Ordnance Papers

USS ALASKA

USS ALASKA

Major
Joined
Mar 16, 2016
CIVIL WAR EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE
Revised 10 November 1960
U. S. NAVAL SCHOOL, EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE DISPOSAL
U. S. NAVAL PROPELLANT PLANT
Indian Head, Maryland
U. S. NAVAL SCHOOL, EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE DISPOSAL

A REPORT ON CIVIL WAR EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE
by F. W. HACKLEY
lst Lt, U. S. Army
U. S. NAVAL PROPELLANT PLANT
Indian Head, Maryland

PREFACE
The purpose of this pamphlet is to provide an identification text for Explosive Ordnance Disposal use ln the field. No attempt has been made to outline inerting, rendering safe, or disposal procedures in this publication. Only the more common types of Civil War explosive ordnance are covered. It Should be noted that, since standardization at the time of the Civil War was not as we know it today, it is quite common to find ordnance with slight modifications from type to type. Civil War artillery pieces are of two general types: smooth bore and rifled bore. Most were muzzle-loaded, although a few imported pieces were breech loaded. Smooth bore weapons normally fired a spherical projectile, which was frequently attached by bands to a wooden sabot in order to gain better obturation. Muzzle-loaded, rifled artillery normally fired projectiles fitted with expanding rotating bands (Babots) , the expansion caused by propellant pressure at the moment of firing. The explosive filler used in shell and case shot was blackpowder, with the balls in the case shot held in place by a matrix usually made of sulphur or some similar material. Fuzes were normally loaded with granulated black powder for powder trains and fitted with fulminate caps, should an impact function be desired.


Stumbled onto this while reading about the Hanes Grenade

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 

Attachments

1712706267578.png


USG document - can be downloaded for free here...

Milsurps Knowledge Library - The Machine Gun (by George M. Chinn)

The Machine Gun (by George M. Chinn)
www.milsurps.com

@Belfoured might need a new thumb drive...

Cheers!
USS ALASKA
 
JOURNAL ARTICLE
Interchangeable Parts Reexamined: The Private Sector of the American Arms Industry on the Eve of the Civil War
Robert A. Howard
Technology and Culture
Vol. 19, No. 4 (Oct., 1978), pp. 633-649 (17 pages)
The Johns Hopkins University Press

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Full article at above link on JSTOR with Google sign-in (In the upper right-hand corner of the linked page, there is a 'Log in' button. If you have a Gmail account, you have a Google sign-in and this will allow for free reading of 100 articles a month).

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
Lehigh University
Lehigh Preserve
Theses and Dissertations
1998

The Henry Gun Works and the impact of the federal contract system (1808-1830)
James T. Carden
Lehigh University

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by Lehigh Preserve. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Lehigh Preserve. For more information, please contact [email protected].

Unlike other nineteenth century gun makers such as Colt, Springfield and Remington, the Henrys did not survive as a company past the first decade of the twentieth century but their story was still one of great endurance and adaptability. At a time when federal musket contracts were the key to success and standardization of parts required rigorous and drastically different inspection standards, the Henrys suffered through the worst this period had to offer and bounced back. Through diversification and subcontracting work the Henrys survived and even prospered. This transitional period for American gun makers from craft to industry marked the demise of many small gun works but the Henrys were able to thrive using what by today's standards seems a strange mix of industrial production with hand finishing and fitting of parts. The Henry family provided jobs for artisans in the Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia from 1813 to 1860. They enabled Marine T. Wickham to fulfill his federal musket contracts. Their inexpensive trade rifles allowed the American Fur Company and the Astor family in particular to profit and succeed in trading with Native Americans. And finally their distribution of gun barrels and parts to local gunsmiths kept many of these craftsmen in business at a time when they would otherwise lost out to larger gun makers. The Henry gun works are history but the Henry family's combination of quality artisan work with industrial production and diversification touched many lives and proved that there were still "Davids" who could buck the trends of the day and survive in a world of Industrial "Goliaths"


Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 

Attachments

NO. 1755
GUN MAKING IN THE UNITED STATES
CAPTAIN ( NOW COLONEL) ROGERS BIRNIE, Jr.
ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT
U. S. ARMY
REPRINTED FROM THE JOURNAL OF THE MILITARY SERVICE INSTITUTION, BY ITS AUTHORITY,
WITH CORRECTIONS BY THE AUTHOR
WASHINGTON
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
1907
WAR DEPARTMENT,
Document No. 298.
Office of the Chief of Ordnance.

