The first recorded use of suffocating gases in warfare was about 431 B. C., sulphur fumes having been used in besieging the cities of Platea and Belium in the war between the Athenians and the Spartans. Similar uses of toxic substances are recorded during the Middle Ages. In August, 1855, the English Admiral Lord Dundonald, having observed the deadly character of the fumes of sulphur in Sicily, proposed to reduce Sebastopol by sulphur fumes, and worked out the details of the proposition. The English Government disapproved the proposition on the ground that "the effects were so horrible that no honorable combatant could use the means required to produce them."
That the probable use of poison gases was still in the minds of military men is evidenced by the fact that at The Hague conference in 1899 several of the more prominent nations of Europe and Asia pledged themselves not to use any projectiles whose only object was to give out suffocating or poisonous gases. Many of the Powers did not sign this declaration until later. Germany signed and ratified it on September 4, 1900, but the United States never signed it. Further, this declaration was not to be binding in case of a war in which a non-signatory was or became a belligerent. Admiral Mahan, a United States delegate, stated his position in regard to the use of gas in shell, at that time an untried theory, as follows:
The reproach of cruelty and perfidy addressed against these supposed shells was equally uttered previously against firearms and torpedoes, although both are now employed without scruple. It is illogical and not demonstrably humane to be tender about asphyxiating men with gas, when all are prepared to admit that it is allowable to blow the bottom out of an ironclad at midnight, throwing four or five hundred men into the sea to be choked by the water, with scarcely the remotest chance to escape.
The reproach of cruelty and perfidy addressed against these supposed shells was equally uttered previously against firearms and torpedoes, although both are now employed without scruple. It is illogical and not demonstrably humane to be tender about asphyxiating men with gas, when all are prepared to admit that it is allowable to blow the bottom out of an ironclad at midnight, throwing four or five hundred men into the sea to be choked by the water, with scarcely the remotest chance to escape.
The Second Hague Peace Congress in 1907 adopted rules for land warfare, and among them was article 23 which read as follows: "It is expressly forbidden to employ poisons or poisonous weapons."
The use of toxic gas in the great war dates back to April 22, 1915, on which day the Germans employed chlorine, a common and well-known gas, in an attack against the French and British lines in the northeastern part of the upper Ypres salient.
The methods of manufacturing toxic gases, the use of such gases, and the tactics connected with their use were new developments of this war; yet during the year 1918 from 20 to 30 per cent of all Americanbattle casualties were due to gas, showing that toxic gas is one of the most powerful implements of war. The records show, however, that when armies were supplied with masks and other defensive appliances, only about 3 or 4 per cent of the gas casualties were fatal. This indicates that gas can be made not only one of the most effective implements of war, but one of the most humane. It will, of course, be necessary to remove the noncombatant population from a greater depth of country immediately in the rear of the fighting lines than formerly, in order that women and children may not be gassed. This additional sacrifice of territory for war uses is another element of effectiveness in the weapon.
Since Germany had chosen to utilize toxic gas in warfare, the allied nations were compelled to adopt like tactics; accordingly England and France, faced with the desperate situation resulting from advantages secured by the Germans through the employment of these new weapons, immediately turned their attention not only to devising methods for protecting their own troops, but also to securing supplies and equipment necessary for the utilization of toxic gas as an agent of warfare against the German Army.
Germany originated thereafter the use of most of the new forms of gas, but the allied nations and America were actually producing, at the time of the armistice, gases on a much greater scale than Germany was ever able to attain. In fact, America itself was producing gases at a rate several times as great as was possible in Germany.
Prior to the entry of America in the war our overseas observers had been collecting information bearing upon gas warfare, referring the facts so obtained to the Ordnance Department in Washington, where the information was turned over to Lieut. Col. E. J. W. Ragsdale, who was then in charge of the Trench Warfare Section.
In the early days of our belligerency it was seen that we should need a plant for filling artillery shell with toxic gases. The Government in the fall of 1917 bought a large tract of land near Aberdeen, Md., to be an artillery proving ground. Approximately 3,400 acres of this reservation, about one-tenth of it in area, was set aside as the site for the gas shell-filling plant. This reservation was known as Edgewood, and the plant erected on the site was called the Edgewood Arsenal. Work started on the construction of the arsenal on November 1, 1917.
None of the toxic gases in use in Europe, except chlorine and small amounts of phosgene, had ever been commercially prepared in the United States. It was the original intention to interest existing chemical firms in the manufacture of these gases; but there were many difficulties in the way of such a project, not the least of which was the ruling of the Director General of Railways that such products as poison gas be transported only on special trains.
Also we discovered that the private chemical companies were loath to undertake such manufacture. The exhaustive investigations necessary before quantity methods of manufacture could be devised would be uncertain and expensive. There would be great danger to the lives of those employed in such work. Many of the private concerns were already crowded with war work. Finally, the new plant equipment which must be set up would be worth nothing when the war ended, since the manufacture of such gases would be limited to the period of hostilities. These and other considerations explain the reluctance of the commercial chemical industry to undertake the production of war gases.
Consequently the Government was forced to adopt the plan of building various chemical plants at the Edgewood Arsenal in connection with the filling plant. By December 1, 1917, it had been decided to build at Edgewood a chlorpicrin plant and a phosgene plant. The contracts were immediately let, and the work was pushed through the rigorous winter of 1917-18.
In March, 1918, the Edgewood project was taken from the Trench Warfare Section of the Ordnance Department and made an independent division under the command of Col. Wm. H. Walker. In June, 1918, the Chemical Warfare Service was organized, and the Edgewood Arsenal was transferred to it. Gen. W. L. Sibert, Director of the Gas Service, took charge of the activities of the arsenal in May prior to the official transfer.
