge for all armor-piercing
projectiles.
Our average monthly production of ammonium picrate in May, 1917, was
53,000 pounds, and this had been increased without the erection of any
Government plants to a monthly capacity in November, 1918, of 950,000
pounds. There was on hand at the time of the signing of the armistice
6,500,000 pounds of this explosive, the average cost of which was 64
cents a pound.
Tetryl, on account of its high cost and the lack of manufacturing
facilities for its production, was not used except as a loading charge
for boosters. It is more sensitive than T. N. T. and has a higher rate
of detonation.
Only two companies, the du Pont Powder Co. and the Bethlehem Loading
Co., manufactured tetryl. Expansion of these two plants increased the
monthly capacity of 8,700 pounds in December, 1917, to 160,000 pounds
in November, 1918, while its cost was reduced from $1.30 a pound to 90
cents a pound.
This increased capacity, however, was not in excess of our explosives
requirements, and there was authorized by the Government the erection
of a plant at Senter, Mich., that was to be operated by the Atlas Co.,
and which was to have a monthly capacity of 250,000 pounds. This plant
had not reached production when the armistice was signed.
The Aetna Powder Co. at the time we entered the war was manufacturing
for the Russian Government tetranitroaniline that was to be used in
the loading of boosters and fuses. This company's plant at Nobleston,
Pa., was destroyed by an explosion. Ordnance officers learned that this
material was equal to tetryl as a military explosive. Consequently a
contract was entered into with Dr. Bernhardt Jacques Flurschein, the
holder of the patent rights, to have manufactured T. N. A. for our own
uses. A Government plant was authorized for erection on the ground
of the Calco Chemical Co., Bound Brook, N.J., to be operated by that
concern. Production at this plant was to be on a cost-plus basis,
the estimated cost of the material being 70 cents a pound. When the
armistice was signed, about 8,000 pounds of T. N. A. had been produced,
but none had been utilized.
Mercury fulminate, a very sensitive and powerful explosive, was used
only in caps, primers, detonators, etc., as a means of initiating
detonation, on account of its own high rate of detonation. The three
plants operating in this country to produce this explosive for
commercial purposes, the du Pont Co., Pompton Lake, N.J., the Atlas
Powder Co., Tamaqua, Pa., and the Aetna Powder Co., Kingston, N.Y.,
expanded their facilities sufficiently to meet our program. Their
average monthly production in 1918 was 50,000 pounds at a cost of $3.21
per pound, and there was on hand in November, 1918, 330,900 pounds of
this explosive.
In the early stages of the war to meet the apparent shortage of T.
N. T. and ammonium nitrate then existing because of our enormous
explosives program, it was necessary to develop an explosive for
trench warfare purposes that could be used for filling hand and rifle
grenades, trench-mortar shell, and drop bombs. To meet this need,
the Trojan Powder Co., of Allentown, Pa., submitted a nitrostarch
explosive. After exhaustive investigations and complete tests, this
explosive was authorized for use in loading the hand and rifle grenades
and the 3-inch trench-mortar shell.
Development of a nitrostarch explosive for commercial purposes had been
under consideration and investigation by two other large experienced
manufacturers for a number of years, but the difficulties incident to
the production and purification of nitrostarch were such that their
efforts had met with little success.
The Trojan Powder Co., operating under secret process, solved this
problem, and all nitrostarch explosives used were produced by this
company, although another nitrostarch explosive known as "grenite,"
which was produced by the du Pont Co., was tested and authorized for
use.
Our country was the only Government that used nitrostarch explosives
during the war, and the development of this explosive made the loading
problem easier and made possible the use of materials that were
available and whose cost was low. The average cost of this explosive
was 21.8 cents a pound. In July, 1918, the average monthly production
of nitrostarch was 840,000 pounds and this had been increased by
November, 1918, to 1,720,000 pounds a month.
There were loaded with nitrostarch explosive 7,244,569 defensive hand
grenades; 1,526,000 offensive hand grenades; 9,921,533 rifle grenades
and 813,073 three-inch trench-mortar shell. At the time of the signing
of the armistice there was on hand of this explosive 1,650,500 pounds.
The du Pont Co. developed an explosive called lyconite, and this was
authorized for use in the loading of drop bombs.
Anilite, a liquid explosive used by the French, was thoroughly
investigated and improvements were made in it to render its use safer,
but development had not progressed far enough to warrant authorization
for its use prior to the signing of the armistice.
Chlorate and perchlorate explosives were also investigated and several
types developed that were considered entirely satisfactory for use, but
these never got into production before the end of the war.
AMMUNITION AND SHELL LOADING.
When we entered the war the quantity of field artillery ammunition on
hand was considerably less than a single month's supply, basing our
rate of expenditure on the estimated rate for November, 1918. There
were no facilities of any degree of magnitude available to take care of
our projected program for filling the high-explosive shell necessary
for use by our overseas forces.
Consequently it became necessary at once to plan and to develop the
resources of the country for the production of metallic parts, such as
the shell proper, the fuse, boosters and adapters, as well as to design
and build entirely new plants and to train completely new forces for
the loading of the shell with the high explosives.
[Illustration: _HIGH EXPLOSIVE NOSE FUSE SHELL_
_75M/M TYPE_
_Detonator (explosive)_
_Bourrelet_
_Explosive charge (T. N. T.) or (Amatol)_
_Smokeless powder_
_Primer (brass)_
_Adapter (steel)_
_Percussion fuse_
_Booster case, or Jacket, or Gaine. (cold drawn or pressed
steel-machined)_
_Copper band or rotating band_
_Cartridge case (drawn brass)_]
[Illustration: GIRLS LOADING POINT-DETONATING FUSES FOR HIGH-EXPLOSIVE
SHELL IN BODY-MACHINING DEPARTMENT OF A LOADING PLANT.]
The explosion of an H. E. shell is really a series of explosions.
The process of the burst is about as follows: The firing pin strikes
the percussion primer, which explodes the detonator. The detonator
is filled with some easily detonated substance, such as fulminate of
mercury. The concussion of this explosion sets off the charge held
within the long tube which extends down the middle of the shell and
which is known as the booster. The booster charge is a substance
easily exploded, such as tetryl or trinitroaniline (T. N. A.). The
explosion of the booster jars off the main charge of the shell, T. N.
T. or amatol. This system of detonator, booster, and main charge gives
control of the explosives within the shell, safety in handling the
shell, and complete explosion when the shell bursts. Without the action
of the booster charge on the main charge of the shell, the latter would
be only partially burned when the shell exploded, and part of the main
charge would thus waste itself in the open air.
The shell used by our Army before the war had been largely of the
base-fuse type. Interchangeability of ammunition with the French
required that we adopt shell of the nose-fuse type. The boosters and
adapters that went with this type were unfamiliar to our industry.
The adapter is the metallic device that holds the booster and fuse and
fastens them in the shell. The adapter, therefore, is a broad ring,
screw-threaded both outside and inside. The inside diameter is uniform,
so as to allow the same size of booster and fuse to be screwed into
shell of different sizes. The outside diameters of the adapters vary
with the sizes of the shell they are made to fit, the rings thus being
thicker or thinner as the case may require. Fuses of several sorts
are employed by the modern artillerist; and with shell equipped with
adapters, any fuse may be inserted in the field right at the gun.
Unexpectedly the manufacture of boosters and adapters proved to be much
more difficult than it appeared to be at the start, and the shortage of
these devices was a limiting factor in the American production of shell.
On May 1, 1917, drawings and specifications were sent to the principal
manufacturers of ammunition and ammunition components inviting bids
on 3-inch ammunition. These bids were opened on May 15, 1917, and
after full discussion with the Council of National Defense orders were
placed for 9,000,000 rounds of 3-inch shell and shrapnel ammunition.
The bids for shell and shrapnel ammunition for all the other calibers
of guns and howitzers we had on hand then were about to be asked,
when the French mission to this country arrived; and the sending out
of proposals was deferred, while discussion ensued as to changing
our 3-inch and 6-inch artillery to 75-millimeter and 155-millimeter
calibers, so as to make our ammunition interchangeable with that of the
French. This decision was made June 5, 1917.
