MOTORIZED ARTILLERY.
Complete motorization of field artillery and its ammunition supply
is almost certain to be one of the far-reaching and highly important
results of our country's experiences in its participation in the war.
Practically all field artillery was of the horse-drawn type previous
to our entry into the war, but with the evolution and perfection
of the heavier siege artillery, 5-ton, 10-ton, and even heavier,
traction engines were brought into play as means of motive power for
the big guns and howitzers, with such success that the horse in the
field artillery operations was being supplanted to a large degree by
mechanical power.
Strictly speaking, the foundation for this departure had been laid
before 1917, in the Mexican campaign of 1916 and in experiments that
had been conducted at the Rock Island Arsenal. Insufficiency of funds,
however, had prevented the experiments from being either thorough or
extensive.
A consideration of the difficulties that vehicles of all sorts had
to contend with in the battle areas of Europe made it evident at the
outset that two general types of motor carriers would be required by
the Army so far as ordnance was concerned--one type for far-advanced
work, for hauling artillery over the worst possible kind of shell-torn
and water-soaked earth, and the other for bringing up ammunition,
supplies, equipment for repairs and the like in less advanced zones and
areas, but over roads and country that had been cut and hacked and made
almost impassible by the activities of the contending forces.
TRUCKS.
The standard four-wheel-drive commercial trucks, modified to meet the
special needs of the service, were adopted immediately after war began,
while experimental work was put under way to develop a standard type
that would set this country far in advance of all others in this line
of activity.
A total of 30,072 of the four-wheel-drive trucks was ordered, and
before the armistice 12,498 of this number had been completed, while
23,499 had been turned out by the 31st of January, 1919.
In round numbers, 25,000 of these trucks were to be equipped with
bodies for the hauling of ammunition, and the balance with special
bodies and equipment suitable for artillery supply and repair, for
repair of equipment, and for heavy mobile ordnance.
[Illustration: ARTILLERY SUPPLY TRUCK ON F. W. D. CHASSIS.
This truck was designed with special bodies and loads for varied
classes of artillery supply, and the bodies could be mounted on either
Nash or F. W. D. chassis.]
[Illustration: ARTILLERY REPAIR TRUCK ON F. W. D. CHASSIS.
This is another special body equipped with suitable machinery and tools
for minor repairs and capable of being mounted on either F. W. D. or
Nash four-wheel-drive chassis.]
[Illustration: AMMUNITION TRUCK MOUNTED ON STANDARD ORDNANCE FOUR WHEEL
DRIVE TRACTOR.
This is the vehicle, designed by the Ordnance Department and civilian
experts, that was intended to supersede both the Nash and the F. W. D.
and become the standard Army wheeled tractor. It is shown here with
standard ammunition body mounted thereon.]
[Illustration: ORDNANCE EQUIPMENT REPAIR TRUCK ON F. W. D. CHASSIS.
Special body, carrying tools and machinery for doing repair work to
harness, personal equipment, etc., and capable of being mounted on
either F. W. D. or Nash four-wheel-drive chassis.]
Special bodies were manufactured by these concerns:
American Car & Foundry Co., Berwick, Pa.
J. G. Brill Co., Philadelphia, Pa.
Hale & Kilburn Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa.
Dumbar Manufacturing Co., Chicago, Ill.
Pullman Co., Pullman, Ill.
Kuhlman Car Co., Cleveland, Ohio.
C. R. Wilson Body Co., Detroit, Mich.
Insley Manufacturing Co., Indianapolis, Ind.
Lang Body Co., Cleveland, Ohio.
Heil Co., Milwaukee, Wis.
Variety Manufacturing Co., Indianapolis, Ind.
J. E. Bolles Iron & Wire Co., Detroit, Mich.
The first contract for these trucks was placed on August 18, 1917, and
9,420 were shipped to the American Expeditionary Forces overseas by the
date of the armistice.
It required considerable time to work out and perfect all the details
of the special bodies and equipment, as most of these were exceedingly
complicated, and in a number of cases there were as many as 700 items
of equipment on a single truck.