Chlorine, the raw material for the manufacture of which is common salt, was one of the principal materials required in the gas-production program. Although chlorine was a standard product in the United States prior to the war, it was soon seen that we had an inadequate commercial supply to meet the requirements of our proposed gas offensive. Chlorine was used not only by itself, but it was also the active agent in the manufacture of nearly all the other toxic gases which we required. Consequently we decided to build a Government chlorine plant with two 50-ton units, giving a daily capacity of 100 tons of liquid chlorine. The ground for this plant at Edgewood was broken on May 11, 1918, and the actual production of chlorine begun on September 1.
In July, 1917, the Germans introduced the so-called mustard gas. It was immediately realized that for certain purposes of fighting this chemical was the most effective product so far employed, and a large number of Government experts here at once concentrated their energies in developing methods for its manufacture on a large scale. Not only were the uniformed experimenters busy at the Gas Service's American University Camp, at Washington, D. C., but experimental units were established at the plant of the Dow Chemical Co., at Midland, Mich., atthe plant of Zinsser & Co., Hastings-on-Hudson, N. Y., and at the Government plant which had been started by the Trench Warfare Section, at Cleveland, Ohio.
Eventually it was decided to erect a large plant at Edgewood for the manufacture of mustard gas. Not until April, 1918, however, did we feel that we possessed sufficient knowledge and information to justify the construction of a mustard-gas plant on a large scale. France and England also were long in working out satisfactory methods of mustard-gas production. We began to make mustard in June, and continued with rapidly increasing output until the signing of the armistice.
It soon became evident that we could not depend upon civilian labor in the operation of the various chemical plants at Edgewood because of the danger involved. It was decided, therefore, to utilize enlisted men in the working crews. As the projects at Edgewood increased in size and number, the forces at the arsenal grew, until at one time there were 7,400 troops at this point.
Meanwhile the Government had at last been able to persuade a number of private chemical firms to manufacture toxic gases. The Government agreed to finance all new construction, but the operation was to be in the hands of the contracting companies. At each plant the Government stationed one of its representatives with necessary assistants. In the spring of 1918, these scattered factories by official order were made part of the Edgewood Arsenal, each plant being designated by the name of the city or town where it was located. Thereafter in Army usage the term "Edgewood Arsenal" embraced not only the group of factories on the Edgewood reservation, but also included the following projects:
Niagara Falls plant, operated by the Oldbury Electro-Chemical Co. Project—the manufacture of phosgene.
Midland, Mich., plant, operated by the Dow Chemical Co. Project—the sinking of 17 brine wells for the purpose of securing adequate supplies of bromine.
Charleston, W. Va., plant, operated by the Charleston Chemical Co. Project—the manufacture of sulphur chloride.
Bound Brook, N. J., plant, operated by Frank Hemingway (Inc.). Project—the manufacture of phosgene.
Buffalo plant, operated by the National Aniline & Chemical Co. Project—the manufacture of mustard gas.
In addition to these, the Edgewood Arsenal built at points advantageous to supplies of raw materials four other plants, and operated them as well. These were as follows:
Stamford, Conn., plant. Project—the manufacture of chlorpicrin.
Hastings-on-Hudson, N. Y., plant. Project—the manufacture of mustard gas.
Kingsport, Tenn., plant. Project—the manufacture of brombenzylcyanide.
Croyland, Pa., plant. Project—the manufacture of diphenylchlorarsine.
In constructing and equipping the Edgewood Arsenal we laid 21 miles of standard-gauge railway and 15 miles of narrow-gauge railway, built nearly 15 miles of improved roadway, and set up two water systems, one with a capacity of 1,500,000 gallons per day for the manufacturing purposes of the chemical plants, and the other providing a fresh-water supply pumped 4 miles with a daily capacity of 2,000,000 gallons. In all 558 buildings were put up on the grounds of the arsenal. There were 86 cantonment buildings, with a capacity of 8,400 men, as well as adequate quarters for officers and civilian employees. Three field hospitals, a complete base hospital, and separate buildings for Y. M. C. A. and K. of C. activities indicated the extent of the building equipment. Three power houses were provided, with a total capacity of 26,500 kilowatts.
In the construction of buildings every precaution was taken to avoid accidents from the handling of toxic gas, the ventilating systems being as near perfection as human science could make them. It is notable that out of the thousands of men employed only four met their death by gas poisoning. Three of these casualties were due to phosgene and one to mustard gas.
To show that all of the danger of the war was not confined to the front, the following table of casualties in 1918 at the Edgewood Arsenal proper is here given:
As has been noted, chlorine was the only war gas produced on a commercial scale in America prior to the war. At the ordinary temperatures chlorine is a greenish-yellow gas of strong, suffocating odor. Through the combined effects of cold and pressure it is readily condensed to a liquid and is ordinarily shipped in this form, stored in strong cylinders.
Chlorine is prepared commercially by the electrolytic process. A current of electricity is passed through a solution of common salt. The greenish gas at once arises, leaving behind it a residue of caustic soda. The apparatus in which the salt is decomposed by the electric current is known as a cell. The Government plant used Nelson cells, each with a capacity of 60 pounds of chlorine and 65 pounds of caustic soda per 24 hours.
The Government chlorine plant at Edgewood was ready for operation in August, 1918, but was not actually started until September 1. The plant consisted of (1) a cell house, which had a total capacity of 100 tons of chlorine per 24 hours; (2) an electric substation for supplying the current; (3) a brine building, where the salt was mixed with water and the resulting brine purified; (4) a boiler and evaporation building, for concentrating the caustic soda from the cells; (5) a caustic fusion building, for drying the caustic soda and fusing it into solid form for shipment; and (6) a liquefying plant to condense and liquefy 50 tons of chlorine per day.