There then took place much discussion and consideration of the French
ammunition. The French had several distinct types of shell, ranging
from the very thin walled high capacity kind to the thicker walled
types. The French specifications were radically different from our own
or those of the British. The steel shell in the French practice was
subjected to a drastic heat treatment, which did not seem necessary to
us for the thicker walled types of shell.
The French fusing system also was entirely different from that used by
our service. French fuses were carried separately, and the adapter and
the booster casing were screwed permanently into the shell.
Our decision to adopt French types of ammunition made it necessary to
rearrange all our plans, and to obtain drawings of the shell, boosters,
adapters, and fuses from France. This caused much negotiating, and
a considerable amount of time was consumed in getting the necessary
specifications and drawings here.
As a result of recommendations from French officials against production
in this country during 1917 of the so-called "_obus allongé_" and the
semisteel type of shell, no attempt was made to produce these for the
155-millimeter guns and howitzers during the first year of the war, but
as a result of new recommendations and investigations of our officers
in France in the spring of 1918 both of these types of shell were put
into quantity production here. When the armistice was signed they were
being turned out in such quantities that it appeared that there was
sure to be an ample supply on hand in the early spring of 1919.
Radical differences of manufacture existed between the French and
British in the matter of specifications and methods of production.
Large quantities of British ammunition had been made in this country,
and we had adopted the British 8-inch howitzer, so that it appeared we
should use British practice in the manufacture of shell. Manufacturers
claimed that great delay would result in the production of shell here
if the heat treatment and hydraulic tests were insisted upon as the
French specifications called for, and investigation proved this to be
essentially true, as no facilities for heat treating and hydraulic
testing existed.
The upshot of the entire matter was that it was decided to use French
dimensions and shell for the 75-millimeter and 155-millimeter calibers
so as to obtain uniformity of ballistics, but to permit American
metallurgical practice to obtain in the manufacture. Shells made under
these specifications were tested by the French commission in France.
The verdict on these shell can be summarized in this quotation from
their report:
To sum up, from the test of 10,000 cartridges of 75 millimeter,
it may be concluded that American ammunition is in every
way comparable to French ammunition and that the two may be
considered as interchangeable.
Our designs for shrapnel and time fuses had been proven to be entirely
satisfactory, and they were continued as they were. In fact it was
generally agreed that ours was the best time fuse used on the allied
side during the war. That our decision in the matter of continuing
production of shrapnel and time fuses was warranted, is borne out by
the fact that we obtained early deliveries in sufficient quantities to
meet requirements.
In the use of the adapters and boosters, which introduced an entirely
new component to our service in shell making, we had had no experience,
and subsequently met with great difficulties due to this lack of
experience. Delays were encountered because in this part of shell
manufacture it was generally necessary to await information from France
whenever difficulties were encountered, or to conduct experiments
before we could proceed.
When we began receiving our bids for 3-inch gun ammunition there were
comparatively few factories in the United States that were able to turn
out complete rounds of ammunition. There were many factories, however,
capable of turning out one or more of the shell components. It was
necessary to place orders for complete rounds of ammunition with those
factories that could furnish them, and have the remaining components
manufactured separately, and to provide assembling plants. To get as
many factories as possible on a production basis in anticipation of the
future large orders for ammunition that must necessarily follow with
extension of operations by our field forces, orders for our initial
quantities of ammunition were distributed as widely as possible.
To prevent confusion and loss of time because of the scramble for steel
forgings and other raw materials it was decided that the Government
would purchase all raw materials as well as furnish components for
ammunition.
How successful we were in getting into quantity production on
ammunition after the numerous and large obstacles in the early months
of the war can be indicated best by the fact that of the 11,616,156
high-explosive shell for 75-millimeter guns machined up to November
1, no less than 2,893,367 passed inspection in October; while of the
7,345,366 adapters and boosters for 75-millimeter guns that had been
machined up to the 1st of November, 2,758,397 passed inspection in
October.
The figures for the 4.7-inch and 155-millimeter guns and howitzers
follow:
----------------------+----------------+---------------
| Machined | Machined
| high-explosive | adapters and
Kind of ammunition. | shell | boosters
| accepted up | accepted up
| to Nov. 1. | to Nov. 1.
----------------------+----------------+---------------
4.7-inch | 994,852 | [20]636,096
155-millimeter | 2,083,782 | 2,516,216
----------------------+----------------+---------------
[20] For use in 4.7-inch and other sizes.
Ammonium picrate or explosive D upon which this country had depended
almost entirely up to the time of our entry into the war was forced
into the shell under hydraulic pressure. The adoption of the
point-fused shell and an explosive for shell filling new to this
country, namely, amatol, made necessary the provision of new methods
for shell loading and the expansion of plant facilities for these
new methods capable of loading the vast and tremendous numbers of
shell required in modern warfare. As a result of reports, following
investigations by our officers of methods used abroad, various new
shell-loading plants were built in the United States.
The names, location, and output of the shell-loading plants in our
country are as follows:
--------------------------------+------------------------+---------
| | Total
Company. | Location. | capacity
| | daily
| | (shell).
--------------------------------+------------------------+---------
T. A. Gillespie Loading Co. | Morgan, N. J. | 47,000
Do. | Parlin, N. J. | 25,000
Do. | Runyon, N. Y. | 3,500
Poole Engineering & Machine Co. | Texas, Md. | 15,000
United States Arsenal | Rock Island, Ill. | 1,000
Sterling Motor Car Co. | Brockton, Mass. | 10,000
American Can Co. | Kenilworth, N. J. | 20,000
Atlantic Loading Co. | Amatol, N. J. | 53,500
Bethlehem Loading Co. | Mays Landing, N. J. | 41,000
Do. | New Castle, Del. | 27,400
Do. | Redington, Pa. | 4,000
du Pont Engineering Co. | Penniman, Va., G plant | 41,000
Do. | Penniman, Va., D plant | 13,330
J. D. Evans Engineer Corp. | Old Bridge, N. J. | 30,000
| +---------
Total | | 331,730
--------------------------------+------------------------+---------
It was found necessary in the early stages of the war to fill all shell
with T. N. T., regardless of cost, until there could be built the
required and properly equipped plants for the mixing and loading of
amatol.
Two methods for loading T. N. T. were adopted. The one most largely
used, however, was the casting method by which the chemical was
brought to a molten condition in a steam jacketed kettle and poured
into the shell. To do this two operations were usual. First, the shell
was filled approximately two-thirds full with the molten material,
and then as soon as a crust was formed this was broken through and
the second filling took place. This process was necessary to prevent
the formation of cavities in the filling charge. Such cavities cause
breakdowns, resulting almost invariably in incomplete or entire failure
of detonation.
The ammonium nitrate first produced in this country during the war was
of such a character that proper densities could not be obtained when
mixed with T. N. T. to form amatol. This difficulty was overcome after
much investigation, and proper methods were outlined for the ammonium
nitrate manufacturers, with the result that Grade III ammonium nitrate
was produced as a sharp, hard crystal at a setting point of not less
than 290° F. This was found to be perfectly satisfactory.
[Illustration: EIGHT-INCH SHELL BEING LOADED WITH AMATOL.
View of extruding machine bulkhead in background.]
[Illustration: MARK V FUSE ASSEMBLY.
This picture shows two complete units for this assembly work.
The operation begins in the foreground with cap assembly and
progresses toward background, the fulminate detonator being
inserted midway down table. The protecting bulkhead for cap
supply is shown in the foreground.]
The so-called 50-50 amatol, composed of 50 parts ammonium nitrate and
50 parts T. N. T., is loaded into shell by a casting method similar to
that used in loading T. N. T. alone.
The so-called 80-20 amatol, composed of 80 parts ammonium nitrate
and 20 parts T. N. T., was originally loaded cold, by hand, and then
followed up with mechanical pressing. As a substitute for this method,
which is accompanied by a certain element of danger, the use of hot
80-20 amatol, was resorted to in England. This was tamped by hand to
the proper density, it being more compressible than cold amatol.
