America's Munitions 1917-1918United States. War Department
History
America's Munitions 1917-1918
United States. War Department
United States. Army -- Supplies and stores; Weapons; World War, 1914-1918 -- United States -- Equipment and supplies
By February, 1918, the supply of optical glass was assured; but the
manufacture of optical instruments was so seriously behind schedule
that a military optical glass and instrument section was formed in the
War Industries Board and took charge of the entire optical instrument
industry of the country. Through the efforts of its chief, Mr. George
E. Chatillon, of New York, the entire industry was coordinated.
By September, 1918, the production of fire-control instruments in
sufficient quantities to meet the requirements of both the Army and
Navy during 1919 was believed to be assured.
To the accomplishment of this result the Ordnance Department
contributed most effectively. The information and long experience
of Frankford Arsenal in instrument manufacture and in the work of
precision optics were placed at the service of contractors; trained
officers of the Ordnance Department were stationed at the different
factories; in many factories these officers rendered valuable aid in
devising and developing proper and adequate factory operations, in
establishing production on a satisfactory basis, in securing the proper
inflow of raw materials, in devising testing fixtures, in establishing
proper manufacturing tolerances, and in testing the performance of the
assembled instruments. Schools for operatives in precision optics were
established at Frankford Arsenal, Philadelphia, Pa., at Rochester, N.
Y., and at Mount Wilson Observatory, Pasadena, Cal. To many contractors
financial aid had to be extended. The fire-control program required, in
short, all the available talent and resources of the country to carry
it to a successful finish.
The general procedure adopted by the Ordnance Department was to assign
the more difficult instruments to manufacturers who had had experience
along similar lines. To others, who had produced articles allied only
in a distant way to fire-control instruments, less intricate types of
instruments were awarded. In certain instances the optical elements
were produced by one firm, the mechanical parts by another, the final
assembly of the instrument being then accomplished by the latter.
Because our Army had adopted a number of French guns for reproduction
here, it became necessary to build sights for these weapons according
to the French designs. This gave us much trouble, not only because of
the delay in securing samples and drawings from France, but because of
the difficulties in producing articles from these French drawings by
American methods and with American workmen.
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