With the exception of chlorine, chlorpicrin was the first war gas to be manufactured on a large scale in this country. When pure, chlorpicrin is a colorless liquid which boils at a temperature approximately of 112° C. The compound has been known since 1848. While not so poisonous as some of the other products used in gas warfare, it is, nevertheless, an active poison, and has the additional advantage of being a fair lachrymator, or tear producer.
Chlorpicrin is made by the reaction between picric acid and chlorine. The chlorine is best supplied in the form of so-called bleaching powder, which is ordinary chloride of lime. In the manufacturing process as originally carried out, free picric acid was mixed with bleaching powder held in suspension with water. Later it was found advantageous to use calcium picrate instead of picric acid.
Accordingly, the final process was as follows: The bleaching powder was creamed with water and mixed with a solution of calcium picrate in large stills holding 5,000 gallons or more. A jet of live steam was then introduced at the bottom of the still, and the reaction began at once, the rapidity depending upon the amount of steam introduced. The resulting chlorpicrin, together with a certain quantity of steam, passed out of the still and was liquefied in the condenser. The resulting mixture of chlorpicrin and water was run into tanks, where the chlorpicrin, being insoluble in water, gradually settled to the bottom and was run off and used directly in gas shell.
In developing this process the Government was assisted by the Dow Chemical Co., the Semet-Solvay Co., and the American Synthetic Color Co., of Stamford, Conn., the principal work being done by representatives of the Bureau of Mines at the Stamford plant.
AIRPLANE VIEW OF CHLORINE PLANT, EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.
AIRPLANE VIEW OF CHLORINE PLANT, EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.
AIRPLANE VIEW OF CHLORINE PLANT, EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.
CHLORINE PLANT, EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.This is the largest single chlorine and caustic soda plant in the country. Its capacity, when entirely completed, is 100 tons of chlorine and 112 tons of fused caustic soda per day.
CHLORINE PLANT, EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.This is the largest single chlorine and caustic soda plant in the country. Its capacity, when entirely completed, is 100 tons of chlorine and 112 tons of fused caustic soda per day.
CHLORINE PLANT, EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.
This is the largest single chlorine and caustic soda plant in the country. Its capacity, when entirely completed, is 100 tons of chlorine and 112 tons of fused caustic soda per day.
This is the largest single chlorine and caustic soda plant in the country. Its capacity, when entirely completed, is 100 tons of chlorine and 112 tons of fused caustic soda per day.
CHLORPICRIN PLANT AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.Bleaching powder, lime, and picric acid are received by rail. In the mixers appearing in the right foreground lime, picric acid, and water are mixed to form a solution of calcium picric, and bleach and water are mixed to form a cream. These solutions are pumped together into any of the several stills, where they react to form chlorpicrin. This plant was rated at 12½ tons of chlorpicrin a day, but reached a production as high as 31 tons on one day.
CHLORPICRIN PLANT AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.Bleaching powder, lime, and picric acid are received by rail. In the mixers appearing in the right foreground lime, picric acid, and water are mixed to form a solution of calcium picric, and bleach and water are mixed to form a cream. These solutions are pumped together into any of the several stills, where they react to form chlorpicrin. This plant was rated at 12½ tons of chlorpicrin a day, but reached a production as high as 31 tons on one day.
CHLORPICRIN PLANT AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.
Bleaching powder, lime, and picric acid are received by rail. In the mixers appearing in the right foreground lime, picric acid, and water are mixed to form a solution of calcium picric, and bleach and water are mixed to form a cream. These solutions are pumped together into any of the several stills, where they react to form chlorpicrin. This plant was rated at 12½ tons of chlorpicrin a day, but reached a production as high as 31 tons on one day.
Bleaching powder, lime, and picric acid are received by rail. In the mixers appearing in the right foreground lime, picric acid, and water are mixed to form a solution of calcium picric, and bleach and water are mixed to form a cream. These solutions are pumped together into any of the several stills, where they react to form chlorpicrin. This plant was rated at 12½ tons of chlorpicrin a day, but reached a production as high as 31 tons on one day.
MIXER BUILDING OF PHOSGENE PLANT AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.The capacity of this building is 20 tons of liquid phosgene per day. Dry 98 per cent gaseous chlorine, as obtained directly from the cells of the chlorine plant, and pure carbon monoxide obtained from the producers, are mixed in approximate equal volumes and the mixture passed through catalyzers, where the two gases combine to form phosgene. The resultant gas is liquefied in the condensers, appearing in the left.
MIXER BUILDING OF PHOSGENE PLANT AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.The capacity of this building is 20 tons of liquid phosgene per day. Dry 98 per cent gaseous chlorine, as obtained directly from the cells of the chlorine plant, and pure carbon monoxide obtained from the producers, are mixed in approximate equal volumes and the mixture passed through catalyzers, where the two gases combine to form phosgene. The resultant gas is liquefied in the condensers, appearing in the left.
MIXER BUILDING OF PHOSGENE PLANT AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.
The capacity of this building is 20 tons of liquid phosgene per day. Dry 98 per cent gaseous chlorine, as obtained directly from the cells of the chlorine plant, and pure carbon monoxide obtained from the producers, are mixed in approximate equal volumes and the mixture passed through catalyzers, where the two gases combine to form phosgene. The resultant gas is liquefied in the condensers, appearing in the left.
The capacity of this building is 20 tons of liquid phosgene per day. Dry 98 per cent gaseous chlorine, as obtained directly from the cells of the chlorine plant, and pure carbon monoxide obtained from the producers, are mixed in approximate equal volumes and the mixture passed through catalyzers, where the two gases combine to form phosgene. The resultant gas is liquefied in the condensers, appearing in the left.
CHLORINE PLANT, EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.One of eight cell rooms, capacity 12½ tons gaseous chlorine per day. Each cell room consists of six circuits—74 cells per circuit, or a total of 444 cells per room.
CHLORINE PLANT, EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.One of eight cell rooms, capacity 12½ tons gaseous chlorine per day. Each cell room consists of six circuits—74 cells per circuit, or a total of 444 cells per room.