As this is an exceedingly tedious method of operation it was entirely
done away with in England, except for large shell, by the use of what
is known as the horizontal extruding machine. With this machine the
British were able to load 80-20 amatol with great success into the
75-millimeter shell and higher calibers up to 8 inches.
This machine took a mixture of T. N. T. and ammonium nitrate in a
jacketed hopper, so that the temperature might be maintained, and
the hopper fed it down through a funnel upon a screw that was placed
against the shell by counterweights to give the proper density. One
of these machines was imported here from England, but, as it was
unsatisfactory from a construction standpoint, new and satisfactory
machines were built on the same principles of construction in our own
amatol loading plants.
Experimental work with these machines was carried on at the Government
testing station Picatinny Arsenal, Dover, N. J., and the du Pont
Experimental Station, Gibbstown, N. J., as well as experimental plant
operations at the Morgan plant of the T. A. Gillespie Co., Parlin,
N. J., and the Penniman plant of the du Pont Co., Penniman, Va. All
difficulties of the operations were overcome so satisfactorily that the
greater portion of the loaded shell was produced by this method.
The metal parts as received at the shell-filling plant are inspected
and cleaned to remove all traces of foreign matter such as grit or
grease before being sent to the loading room. After being loaded the
shell are again inspected. At intervals a split shell is loaded and
then taken apart and examined, so that any loading defects may be found
quickly and conditions remedied, before any large quantities of shell
are produced.
The cavity left in the amatol by the tube of the extruding machine is
filled with molten T. N. T., and a cavity is produced in this T. N. T.
into which the booster fits. This is necessary in order to provide for
complete detonation. The booster cavity is produced either by the use
of a former, which upon removal leaves a cavity of the proper size, or
by plunging the booster into the shell filling before this is cooled,
or by drilling out a cavity for the booster after the filling has been
thoroughly cooled.
A large number of rounds of ammunition of all calibers had also to be
loaded with a flashless compound that was inserted in the propelling
charges, so that the discharge of the guns would not betray their
positions to the enemy at night, while a smoke compound was inserted in
a large quantity of shell so that each missile of this character might
be located after firing to determine the accuracy of the shot.
Coordination of manufacture of metallic parts so as to cause the
proper quantities of shell, fuse, and boosters to be produced without
leaving any incomplete rounds that would have to be held awaiting other
components caused the greatest difficulty.
The magnitude of the task of providing the necessary shell components
in the tremendous quantities required can be better appreciated by a
realization of the fact that the various parts of each component must
be made to fit each other properly and perfectly. Gauging had to be
resorted to frequently in the process of manufacture to make certain
that there was perfect interchangeability of parts of each component to
prevent any waste of time in selecting parts to fit each other.
The complete components, too, must themselves be made with equal care
and scrupulous attention to make certain that they fit properly. Thus,
the booster had to be made in such a fashion and with such precision
and accuracy that it would fit perfectly into the shell as well as
into the booster cavity in the shell filling into which it is screwed
and also at the same time accommodate the fuse which screws into the
booster.
This extreme accuracy made necessary a large number of gauges, which
had to be designed at the same time as, and in coordination with, the
design of the component. For example, in a complete round of artillery
ammunition, 80 dimensions must be gauged. To standardize the gauges
used for these 80 dimensions, 180 master gauges are required, while the
actual number of different gauges used during the various stages of
manufacture of a complete round is over 500.
Government inspectors required over 200 gauges in their work of
inspecting and gauging the finished components for the shell, so in all
about 800 gauges were used in the process of manufacturing a complete
round of artillery ammunition, to insure interchangeability of parts,
proper fit for the projectile in the gun, and perfect functioning of
the various parts.
[Illustration: LOADING SMOKELESS POWDER.
Notice safety door at the girl's elbow. A flash in this room will
not communicate to an adjoining room. The room is heated by overhead
hot-air heating system.]
[Illustration: FULMINATE COMPOSITION CHARGING, STEEL SHIELD, WITH
WINDOW OF HEAVY GLASS TO THE RIGHT.
Girl operating the same device on the left. The view shows the bulkhead
between the operations.]
[Illustration: SHELL PAINTING.
This view shows the exhaust hood open and turntable lowered. Operator
raises turntable by foot lever and closes hood before spraying.]
[Illustration: GENERAL VIEW OF SHELL-PAINTING ROOM.
Shell is received on the elevated platform and trucked to
the edge on hand trucks, where the trolley hook just enters
the eyebolt as shell is removed from truck, thus making it
unnecessary to lift the shell during any operation in this room.]
All fixed ammunition was assembled at the shell-filling plants, making
it necessary to install at these points storage capacity and equipment
to handle the propellant powder as well as to fill the high-explosive
shell. Boosters and fuses were loaded at separate plants and shipped to
the shell-filling assembly places to be packed for shipment with the
shell for transportation overseas.
The cost of a loaded 75-millimeter shell with the fuse and propellant
charge ready to be fired is about $11. Such a shell contains a little
over 1½ pounds of high explosive, which costs $1. The loading and
assembling of the complete round costs $4.
A loaded 155-millimeter shell complete with fuse costs about $30,
exclusive of the propellant charge of powder, which is loaded
separately. A shell of this caliber holds about 14¼ pounds of high
explosive, which costs $10, while the loading and assembling costs $4.
The 75-millimeter and 155-millimeter shell were used in the greatest
quantities on the European battle fields, and at the time of the
signing of the armistice our American loading plants were concentrating
on filling ammunition for guns of these two calibers.
The nature of the work carried on at these shell-loading plants, of
course, made the danger of a disaster ever present. Prior to our entry
into the war an explosion at the Canadian Car & Foundry Co.'s plant,
Kingsland, N. J., resulted in the entire destruction of the plant with
large loss of life.
In October, 1918, the Morgan plant of the T. A. Gillespie Co., South
Amboy, N. J., was wiped out by an explosion in which about 100
employees lost their lives. Plans for rebuilding this plant, had
progressed far when the armistice was signed. In the fall of 1917, 40
people were killed in an explosion at the Eddystone Loading Plant,
Eddystone, Pa.
For the successful carrying out of our program for the production
of vast quantities of explosives and propellants, as well as shell
loading, the women of America must be given credit, on account of the
highly important part they took in this phase of helping to win the
war. Fully 50 per cent of the number of employees in our explosive
plants were women, who braved the dangers connected with this line of
work, to which they had been, of course, entirely unaccustomed, but
whose perils were not unknown to them.
In connection with the production of shell themselves, the American
Ordnance Department adopted certain changes of design which were not
only radically different from what we had known before the war but were
interesting for the way in which they were brought about and for the
results they accomplished.
The modern shell as we knew it before the war was simply a metal
cylinder cut off squarely at the base and roundly blunted at the nose.
The shell is zoned with a so-called rotating ring, a circular band of
copper which by engaging the rifling channels of the gun gives to the
shell the whirl that keeps it from tumbling over and over and thus
holds it accurately on its course in flight.
In the proof-firing of the 6-inch seacoast guns it was discovered that
their fire was none too accurate; and the American ordnance engineers
began studying the shell to see if the fault lay there. One of these
experts was Maj. F. R. Moulton, who before accepting a commission
in the Army had been professor of astronomy at the University of
Chicago. Maj. Moulton began a study of the 6-inch shell; and soon it
was discovered that the mathematics which could chart the orbits of
comets could also deal with the flight of projectiles, calculate the
influences of air resistance and gravitation, and eventually work out
new, scientific contours for offsetting these influences as much as
possible.
Maj. Moulton first dealt with the inaccuracy of our 6-inch shell.
He discovered the cause in the rotating band. Although but a slight
portion of this band was upraised above the surface of the shell's
circumference, yet the enormous force exerted upon the projectile
to start it from the gun actually caused the cold copper to "flow"
backward. The result was that when the shell emerged from the muzzle
of the gun it bore around its sides an entirely unsuspected and
undesirable flange. This flange not only shortened the range of the
shell by offering resistance to the air, but it was seldom uniform all
the way around, a condition giving rise to the idiosyncracies of our
6-inch shell as they were fired at the target.
