REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF THE NAVY DEPARTMENT, BUREAU OF ORDNANCE, Washington, D. C., September 23, 1914. From: Bureau of Ordnance. To: The Secretary of the Navy. Subject: Annual report for the fiscal year 1914. 1. The annual report for the fiscal year 1914 is herewith submitted. In pursuance of the departments' policy the bureau has fostered additional competition in the supply of ordnance material, both with a view to widening the source of supply as well as to enable the Government to induce competition as to quality and price. In all respects the efforts have met with success and reports have been made to the department from time to time exemplifying this fact. 2. The first place in the bureau's activities has been given to improving the ordnance material for the service. Such progress as has been made is reported elsewhere. 3. A system has been instituted by which the chief of the bureau is advised of any delay in filling requisitions from ships so that the failure may be corrected and the matter followed up at once. Owing to the unexpected movements of ships the problem of supplying them promptly is not always an easy one. However, a vigorous effort is being made to reduce the delays to a minimum. GUNS. 4. The manufacture of guns required to arm the Oklahoma and Nevada has been completed, and the manufacture of guns for the Pennsylvania and Arizona, and for the destroyers and auxiliaries under construction, has been carried on without interruption by the Washington Navy Yard, the Watervliet Arsenal, the Bethlehem Steel Co., the Midvale Steel Co., and the American & British Manufacturing Co. 5. The modification and replacement of 6-inch 50-caliber Mark VI guns has been completed, and all vessels have been equipped with 2,800 foot-second guns of the same ballistic qualities. 6. The modification and replacement of 5-inch 50-caliber Mark V guns has proceeded as rapidly as these guns are available, and will be completed within two years. In the modified form these guns are equal in all respects to the latest 5-inch 50-caliber guns. 7. The work of relining eroded guns has progressed most satisfactorily during the year, and about 100 guns of 8-inch caliber or above have been relined, besides numerous guns of lesser caliber. 8. The 5-inch cartridge-case guns of the Florida and Utah have been replaced by bag guns, and the 5-inch batteries of the Arkansas and Wyoming will be replaced during the next overhaul period of these vessels. This will give all vessels of the Utah class and later date the same type of torpedo-defense gun. 9. Numerous batteries of 3-inch and 4-inch guns have been replaced by later types of guns, and a constant effort has been made to bring all vessels' batteries up to date as far as possible. The installation of salvo latches and improved-type gas ejectors on all guns has progressed, and at the present date nearly all guns are provided with modern outfits. 10. The replacement of all 3-inch rapid-fire gun breech mechanisms with the eccentric plug mechanism has progressed, and the few remaining vessels will be equipped this year, thus completing the replacement of over 400 of these mechanisms. 11. The bureau has begun the assembling of all reserve guns into batteries for issue to auxiliaries in time of hostility, and a number of these guns are now ready for issue. All remaining guns are being assembled into reserve batteries as rapidly as possible. 12. The bureau is still continuing its investigations on the subject of erosion, and systematic collection of data is being made, in addition to minor improvements in type of rifling and shell bands. 13. Three hundred Colt's automatic machine guns have been modified to take the same ammunition as the service rifle. Over 200 Benet Mercie machine guns have been slightly modified to eliminate certain defects in design. The work of modifying both types of machine guns has been progressive in order that guns may be retained for use in service as needed. 14. All vessels in active service have been supplied with Springfield rifles and automatic pistols. The Krag-Jörgensen rifles are being used for the sake of economy in subcaliber attachments. 15. The Model 1910 Army Infantry equipment having been made standard for the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps, the bureau purchased and issued this form of equipment to the ships of the Atlantic Fleet. As soon as the supply of old equipments which were turned in by the fleet has been exhausted the bureau will issue the Model 1910 equipments to other vessels progressively. By this means the discarding of good material will be avoided. GUN MOUNTS. 16. The contractors for the Oklahoma and Nevada have received all material furnished by the bureau for the 14-inch mounts of those vessels. One triple slide and two sets of deck lugs for the Pennsylvania have been delivered. Considerable delay has been caused in Government deliveries through rejections of slide castings which have been furnished on private contract. It is expected, however, that the deliveries for the Pennsylvania and Arizona will be made in adequate time to prevent delay in construction. 17. Arrangements have been made to cross-connect turret elevating gear on all dreadnoughts, including those now building. This work is already authorized. 18. The 14-inch mounts for battleships 40, 41, and 42 will be built at the Washington Navy Yard in toto, except castings for all three ships and complete slides for one ship. These will be obtained on contract. 19. Director control was first tried on the Delaware, and while the results were considered indeterminate another trial was made at regular target practice in which the score of that ship could be compared with those of the other competing vessels. A careful study of the scores indicates that the idea possesses value, although not to so great an extent as was claimed by some enthusiasts. In consequence, director installations have been authorized for the Michigan, Wyoming, Utah, North Dakota, South Carolina, and New Hampshire, in addition to the Delaware, already installed. It is proposed to extend this authority to the Arkansas, Florida, New York, and Texas. If the experiment on the New Hampshire proves satisfactory, the installation may be placed on all predreadnoughts as soon as funds are available. These installations are additional, and do not affect the individual handling of the guns. 20. The 5-inch mounts for the Oklahoma, Nevada, Bushnell, and Melville have been completed, and those for the Pennsylvania are well under way. The 4-inch mounts for destroyers 51 to 56 are well under way and will be ready for the ships as needed. All spare mounts of all broadside types are being assembled at the various navy yards into reserve batteries which will be complete in all respects and ready to be used on auxiliaries in time of need. In order to reduce the expense of the various fittings for electric gun firing and lighting circuits for all guns and mounts, the bureau adopted a standard type of circuit for all vessels. Complete instructions for standardizing these circuits have been issued. This standardization will materially reduce expenditures, as the fittings will be manufactured in bulk and assembled for issue in stock at the Washington Navy Yard. PROJECTILES. 