The Watertown Arsenal was to furnish its own forgings, but it was quickly found that an additional source of supplies was required. The Carnegie Steel Co. had been given an order on December 27, 1917, for 1,300 recuperator forgings, and some of these were sent to the Watertown Arsenal. The first recuperator was completed October 28, 1918, and 16 had been finished up to December 31, 1918, when 280 forgings were in the process of machining. To handle its order for 1,039 recuperators, the Otis Elevator Co., of New York, found it necessary to rebuild a plant which it owned in Chicago. Forgings were furnished by the Government. On May 1, 1918, the Otis Elevator Co. started its rough machining. Hard spots were found in the metal, causing great trouble at first, but this difficulty was overcome by changes in the heat treatment. The Carnegie Steel Co. was then instructed to rough-machine the forgings before sending them to the Otis Elevator Co. An order was also given to the Midvale Steel Co. to rough-machine 24 forgings. Early in November, 1918, the Otis Elevator Co. finished its first recuperator. One 240-millimeter howitzer unit was completed at the time of the signing of the armistice, out of a total of 1,214 contracted for; but had war conditions continued, the expectation was for a monthly capacity of 80 units by 1919. Actual deliveries are given below: --------------------+-------------------+--------+---------+--------- | | |Number |Number Units. | Contractors. |Number |completed|completed | |ordered.|Nov. 11, |Apr. 17, | | |1918. |1919. --------------------+-------------------+--------+---------+--------- 240-mm. unit, |} Watertown | 250 |{ [11]1 | [11]41 complete, except |} Arsenal | |{ [12]4 | [12]25 howitzer |} | | | 240-mm. howitzer | Standard | 964 | 5 | 67 carriage units, | Steel Car Co. | | | except recuperators | | | | Windlasses | Dodge | 1,125 | 33 | 350 | Manufacturing Co | | | Rammer trucks | do. | 1,205 | 2 | 375 Shot trucks | do. | 3,214 | 2 | 1,000 240-mm. howitzer | Watervliet | | 2 | 19 cannon | Arsenal | | | --------------------+-------------------+--------+---------+--------- [11] Carriage alone. [12] Carriages with recuperators. FIGHTING THE AIRPLANE WITH ARTILLERY.