The remedy for this was a redesigned rotating band, making it somewhat
thicker in front. The "flow" of the copper could thus be accommodated
without causing any detrimental distortion to the projectile. When this
improvement was made the 6-inch shell became as accurate as any.
But Maj. Moulton was to make an even greater contribution to the 6-inch
shell. This shell, like those of our other types, was square ended at
the base. Maj. Moulton in his new design tapered in the sides somewhat,
making the shell "boat ended." He elongated the nose, bringing it out
to a much sharper point. The result was the first American "streamline"
design for a shell. Shell of this new model were built experimentally
and tested. The 6-inch gun could fire its old shell 17,000 yards, while
the streamline shell went 4,000 or 5,000 yards farther--2 or 3 miles
added to the range of an already powerful weapon by the application of
brains and mathematics.
[Illustration:
FIGURE 10.
IMPROVEMENT OF FIELD GUNS SINCE THE NAPOLEONIC WARS.
MUZZLE VELOCITY.
-----------------------+------------+-------------------------------
Type. | Date. | Feet per second.
-----------------------+------------+-------------------------------
| |
Early rifled guns | 1863-1870 | ==== 1090
| |
Later rifled guns | 1870-1893 | ===== 1466
| |
Early quick firers | About 1900 | ====== 1695
| |
Modern quick firers | 1914-1918 | ======= 1770
| |
-----------------------+------------+-------------------------------
RANGE WITH SHRAPNEL.
-----------------------+------------+-------------------------------
| |
Smooth bores | 1815-1850 | ===== 1257
| |
Early rifled guns | 1863-1870 | ======= 2004
| |
Later rifled guns | 1870-1893 | =============== 4120
| |
Early quick firers | About 1900 | ======================= 6160
| |
Modern quick firers | 1914-1918 | ======================== 6,500
| |
-----------------------+------------+--------------------------------
RANGE WITH SHELL.
-----------------------+------------+--------------------------------
| |
Smooth bores | 1815-1850 | === 1,670
| |
Early rifled guns | 1863-1870 | ======== 3,965
| |
Later rifled guns | 1870-1893 | ============ 6,168
| |
Early quick firers | About 1900 | =============== 7,340
| |
Modern quick firers | 1914-1918 | ================= 8,500
| |
With streamline shell | 1918-19 | ======================== 12,130
| |
-----------------------+------------+--------------------------------
The limiting factor in the development of light field guns has
always been the continuous hauling power of 6 horses, which is
about 4,000 pounds. The gun has been as powerful as possible
within the limits of this weight, which includes the carriage
and limber as well as the cannon itself. Improved technique and
materials have reduced the necessary weight of the cannon from
1,650 pounds in 1815 to about 800 pounds to-day, permitting the
use of weight for recoil mechanism and shield of armor plate
without exceeding the limit.
The 800-pound nickel-steel gun of 1918 fires as heavy a
projectile (12-15 pounds) as the 1,650-pound bronze gun of the
Napoleonic wars. The improved material permits a more powerful
propellant charge, which results in greater muzzle velocity,
a flatter trajectory, and longer maximum range. The latter is
due in part also to improved shapes of projectiles and the
introduction of rifling. The efficiency of artillery is further
increased by the introduction of high-explosive bursting
charge. The modern 75-millimeter shell contains about 1.76
pounds of high explosive as against about 0.5 pound of black
powder in shell prior to 1893.]
The French were experimenting with streamline shell. We adopted the
French streamline 75-millimeter shell and put it into production,
calling it our Mark IV shell. Our regular 75-millimeter shell, known
as the Mark I 1900 shell, had a maximum range of 9,000 yards. The
Mark IV shell proved to have a maximum range of 12,130 yards, giving
an increase in range of well over a mile. America up to April 3, 1919,
turned out about 524,000 of these streamline shell.
The French also built shell of semisteel, steel to which iron was
added. It was claimed that these shell, by bursting into fine fragments
upon exploding, were more effective against troops than all-steel
shell, because the fragments of the latter were larger. We adopted
this shell also and produced it experimentally. In contour it was a
compromise between the old cylindrical shell and the extreme streamline
type and was easier to make than the latter.
_Artillery ammunition, complete rounds--Acceptances in United
States and Canada on U. S. Army orders only._
[Figures in thousands of rounds.]
--------------------------+------+-----------------------------------------
| To | 1918
| Jan. +------+------+------+------+------+------
| 1. | Jan. | Feb. | Mar. | Apr. | May. | June.
--------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
_Calibers for American | | | | | | |
Expeditionary Force | | | | | | |
program._ | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
75-mm. gun H. E. | | | | | | | 235
75-mm. gun shrapnel | 20| 121 | 124 | 483 | 888 |1,011 |1,049
75-mm. gun gas | | | | | | |
75-mm. A. A. shrapnel | | | | | | |
3-inch A. A. shrapnel | | | | | | |
4.7-inch gun H. E. | | | | | | |
4.7-inch gun, shrapnel | 9| 9 | 14 | 17 | 18 | 23 | 35
5-inch S. C. gun H. E. | | | | | | |
6-inch S. C. gun H. E. | | | | | | | 2
155-mm. gun H. E.[21] | | | | | | |
155-mm. howitzer H. E.[21]| | | | | | |
155-mm. shrapnel | | | | | | |
8-inch howitzer H. E. | | | | | | |
9.2-inch howitzer H. E. | | | | | | |
240-mm. howitzer H. E. | | | | | | |
8-inch S. C. gun H. E. | | | | | | |
10-inch S. C. gun H. E. | | | | | | |
+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
Total |[22]29|[22]130|[22]138|[22]500|[22]906|[22]1,034|1,321
+======+======+======+======+======+======+======
_Calibers for use in | | | | | | |
United States only._ | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
2.95-inch mountain gun | | | | | | |
H. E. | 22| | | | | |
2.95-inch mountain gun | | | | | | |
shrapnel | 37| | | | | |
3-inch F. G. H. E. | 333| 73 | 212 | 142 | 128 | 95 | 3
3-inch F. G. shrapnel | 957| 164 | 231 | 174 | 55 | 60 | 15
3.8-inch howitzer H. E. | 3| 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
3.8-inch howitzer shrapnel| 12| 1 | | | | |
4.7-inch howitzer H. E. | 14| 4 | | | 5 | 1 | 1
4.7-inch howitzer shrapnel| | | | | | 4 |
6-inch howitzer H. E. | 20| 1 | 3 | 24 | 35 | |
6-inch howitzer shrapnel | | | | | | | 1
+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
Total | 1,398| 246 | 448 | 342 | 224 | 160 | 20
+======+======+======+======+======+======+======
Grand total | 1,427| 376 | 586 | 842 |1,130 |1,194 |1,341
--------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
--------------------------+-----------------------------------------+-----
| 1918
+------+------+------+------+------+------+Total
| July | Aug.| Sept.| Oct.| Nov.| Dec.|
--------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+-----
_Calibers for American | | | | | | |
Expeditionary Force | | | | | | |
program._ | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
75-mm. gun H. E. | 287 | 809 |1,168 | 1,122| 1,175| 790 | 5,586
75-mm. gun shrapnel | 730 | 732 | 802 |1,057 | 812| 738 | 8,567
75-mm. gun gas | | 188 | 164 | 213 | 15 | | 580
75-mm. A. A. shrapnel | | 92 | 97 | 185 | 134 | 126 | 634
3-inch A. A. shrapnel | | | | 11 | 59 | 2 | 72
4.7-inch gun H. E. | | | 32 | 45 | 43 | 46 | 166
4.7-inch gun, shrapnel | 23 | 38 | 29 | 28 | 15 | 19 | 277
5-inch S. C. gun H. E. | | | 7 | | | 5 | 12
6-inch S. C. gun H. E. | | | 1 | 36 | 23 | | 62
155-mm. gun H. E.[21] | | | | 9 | 33 | 51 | 98
155-mm. howitzer H. E.[21]| 11 | 113 | 193 | 119 | 173 | 140 | 749
155-mm. shrapnel | | 12 | 22 | 66 | 41 | 93 | 234
8-inch howitzer H. E. | | | | 91 | 8 | | 99
9.2-inch howitzer H. E. | | | 13 | 8 | 24 | 3 | 48
240-mm. howitzer H. E. | | | | 2 | | | 2
8-inch S. C. gun H. E. | | | | 20 | 11 | | 31
10-inch S. C. gun H. E. | | | 20 | 50 | 4 | 11 | 85
+------+------+------+------+------+------+-------
Total |1,051 |1,984 |2,548 |3,062 |2,570 |2,024 |17,297
+======+======+======+======+======+======+======
_Calibers for use in | | | | | | |
United States only._ | | | | | | |
| | | | | | |
2.95-inch mountain gun | | | | | | |
H. E. | | | | | | | 22
2.95-inch mountain gun | | | | | | |
shrapnel | 9 | 14 | 2 | | | | 62
3-inch F. G. H. E. | 1 | 84 | | | | | 1,071
3-inch F. G. shrapnel | | | | | | | 1,656
3.8-inch howitzer H. E. | | | | | | | 11
3.8-inch howitzer shrapnel| | | | | | | 13
4.7-inch howitzer H. E. | 1 | 1 | | | 12 | | 39
4.7-inch howitzer shrapnel| 23 | 5 | 8 | 10 | 10 | | 60
6-inch howitzer H. E. | | | | | | | 83
6-inch howitzer shrapnel | | 3 | | | | | 4
+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
Total | 34 | 107 | 10 | 10 | 22 | | 3,021
+======+======+======+======+======+======+======
Grand total |1,085 |2,091 |2,558 |1,072 |2,592 |2,024 |20,318
--------------------------+------+------+------+------+------+------+------
[21] All thick walled type; not all supplied with fuses.
