America's Munitions 1917-1918

by Benedict Crowell; United States. War Department

Because the production of French recuperators stands at the summit of American ordnance achievement, here at this point, before there is given any account of the manufacture of field artillery, the theme of this chapter, a performance table is inserted to show the records written by the various concerns engaged in making these devices.

American acceptances of recuperators by firms on Army ordnance orders only.

Item, process, and firm.	1918							1919				To­tal, Nov. 11, 1918.	To­tal 1918.	To­tal, Apr. 30, 1919.
	To Ju­ly 1.	Ju­ly.	Au­gust.	Sep­tem­ber.	Oc­to­ber.	No­vem­ber.	De­cem­ber.	Jan­u­ar­y.	Feb­ru­ar­y.	March.	A­pril.
75-mm. gun recuperator:
Forging—
Carbon Steel Co.	259	259	254	750	1,005	300	552	407	49			2,600	3,379	3,835
Bucyrus Co.			29	78	300	173	111		68			435	691	759
Total	259	259	283	828	1,305	473	663	407	117			3,035	4,070	4,594
Finish machining and assembling—
Singer Manufacturing Co.										3	8			11
Rock Island Arsenal					1			2	13	17	15	1	1	48
Total					1			2	13	20	23	1	1	59
155-mm. howitzer recuperator:
Forging—
Mesta Machine Co.	676	646	648	899	1,080	226		49		31		4,000	4,175	4,255
Watertown Arsenal				160	80	80		25	1			268	320	346
Total	676	646	648	1,059	1,160	306		74	1	31		4,268	4,495	4,601
Machining complete and assembling—
Dodge Bros.		1	27	249	285	495	403	141				796	1,460	1,601
155-mm. gun recuperator:
Forging—
Carnegie Steel Co.	212	213	229	269	401	389	21					1,480	1,734	1,734
Finish machining and assembling—
Dodge Bros.					1	10	19	116	270	361	103		30	880
240-mm. howitzer recuperator:
Forging—
Carnegie Steel Co.	286	99	115	61	70	79						678	710	710
Watertown Arsenal			21									21	21	21
Total	286	99	136	61	70	79						699	731	731
Finish machining and assembling—
Otis Elevator Co.								4	14	41	62			121
Watertown Arsenal					1				5	19	27	1	1	52
Total					1			4	19	60	89	1	1	173

The process of manufacture of recuperators requires four steps—forging, rough machining, finish machining, and assembling. In the case of 155-millimeter howitzer recuperators all the machining was done by one firm; in the other cases rough machining was done by various firms, including, in the case of the 155-millimeter gun and 240-millimeter howitzer recuperators, the firms doing the forging. Complete records of rough machining are not available.

In discussing here, therefore, the production of field artillery in the war period, we are concerned chiefly with carriages and recuperators, for they offered the major difficulties. Since the production of gun bodies for these various units has been taken up in the preceding chapter, such reference to them as is necessary will be brief. For the sake of additional clearness in the mind of the reader inexpert in these things, the line should be sharply drawn between field artillery and the so-called railway artillery, which was also mobile to a limited degree. The mobile field artillery consisted of all rolling guns or caterpillar guns up to and including the 240-millimeter howitzer in size; and also included the antiaircraft guns of various sizes. All mobile guns of larger caliber than the 240-millimeter howitzer were mounted on railroad cars.

The list of the mobile field artillery weapons in manufacture here during the war period was as follows:

The little 37-millimeter gun, the so-called infantry cannon, one of which two husky men could lift from the ground—a French design;

The 75-millimeter guns—three types of them—the French 75, adopted bodily by the United States; our own 3-inch gun redesigned to the French caliber; and the British 3.3-inch gun, similarly redesigned;

The 4.7-inch gun of American design;