1714581263918.png



Because of copyright, please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
Reprinted from the American Society of Arms Collectors Bulletin 113:42-74
Additional articles available at http://americansocietyofarmscollectors.org/resources/articles/

The Confederate States Armory at Asheville: A Study in Confederate Defeat
Gordon L. Jones

The Confederate States Armory at Asheville, North Carolina, is one of the great success stories of the Confederate war effort: beginning with virtually no specialized arms-making machinery or industrial infrastructure and situated 60 miles from the nearest rail head, by mid-1863 the tiny armory was making its own locks, stocks, and barrels on steam-powered machinery patterned, built, and scrounged entirely in the South. The Asheville Armory is also one of the most colossal failures of the Confederate war effort: the Ordnance Bureau pumped at least $210,000 into the armory (probably much more) between August 1861 and October 1863, receiving in return nearly 1,000 rifles before its men and machinery were moved to Columbia, South Carolina, where production never resumed. It was a price in time, labor, and materials the young nation could ill afford to pay. At every turn, the armory was beset by shortages of raw materials and skilled labor, poor transportation infrastructure, internal dissent, and the ever-present threat of Union armies and unionist guerillas. In short, the success and ultimate failure of the Asheville Armory perfectly embodies the trials and tribulations that doomed the slave-sed pre-industrial southern economy and the Confederate war effort as a whole. The story of the Asheville Armory is the story of Confederate defeat.


Please see above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NAVAL TRUCK GUN CARRIAGE: HISTORY, ARCHAEOLOGY, AND DESIGN
Katrina Bunyard
March 2019
Department of History
East Carolina University
Master of Arts in Maritime Studies
© Katrina Bunyard, 2019

Truck carriages represented the primary naval gun mounting of European and American navies throughout the Age of Sail. Developed during the early to mid-16th century, truck gun carriages were found upon armed ships for over three centuries. They allowed for gunners to control and aim their pieces, promoting the development of naval guns of increasing power. During the 19th century, the truck carriage became viewed as a stagnant medieval leftover that underwent little change. Some later scholars further propagated this belief. This thesis seeks to examine the truck carriage's place in the development of modern western navies, evaluate the nature of its design and construction development, and explore its presence in the archaeological record. The truck carriage developed from the concerted efforts of artillerists across Europe, developed in sophistication in tandem with naval administrations, and played a role in shaping the living and working space aboard warships. Numerous archaeological sites contain the remains of several types of gun carriage, providing ample material for further study. Through the development of a gun carriage database, statistical testing was undertaken to explore the nature of design change over time. This database suggests that the truck carriage underwent non-linear change in several of its basic proportions over the course of its lifetime, likely adapting to changing capabilities of naval cannon and increased industrialization.


Because of copyright, please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKLA
 
JOURNAL ARTICLE
James H. Burton and the Confederate States Armory at Macon
Matthew W. Norman
The Georgia Historical Quarterly
Vol. 81, No. 4 (WINTER 1997), pp. 974-987
Georgia Historical Society

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Full article at above link on JSTOR with Google sign-in (In the upper right-hand corner of the linked page, there is a 'Log in' button. If you have a Gmail account, you have a Google sign-in and this will allow for free reading of 100 articles a month).