[22] Shrapnel only.
The following table lists the name of each manufacturer of the various
types and sizes of shell for big guns and states the quantity turned
out by each:
---------------------------------+--------------------+-------------------
| Forgings. | Machinings.
+----------+---------+---------+---------
| Quantity | Quantity| Quantity| Quantity
Contractor. | ordered | accepted| ordered | accepted
| to | to | to | to
| Nov. 1, | Nov. 1,| Nov. 1,| Nov. 1,
| 1918. | 1918. | 1918. | 1918.
---------------------------------+----------+---------+---------+---------
_3-inch antiaircraft | | | |
high-explosive shell._ | | | |
| | | |
Hydraulic Pressed Steel Co., | | | |
Cleveland, Ohio | 1,938,806| 135,435| |
John Inglis Co., | | | |
Toronto, Ontario | 500,000| 131,542| |
Saskatchewan Bridge & Iron Works,| | | |
Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan | | | 84,000|
West Shell & Box Co., | | | |
North Edmonton, Alberta | | | 83,000|
Manitoba B. & I. Co., | | | |
Winnipeg, Manitoba | | | 83,000|
Medicine Hat P. & B. Co., | | | |
Medicine Hat, Alberta | | | 83,000|
Dominion Bridge Co., | | | |
Winnipeg, Manitoba | | | 84,000|
Salisbury Wheel & Axle Co., | | | |
Jamestown, N. Y. | | | 500,000| 1,097
| | | |
_3-inch antiaircraft shrapnel._ | | | |
| | | |
Symington Machine Corporation, | | | |
Rochester, N. Y. | 1,052,099|1,013,199|1,000,000|1,000,000
| | | |
_75-millimeter antiaircraft | | | |
high-explosive shell._ | | | |
| | | |
Moline Forge Co., Moline, Ill. | 939,866| 540,532| |
Jackson Munitions, Jackson, Mich.| 225,000| | |
Spencer Engine Co., Toledo, Ohio | 500,000| 28,293| |
Chamberlain Machine Works, | | | |
Waterloo, Iowa | 365,000| 23,669| |
| | | |
_75-millimeter antiaircraft | | | |
shrapnel._ | | | |
| | | |
Symington Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Rochester, N. Y. | 672,625| 672,625| 672,625| 672,625
| | | |
_75-millimeter gas and | | | |
high-explosive shell._ | | | |
| | | |
T. A. Gillespie, Parlin, N. J. | 1,400,000|1,400,000|1,400,000|1,977,149
American International | | | |
Corporation, New York City | 3,000,000|2,433,438| |
American Can Co., New York City | 7,000,000|2,563,151|4,000,000| 399,728
Hydraulic Pressed Steel Co., | | | |
Cleveland, Ohio |12,000,000|4,455,090| |
Valley Forge Co., Verona, Pa. | 4,000,000| 880,263| |
New York Air Brake Co., | | | |
New York City | 2,000,000| 192,774|1,300,000| 17,652
Worthington Pump Machine Co., | | | |
New York City | 2,650,000|1,473,929|2,660,000| 634,159
The Canadian Allis-Chalmers Co., | | | |
Toronto, Ontario | 2,267,062|1,802,117| 435| 140,647
Canada Car & Foundry Co., | | | |
Montreal, Quebec | 1,656,302|1,592,877| |
A. P. Smith Co., Orange, N. J. | | | 125,000|
S. A. Wood Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Boston, Mass. | | |1,500,000| 405,344
Vermont Farm Machine Co., | | | |
Bellows Falls, Vt. | | | 750,000| 188,300
American Machinery Corporation, | | | |
Port Huron, Mich. | | | 200,000|
Consolidated Car Heating Co., | | | |
Albany, N. Y. | | | 810,000| 181,885
Wire Wheel Corporation, | | | |
Springfield, Mass. | | | 300,000| 71,239
The Canadian Crocker Wheeler, | | | |
St. Catherines, Ontario | | | 475,000| 160,935
Lachine Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Lachine, Quebec | | | 660,000| 255,264
The Electric Steel & Metal Co., | | | |
Welland, Ontario | | | 11,458| 11,458
J. Bertram & Co., Dundas, Ontario| | | 100,000| 51,141
Canadian Fairbanks Morse, Toronto| | |1,584,548|1,377,800
W. H. Banfield & Sons, Toronto | | |1,620,000| 670,000
Canadian Bridge Co., | | | |
Walkerville, Ontario | | |1,450,000| 456,993
Canadian Metal Co., Toronto | 3,250,000|1,154,371| |
Goldie & McCullough, | | | |
Galt, Ontario | 1,100,000| 921,206| 410,000| 61,476
John Inglis Co., Toronto | 1,700,000| 775,033| 75,000| 42,400
Cluff Ammunition Co., Toronto | 600,000| 509,343| |
G. W. McFarland Engineering Co., | | | |
Paris, Ontario | 1,500,000| 285,335| |
Dayton, Ohio, Products Co., | | | |
New York City | 3,500,000| 732,842| |
E. W. Bliss Co., Brooklyn, N. Y. | 1,300,000| 701,804| |
Lymburner (Ltd.) Co., | | | |
Montreal, Quebec | 800,000| 630,978|2,474,000|1,126,556
Moline Forging & Machining Co., | | | |
Moline, Ill. | 1,500,000| 471,281| |
Laconia Car Co., Laconia, N. H. | 550,000| | |
Symington Machine Co., | | | |
Rochester, N. Y. | 4,025,000| |6,025,000|1,200,686
Roberts Filter Co., Darby, Pa. | | | 600,000| 151,975
Auto Transportation Co., | | | |
Buffalo, N. Y. | | | 350,000| 107,441
Dominion Bridge Co., | | | |
Montreal, Quebec | | | 795,000| 301,144
Canadian Ingersoll Rand Co., | | | |
Sherbrooke, Quebec | | |1,100,000| 290,431
Steel Co. of Canada, | | | |
Brantford, Ontario | | | 515,000| 162,399
Allis-Chalmers Co., | | | |
Milwaukee, Wis. | | |1,520,000| 347,635
Jackson Munitions, Jackson, Mich.| | | 775,000| 67,570
Maxwell Motor Co., Detroit, Mich.| | | 800,000| 61,761
Batavia Steel Products, | | | |
Batavia, N. Y. | | |1,175,000| 311,417
Wheeling Mold & Foundry, | | | |
Wheeling, W. Va. | | | 500,000| 118,496
Eddystone Munitions, | | | |
Eddystone, Pa. | | |1,000,000| 190,100
Lachine Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Lachine, Quebec | | | |
The International Clay & Machine,| | | |
Dayton, Ohio | | | 124,000| 3,812
Smead & Co., | | | |
Jersey City, N. J. | | |1,100,000| 246,841
Manufacturing Production Co., | | | |
Dayton, Ohio | | |1,600,000| 340,885
Chicago Pneumatic Tool Co., | | | |
Chicago, Ill. | | | 250,000| 132,321
Mueller Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Port Huron, Mich. | | | 500,000| 78,300
The Westfield Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Westfield, Mass. | | |1,740,000| 413,578
The Platt Iron Works, | | | |
Dayton, Ohio | | |1,600,000| 170,312
The Mueller Metal Co., | | | |
Wayne, Mich. | | | 750,000|
| | | |
_75-millimeter field-gun | | | |
shrapnel._ | | | |
| | | |
American Can Co., New York City | 969,039| 969,039| 904,067| 904,067
