Aberdeen Proving Ground - Yearbook (Aberdeen, MD)

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'Ir 'A' ir Ages before The dawn of hisTory, when primifive man firsT began To leave imprinfs of his exisTence upon The earTh's crusT for fuTure generaTions To uncover and record, some forebear of modern man reached To The earTh and, adapTing The Thumb and fingers of his hand To a new purpose, picked up a rock for use as a weapon To supplemenT his claws, TeeTh, and fisTs. Such was The probable beginning of man's developmenT of maTerial for which lexicographers have selecTed The word Ordnance - :Sri fc Q 5553 3 ooo be ' 0 One may surmise ThaT when This primiTive creaTure discovered The added advanTage supplied by a sTone or club wielded by hand he evenTually learned To increase The effecTiveness of his range of power by hurling his weapon aT his prey or enemy. He found ThaT sharp missiles would wound more effecTively. He fashioned a poinfed sTone for his club and Transformed iT inTo an axe, which evenTually was converTed inTo a spear or lance. To increase The range of This weapon, he fashioned a bow which would give greaTer speed To his arrow. He improved The accuracy of This weapon by giving beTTer balance To his arrow in flighT. As The ceniuries passed and man acquired greaTer skill and broader knowledge, These weapons losT Their crude shape and approached perTecTicin in design. Mechanical conTrivances were devised To give greaT disTance To The arrows, and similar weapons were developed for hurling sTones and missiles. While These weapons for aTTack or offense were being developed, did man remain conTenT wiTh The proTecTion provided by naTure alone? A search Through museums Today will disclose many ex- amples of his ingenuiTy in devising shields and armor for personal proTecTion. The habiTaTs of The cave men show The inaccessibiliTy of The forTress wiThin which he esTablished his home. When The horse became domesTicaTed for his use, did he use him only as a beasT of burden? Again our museums provide numerous examples cf The armor provided for The proTecTion of his mounT in combaT. Even The design of his charioT emphasizes iTs value as a combaT vehicle raTher Than as a cargo carrier. WhaT Tlen has primiTive man, in his crude implemenTs of war- fare, handed down To his descendenTs ThaT may sTill be of value THE Hllllilll lllllllllll in The design of modern ordnance? He recognized The value of increasing The range and accuracy of his weapons, The advanTages of fire power, mobiliTy, camouflage, and arTificial proTecTion, Has modern man added To These basic principles? The firsT imporTanT sTep made in The design of implemenTs of war was The resulT of man's discovery of The use of meTals. These, however, were used To enhance The effecTiveness of The weapons raTher Than To change Their basic principles of design. LeT us review briefly some of The weapons ThaT were used during The cenTuries preceding The discovery of powder as a propellanf. Among The early hand proiecTile Throwers, in The probable sequence of Their developmenT, we can lisT The bow, sling, and blowpipe. The bow, originaTing in The STone Age, derived The power To drive iTs arrow from The sTrengTh of The archer's arms, Nof unTil abouT l,OOO A.D. was This principle maTerially changed wiTh The developmenT of The crossbow, This weapon, wiTh iTs sTock, sear, and Trigger, uTilized The sTrengTh of The muscles in The archer's back or of mechanical winches and Thus greafly increased The power of iTs blow. lTs cumbersomeness, however, reduced The raTe of Tire maTerially, and iT never replaced The quick-firing long- bow even when, five cenTuries laTer, iT was made from heavy spring. sTeel. YeT iT did lead To The developmenT of chain mail and plaTe armor for personal proTecTion. The race beTween sTriking force and armor, even in Those early days, was confinued unTil The knighT could scarcely move when dismounTed. lT is inTeresTing To noTe ThaT, in spiTe of The facT ThaT gunpowder was discovered someTime during The early parT of The ThirTeenTh cenTury and records indicaTe iTs use during The Moorish Wars in Spain in l247, The bow-operaTing hand weapon