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
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RABER ASSOCIATES
CONSULTANTS IN THE HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
CONSERVATIVE INNOVATORS AND MILITARY SMALL ARMS: AN INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF THE SPRINGFIELD ARMORY, 1794-1968

prepared for:
National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
North Atlantic Regional Office
15 State Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02109-3572
August 1989

This report is perhaps best described as a case study in American industrial history, treating the Springfield Armory as a very unusual factory system. Through most of its history, the Armory had one customer and one principal job: to supply the U.S. Army with reliable, powerful shoulder arms. In this role, Springfield's longstanding—if uneven—federal funding through many economic crises, the peculiarities of Army small arms demands, and, perhaps, the power of Armory workers in shop management all contrast with the histories of most private industries. If unusual, however, the Armory was hardly irrelevant or tangential to the development of American industry, especially prior to the Civil War. Historians have long recognized this government factory's central place in economic and industrial history, and if anything have often overstated the case. The lack of any comprehensive study of Springfield Armory has therefore been something of a gap in that history, a gap which we are bridging—although not filling--with this report. As a research subject, the Armory is better characterized as an abyss than a gap. When closed in 1968, the Armory was probably the longest continuously-operated industrial facility in the United States, with a history of over 170 years, and had generated enormous quantities of paperwork and artifacts which remained available for study. Here again, government management practices were unusual among antebellum American industries, leaving Springfield as one of the best-documented factories of the period. In the 20th century, the growth of Army and other government bureaucracy accelerated the generation of documents, to such an extent that detailed study of events after 1945 is often an act of self-immolation.


The Bibliography alone will be fun to wade through...

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 

Attachments

Journal Article
A Cotton Kingdom Retooled for War: The Macon Arsenal and the Confederate Ordnance Establishment
Robert Scott Davis
The Georgia Historical Quarterly
Vol. 91, No. 3 (Fall 2007), pp. 266-291
Georgia Historical Society

1723311621717.png


Full article at above link on JSTOR with Google sign-in (In the upper right-hand corner of the linked page, there is a 'Log in' button. If you have a Gmail account, you have a Google sign-in and this will allow for free reading of 100 articles a month).

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
Journal Article
A Note on Confederate Ordnance Records
Lester J. Cappon
The Journal of the American Military Institute
Vol. 4, No. 2 (Summer, 1940), pp. 94-102

1723660517826.png




Full article at above link on JSTOR with Google sign-in (In the upper right-hand corner of the linked page, there is a 'Log in' button. If you have a Gmail account, you have a Google sign-in and this will allow for free reading of 100 articles a month).

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
Journal Article
"Never Suffer for 'Machines' of War": Louis Froelich as Arms-Maker to North Carolina and the Confederacy
Chris E. Fonvielle Jr.
The North Carolina Historical Review
Vol. 84, No. 3 (JULY 2007), pp. 300-325
North Carolina Office of Archives and History

1723738577843.png



Full article at above link on JSTOR with Google sign-in (In the upper right-hand corner of the linked page, there is a 'Log in' button. If you have a Gmail account, you have a Google sign-in and this will allow for free reading of 100 articles a month).

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
Ah... Macon was so very close to being elevated to the premier arms and munitions-producing city of the Western Hemisphere. You can only dream, as I'm sure Gorgas did for the rest of his life. The permanent national Armory, Laboratory, and Powder-works would have rendered Southern manufacturing prestigious indeed, first-rate among nations. But such an abundance of military hardware and wherewithal would probably inspire Caribbean and Central American intrigue and adventure.
 
Maine State Library
Digital Maine
Historic Preservation Commission Documents
State Documents
1997

The Kennebec Arsenal: An Historical and Architectural Survey, 1997
Maine Historic Preservation Commission
Kennebec Historical Society
Augusta Historic Preservation Commission
Marius B. Peladeau
Roger G. Reed

This Text is brought to you for free and open access by the State Documents at Digital Maine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Historic Preservation Commission Documents by an authorized administrator of Digital Maine. For more information, please contact [email protected].

During the Civil War the arsenal became an important depot of military stores. Large quantities of fixed ammunition were prepared at the post. The demand was so great that temporary wooden buildings were erected to facilitate manufacture of paper cartridges by both men and women, young and old. Great amounts of stores on hand, as indicated by the 1855 inventory, left for the seat of war. At one time over one million dollars worth of arms were stored at the arsenal.


File too large to attach, please use above link.

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
Old Dominion University
ODU Digital Commons
History Theses & Dissertations
1976

James H. Burton and the Development of the Confederate Small Arms Industry
Eugene K. Wilson III
Old Dominion University

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the History at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected].