Eddystone Munitions Co., | | | |
Eddystone, Pa. | 769,961| 769,961| 750,000| 750,000
Bartlett-Hayward Co., | | | |
Baltimore, Md. | 6,565,519|4,272,900|6,200,000|3,492,863
Symington Machine Co., | | | |
Rochester, N. Y. | 5,459,378|4,868,942|8,375,000|3,329,025
Frankford Arsenal, | | | |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 650,000| 4,713| 750,000| 4,713
Laconia Car Co., Laconia, N. H. | 450,000| 369,483| |
Bossert Corporation, Utica, N. Y.| 200,000| | |
Hydraulic Pressed Steel Co., | | | |
Cleveland, Ohio | 2,285,000| 10,000| |
Canada Forge Co., | | | |
Welland, Ontario | 730,000| | |
The Liberty Ordnance Co., | | | |
Bridgeport, Conn. | 1,000,000| 27,000| |
| | | |
_155-millimeter howitzer | | | |
high-explosive shell, | | | |
Mark I, type B._ | | | |
| | | |
Whittaker Glessner, | | | |
Portsmouth, Ohio | 130,000| 137,406| |
American Rolling Mills, | | | |
Middletown, Ohio | 100,000| 49,785| |
Pressed Steel Car Co., | | | |
Pittsburgh Pa. | 600,000| 552,867| |
American Car & Foundry Co., | | | |
New York City | 2,800,000|1,110,964| |
New York Air Brake Co., | | | |
New York City | 350,000| 1,158| 138,316|
Wm. Wharton Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 280,000| 61,224| |
Standard Steel Car Co., | | | |
Pittsburgh, Pa. | 450,000| | |
Standard Forging Co., | | | |
Chicago, Ill. | 21,141| | |
Curtis & Co., Manufacturing Co., | | | |
St. Louis, Mo. | 500,000| 404,645| |
American Steel Foundry Co., | | | |
Chicago, Ill. | 412,042| 412,042| |
Midvale Steel & Ordnance Co., | | | |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 130,000| 130,000| |
Detroit Shell Co., | | | |
Detroit, Mich. | | | 500,000| 45,563
J. J. Cavrick, Batavia, N. Y. | | | 300,000| 92,974
Standard Sanitary Co., | | | |
Pittsburgh, Pa. | | | 600,000| 94,409
Potter & Johnson, | | | |
Pawtucket, R. I. | | | 175,000|
North American Motor Co., | | | |
Pottstown, Pa. | | | 30,000| 29,446
Minneapolis Steel & Machine Co., | | | |
Minneapolis, Minn. | | | 400,000| 245,344
W. J. Oliver Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Knoxville, Tenn. | | | 130,000| 88,662
Twin City Forge & Foundry Co., | | | |
Stillwater, Minn. | | | 600,000| 54,483
Winslow Bros. Co., Chicago, Ill. | | | 600,000| 176,081
American Brake Shoe & Foundry | | | |
Co., New York City | | | 750,000| 184,697
American Clay & Machine Co., | | | |
Bucyrus, Ohio | | | 700,000|
Elyria Machine Co., Elyria, Ohio | | | 100,000| 32,139
American Machine & Manufacturing | | | |
Co., Atlanta, Ga. | | | 240,000| 75,063
Haroun Motor Corporation, | | | |
Wayne, Mich. | | | 200,000| 23,899
Wagner Electric Manufacturing | | | |
Co., St. Louis, Mo. | | | 300,000| 12,569
| | | |
_155-millimeter howitzer | | | |
high-explosive shell, | | | |
Mark IV, type D._ | | | |
| | | |
National Tube Co., | | | |
Pittsburgh, Pa. | 800,000| 48,263| |
P. Lyall & Sons, | | | |
Montreal, Quebec | 400,000| 4,774| 150,000| 2,559
National Iron Works, | | | |
Toronto, Ontario | 400,000| 9,137| |
Dominion Steel Foundry, | | | |
Hamilton, Ontario | 400,000| 23,270| |
Studebaker Corporation, | | | |
Detroit, Mich. | 800,000| | 800,000|
Fairfax Forge Co., | | | |
Montreal, Quebec | 400,000| | 150,000|
Pressed Steel Car Co., | | | |
Pittsburgh, Pa. | 1,000,000| 15,122| |
Cleveland Crane Co., | | | |
Wickliffe, Ohio | 500,000| | |
Bethlehem Steel Co., | | | |
South Bethlehem, Pa. | 600,000| 139,103| |
G. W. McFarland, Paris, Ontario | 370,000| 521| |
LaClede Gas Light Co., | | | |
St. Louis, Mo. | 850,000| | 850,000|
Standard Forging Co., | | | |
Chicago, Ill. | 500,000| | |
Whittaker Glessner Co., | | | |
Portsmouth, Ohio | 900,000| 31,909| |
Curtis & Co., St. Louis, Mo. | 130,000| | |
Warden King & Co., | | | |
Montreal, Quebec | 180,000| | |
John Inglis Co., | | | |
Toronto, Ontario | 400,000| | |
Canada Iron Foundry Co., | | | |
Montreal, Quebec | 100,000| | 100,000|
Cluff Ammunition Co., | | | |
Toronto, Ontario | 500,000| | |
Taylor Forbes (Ltd.), | | | |
Toronto, Ontario | 90,000| | |
Moon Motor Co., St. Louis, Mo. | | | 200,000|
Standard Sanitary, | | | |
Pittsburgh, Pa. | | | 150,000|
Holden Morgan Thread Co., | | | |
Toronto, Ontario | | | 100,000|
E. Leonard & Sons, | | | |
London, Ontario | | | 80,000|
Otis Fenson Elevator Co., | | | |
Hamilton, Ontario | | | 200,000|
Dominion Copper Products, | | | |
Montreal, Quebec | | | 150,000| 2,056
Caron Bros., Montreal, Quebec | | | 125,000| 235
Potter & Johnson, | | | |
Pawtucket, R. I. | | | 350,000|
Biscoe Motor, Jackson, Mich. | | | 325,000|
Hudson Motor, Detroit, Mich. | | | 400,000|
Munition & M. N. (Ltd.), Sorel | | | 50,000|
John Bartram Sons, | | | |
Dundas, Ontario | | | 450,000|
| | | |
_155-millimeter howitzer | | | |
gas shell._ | | | |
| | | |
American Rolling Mills, | | | |
Middletown, Ohio | 500,000| 492,399| |
Midvale Steel & Ordnance Co., | | | |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 120,000| 96,799| |
American Radiator Co., | | | |
Washington, D. C. | 625,000| 500| 416,667|
Wilson Foundry & Machine Co., | | | |
Pontiac, Mich. | 400,000| | 300,000|
Rathbone Sard & Co., Aurora, Ill.| 600,000| | 400,000|
| | | |
_155-millimeter gun | | | |
high-explosive shell, | | | |
Mark III, type B._ | | | |
| | | |
Standard Steel Car Co., | | | |
Pittsburgh, Pa. | 1,000,000| 568,092|1,000,000| 431,238
Whittaker Glessner Co., | | | |
Portsmouth, Ohio | 350,471| 350,471| |
Standard Forging Co., | | | |
Indiana Harbor, Ind. | 800,000| 730,950| |
Mead Morris & Co., | | | |
Gloucester, Mass. | 300,000| 2,056| |
Twin City Forge & Foundry Co., | | | |
Stillwater, Minn. | 425,000| 136,053| |
Chicago Rlg. Equipment Co., | | | |
Chicago, Ill. | 400,000| 23,356| |
Minneapolis Steel & Machine Co., | | | |
Minneapolis, Minn. | | | 200,000| 41,254
International Arms & Fuse, | | | |
Bloomfleld, N. J. | | | 500,000| 310,130
North American Motors, | | | |
Pottstown, Pa. | | | 70,000|
Potter & Johnson, | | | |
