What America did : $b A record of achievement in the prosecution of the warKelly, Florence Finch
History
What America did : $b A record of achievement in the prosecution of the war
Kelly, Florence Finch
World War, 1914-1918 -- United States
To the making of the Modified Enfield rifle go 84 parts and a total
of 164 pieces. These parts were all standardized so that any of those
made in either of the three large plants that manufactured this rifle
could be used in any other. This made possible the rapid rate at which
they were turned out. Rigorous tests for each part and close inspection
of every process, together with the enthusiastic interest of the
employees, made the number of rejected rifles negligible. The employees
of one concern, of their own inspiration and desire, adopted the slogan
of “one million rifles for 1918” after they had subscribed $1,000,000
to the third Liberty Loan. This plant, which had under roof more than
thirty-three acres, was built in 1915 to manufacture rifles for the
British Government, but soon after our entrance into the war signed a
contract with the United States. It speeded production so rapidly that
by mid-summer of 1918 it was two months in advance of its expected
production.
Automatic pistols proved of so much value at the front that General
Pershing, as soon as the American troops had got well into the
fighting, asked for the supply to be quadrupled and at once numerous
private plants began to manufacture them. One firm that had been
steadily turning out automatics at the rate of 1,500 per day prepared
to double its capacity when the front line needs were made known. Of
these and revolvers there had been sent to the front 600,000 up to
the end of September, 1918. Of small arms ammunition, including that
for machine guns, rifles, pistols and revolvers, American factories
produced a total of about three billion rounds. Monthly production had
reached a rate of 289,000,000 rounds. The armor piercing, tracer and
incendiary bullets used in the Aircraft Service and in anti-aircraft
defense were developments of the war and had to be designed for our own
guns and to have special facilities for their production.
For the loading of shells four huge government plants were constructed
with a combined loading capacity of more than 5,000,000 shells per
month. They were larger than any similar plants in the world. One of
them covered nearly 3,000 acres and was built and put into operation,
from the breaking of the ground, in a little more than six months.
For the housing of its employees a town was brought into existence,
within that time, with heating, lighting and power plants, police and
fire departments, cottages for families, dormitories with hot and cold
shower baths for single men, club-houses, a theater, restaurants, a
baseball field and tennis courts. Of high explosive shells of all sizes
there had been made, at the end of September, 1918, 2,500,000; of low
explosive shells, 3,100,000; of shrapnel, 5,800,000; and of grenades of
all types 11,870,000. One grenade factory had established a pace of a
million per month.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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