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.
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 Britain12,055,000██████████ 100France17,311,000██████████████ 144United States42,775,000████████████████████████████████████ 355High explosives:Great Britain30,967,000██████████ 100France22,802,000███████ 74United States43,888,000██████████████ 142TOTAL PRODUCTION, APRIL 6, 1917, TO NOVEMBER 11, 1918.Smokeless powder:Pounds.Per cent of rate for Great Britain.Great Britain291,706,000█████████████████ 100France342,155,000███████████████████ 117United States632,504,000████████████████████████████████████ 217High explosives:Great Britain765,110,000█████████████████ 100France702,964,000███████████████ 92United States375,656,000████████ 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. Whilethese 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.
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:
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:
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 ofthe 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.
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.
NITRO, WEST VIRGINIA.
NITRO, WEST VIRGINIA.
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 thereare 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.
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 wereassembled 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.
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.
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.