Representatives of the allied governments were not hesitant in
asserting that the line of artillery repair trucks developed for our
Army was the most complete and well worked out in detail that any army
ever received.
These manufacturers did the work of turning out the special trucks:
Nash Motors Co., Kenosha, Wis.
Four-Wheel-Drive Auto Co., Clintonville, Wis.
Mitchell Motor Car Co., Racine, Wis.
Premier Motor Corporation, Indianapolis, Ind.
Kissel Motor Car Co., Hartford, Wis.
Hudson Motor Car Co., Detroit, Mich.
National Motor Car Co., Indianapolis, Ind.
Paige Motor Car Co., Detroit, Mich.
Commerce Motor Car Corporation, Detroit, Mich.
White Co., Cleveland, Ohio.
Dodge Motor Car Co., Detroit, Mich.
About 4,000 of the 5,000 special body type of trucks were delivered
before the middle of December, 1918.
TRAILERS.
There were developed five different types of four-wheeled trailers.
Each type, being for a particular use, required a special study and
individual design, with all the consequent specially prepared machines
and specialized shop work.
For antiaircraft service, a 1½-ton and a 3-ton trailer were worked
out; for the 75-millimeter field gun, a special 3-ton trailer; for the
mobile repair shops, a 4-ton trailer; and for the small tank, a special
10-ton trailer.
By the middle of December, 2,157 of these trailers had been delivered
of the 4,847 that had been ordered and put in production.
Concerns engaged in turning out trailers were:
Sechler & Co., Cincinnati, Ohio.
Trailmobile Co. of America, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Ohio Trailer Co., Cleveland, Ohio.
Grant Motor Car Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio.
It might also be stated at this point, too, that two special types of
passenger motor vehicles were designed and built. One of these was for
staff observation and the other for reconnaissance. Nearly all of the
total of 2,250 that were ordered of these two types were completed by
mid-December, 1918, delivery of them having started in the month of
April, 1918.
CATERPILLAR TRACTORS.
It was found after a comprehensive study of the needs of the various
branches of ordnance and the requirement of the big guns that five
sizes of caterpillar tractors would be required--of capacities of 2½
tons, 5 tons, 10 tons, 15 tons, and 20 tons.
Commercial types of machines of the 15-ton and 20-ton sort, with only
slight alterations, were found to be suitable, but special designs were
made for those of 2½-ton, 5-ton, and 10-ton capacity. Our experience in
Mexico and the experiments at the Rock Island Arsenal had taught us the
need of the special designs of machines of those sizes.
In all, 24,791 of these five types of caterpillar tractors were
ordered. The 5-ton machine reached production in the summer of 1918 and
the 2½-ton machine in the fall. By the end of the following January,
5,940 of the tractors had been delivered. Manufacturers who had orders
for the caterpillar tractors were:
Holt Manufacturing Co., Peoria, Ill.
Chandler Motor Car Co., Cleveland, Ohio.
Reo Motor Car Co., Lansing, Mich.
Maxwell Motor Car Co., Detroit, Mich.
Federal Motor Truck Co., Detroit, Mich.
Interstate Motor Co., Indianapolis, Ind.
Throughout the production of tractors during the war period there was
continuous and persistent experimentation, and satisfactory solutions
of many of the problems were being reached at the time of the signing
of the armistice.
Self-propelled caterpillar gun mounts were the subject of the most
important of these experiments. The self-propelled caterpillar gun
mounts differ from the ordinary caterpillar tractors in that they have
the guns mounted directly on them, the guns forming an integral part of
the entire machine. Six types of these were being developed, and 270
had been ordered when the armistice came.
A 2½-ton tractor mounting a 75-millimeter gun and a 5-ton tractor
containing a gun of the same size were far along the road to success in
their first state of development.
Development of caterpillar cargo carriers or caissons for bearing
supplies over any sort of terrain, no matter how rough the going might
be and regardless of whether there were roads or not, was so far along
the pathway of success that two sizes were about to go into production
on November 11.