CHLORINE PLANT, EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.
One of eight cell rooms, capacity 12½ tons gaseous chlorine per day. Each cell room consists of six circuits—74 cells per circuit, or a total of 444 cells per room.
IN THE FOREGROUND THE CHLORINE PIPE LINE FROM CHLORINE PLANT PASSING TO CHEMICAL PLANTS IN RIGHT CENTER OF THE PICTURE. ON THE EXTREME RIGHT THE MUSTARD GAS PLANT. IN UPPER LEFT AND CENTER, VIEW OF FILLING PLANTS AND SHELL DUMPS.
IN THE FOREGROUND THE CHLORINE PIPE LINE FROM CHLORINE PLANT PASSING TO CHEMICAL PLANTS IN RIGHT CENTER OF THE PICTURE. ON THE EXTREME RIGHT THE MUSTARD GAS PLANT. IN UPPER LEFT AND CENTER, VIEW OF FILLING PLANTS AND SHELL DUMPS.
IN THE FOREGROUND THE CHLORINE PIPE LINE FROM CHLORINE PLANT PASSING TO CHEMICAL PLANTS IN RIGHT CENTER OF THE PICTURE. ON THE EXTREME RIGHT THE MUSTARD GAS PLANT. IN UPPER LEFT AND CENTER, VIEW OF FILLING PLANTS AND SHELL DUMPS.
FILLING 1-TON CONTAINERS WITH PHOSGENE.Each empty cylinder weighs 1,300 pounds and will contain 1,650 pounds of liquid. The plant shown fills 25 cylinders per day.
FILLING 1-TON CONTAINERS WITH PHOSGENE.Each empty cylinder weighs 1,300 pounds and will contain 1,650 pounds of liquid. The plant shown fills 25 cylinders per day.
FILLING 1-TON CONTAINERS WITH PHOSGENE.
Each empty cylinder weighs 1,300 pounds and will contain 1,650 pounds of liquid. The plant shown fills 25 cylinders per day.
MACHINE FILLING 75-MILLIMETER SHELL WITH MUSTARD GAS.
MACHINE FILLING 75-MILLIMETER SHELL WITH MUSTARD GAS.
MACHINE FILLING 75-MILLIMETER SHELL WITH MUSTARD GAS.
FILLING HAND GRENADES WITH WHITE PHOSPHORUS.Empty grenades are first completely immersed in a shallow hot-water bath, shown on extreme left in photo. In a tank that is not shown in picture white phosphorus is melted under water, and this molten phosphorus is pumped by a small centrifugal pump into a system of distributing pipes. Through a flexible tube and by hand, each grenade is completely filled with molten phosphorus, displacing the water in them. While the grenades are still immersed in the water bath, a suction tube is inserted in each grenade to remove the molten phosphorus to a certain depth below the top of the grenade, this molten phosphorus being displaced by water in the bath. The operation shown in the photo depicts the grenades thus filled with molten phosphorus to a definite heighth and with the remaining heighth filled with water, having the water removed from the top of the phosphorus by suction, after being taken out of the bath.
FILLING HAND GRENADES WITH WHITE PHOSPHORUS.Empty grenades are first completely immersed in a shallow hot-water bath, shown on extreme left in photo. In a tank that is not shown in picture white phosphorus is melted under water, and this molten phosphorus is pumped by a small centrifugal pump into a system of distributing pipes. Through a flexible tube and by hand, each grenade is completely filled with molten phosphorus, displacing the water in them. While the grenades are still immersed in the water bath, a suction tube is inserted in each grenade to remove the molten phosphorus to a certain depth below the top of the grenade, this molten phosphorus being displaced by water in the bath. The operation shown in the photo depicts the grenades thus filled with molten phosphorus to a definite heighth and with the remaining heighth filled with water, having the water removed from the top of the phosphorus by suction, after being taken out of the bath.
FILLING HAND GRENADES WITH WHITE PHOSPHORUS.
Empty grenades are first completely immersed in a shallow hot-water bath, shown on extreme left in photo. In a tank that is not shown in picture white phosphorus is melted under water, and this molten phosphorus is pumped by a small centrifugal pump into a system of distributing pipes. Through a flexible tube and by hand, each grenade is completely filled with molten phosphorus, displacing the water in them. While the grenades are still immersed in the water bath, a suction tube is inserted in each grenade to remove the molten phosphorus to a certain depth below the top of the grenade, this molten phosphorus being displaced by water in the bath. The operation shown in the photo depicts the grenades thus filled with molten phosphorus to a definite heighth and with the remaining heighth filled with water, having the water removed from the top of the phosphorus by suction, after being taken out of the bath.
Empty grenades are first completely immersed in a shallow hot-water bath, shown on extreme left in photo. In a tank that is not shown in picture white phosphorus is melted under water, and this molten phosphorus is pumped by a small centrifugal pump into a system of distributing pipes. Through a flexible tube and by hand, each grenade is completely filled with molten phosphorus, displacing the water in them. While the grenades are still immersed in the water bath, a suction tube is inserted in each grenade to remove the molten phosphorus to a certain depth below the top of the grenade, this molten phosphorus being displaced by water in the bath. The operation shown in the photo depicts the grenades thus filled with molten phosphorus to a definite heighth and with the remaining heighth filled with water, having the water removed from the top of the phosphorus by suction, after being taken out of the bath.
FILLING MUSTARD GAS SHELL AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.Inspected empty shell, as shown inverted on the left in the foreground, are placed on small filling trucks, shown in the right middle ground, and run under filling machine. Filled shell with boosters screwed down leave the tunnel, as shown in center of picture, where any possible mustard gas liquid on them is vaporized by gasoline torch. A draft from this operation into the tunnel prevents the distribution of mustard gas vapor throughout the plant. The loaded shell are then placed on trucks, as shown in foreground of photo.
