240-MILLIMETER TRENCH MORTAR.
240-MILLIMETER TRENCH MORTAR.
240-MILLIMETER TRENCH MORTAR.
240-MILLIMETER TRENCH MORTAR SHELL.
240-MILLIMETER TRENCH MORTAR SHELL.
240-MILLIMETER TRENCH MORTAR SHELL.
We planned to build only smoke shell and gas shell for the 4-inch mortars. Large contracts for various parts of these shell were placed and the enterprise was gaining great size when the armistice was declared, but no finished smoke shell and only a few gas shell for 4-inch trench mortars had been produced. The contracts for the smoke shell were let in October, 1918, and work had not started further than the procurement of raw material before the armistice came. A large number of contractors expected to produce the parts for the 4-inch gas shell, and considerable of the raw materials were actually produced; but only one of the machining and assembling contractors, the Paige-Detroit Motor Car Co., actually completed any of these shell, and production at this plant did not start until December 5, 1918.
Another extensive project in the trench-warfare program was the manufacture of the so-called toxic gas sets. Each set consisted of a one-man portable cylinder equipped with a nozzle and a firing mechanism. Each set was ready for firing as soon as it was placed in position.
In August, 1918, the toxic-gas-set project was taken up by the Trench Warfare Section. Contracts for cylinders were awarded to the Ireland-Matthews Manufacturing Co., of Detroit, Mich., who produced 13,642 cylinders, and to the American Car & Foundry Co. at its Milton, Pa., plant, which concern turned out 11,046 cylinders.
The Pittsburgh Reinforcing, Brazing & Machine Co. produced 9,765 valves for the cylinders in two months after receiving the contract. The Yale & Towne Manufacturing Co., of Stamford, Conn., which received the contract for nozzles on September 5, 1918, manufactured 20,501 of them before the armistice was signed; and J. N. Smith & Co., of Detroit, Mich., who did not receive their contract until September 26, built 3,252 nozzles before the fighting stopped. The Liquid Carbolic Co., of Chicago, and the Ruud Manufacturing Co., of Pittsburgh, had the contracts for the firing mechanism; but none of these was produced because at the time the armistice was signed the firing mixture to be used with the cylinders had not been developed.
In connection with the production of materials for gas warfare the Ordnance Department also designed several types of containers for the shipment of poison gas, these including not only the portable cylinders but larger tanks and even tank cars.
A few years ago, when we allowed the adventurous American boy to blow off his fingers and hands by the indiscriminate use of explosives in celebrating the Nation's birthday, we had an extensive fireworks industry in this country. But the spread of the sane Fourth reform had virtually killed this manufacture, so that when we entered the war there were only three or four plants in the United States making fireworks. These concerns kept the trade secrets closely guarded. However, as we approached the brink of hostilities it was evident we would have to build up a large production capacity for the pyrotechnics demanded by the various new types of fighting which had sprung into existence since 1914. Fireworks were extensively used principally for signaling at night and as an aid to aviators in the dark.
One of the men to foresee this need was Lewis Nixon, who had long been in the public eye and was known especially for his advocacy of an American merchant marine. He organized a pyrotechnics concern known as the Nixon Fulgent Products Co., built a plant at Brunswick, N. J., and was ready to talk business with the Government when the war began.
Also there had long been in existence that perennial delight of children and adults alike known as Paine's Fireworks, whose spectacular exhibitions are familiar to most city dwellers in the United States. This concern had its own manufacturing plant, which was ready to expand to meet Government war requirements.
In addition, two other concerns of the formerly declining industry were ready to increase their facilities and produce pyrotechnics for war purposes. These were the Unexcelled Manufacturing Co., of New York, and the National Fireworks Co., of West Hanover, Mass.The four concerns proved to be able to meet every war requirement we had.
Prior to the war some few military pyrotechnics had been procured by the Signal Corps, the Coast Artillery, the Engineer Corps, and also by the Navy; but on September 27, 1917, the design of all Army pyrotechnics was centralized in the Trench Warfare Section.