remained as The principal weapon of The individual soldier for many cenTuries, AT The greaT baTTle of l.epanTo in l57l The 25,000 soldiers in The Turkish fleeT were nearly all archers. Even in our own Revolufion some able leaders believed ThaT archers wiTh rapid-firing bows could compeTe efTecTively againsT The English flinTlocks, As laTe as i8l3, liTTle more Than a cenTury ago, French cavalry aT The baTTle of Leipzig were charged by Thousands of Russian bowmen who had no oTher arms. A modern auThoriTy on archery considers The BriTish longbow of The sixTeenTh cenTury a more effecTive weapon aT ranges under T50 yards Than The sfandard BriTish muskeT prior To l840. Paralleling The developmenT of These hand weapons were me- chanical devices requiring The services of more Than one man for Their operaTion and which hurled heavy missiles. The idea of a more powerful weapon To ouTrange The handbow and keep besieging forces aT a disTance probably arose in The EasT during The eighTh cr ninTh cenTury B.C. There are numerous references in The Bible To leaders who employed engines of war in combaT. The Two Q eijeefffcf-lx. :cle X gy if Z'2jf--5- ff- X X A ...... s N' 0 vimnm me ' ' - 000 ' .1000 me -I IMILE -1 2Mu.:s -I amirzs -.I 4MrL:s -4 5Mn.ss -.1 6Mu.:s -I 7Mn.zs -.4 BQMLES -1 9Mu.Es ..l IOM DIAGRAM ILLUSTRATING RANGES OF BRITI

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-lss EU Sllllllll H l HUTME T The Three piciures illus'rra're conslrucfion of a cor- rugaled sleel hufmenl' wi'rh nealness and dispalch. Huf- menls like 'rhese are used by U. S. lroops in many far- flung ou'rpos'rs and bases of fhe global war in which we are now engaged. Shipped in seclrions rhe hu+men+s are assembled in Jrhe field. Ordnance is called upon 'ro experi- menr, lesl' and pass upon all new innovalions of 'rhis fype before rhey are used by The Jrroops in aclual field condi- 'rions. Whelher if is a new secrel aniiaircrafi' gun or a newfangled po+a+o peeler, if is all grisl +o +he Proving Ground Mill. ,

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llllll Ullll principal Types were The ballisTa and caTapulT. These machines were True arTillery oT Their Time and The Torerunners of modern weapons. BoTh uTilized The elasTiciTy OT TwisTed ropes, hair, hide. and animal sinews Tor The energy of propulsion. The ballisTa was shaped somewhaT in The manner of The crossbow and hurled iTs bolTs, TeaThered iavelins, balls, and sTones wiTh a relaTively TlaT TraiecTory, making iT eTTecTive againsT walls and TorTiTicaTions. IT may be considered as The ancienT equivalenT of our modern Tield gun. IT is repuTed To have hurled sTones weighing more Than 50 pounds a disTance of 400 yards, while The range of TeaThered iavelins someTimes reached 500 yards. The caTapulT, on The oTher hand, was a weapon Tor high-angle Tire and was employed in a manner similar To our modern howiTzers. This weapon employed an arm which, swinging in a verTical plane and suspending a sling Tor iTs proiecTile, hurled The missile high overhead somewhaT in The manner oT The scorpion's sTing, aTTer which iT was someTimes named. This machine proiecTed missiles someTimes weighing more Than 500 pounds, ITs range, varying wiTh The weighT' of iTs proiecTile. is repuTed To have been abouT 400 yards Tor a 58-pound sTone. These proved Their eTTecTiveness in sieges againsT ciTies and TorTresses and were someTimes used To hurl many obnoxious iTems inside The TorT besides proiecTiles inTended To desTroy Their TargeTs. These weapons were heavy and cumbersome and were noT pracTical Tor accompanying TasT-moving Troops. They were some- Times developed by improvisaiion on The baTTleTield or TransporTed by waTer on boaTs, where They were oTTen employed as naval weapons. They were oTTen used in a manner c1uiTe similar To modern combaT pracTice Tor arTillery weapons, even To The exTenT of being employed Tor barrage work in proTecTing advancing lllllll By COLONEL GEORGE W. OUTLAND CommandanT, The Ordnance School, January I, I94I-November I, I942. ThaT increased The range Tor a 58-pound sTone To more Than 800 yards. These developmenTs added immeasurably To The weighT of maTeriel