112. It has been found recently, on drawing the charge of a 12-pounder howitzer in one of the small gunboats, that in cutting its fuze (Bormann) the incision had been made directly into the magazine.
Had the gun been fired, the explosion of the shrapnell must have occurred at the muzzle of the gun.
There is no doubt such errors will often account for the supposed defects of the fuze.
The attention of officers is therefore required to this subject; and, in making reports of defective ammunition, samples should be forwarded to Washington for examination.
It is of the gravest importance, not only because it involves the failure of the shell to act properly upon the object of fire, but may also endanger the lives of our own men.
113. Whenever it is expedient or necessary to examine the fuzes and loading of shell which have been already prepared, great care must be observed in removing the fuze. It should never be done in the shell-room.
114. The fuze-stock may generally be safely unscrewed with the fuze-wrench, taking care, in the first place, to strike the side of the shell gently with a wooden mallet, to detach the powder from the fuze, to work very slowly, and not to endeavor to overcome any unusual resistance.
115. Whenever it shall be necessary to load and fuze shell on board ship—a properly secured place being first prepared, as directed by the Captain, not in the shell-room and as far from the magazine as convenient—the shell, being strapped and sabotted, are to be examined to see that they are clean, both inside and out, and thoroughly dry. The greatest care is to be taken to remove every particle of sand or fragment of iron from the interior. The prescribed charge of powder is next to be poured into them through a proper funnel; care is to be taken that the end of the funnel passes below the screw-thread in the tap or bouching, to prevent any grains of powder entering it; any grains of it which may remain sticking to the thread of the bouching are to be brushed away carefully, and then, after putting a light coat of lacquer for small arms, or sperm oil, on this thread and on that of the fuze, the latter is to be screwed in carefully with the fuze-wrench. The lacquer should be of the consistency of cream, and when from evaporation, it becomes too stiff, should be thinned by adding more spirits of turpentine.
116. In emptying shell they are to be handled carefully and placed on a bench with a hole in it to receive and support the inverted shell. A wooden vessel placed below will receive the powder. The powder which has been removed from shell shall only be used for filling shell, as it always contains a small quantity of grit, which renders it unfit for general service. Should the powder have become caked, so as not to be easily removed from the shell, it is to be drowned and removed by washing out the shell. A handful of small iron shot put in the shell will facilitate this operation.
117. Loaded shell are to be painted red and placed in boxes or bags marked with a red cross, which boxes are to have the lengths of fuze painted on them in black. Shrapnel shell and the tops of their boxes shall be painted white, with the length of fuze stencilled on them in black. They are to be stowed in shell-houses prepared for that purpose. Loaded shell, whether in or out of their boxes, must be handled carefully. Shell-bags will be preserved, accounted for by the Gunner, and returned.