FILLING MUSTARD GAS SHELL AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.Inspected empty shell, as shown inverted on the left in the foreground, are placed on small filling trucks, shown in the right middle ground, and run under filling machine. Filled shell with boosters screwed down leave the tunnel, as shown in center of picture, where any possible mustard gas liquid on them is vaporized by gasoline torch. A draft from this operation into the tunnel prevents the distribution of mustard gas vapor throughout the plant. The loaded shell are then placed on trucks, as shown in foreground of photo.
FILLING MUSTARD GAS SHELL AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.
Inspected empty shell, as shown inverted on the left in the foreground, are placed on small filling trucks, shown in the right middle ground, and run under filling machine. Filled shell with boosters screwed down leave the tunnel, as shown in center of picture, where any possible mustard gas liquid on them is vaporized by gasoline torch. A draft from this operation into the tunnel prevents the distribution of mustard gas vapor throughout the plant. The loaded shell are then placed on trucks, as shown in foreground of photo.
Inspected empty shell, as shown inverted on the left in the foreground, are placed on small filling trucks, shown in the right middle ground, and run under filling machine. Filled shell with boosters screwed down leave the tunnel, as shown in center of picture, where any possible mustard gas liquid on them is vaporized by gasoline torch. A draft from this operation into the tunnel prevents the distribution of mustard gas vapor throughout the plant. The loaded shell are then placed on trucks, as shown in foreground of photo.
FILLING LIVENS DRUMS AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.This photo shows the Livens drums being filled with phosgene. The range of this special type of projectile, known as the Livens drum, is about 1,500 yards. Its empty weight is about 30 pounds, and it contains a charge of about 30 pounds of gas.
FILLING LIVENS DRUMS AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.This photo shows the Livens drums being filled with phosgene. The range of this special type of projectile, known as the Livens drum, is about 1,500 yards. Its empty weight is about 30 pounds, and it contains a charge of about 30 pounds of gas.
FILLING LIVENS DRUMS AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.
This photo shows the Livens drums being filled with phosgene. The range of this special type of projectile, known as the Livens drum, is about 1,500 yards. Its empty weight is about 30 pounds, and it contains a charge of about 30 pounds of gas.
This photo shows the Livens drums being filled with phosgene. The range of this special type of projectile, known as the Livens drum, is about 1,500 yards. Its empty weight is about 30 pounds, and it contains a charge of about 30 pounds of gas.
PAINTING AND STRIPING FILLED SHELL AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.After leaving the filling plants, shell are classified by weight into four groups and each group maintained separately. The shell then are stored in an inverted position to detect leaks. After testing for 24 hours, the shell are buffed, painted, and striped by spray painting, as shown on the endless conveyor, and then are ready for packing. In the left background will be noted Livens drums being similarly painted.
PAINTING AND STRIPING FILLED SHELL AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.After leaving the filling plants, shell are classified by weight into four groups and each group maintained separately. The shell then are stored in an inverted position to detect leaks. After testing for 24 hours, the shell are buffed, painted, and striped by spray painting, as shown on the endless conveyor, and then are ready for packing. In the left background will be noted Livens drums being similarly painted.
PAINTING AND STRIPING FILLED SHELL AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.
After leaving the filling plants, shell are classified by weight into four groups and each group maintained separately. The shell then are stored in an inverted position to detect leaks. After testing for 24 hours, the shell are buffed, painted, and striped by spray painting, as shown on the endless conveyor, and then are ready for packing. In the left background will be noted Livens drums being similarly painted.
After leaving the filling plants, shell are classified by weight into four groups and each group maintained separately. The shell then are stored in an inverted position to detect leaks. After testing for 24 hours, the shell are buffed, painted, and striped by spray painting, as shown on the endless conveyor, and then are ready for packing. In the left background will be noted Livens drums being similarly painted.
SHELL DUMP AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.This picture shows filled shell being stored for leakage test before being painted.
SHELL DUMP AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.This picture shows filled shell being stored for leakage test before being painted.
SHELL DUMP AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL.
This picture shows filled shell being stored for leakage test before being painted.
FILLED CONTAINERS OF PHOSGENE, READY AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL FOR OVERSEAS SHIPMENT.Each container holds approximately 1 ton of liquid.
FILLED CONTAINERS OF PHOSGENE, READY AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL FOR OVERSEAS SHIPMENT.Each container holds approximately 1 ton of liquid.
FILLED CONTAINERS OF PHOSGENE, READY AT EDGEWOOD ARSENAL FOR OVERSEAS SHIPMENT.
Each container holds approximately 1 ton of liquid.
PHOSPHORUS CLOUDS FROM BURSTS OF 75-MILLIMETER SHELL AT LAKEHURST, N. J., PROVING GROUNDS.
PHOSPHORUS CLOUDS FROM BURSTS OF 75-MILLIMETER SHELL AT LAKEHURST, N. J., PROVING GROUNDS.
PHOSPHORUS CLOUDS FROM BURSTS OF 75-MILLIMETER SHELL AT LAKEHURST, N. J., PROVING GROUNDS.
GAS CLOUD FROM 4.7-INCH GAS SHELL EXPLODING 8,533 YARDS AWAY FROM THE GUN AT LAKEHURST.
GAS CLOUD FROM 4.7-INCH GAS SHELL EXPLODING 8,533 YARDS AWAY FROM THE GUN AT LAKEHURST.
GAS CLOUD FROM 4.7-INCH GAS SHELL EXPLODING 8,533 YARDS AWAY FROM THE GUN AT LAKEHURST.
America's whole supply of chlorpicrin during the war came from the American Synthetic Color Co. and the Edgewood Arsenal. The Stamford plant was the first to reach large-scale production.
