U.S. Naval Gun Factory, Washington, D.C., 1940s

Just as the ordnance of the United States Navy comes, for our surface ships, our submarines and aircraft, where were many of the prototype models for these weapons designed and developed? Spread over 125 acres along the Anacostia River at Washington, D.C., is the U.S. Naval Gun Factory, a huge industrial plant of nearly 200 buildings, block after block of great factories and shops, a forge, warehouses, and foundries, overhead runways, numerous supply yards, piers, roads, and rail lines, as well as development and testing laboratories. In short, the U.S. Naval Gun Factory, the largest naval armament plant in the world. Work orders come to the Naval Gun Factory from the Bureau of Ordnance, as well as from many other sources, for there is a great diversification in the types of work performed here. From the founding of the factory in 1799, to build a navy for the new republic, to the time it was used as an arsenal, then as a school for midshipmen, later as a naval base. And today, manufacturing prototype weapons, as well as operating a production pilot line to develop mass production methods for utilization by industries. Before a new work order enters the production channels of the gun factory, it first undergoes a series of detailed studies by the various staff departments. Planning, engineering, production, inspection. After this long and careful preparation, the work order is ready to be transformed from the stage of paperwork into a reality. From the many supply yards within the Naval Gun Factory, raw materials begin to move to the various processing shops. Plate of all sizes for weldments, bar stock for thousands of machined parts, ferrous and non-ferrous metals for hundreds of castings, and lumber for as many patterns. Into the pattern and joiner shop, as separate work orders, come the multitude of blueprints or patterns to be made into castings. Soon, after a series of operations, the pattern for the gun slide will begin to assume its rough shape. And at length from the blueprint, the finished pattern, ready for the molding flask in the steel foundry. With the pattern in place, the flask is filled with a silica sand and tamped down, then prepared for the pouring operation. To facilitate quick setting, it is then sprayed with a silica mold wash. The Naval Gun Factory's own power plant can generate sufficient electricity to produce 100 tons of steel every 24 hours in these electric furnaces. Here, a huge ingot is poured after cooling, it will be moved to the forge. Meanwhile, within the brass foundry, one of the four foundry buildings in the Naval Gun Factory, castings are made of non-ferrous metals. In the hydroblast room, after the molds are cooled, the sand is removed. Later, the castings will be treated in an annealing furnace. After being sandblasted to remove scale and inspected for imperfections, the slide, elevating gear and other castings for this project are ready to move on to light and heavy machine shops. Another basic metal processing shop in the gun factory is the forge. Here, metal in the form of red-hot plastic is pounded or pressed into shape. On this 2,000 ton hydraulic press, this ingot will be shaped into billets. Many forgings from small, intricate parts to forms of various shapes and sizes are all part of a day's work in the forge shop. Nearby, the age-old blacksmith anvil is still in use, shaping small, non-standard parts. Meanwhile in the heat treatment room of the forge, steel parts, after being machined, are treated to the required properties. In the boiler maker shop, the raw steel for a base ring will be processed into the semi-finished part, ready for machining and assembly. Here, turrets, carriages, base rings and shields, in fact anything that can move through the 30-foot doors, can be cut, shaped and welded from plate ranging from one quarter of an inch to 16 inches of stainless steel. Various sizes of weldments are made in the boiler maker shop, from a small drill jig to an 86-ton mount. Here, from a small template, the pantograph cuts out designs in steel plate. From layout to final welding, a series of complex operations takes place, depending on the combination of human skills plus intricate machinery. And so, from the various metal processing shops within the naval gun factory, castings, forgings and weldments move to the heavy machine shops and to light machine shops. In the heavy machine shops, huge weldments as well as castings and forgings are rough and finished machined. Some parts, such as this training rack or roller path, are ready for assembly after one or two machining processes, while others demand a dozen operations on as many types of machines. Though a primary function of the naval gun factory is the development of prototypes of new and improved weapons, it is also at times a mass producer of standard weapons. Here, engineering know-how within the naval gun factory has developed an adaptation to an existing machine that speeds up quantity production while maintaining precision quality. Meanwhile in one of the various light machine shops of the naval gun factory, hundreds of machines of different types rough cut and finish small castings and forgings are produced parts directly from bar stock. With an almost constant demand for ordnance parts