A 2½-ton ammunition trailer, a 2-ton 11-inch trench mortar trailer, and
a 4.7-inch antiaircraft gun trailer were also in development, but not
in production, at the time of the signing of the armistice.
So successful were the experiments with new types of four-wheel-drive
trucks and tractors that orders for what would probably have proven
the best type of four-wheel-drive truck and the best type of
four-wheel-drive tractor ever produced had been placed, but the signing
of the armistice forced cancellations of these orders. In the course of
the experiments, all types of American four-wheel-drive vehicles were
examined and two of the best French types.
The purchase of $365,000,000 worth of trucks, trailers, and tractors
was obligated in about 3,000 separate orders.
SELF-PROPELLED CATERPILLAR GUN MOUNTS.
In Europe, the French had been the only people to experiment with
caterpillar mounts for guns. They produced the St. Chamond type, but
this had not gone far beyond the experimental stages.
Prior to the early months of 1918, our own efforts along this line
consisted in the building of one caterpillar mount, self-propelled by a
gasoline engine and carrying an antiaircraft gun. Around this nucleus
an ambitious caterpillar program was built.
An 8-inch howitzer was placed on this antiaircraft caterpillar mount
and fired at angles of elevation varying up to 45°. Maneuvered over
difficult ground, the machine withstood the firing strains and road
tests in a highly satisfactory manner.
As a result of the success of these tests, orders were placed for three
more experimental caterpillars to mount 8-inch howitzers. Tests of
two of these completed units were so gratifying that it was felt they
warranted quantity production. Accordingly, orders were placed for 50
units of the 8-inch howitzer caterpillars to cost about $30,000 apiece,
for 50 caterpillar units mounting 155-millimeter guns, and for 250
units mounting 240-millimeter howitzers.
The Standard Steel Car Co., Hammond, Ind., was to produce the
240-millimeter howitzer caterpillars, the Harrisburg Manufacturing
& Boiler Co., Harrisburg, Pa., was to turn out the 8-inch howitzer
caterpillars, and the Morgan Engineering Co., of Alliance, Ohio, was to
produce the 155-millimeter gun caterpillars.
Mountings for the 8-inch howitzer and 155-millimeter gun were
practically identical. Both utilized many of the standard Holt
caterpillar parts. The only real change was in the carriage for
the 155-millimeter gun. This was made sufficiently sturdy to carry
higher-powered guns. A 194-millimeter gun is now being machined in
France, and when finished it will be shipped to this country to be
mounted upon the 155-millimeter caterpillar mount for experiment.
The 240-millimeter howitzer mounts were of two types--one following
closely the St. Chamond type of the French and the other being a
self-contained unit designed by Ordnance Department engineers. The
self-contained type is a single unit that mounts both the power plant
and the howitzer and for which it is necessary to provide additional
cargo-carrying caterpillars to haul ammunition and fuel. Two units make
up the St. Chamond type. One mounts the gun and electric motors; the
other, a limber, mounts the power plant and carries ammunition.
In the battle area the St. Chamond type had the peculiar advantage that
the power-plant unit could be run to shelter and be available for a
rapid advance or change of location of the gun mount as the situation
might demand. With the self-contained unit a direct hit by the enemy
would put both gun and power plant out of commission.
Contracts for the caterpillar mounts called for the completion of the
entire program not later than February, 1919. All the firms engaged
on the work of production were putting forth every effort when the
armistice was signed and there was every reason to believe deliveries
would be as scheduled. The termination of hostilities caused all
contracts to be reduced. Provisions have been made for only enough
caterpillars of each type to provide for further experimental work.
Twenty mounts equipped with caterpillar treads and mounting 7-inch
Navy rifles were built by the Baldwin Locomotive Co. for the Navy
Department. These were so successfully operated that orders were placed
for 36 similar units for the use of the Army, but since the signing of
the armistice this order has been cut to 18.
The great gun on a caterpillar mount fires its death-dealing
projectile, and almost before the shot has reached its destination
the caterpillar mount has moved the gun to another point. With motor
still running the gun is fired again and once more quickly moved on to
another location, so that the enemy's artillery is unable to get its
range.