The contract with the American Synthetic Color Co. was dated December 13, 1917; and the company shipped over 111,853 pounds of the gas to Edgewood on March 11. This, when mixed with the necessary stannic chloride, supplies of which were already on the ground, was sufficient to fill approximately 100,000 75-millimeter shell. In the spring of 1918, due to certain internal troubles at the Stamford plant, it was agreed that the United States should lease this factory and operate it as a Government plant. Under Government operation the total production of chlorpicrin at the Stamford plant amounted to 3,226,000 pounds, of which 2,703,300 pounds were shipped overseas in 660-pound drums.
The chlorpicrin plant at Edgewood went into entire operation on June 14, 1918. Up to the signing of the armistice this plant had produced 2,320,000 pounds of chlorpicrin.
Phosgene was one of the deadliest gases employed in the war. Numerous other gases were used to annoy the enemy and force the wearing of masks, but phosgene was a killer employed to produce as many casualties as possible. The gas did not persist long in the air or on the ground after the shell had exploded, so that it was an ideal chemical for use in an attack. The gas would clear away by the time the troops following reached the place of gas concentration.
Phosgene at ordinary temperatures is a colorless gas, but it condenses to a liquid at 8° C. It is formed by the combination of two gases, chlorine and carbon monoxide, in the presence of a catalyzer. The reaction is best conducted in iron boxes lined with lead and filled with charcoal of proper quality, into which boxes a stream of the reacting gases, mixed in proper proportions, is introduced. The reaction creates heat, and means must usually be taken to keep the reaction boxes cooled. The resulting phosgene is condensed to a liquid by passing the gas through a condenser which is surrounded by brine kept cold by refrigeration. The liquid is then stored in strong steel containers or run directly into Livens drums or artillery shell.
Prior to 1917, the Oldbury Electro-Chemical Co., of Niagara Falls, N. Y., had set up a small experimental phosgene plant in the hope that the experiments might lead to the commercial utilization of carbon monoxide which was obtained by this company as a by-product in the manufacture of phosphorus. When we entered the war the company had developed its process to such efficiency as to warrant the construction of a large phosgene plant, and the Government entered into a contract with the company for the creation of facilities with a capacity of 10 tons of phosgene per day.Also, because of the great importance of phosgene in warfare, it was decided at the same time to build a Government phosgene plant at Edgewood. A little later the Government financed a phosgene plant at the factory of Frank Hemingway (Inc.), at Bound Brook, N. J.
The total output of the original small experimental plant at Niagara Falls, which was later leased by the United States, was 83,070 pounds of phosgene, of which 24,800 pounds were shipped overseas. The contract with the Oldbury Chemical Co. for its main phosgene plant was signed on January 15, 1918. Production here began on August 5 and by August 20 had reached a daily average of 5 tons. On November 1 the average daily production was 7 tons. The total quantity produced at this plant was 435 tons. The plant loaded 18,768 Livens drums with phosgene, each drum holding about 30 pounds. This plant was operated by enlisted men.
The contract with Frank Hemingway (Inc.) called for a factory producing 5 tons of phosgene per day by a secret process controlled by the company. The construction of the plant was begun on February 2, 1918, and phosgene was first manufactured on May 17. This concern reached its maximum of 5 tons per day by August 1, and produced in all 205 tons of phosgene.
Construction of the phosgene plant at Edgewood was begun on March 1, 1918. The plant consisted of four catalyzer buildings, each building having four units, each unit possessing a projected capacity of 5 tons of phosgene per day. The total capacity, therefore, was designed to be 80 tons per day. The carbon monoxide used in the process was produced by passing a mixture of oxygen and carbon dioxide over heated coke in a gas producer, the oxygen being supplied by a Claude machine with a capacity of 100,000 cubic feet of oxygen every 24 hours. The chlorine used came partly from the Edgewood chlorine plant and partly from outside sources.
The actual production of phosgene at Edgewood began on July 5, 1918, and worked up to an output of 20 tons per day by the date of the armistice. The total production of phosgene at Edgewood was 935 tons. The total output of phosgene from all three plants, Edgewood and the Bound Brook and Niagara Falls operations, at the date of the armistice was 35 tons per day; and this was increasing to reach 95 tons per day by May 1, 1919. The total phosgene produced by all the plants before the armistice was 1,616 tons.
The Germans, in spite of their attainments in chemistry, were never able to improve their clumsy and expensive methods of producing mustard gas. The best reports we have show that at the time the fighting ended, all of Germany's chemical warfare facilities could not produce more than 6 tons of mustard per day. TheUnited States alone had ten times that capacity on the same date, while France and England both reached a heavy output. So concerned was the German high command because of the fact that Germany was being outdistanced in the production of mustard gas that the ablest spy of the German Empire was sent into France in October, 1918, to find out the French method of making mustard. One of the Chemical Warfare officers who accompanied our forces into German territory reported that the Germans had decided to adopt the American method of making mustard gas and to stop their former process.
Mustard gas was by no means a child of the great war, having been prepared in experimental quantities since 1886. It is a colorless, slightly oily liquid, boiling at 220° C. with some decomposition. When perfectly pure it freezes at 14° C.; but, since it usually contains small percentages of impurities, it usually remains liquid at 0° C, or even below that. In chemistry the substance is known as dichlorethyl sulphide.
The first commercial process proposed for the manufacture of mustard gas depended upon the use of ethylene chlorhydrin; and on April 13, 1918, a contract was made with the Commercial Research Co., Flushing, Long Island, for the manufacture of 10 tons per day by this process. In the spring and summer of 1918 a new process was developed both abroad and in the United States, one which used sulphur monochloride. Accordingly, the contract with the Commercial Research Co. was canceled, and efforts were concentrated on the later process.
