240-MILLIMETER TRENCH MORTAR.
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.
| TRENCH MORTARS. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Character. | Completions to Nov. 11, 1918. | Completions to Feb. 1, 1919. | Shipped overseas. |
| 3-inch | 1,609 | 1,830 | 843 |
| 4-inch | 444 | 778 | |
| 6-inch | 368 | 500 | 48 |
| 240-millimeter (9.45 inches) | 29 | 30 | |
| TRENCH-MORTAR AMMUNITION. | |||
| Character. | Completions to Nov. 11, 1918 (unloaded). | Completions to Feb. 1, 1919 (unloaded). | Shipped overseas (loaded). |
| Rounds. | Rounds. | Rounds. | |
| 3-inch live | 3,136,275 | 3,741,237 | 157,785 |
| 3-inch practice | 607,178 | 782,340 | |
| 4-inch gas | 212 | ||
| 4-inch smoke | |||
| 6-inch live | 292,882 | 492,404 | |
| 240-millimeter (9.45 inches) | 67,829 | 131,124 | |
TOXIC GAS SETS.
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.