ABSTRACT
James H. Burton was a key figure in the development of the Confederate small arms industry. It was largely through his efforts that the C.S. Armory, Richmond was placed in operation as quickly as it was. The plan to establish a central, or national, armory in the deep South was attributable to him. Burton's European contacts, cultivated while organizing the Royal Armory at Enfield, professional acumen, personality and loyalty all contributed to a large degree to the success of the Confederate Ordnance Bureau despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles.


Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 

Attachments

USS ALASKA said:
Old Dominion University
ODU Digital Commons
History Theses & Dissertations
1976

James H. Burton and the Development of the Confederate Small Arms Industry
Eugene K. Wilson III
Old Dominion University

This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the History at ODU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ODU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected].

ABSTRACT
James H. Burton was a key figure in the development of the Confederate small arms industry. It was largely through his efforts that the C.S. Armory, Richmond was placed in operation as quickly as it was. The plan to establish a central, or national, armory in the deep South was attributable to him. Burton's European contacts, cultivated while organizing the Royal Armory at Enfield, professional acumen, personality and loyalty all contributed to a large degree to the success of the Confederate Ordnance Bureau despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles.


Cheers,
USS ALASKA
Click to expand...
One of the many Ordnance officers who made something appear out of nothing. I read several mf rolls of his correspondence -- very useful in understanding the problems and solutions of the armory/laboratory commander.
 
While researching @52ndFandS 's question on this thread - https://civilwartalk.com/threads/whete-did-those-guns-go.211706/ - I stumbled onto the below paper. Even has a section called "What happened to them all? Tracing Fort Sumter's Guns Since 1865" Chapter 3. Starts at page 73. Paper focuses on ACW era weaponry.

NPS History
The Historic Guns of Forts Sumter and Moultrie
Mike Ryan
May 1997

In the sweltering Charleston heat of August 1951, three men, armed only with hand shovels and wheelbarrows,- set out on an ambitious journey. Their task was to begin a systematic excavation of Fort Sumter, to peal back layers of earth and debris which in some cases had lay undisturbed for nearly seventy-five years. As months turned into years, more money gradually became available, and along with this money came more workers, better equipment, and extended work seasons. Never certain of what they may ultimately find, they continued their efforts, encouraged by each year's progress. A much needed boost came from the National Park Service in late 1958 when funding through Mission 66 made it possible to hire a well-equipped moving company. Conducted now on a much larger scale and at a noticeably faster pace, the excavation rapidly brought the ruins of the fort to light. By the spring of 1959, their task was nearing its end. Exposed and broken, the brickwork of a once imposing structure now seemed stark and somehow incomplete. Clearly the Union bombardments of the Civil War had been effective.


File too large to attach, please use above link

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
 
USS ALASKA said:
While researching @52ndFandS 's question on this thread - https://civilwartalk.com/threads/whete-did-those-guns-go.211706/ - I stumbled onto the below paper. Even has a section called "What happened to them all? Tracing Fort Sumter's Guns Since 1865" Chapter 3. Starts at page 73. Paper focuses on ACW era weaponry.

NPS History
The Historic Guns of Forts Sumter and Moultrie
Mike Ryan
May 1997

In the sweltering Charleston heat of August 1951, three men, armed only with hand shovels and wheelbarrows,- set out on an ambitious journey. Their task was to begin a systematic excavation of Fort Sumter, to peal back layers of earth and debris which in some cases had lay undisturbed for nearly seventy-five years. As months turned into years, more money gradually became available, and along with this money came more workers, better equipment, and extended work seasons. Never certain of what they may ultimately find, they continued their efforts, encouraged by each year's progress. A much needed boost came from the National Park Service in late 1958 when funding through Mission 66 made it possible to hire a well-equipped moving company. Conducted now on a much larger scale and at a noticeably faster pace, the excavation rapidly brought the ruins of the fort to light. By the spring of 1959, their task was nearing its end. Exposed and broken, the brickwork of a once imposing structure now seemed stark and somehow incomplete. Clearly the Union bombardments of the Civil War had been effective.


File too large to attach, please use above link

Cheers,
USS ALASKA
Click to expand...
You're research is impeccable, Alaska.
 
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