This process consisted in blowing gaseous ethylene into liquid sulphur monochloride in large iron reaction vessels. The reaction developed much heat. Sulphur is set free by this reaction, and the temperature must be controlled in order to prevent the formation of solid sulphur in the reaction machine.
At the date of the armistice three mustard gas plants were either completed or nearing completion. The construction of the Edgewood plant was begun on May 18, 1918, and the first mustard was produced exactly a month later. The changing of processes, however, hampered production somewhat, but by September 20, the arsenal was producing 10 tons per day, and by November 11 had increased this to 30 tons per day. The total production of mustard gas at Edgewood during the war period was 711 tons, of which approximately 300 tons went into shell.
On July 8, 1918, the Government began the construction of a mustard gas plant at Hastings, N. Y. This factory was to have a capacity of 25 tons per day, afterwards increased to 50 tons per day. The first unit of this plant was ready to operate when the armistice was signed.
On July 6, 1918, the Government signed a contract with the National Aniline & Chemical Co., Buffalo, N. Y., calling for a mustard gas plant with a capacity of 50 tons daily. On November 11 this plant was 80 per cent complete. The cost of the plant was met by the Government, but the operation was to be in the hands of the Buffalo concern. The total daily capacity of all three plants when complete was estimated to be 200 tons.
To insure an adequate supply of sulphur monochloride for its mustard gas production the Government built a special plant at Edgewood with a capacity of 300 tons of sulphur monochloride per day.
As soon as toxic gas warfare had developed to a considerable extent, the perfection of gas-absorbing masks had given almost a complete protection against this new weapon, if the soldier put on his gas mask in time. But the mask, especially the earlier forms of it, was not easy upon the wearer, due to the difficulty of breathing through it and also because it restricted the soldier's vision. It was soon discovered that a force compelled to wear its gas masks for any considerable period lost in efficiency. The employment of gas by both sides for the purpose of forcing the opposite sides to wear masks continually was an important element in war at the close of hostilities.
For this purpose the so-called tear gases were produced. Gassing the enemy with tear gas was much cheaper than with poison gas, yet it forced him to remain masked. The tear gases were highly effective. Even a trace of tear gas in the air would in a few moments blind a man temporarily. A single tear-gas shell could force the wearing of masks over an area so wide that it would require from 500 to 1,000 phosgene shell to produce the same effect.
Most of the tear gases had bromine bases; so it was early determined that we should have to increase the American supply of bromine considerably if we were to meet our gas-warfare requirements. Bromine is a deep red liquid which boils at 63° C. The domestic source of bromine is principally in certain subterranean brines found in the United States, these solutions containing bromine in its compounds. The brines obtained in the vicinity of Midland, Mich., are especially rich in bromine, and by far the largest amount of bromine obtained in this country comes from that locality.
In December, 1917, at a conference with Mr. Dow, of the Dow Chemical Co., Midland, Mich., it was decided that the Government should finance the sinking of 17 brine wells near Midland, the Dow Chemical Co. to supervise the work and to produce the bromine from the brine. The work on this project was not begun until March, 1918, but the entire project was practically completed when the armistice was signed. This plant is a future war asset of the United States.It is capable of yielding approximately 650,000 pounds of bromine per year.
The tear gas which we prepared to manufacture was brombenzyl cyanide. It is a brownish oily liquid which solidifies to white or brownish crystals at 29° C.
The production of brombenzyl cyanide involves a fairly intricate chemical process. The first step is to chlorinate ordinary toluol, one of the coal tar bases, to produce benzyl chloride. This chloride is then mixed with sodium cyanide in alcoholic solution and distilled, benzyl cyanide being the result. It is then only necessary to brominate the benzyl cyanide by treating it with bromine vapor.
The first manufacture of brombenzyl cyanide in the United States was conducted at an experimental plant at the American University Station at Washington. After this a large scale plant was authorized at the plant of the Federal Dye & Chemical Co., at Kingsport, Tenn. The construction of this factory began on July 8, 1918, and operations started on October 29, the total production of brombenzyl cyanide being a trifle over 5 tons. In November the plant reached a capacity of 3 tons per day.
The bromine gases were not poisonous in the sense of being killers, but were merely highly irritating to the membranes of the eye. The killing gases were phosgene, chlorpicrin, and chlorine. Mustard gas in sufficient amount was also fatal, its effect being identical to that of a deep burn. It attacked the lungs, the eyes, the skin, and even the intestines if food contaminated with mustard gas were swallowed. An insidious feature of mustard gas is the fact that its action is practically always delayed. It might be several hours after a man was gassed, even fatally, with mustard before he became aware of it, and then it was too late to administer the treatment that might save his life. Goggles alone would have been sufficient protection against tear gas, except for the fact that it was invariably mixed with the deadlier gases.
The various experiments preliminary to our production of gases were conducted in provisional laboratories at the Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C., Bureau of Mines, Washington, D. C., the Geophysical Laboratory, Washington, D. C., the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, and Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. A control laboratory for the solution of problems arising in manufacture was eventually established at Edgewood. A total of 167,092 single chemical determinations were made at these laboratories under the direction of 20 commissioned officers, 45 noncommissioned officers, and 204 privates.
The production of gases and other chemicals was only part of the work of the Edgewood Arsenal and its subsidiary plants. The otherchief activity was that of filling artillery shell with the toxic substances. The description of the plant which filled shell with phosgene will indicate the scale upon which this operation was conducted.
The empty shell, after being inspected, were loaded on trucks, together with the proper number of loaded boosters. The booster was the device which exploded the shell and scattered the gas. Electric locomotives then pulled the shell trucks to the filling buildings. There were four of these to a single shell-filling plant, radiating at right angles from a common center. From the trucks the empty shell were lifted by hand to a belt conveyor and the conveyor carried the shell slowly through a room kept cold by artificial refrigeration. Although the shell moved only 70 feet through this room the conveyor traveled so slowly that they were 30 minutes in transit, and during this time they were cooled to a temperature of about 0° F. This chilling was necessary because phosgene has a low boiling point, and it was necessary to keep the temperature of the metal of the shell considerably below the boiling point of phosgene in order that the gas might remain in liquid form while the filling was going on.