21. During the past year the specifications used in the purchase of armor-piercing projectiles have been so modified as to make the acceptance conditions more rigid, and it is thought that as a result of this a higher quality of projectiles is obtained. As the result of the encouragement of competition the prices of armor-piercing, common, and target projectiles have been greatly reduced, and the prices of projectiles now being purchased under contracts awarded during the past year are lower than ever before. 22. Preliminary steps have been taken by the bureau toward the acquisition of a foreign system for the manufacture of projectiles, should the efficacy of such a system be demonstrated to the satisfaction of the bureau. 23. The bureau is still more than ever inclined to the opinion that the best possible type of projectiles for the attack of armored vessels is the armor-piercing projectile, carrying sufficient explosive to detonate and fragment the projectile after having passed through armor; and it is thought that the penetrative power of projectiles has been increased to such an extent as to insure a satisfactory percentage of success. 24. Experimental firings have been conducted at the proving ground with projectiles of foreign manufacture and with projectiles of various shapes, in order to ascertain the relative qualities of each. In order to ascertain what progress has been made in the quality of armor-piercing shell there were recently fired at Indianhead armor-piercing shell manufactured in 1903, which at that time were extraordinarily efficient. These shell were fired at the same plate in competition with the highest grade of shell of recent manufacture, and it was found that the shell being produced to-day possess great superiority over those considered the best 11 years ago. Inasmuch as the sole measure of the efficiency of armor is furnished by its test with armor-piercing shell, these experiments are an important witness to a like advance in the quality of the armor now being furnished. SMOKELESS POWDER. 25. There were manufactured at Indianhead during the past fiscal year 3,352,388 pounds of smokeless powder. Of this amount 2,338,448 pounds were new powder and 1,013,940 pounds were old powder reworked on account of loss of stability or unsuitability of granulation. 26. During the same period deliveries were made by private manufacturers as follows: 1,559,358 pounds from the Carney's Point plant, and 605,535 pounds from the Haskell plant of the E. I. du Pont de Nemours Powder Co., and 1,111,737 pounds from the Parlin plant of the International Smokeless Powder & Chemical Co. 27. It will thus be seen that the proving ground is now manufacturing more than one-half of the powder acquired. 28. Due to the increased output at the Indianhead plant, and to the economies instituted in the consumption of fuel and the saving of solvent, besides a lower cost for purchased mixed acid and alcohol, the cost of powder at Indianhead has been considerably reduced. 29. A new system of nitration is being installed which it is hoped will further reduce the cost, and this reduction will be augmented by a lower price for nitrate of soda than has been quoted for several years past. 30. The experiments in regard to increasing the amount of stabilizer in the powder and experiments in regard to high temperature drying have been completed but definite conclusions can not yet be drawn, as it is necessary to keep these powders stored for a long time before they show signs of deterioration. The bureau has also been experimenting with other methods of quick drying. Experiments are also under way in regard to the form of powder grains. 31. Another year has been added to the history of stabilized smokeless powder and it confirms the good record already obtained with this method of improving the keeping qualities. 32. Experimental charges have been tried, in which the grains are regularly piled in the bag, as was done in the case of brown powder. The reduction in volume of the assembled charge amounts to 37 per cent. The advantages presented by such an arrangement are so important as to warrant the bureau in attempting to devise machinery by which charges can be put up in that way. The advantages are greater latitude in the size of the grain; smaller stowage room required in the magazines; stiffer charges more easily handled and loaded; decreased destructive effect on the powder bag; and decreased diameter of the breech plug with consequent decreased length of plug, making it lighter; and finally, slightly decreased length of the gun. E ARMOR. 33. Deliveries of armor have been made during the fiscal year of 1914 as set forth in the subjoined table. 34. Contracts for approximately 8,000 tons of armor required for the Arizona were let during the year, and about 1,300 tons of this armor has been delivered. There still remains to be delivered a small amount of armor for the Oklahoma and Nevada; however, it is expected that all of the armor for these two vessels will be delivered prior to October 1, 1914. 35. New conning towers were purchased for the North Dakota, Minnesota, and Louisiana, and contract was placed for furnishing a new conning tower for the Connecticut. Upon the delivery and installation of all these conning towers all battleships subsequent to the Virginia class will be supplied with conning towers of the most modern design. 36. The question of the cost of armor has been receiving the department's attention, and in the last naval-appropriation act, approved June 30, 1914, provision was made for the appointment of a committee to investigate and report at the next session of Congress upon the cost of erection of an armor plant, and the cost of armor made by this armor plant. 37. Upon awarding contract for the armor of the Arizona the price was lowered $14 per ton in the case of classes A-1 and A-2 armor, $25 per ton in the case of class B armor, and $100 per ton in the case of class C steel armor. All heavy armor is now being made of the K. C. type, and no trouble has been experienced with these plates spalling. 38. A number of experiments have been made with a view to determining the relative value of armor placed at various angles to the line of fire. A number of experimental plates have been fired at with a view to developing a more efficient type of armor. A compound plate was submitted, consisting principally of copper with a layer of steel. The results of the test of this plate showed it to be inferior to the existing type of armor. One company submitted a manganese armor plate, which gave no promise on test. A cast-steel plate was submitted, but was proved to be without value. TORPEDOES. 39. The torpedo situation, both as to design and to the numbers on hand, has improved considerably during the past year. The bureau is having conducted at the torpedo station exhaustive experiments, with a view of obtaining a large increase in range and speed with the present design of torpedoes. From the results of experiments conducted so far this summer the range has been increased to a |