Pawtucket, R. I. | | | 100,000| 73,836
Templer Motor Co., | | | |
Cleveland, Ohio | | | 450,000| 45,014
New York Air Brake Co., | | | |
New York City | | | 211,684|
Jackson Munitions, Jackson, Mich.| | | 177,500| 25,981
Pullman Co., Pullman, Ill. | | | 300,000|
New Home Sewing Machine Co., | | | |
Orange, Mass. | | | 200,000|
| | | |
_155-millimeter gun | | | |
high-explosive shell, | | | |
Mark V, type D._ | | | |
| | | |
Symington Chicago Corporation, | | | |
Chicago, Ill. | 1,000,000| | 805,000|
American Rolling Mills, | | | |
Middletown, Ohio | 755,000| 36,161| |
Milton Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Milton, Pa. | 10,000| | |
Whittaker Glessner Co., | | | |
Portsmouth, Ohio | 750,000| | |
Dominion Foundry & Steel Co., | | | |
Hamilton, Ontario | 500,000| | |
Winslow Bros., Chicago, Ill. | | | 400,000|
Grant Motor Car Co., | | | |
Cleveland, Ohio | | | 260,000|
Cribbon Sexton Co., | | | |
Chicago, Ill. | | | 200,000|
| | | |
_155-millimeter gun gas shell._ | | | |
| | | |
Bethlehem Steel Co., | | | |
South Bethlehem, Pa. | 100,000| 92,430| |
Kohler Co., Kohler, Wis. | 850,000| 100| 657,000| 100
American Radiator Co., | | | |
Washington, D. C. | 125,000| | 83,333|
Whittaker Glessner Co., | | | |
Portsmouth, Ohio | 5,000| 5,000| |
American Car & Foundry Co., | | | |
New York City | | |1,350,000| 63,914
| | | |
_155-millimeter gun and | | | |
howitzer shrapnel._ | | | |
| | | |
Dayton, Ohio, Production Co., | | | |
Dayton, Ohio | 850,000| 131,329| |
Wm. Wharton, jr., | | | |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 540,947| 345,457| |
Bartlett-Hayward Co., | | | |
Baltimore, Md. | 200,000| |1,600,000| 135,590
Frankford Arsenal, | | | |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 100,000| | |
| | | |
_3.8-inch howitzer shell._ | | | |
| | | |
Frankford Arsenal, | | | |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 1,000| 1,000| 15,928| 11,757
Hydraulic Pressed Steel Co., | | | |
Cleveland, Ohio | 105,000| | |
F. R. Wilford & Co. | 105,000| | |
| | | |
_3.8-inch howitzer shrapnel._ | | | |
| | | |
Frankford Arsenal, | | | |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 18,522| 14,264| 43,522| 14,264
Hydraulic Pressed Steel Co., | | | |
Cleveland, Ohio | 35,000| | |
| | | |
_4.72-inch shell._ | | | |
| | | |
National Tube Co., | | | |
Christie Pks. Works | 12,500| 5,614| |
United States Government | 1,850| 1,850| 1,850| 1,850
Buffalo Pitts Co., Buffalo, N. Y.| | | 12,705|
Twin City Forge, | | | |
Stillwater, Minn. | | | 2,500|
| | | |
_4.7-inch antiaircraft shell._ | | | |
| | | |
National Tube Co., | | | |
Christie Pks. Works | 230,000| 188,495| |
Maritime Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Montreal, Quebec | | | 100,000|
Spartan Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Montreal, Quebec | | | 46,000| 45,159
Darling Bros., Montreal, Quebec | | | 42,500| 15,060
Alberta Foundry & Machinery Co., | | | |
Alberta | | | 42,500| 6,170
| | | |
_4.7-inch antiaircraft shrapnel._| | | |
| | | |
The E. W. Bliss Co., | | | |
Brooklyn, N. Y. | 10,000| | |
Frankford Arsenal, | | | |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 60,000| | 60,000|
National Tube Co., | | | |
Christie Pks. Works | 100,000| 42,840| |
Alberta Foundry & Machinery Co., | | | |
Alberta | | | 42,500|
| | | |
_4.7-inch drill projectile._ | | | |
| | | |
Grand Rapids Brass Co., | | | |
Grand Rapids, Mich. | 2,975| 404| 2,975| 405
| | | |
_4.7-inch gun gas shell._ | | | |
| | | |
Milton Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Milton, Pa. | 400,000| 194,612| 400,000| 92,342
American Radiator Co., | | | |
Buffalo, N. Y. | | | 189,360|
| | | |
_4.7-inch gun shrapnel._ | | | |
| | | |
Frankford Arsenal, | | | |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 22,897| 22,440| 22,897| 22,440
Bartlett-Hayward Co., | | | |
Baltimore, Md. | 312,005| 327,183| 701,500| 306,635
National Tube Co., | | | |
Christie Pks. Works | 754,777| 338,507| |
Metal Production Co., Beaver, Pa.| | | 150,000| 11,264
| | | |
_4.7-inch howitzer shell._ | | | |
| | | |
Frankford Arsenal, | | | |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 87,833| 26,614| 87,833| 26,614
| | | |
_4.7-inch howitzer shrapnel._ | | | |
| | | |
Bartlett-Hayward, Baltimore, Md. | 46,115| 46,294| 40,000| 40,000
Frankford Arsenal, | | | |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 79,865| 19,999| 79,865| 20,379
| | | |
_4.7-inch gun | | | |
high-explosive shell._ | | | |
| | | |
National Tube Co., | | | |
Christie Pks. Works | 1,284,848| 908,543| |
Allegheny Steel Co., | | | |
Pittsburgh, Pa. | 900,000| 435,978| |
The E. W. Bliss Co., | | | |
Brooklyn, N. Y. | 10,000| | |
Frankford Arsenal, | | | |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 40,286| 12,047| 40,286| 12,047
Milton Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Milton, Pa. | 700,000| 351,731| 700,000| 285,000
Hydraulic Pressed Steel Co., | | | |
Cleveland, Ohio | 200,000| | |
Darling Bros., Montreal, Quebec | | | 65,000|
Spartan Machine Co., | | | |
Montreal, Quebec | | | 165,000|
Robb Engineering Co., | | | |
Amherst, N. J. | | | 95,000| 3,720
Motor Trucks Co., | | | |
Brantford, Ontario | | | 205,000| 11,083
P. Lyall & Sons, Montreal, Quebec| | | 845,000| 318,578
Steel Products Co., | | | |
Huntington, W. Va. | | | 100,000| 9,023
Armstrong Ck. Co., Lancaster, Pa.| | | 475,000| 20,238
Campbell Howard Machine Co., | | | |
Sherbrooke, Quebec | | | 350,000|
Thurlow Steel Works, Chester, Pa.| | | 136,500| 35,116
Bell Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Fairmount, Ind. | | | 75,000| 5,289
Buffalo Pitts Co., Buffalo, N. Y.| | | 350,000| 70,975
Indiana Fiber Co., Marion, Ind. | | | 75,000| 12,520
Canadian Westinghouse Co., | | | |
Hamilton, Ontario | | | 300,000| 94,156
Ry. Ind. Engineering Co., | | | |
Greensburg, Pa. | | | 100,000| 34,347
Sherbrooke Ironworks, Sherbrooke | | | 60,000| 14,026
Bridgeport Project Co., | | | |