The chilled shell cases were next transferred to small trucks, each carrying six of them. The loaded truck was then drawn through a filling tunnel by means of a chain haul. This tunnel was so ingeniously contrived that the human assistance to the filling and closing machinery could all be conducted from the outside. The phosgene, kept liquid by refrigeration, was run into the shell by an automatic filler.
The truck was then moved forward a few feet to a point where the boosters were inserted into the noses of the shell by the hands of the operator reaching in through an aperture in the tunnel. The final closing of the shell was then accomplished by motors. The air in the filling tunnel was constantly withdrawn by strong ventilation, the exhaust air being washed in stone towers by chemical agents to neutralize any gases that might be present. The filled, inclosed shell were next conveyed to a dump, where they were classified and then stood nose down for 24 hours to test them for leaks. Then they were painted, striped, and stenciled by air paint brushes. The final process was to pack them in boxes and store them for shipment. This was done in large storage magazines on the grounds of the Edgewood Arsenal.
A similar method was used for filling shell with chlorpicrin, except that refrigeration was unnecessary. Mustard gas required another sort of filling machine.
Several filling plants were designed and constructed for filling grenades with stannic chloride and with white phosphorus, and also one for filling incendiary drop bombs.
The capacity of each of these plants per day was as follows:
Stannic chloride plant, hand grenades, 25,000. White phosphorus grenade plant, 30,000. White phosphorus smoke-shell plant, 155 millimeter shell, 2,000; or 4.7-inch or 5-inch shell, 4,000; or 75-millimeter shell, 6,000. Incendiary drop-bomb plant, 2,000.
The following sentences summarize the production and expectations of the Edgewood Arsenal:
(1) The gas program as of March 1918 called for approximately 545 tons of toxic gas weekly.
(2) The Chemical Warfare Service program of August 12, 1918, called for a much larger amount, viz, about 4,525 tons per week.
(3) The approximate filling capacity of the Edgewood Arsenal plant from August to November, 1918, was nearly 1,000 tons per week.
(4) The toxic gas production during this same period increased from 450 to 675 tons per week.
(5) The capacity of all projectiles received, unlimited by boosters, varied during the same period from 125 to 450 tons per week.
(6) The maximum capacity corresponding to boosters received was less than 100 tons per week.
In these facts it will be seen that the numbers of empty shell delivered to the plant was far less than the number required to accommodate the gas production. Many of the shell received were without boosters and therefore without value until boosters were provided, so that the limiting factor was really the supply of boosters. The booster supply was sufficient to take care of only a relatively small fraction of the toxic gas actually produced. The filling capacity of the plant was also in excess of the delivery of shell and boosters. The 75-millimeter shell-filling plant had a capacity of 1,200,000 shell per month, eventually double that, while delivery of shell was slightly over 300,000 per month and of boosters less than 200,000.
Because of the nature of toxic gas it is impossible to store it up in any large quantities. Early in the summer of 1918 large amounts were shipped in bulk overseas and there loaded into shell. Later we received instructions to stop all shipments in bulk except a limited amount of chlorine, and thereafter our production was limited to the number of shell and boosters available.
In June, 1918, we shipped in bulk 15 tons of mustard gas, 705 tons of chlorpicrin, and 48 tons of phosgene. This was to be exchanged for gas shell produced by the French. In late July the French had no more extra shell to be filled with American gas and this fact terminated the arrangement. However, we sold excess gas both to England and to France. England received 900 tons of our chlorpicrin and 368 tons of American phosgene. France took 300 tons of chlorpicrin and 1,408 tons of chlorine, equivalent to 1,226 tons of phosgene, since phosgene is 80 per cent chlorine including allowancefor wastage in manufacture. France furnished phosgene shell to us in exchange for chlorine. In addition 200 tons of mustard gas were shipped to England and utilized by the English.
We therefore shipped to Europe in bulk 3,662 tons of gas or its equivalent, which gas was largely loaded in shell and used by the United States troops or those of the allies. This quantity was sufficient to load 1,600,000 shell, two-thirds of them being of the 75-millimeter caliber and the other one-third 155-millimeter, the total number being thought to be at least equal to the total number of gas shell fired by American troops in action. Thus while American gas was not actually fired in American shell against the Germans, American gas was used against the enemy and America furnished at least as much gas as she fired.
In addition to this we shipped 18,600 Livens drums loaded with phosgene. These contained 279 tons of gas, and some of them were fired at the enemy. We began producing loaded gas shell in the summer of 1918 and by August 9 had shipped 75,000 loaded 75-millimeter shell. These shell were unassembled for firing in the guns, the Ordnance Department having decided in June to assemble gas shell in their cartridge cases in France.
The Chemical Warfare production organization developed and manufactured a large number of special containers for the shipment of toxic gases. These were of special construction in order to guard against dangers that would result from leaks, and all had to stand the tests required by the Bureau of Explosives before they would be received for railroad shipment. The 1-ton containers, all of which would hold 1 ton of liquid chlorine, were designed by the Ordnance Department and would withstand a pressure of 500 pounds per square inch. The 300-pound phosgene cylinders, designed by the Ordnance Department, were made to withstand a 500-pound hydrostatic pressure and a 250-pound air test.
We purchased standard 55-gallon acid drums and standard-pattern cylinders for holding 75 pounds of chlorine.
We constructed chlorine tank cars, each tank with a capacity of 15 tons and a strength that could withstand a pressure of 500 pounds to the square inch. We also designed a tank car originally for the shipment of chlorpicrin and later used it for shipping sulphur monochloride.