Much experimentation was necessary before specifications could be prepared, since the entire fire-signaling field had long been in confusion. We had made our own designs and were proceeding with production in the spring of 1918, when the American Expeditionary Forces made the positive recommendation that the entire French program of pyrotechnics be adopted by the United States. This meant a fresh start in the business, but nevertheless pyrotechnic devices were developed to meet all of our needs. These devices included signal rockets, parachute rockets, signal pistols and their ammunition, position and signal lights, flares, smoke torches, and lights to be thrown by the V. B. discharger, the French device attached to the end of the rifle in which a rifle grenade fits.
At the outset of our efforts we started to build signal rockets, position lights, rifle lights, signal lights, and lights for use with the Very signal pistol. The Very signal pistol, which we adopted first, had the caliber of a 10-gauge shotgun, and its cartridges resembled shotgun shells in appearance, although containing Roman candle balls of various colors instead of leaden shot. The orders from abroad in the spring of 1918 changed the caliber of the Very pistol to 25 millimeters and brought into our requirements some 16 different styles of star and parachute cartridges. In addition to these, there were required about 20 styles of star and parachute cartridges for the French V. B. discharger. The recommendations from France brought in 13 new styles of signal rockets, as well as smoke torches, wing-tip flares for airplanes, parachute flares for lighting the ground under bombing airplanes, and also 12 styles of cartridges for a new 35-millimeter Very pistol for the use of aviators.
After we received these instructions there was great uncertainty here as to the quantity of each item that should be produced; and this matter was not settled until August 5, 1918, when an enormous program of requirements was issued. At first it seemed that the Government itself must build new factories to take care of these needs, but a careful examination showed that the existing facilities could be expanded to take care of the production. The placing of contracts in this undertaking was under way when the armistice stopped the work.
The following table indicates the size of the pyrotechnic undertaking and also what was accomplished. All of this production came from the plants of the four companies which have been named. In addition to the fireworks themselves, accessories were produced bya number of other concerns. The Japan Paper Co., New York City, manufactured and imported from Japan approximately 3,000,000 paper parachutes. The Remington Arms Co., New Haven, Conn., built about 2,500,000 10-gauge signal-pistol cartridges, except for the stars they contained. The Empire Art Metal Co., College Point, N. Y., produced nearly 2,000,000 Very pistol cartridge cases. The Winchester Repeating Arms Co., Bridgeport, Conn., supplied nearly 5,000,000 primers for these cartridges. Rose Bros. & Co., Lancaster, Pa., produced 65,600 silk parachutes for Very cartridges. Cheney Bros., South Manchester, Conn.; D. G. Dery (Inc.), Allentown, Pa.; Stehli Silk Corporation, New York City; Sauquoit Silk Co., Philadelphia; Lewis Roessel & Co., Hazleton, Pa.; Schwarzenback-Huber Co., New York City; and the Duplane Silk Corporation, Hazleton, Pa., produced a total of 1,231,728 yards of silk for parachutes to float airplane flares. The parachutes themselves for the airplane flares, a total of 28,570 of them, were manufactured by the Duplane Silk Corporation; Folmer-Clogg Co., Lancaster, Pa.; and Jacob Gerhardt Co., Hazleton, Pa. The Edw. G. Budd Manufacturing Co., Philadelphia, built 41,020 metal cases for the airplane flares.
We also contracted for the production of many thousands of Very signal pistols. Before the original program was canceled the Remington Arms Co. had produced 24,460 of the 10-gauge pistols in contracts calling for a total output of 35,000.
In August, 1918, we let contracts for 135,000 of the 25-millimeter pistols and for approximately 30,000 of the 35-millimeter pistols. The A. H. Fox Gun Co. completed 4,193 of the smaller pistols and the Scott & Fetzger Machine Co. turned out 7,750 of them. Other concerns which had taken contracts but had not come into production when the armistice was signed were the National Tool & Manufacturing Co., the Doehler Die Castings Co., the Hammond Typewriter Co., and Parker Bros.
Considerable experimental work of an interesting nature was carried out looking toward the development of incendiary devices. Three types of flame projectors, flaming bayonets, an airplane destroyer, incendiary darts, and the smoke knapsack were among the projects undertaken. Owing in large measure to changes in requirements by the American Expeditionary Forces none of these devices was actually turned out on any considerable scale.