To be TransporTed by an army. IT enabled wealThy ciTies To TorTiTy Themselves sTrongly againsT The invader, who was ham- pered by The immobiliTy of his eTTecTive arTillery. In Alexandria during The Third cenTury B.C. and in Rome during The TirsT cenTury A.D., mechanizaTion was in Tull swing. DeTensive TacTics and social decay appear To be The cause of The decadence in miliTary eTTiciency oT The laTer Roman Empire. While in The EasT The proiecTile-Throwing machines were kepT aT a high qualiTy Tor cenTuries. in The WesT The caTapulT and ballisTa were replaced largely by a new machine known as The TrebucheT. This machine usod The Torce of graviTaTion on a heavy weighT Tor hurling iTs proiecTile insTead oT employing Tension or Torsion members. IT released a proiecTile weighing up To 300 pounds Trom a verTical beam which hurled iT ouT To abouT 300 yards. We Thus Tind ThaT liTTle oT imporTance was added To The design of ordnance equipmenT Tor cenTuries preceding The discovery of gunpowder. The exacT daTe oT iTs TirsT use as a propellenT Tor proic:cTiles in warfare is unknown. Some hisTorians asserT ThaT iT camo ouT oT Asia, oThers ThaT iT was invenTed by a German monk abouT l320. Records, however, indicaTe iTs use in The Moorish Wars in Spain in l247, aT The siege of Seville. The TirsT deTiniTe descripTion oT a gun daTes Trom I3l3, and The earliesT picTure oT one is found in a manuscripT oT abouT I327, by which Time iT appears ThaT The weapon was well esTablished for combaT use. In exTerior appearance The weapon resembled a vase. Iron darTs, wrapped in leaTher To prevenT leakage of powder gases, were used as proiecTiles. In some insTances sTones were used, while in y Troops and Tor hurling incendiary missiles wiThin walled TorTresses. l IT is inTeresTing To noTe ThaT companies of craTTsmen and T arTisans, similar To modern ordnance Troops, accompenied The 1 armed Torces Tor The purpose oT repairing and mainTai..ing ord- l nance equipmenT in The hands oT combaT uniTs. Tley even supplied crude insTrumenTs Tor laying The weapons in elev. lion and direcTion, Thus giving birTh To modern Tire-conTrol equipment T GvreaT sTrides were made in The developmenT oT war machines in The hundred years following The deaTh oT Alexander. STimulaTed ' by The success of such men as DemeTrius PoliorceTes, son of oThers sacks or cans of scrap iron, called langridge, The Tore- runner oT grapeshoT and caseshoT were Tired, The maximum range of These weapons could noT have been more Than 700 or 800 yards. The size and power of guns rapidly increased, buT iT was cen- Turies beTore a serviceable hand gun was developed. They were TirsT used primarily Tor siege work. Following I339, cannon came inTo general use by all armies in Europe. AT The baTTle of Crecy in T346 The English used cannon Tor The TirsT Time in an open Tield. SomeTimes These guns were laid on The ground and wedged l Alexander's eneral AnTigonus, engineers insTead oi soldiers Took u To ive The proper elevaTion. In oTher insTances a crude car- Q P 9 up The sTudy of war machines. One Alexandrian named Dionysius riage was provided by aTTaching The gun To wooden Timbers. Some invenTed a polybolos, which mighT be considered as The TirsT of The cannon developed were enormous in size. GuglielmoTTi machine gun, as iT enabled a succession oT arrows To be Tired quoTes Bishop Leonardo 6iusTiniani in his HisTory of The Papal Trom a magazine. AnoTher engineer Trom The same ciTy, named Navy as having seen a huge gun, repuTedly used by The Turks CTesibius, uTilized compressed air in careTully wroughT cylinders aT The siege oT ConsTanTinople in I453, which needed sevenTy To o eraTe The bow arms ol: caTa ulTs. Wea ons were conTrived s an of oxen To draw iT and whose sTone shoT weighed I350 ounds. P P P P P fl-TR Zigi K X. i . Qi ,ga i gg- V , , .ilifh-.. I? J ,4,,,A,, J J, I . j , M, R., ' T A Im, 'Ilan 'P 10000 Il 000 Z1 000 23.000 551.000 15 000 26 000 27 OOO 25 009 29 000 30 000 JI OOO 31 U30 JJ 000 JI 000 JS 000 O O O 4 IIMTLIS .4 12 Mirgg ...T 13MiLg5 .4 lAM1LE5 ...T 15.MiLES . I6'M1z.ES ' -I I7gMlLES -T I8 MILES --I I9 Mx1.ES -T 20 MILES O TECES OF ORDNANCE USED IN WORLD WAR I