The Birth of a Big Gun (1909)
01 Jun 1909 • Documentary, Short • 0h 8m
Millions of dollars yearly are spent by the governments of the world in the manufacture of deadly weapons. This series of views, taken by the courtesy of Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth & Co., Ltd., Newcastle-on-Tyne, shows the manufacture of the big guns used on warships and for coast defense, from the time the pig iron is delivered at the foundry until the finished product is tested. These are intimate views, taken at close range. The first view shows the workmen "charging" a furnace with running metal. Then the casting of steel ingots is shown. The following picture shows an ingot weighing eighty-four pounds. Then the making of a twenty-ton iron casting. A gun barrel under hydraulic power is then seen. Following this, a gun barrel is seen in the process of being "shaved" by monster hydraulic planes. The barrel of the gun is then turned and a picture is given of a shaving one-half inch thick. A view of the gun barrel coming out of a furnace red-hot, to be tempered: the barrel, being dipped into the oil well for tempering, and a picture of the crew boring a "jacket" for a twelve-inch gun is shown. How wire is used in winding the covering of the big guns is explained by the following picture. The gun in the picture is of 50 caliber. A number of giant cranes are then seen, "shrinking" the jacket of the gun. Then an immense auger is shown "rifling" the big war weapon. The breach end of the gun is seen in operation. From this point a general view of the shops is given, from which each department is seen. A completed breach is shown, together with a near view of its mechanism. The final views of the series show the testing of the finished product, a twelve-Inch gun, on proved ground.
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None, English
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Country:
United Kingdom
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