Bridgeport, Conn. | | | 20,000| 16,802
American & British Manufacturing | | | |
Co., Bridgeport, Conn. | | | 87,319| 57,932
Maritime Manufacturing Co., | | | |
St. Johns, New Brunswick | | | 100,000|
Alberta Foundry & Machinery Co., | | | |
Alberta | | | 50,000|
| | | |
_8-inch gun and howitzer | | | |
high-explosive and gas shell._ | | | |
| | | |
Carnegie Steel Co., | | | |
Pittsburgh, Pa. | 561,548| 210,171| |
Root & Vandervoort Engineering | | | |
Co., East Moline, Ill. | 40,000| 40,928| 190,000| 144,815
Wagner Electrical & Manufacturing| | | |
Co., St. Louis, Mo. | 40,000| 40,000| 170,000| 48,586
McMyler Interstate Co., | | | |
Cleveland, Ohio | 500,000| 263,674| 450,000| 238,470
Pollak Steel Co., New York City | 100,000| | |
Curtis & Co., St. Louis, Mo. | 295,000| 167,202| |
Midvale Steel & Ordnance Co., | | | |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 140,000| 135,176| |
Standard Steel Car Co., | | | |
Butler, Pa. | 100,000| 6,072| |
Pressed Steel Car Co., | | | |
Pittsburgh, Pa. | 250,000| | |
Westinghouse Electric & | | | |
Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Pittsburgh, Pa. | | | 360,000| 166,803
Willys Overland Co., | | | |
Toledo, Ohio | | | 600,000|
Motor Products Corporation, | | | |
Detroit, Mich. | | | 100,000|
British War Mission, Munsey | | | |
Building, Washington, D. C. | 101,817| 100,277| |
Imperial Munitions Board, Ottawa | 8,612| 7,722| |
Pollak Steel Co., New York City | 75,000| 22,681| |
American Steel Foundry Co., | | | |
Chicago, Ill. | 570,000| 247,649| |
Dominion Steel Foundry Co., | | | |
Hamilton, Ontario | 100,000| 91,191| |
Canada Cement Co., | | | |
Montreal, Quebec | 150,000| 22,304| 650,000| 4,700
British Forgings (Ltd.), | | | |
Toronto, Ontario | 275,000| 24,933| |
Dominion Bridge Co., | | | |
Montreal, Quebec | 150,000| 55,324| |
Standard Forging Co., | | | |
Chicago, Ill. | 300,000| 38,659| |
Pressed Steel Car Co., | | | |
Pittsburgh, Pa. | 250,000| 85,750| |
Wm. Wharton, jr., & Co., | | | |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 125,000| | |
Dominion Foundries & Co. (Ltd.), | | | |
Hamilton, Ontario | 250,000| 10,746| |
American Brake Shoe & Foundry | | | |
Co., New York City | | | 250,000| 197,250
Maritime Manufacturing | | | |
Corporation, St. John, | | | |
New Brunswick | | | 460,000| 26,000
| | | |
_9.2-inch howitzer | | | |
high-explosive shell._ | | | |
| | | |
Russell Motor Car Co., | | | |
Toronto, Ontario | | | 335,000| 15,049
St. Lawrence Bridge Co., Montreal| | | 335,000| 31,880
United States Ammunition | | | |
Corporation, Poughkeepsie, N. Y.| | | 250,000| 6,486
Fisher Motor Co., Orilla, Ontario| | | 180,000| 100
Canadian Bridge Co., | | | |
Walkersville, Ontario | | | 110,000|
| | | |
_240-millimeter | | | |
high-explosive shell._ | | | |
| | | |
Carnegie Steel Co., | | | |
Pittsburgh, Pa. | 190,000| 92,316| |
Curtis & Co. Manufacturing Co., | | | |
St. Louis, Mo. | 275,000| 174,174| |
American Car & Foundry Co., | | | |
New York City | 90,000| | 400,000| 47,953
American Steel Foundries Co., | | | |
Chicago, Ill. | 80,000| 3,277| |
Scullin Steel Co., St. Louis, Mo.| 350,000| | |
A. F. Smith Manufacturing Co., | | | |
East Orange, N. J. | | | 25,000|
Motors Truck (Ltd.), | | | |
Brantford, Ontario | | | 125,000|
Laclede Gas Light Co., | | | |
St. Louis, Mo. | | | 526,014|
| | | |
_5-inch seacoast gun shell._ | | | |
| | | |
Cleveland Crane & Engineering | | | |
Co., Wickliffe, Ohio | 244,812| 122,324| |
McMyler Interstate Co., | | | |
Cleveland, Ohio | 5,000| 5,107| |
Milton Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Milton, Pa. | 30,000| 29,121| |
Machine Products Co., | | | |
Cleveland, Ohio | | | 75,000| 21,532
A. J. Vance & Co., | | | |
Winston-Salem, N. C. | | | 40,000| 1,578
Twin City & Foundry Co., | | | |
Stillwater, Minn. | | | 400|
A. B. Ormsby Co. (Ltd.), | | | |
Toronto, Ontario | | | 50,000| 10,029
P. Tyrall Construction Co., | | | |
Montreal | | | 105,000| 38,385
| | | |
_6-inch seacoast gun shell._ | | | |
| | | |
Frankford Arsenal, | | | |
Philadelphia, Pa. | 40,950| 25,957| 40,950| 25,957
Bethlehem Steel Co., | | | |
Bethlehem, Pa. | 16,000| 22,053| 16,000| 15,910
Columbian Iron Works, | | | |
Chattanooga, Tenn. | 40,000| 40,346| 132,542| 149,281
The Pressed Steel Car Co., | | | |
McKeesport, Pa. | 385,000| 370,677| |
Standard Steel Car Co., | | | |
Hammond, Ind. | 400,000| 376,827| |
Anniston Steel Co., | | | |
Anniston, Ala. | 243,812| | |
Westinghouse Electric | | | |
Manufacturing Co., | | | |
Pittsburgh, Pa. | 35,000| 31,310| 385,000| 192,684
Wm. Wharton, jr., Easton, Pa. | 24,000| | |
The Southern Machinery Co., | | | |
Chattanooga, Tenn. | | | 447,458| 19,537
| | | |
_10-inch seacoast gun shell._ | | | |
| | | |
American Car & Foundry Co., | | | |
New York City | 24,360| 24,360| 275,000| 130,040
Carnegie Steel Co., | | | |
Pittsburgh, Pa. | 60,000| 61,770| |
Carnegie Steel Co., Munhall, Pa. | 225,000| 137,168| |
| | | |
_12-inch seacoast gun shell._ | | | |
| | | |
Carnegie Steel Co., | | | |
McKees Rocks, Pa. | 165,000| 7,627| |
Watertown Arsenal, | | | |
Watertown, Mass. | 15,000| 1,449| |
Washington Steel & Ordnance Co., | | | |
Giesboro Manor, D. C. | 28,631| 6,129| 38,000| 1,907
Leaside Munitions Corporation, | | | |
Toronto, Ontario | 105,000| | 105,000|
Standard Forging Co., | | | |
Chicago, Ill. | 15,000| | |
Bethlehem Steel Co., | | | |
Bethlehem, Pa. | 32,000| | |
American Clay Machine Co., | | | |
Bucyrus, Ohio | | | 15,000|
| | | |
_14-inch seacoast gun shell._ | | | |
| | | |
Carnegie Steel Co., | | | |
McKees Rocks, Pa. | 10,000| 220| |
Watertown Arsenal, | | | |
Watertown, Mass. | 9,000| | |
Washington Steel & Ordnance Co., | | | |
Washington, D. C. | | | 80|
| | | |
_16-inch seacoast | | | |
howitzer shell._ | | | |
| | | |
Washington Steel & Ordnance Co., | | | |
Washington, D. C. | 140| | 140|
---------------------------------+----------+---------+---------+---------