unique to certain weapons, many of the hobs, tables and cutters for these machines have been designed within the factory. A profiling device was fitted to this blade to guide the cutter in its off-center course. In the tool shop, the standard of accuracy within the naval gun factory is set. Here, all shop accessories are made for each shop within the gun factory. Cutting, forming and shaping tools, as well as fixtures, dies, jigs, broaches, punches and gauges. Another important function of the gun factory is its close cooperation with private contractors engaged in the manufacture of naval and other types of ordnance from prototypes developed here. For them, the tool shop prepares complete production packages, tools, dies, jigs and gauges. Thus, in both the manufacture and inspection of various ordnance parts throughout the country, standardization is made possible. The inspection room of the tool shop has been called the accuracy control center of the gun factory. Here, tolerances are checked for tools ranging up to plus or minus five ten-thousandths of an inch. And here, for gauges up to plus or minus two ten-thousandths of an inch. But the gun factory has worked with a tolerance as close as twenty-one million of an inch. In short, the most exacting type of precision work, the measurement to which all operations within the naval gun factory are geared. One of the more spectacular areas of the naval gun factory is the heavy gun shop, where every type major naval gun since World War I has been built. From a forging, the barrel for our weapon undergoes a series of machining processes. Throughout these stages, various tests are performed to check tolerances and runouts, as well as flaws in the metal. These shrinkage pits in the gun shop are one hundred feet deep, capable of shrinking liners for naval guns ranging from one pound to eighteen inches forty-seven caliber, by heat generated from these electric furnaces. Elsewhere in the gun factory, other components for our project are being processed. In the coppersmith shop, an oil line system. In the cartridge case shop, shell cases. In the electrical shop, a machine braids wire for the electrical systems. While in the optical shop, the sight for our weapon is about to assume its shape from raw stock. Here, lenses and prisms are made for hundreds of naval instruments. In fact, anything shaped from optical glass. Master cracksmen select and rough grind lenses and prisms on diamond impregnated wheels. They are then polished to rigid specifications often calling for accuracies measured in millionths of an inch. Elsewhere, they are coated with a low reflection film by a special process developed within the gun factory. The finished parts are then assembled, ready for final inspection. Into one of the huge assembly shops of the gun factory come the multitude of finished parts and partial assemblies for our project. Then the stage of final assembly. With the weapon assembled, a series of tests is made simulating field conditions. The recoil for its effect on the breech mechanism. The elevation and training gear assemblies. The sights and accuracy of completed mounts. Our weapon is now ready to be shipped to the Dahlgren Proving Ground, where it will undergo a rigid test under rigorous conditions. After its field trial, a gun is often completely disassembled to test the effect of heat and strain on its component parts. For in addition to production, a major function of the naval gun factory is its engineering development and materials testing. Truly, the search for improved weapons and materials is never-ending, either in determining the strength of a steel spring or the breaking point of a cast iron housing. Here, the incessant vibration of a long-range aircraft is simulated in order to test its effect on ordnance. In the all-weather testing room, partial assemblies or even working models of various types of naval ordnance can be test operated under all atmospheric conditions at temperatures as low as minus 65 degrees Fahrenheit. The naval gun factory, able to operate in support of the fleet on a peacetime basis or in time of war, able to convert its tremendous potential on short notice to emergency programs. But the strength of this installation is reflected not so much in these acres of shops and facilities as in its workforce. Those who work at hundreds of designing boards and thousands of machines. Men and women representing a great variety of skills. Under the control of the Bureau of Ordnance, the naval gun factory is administered by the superintendent, a naval officer of flag rank, and a small corps of naval officers. And the technical skills and ingenuity of its civilian personnel lies the gun factory's greatest resource. Its master craftsmen, its master mechanics and supervisors, its scientists and engineers, specialists in a multitude of fields, many of whom have received national recognition for their abilities, as well as the great rank and file of the gun factory's veteran employees. Our weapon is now ready to leave the assembly shop for its ultimate destination, one of our ships. Ordnance of all types, rockets, missiles, fire control, guns, and mounts are shipped from the naval gun factory to our naval forces. Ordnance from the naval gun factory to keep the fleet strong and so to secure the peace.