[Illustration: TEN-TON ARTILLERY TRACTOR.]
[Illustration: FIFTEEN-TON ARTILLERY TRACTOR.]
[Illustration: TWO AND ONE-HALF TON ARTILLERY TRACTOR.]
[Illustration: FIVE-TON ARTILLERY TRACTOR.]
[Illustration: 20-TON ARTILLERY TRACTOR.]
[Illustration: STAFF OBSERVATION CAR.
Special body for field touring on a White one-ton truck chassis.]
[Illustration: RECONNAISSANCE CAR ON WHITE CHASSIS.
The machine-gun truck is similar except for the addition of gun racks
under rear seat and on Commerce chassis.]
[Illustration: CATERPILLAR TRACTOR WITH 3-INCH GUN MOUNTED ON IT.]
[Illustration: ANOTHER VIEW OF CATERPILLAR TRACTOR WITH 3-INCH GUN.]
[Illustration: CATERPILLAR TRACTOR MOUNTING AN 8-INCH HOWITZER WHICH
HAS A RANGE OF 6 MILES WITH A PROJECTILE WEIGHING 200 POUNDS.]
[Illustration: LIGHT REPAIR TRUCK ON DODGE CHASSIS.
Special body with tools for making minor motor repairs.]
[Illustration: THREE-INCH FIELD GUN TRAILER.
A specially designed vehicle for carrying different loads, including
a 3-inch field-gun carriage and limber in one load and two 3-inch
field-gun caissons for another load.]
[Illustration: 4-TON SHOP TRAILER CHASSIS.]
[Illustration: 3-INCH ANTIAIRCRAFT GUN TRAILER.]
[Illustration: 240-MILLIMETER TRENCH MORTAR TRUCK.]
_Ordnance motor production table._
TRACTORS.
---------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+----------
| | Quantity| Quantity|
Size. |Quantity | accepted| accepted| Floated
| ordered.| Nov. 11,| Jan. 31,| to Nov.
| | 1918. | 1919. | 11, 1918.
---------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+----------
2½-ton | 5,586 | 10 | 25 | 2
5-ton | 11,150 | 1,543 | 3,480 | 459
10-ton | 6,623 | 1,421 | 2,014 | 628
15-ton | 267 | 267 | 267 | 232
20-ton | 1,165 | 126 | 154 | 81
---------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+----------
TRAILERS.
---------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+----------
1½-ton antiaircraft machine gun | 2,289 | 150 | 562 | 126
3-inch field gun | 830 | 235 | 472 | 15
4-ton shop bodies | 576 | 101 | 384 | 12
4-ton shop chassis | 576 | 260 | 555 |
10-ton | 540 | 104 | 245 | 1
3-inch antiaircraft | 612 | 542 | 611 | 199
---------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+----------
TRUCKS.
---------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+----------
F. W. D. chassis | 13,907 | 5,361 | 10,615 | 3,561
Nash chassis | 16,165 | 7,137 | 12,884 | 5,859
Ammunition bodies | 24,729 | 18,212 | 21,709 |
Ammunition mountings | 24,729 | 9,615 | 11,024 | 6,955
Artillery repair | 1,332 | 1,318 | 1,332 | 350
Artillery supply | 5,474 | 813 | 1,838 | 444
Light repair | 1,012 | 1,012 | 1,012 | 362
Dodge chassis | 1,012 | 1,012 | 1,012 | 436
Commerce chassis | 1,500 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 24
Machine-gun body, mounted on | | | |
Commerce or White 1-ton chassis| 1,500 | 486 | 1,306 | 241
1-ton supply | 60 | 60 | 60 | 55
White chassis | 1,695 | 1,929 | 2,695 | 575
Reconnaissance | 1,081 | 712 | 1,003 | 320
Staff observation | 1,175 | 1,164 | 1,175 | 189
Equipment repair | 310 | 310 | 310 | 121
H. M. R. S. trucks | 624 | 287 | 416 | 12
---------------------------------+---------+---------+---------+----------