Cordite

{{short description|Smokeless propellant}} {{distinguish|text=Cordaites, the extinct tree}} {{distinguish|text=Cordtex, a detonating cord}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} thumb|A stick of cordite from World War II thumb|A sectioned British 18-pounder field gun shrapnel round, World War I, with bound string to simulate the appearance of the original cordite propellant [[File:Cordite Filled Cartridge.JPG|thumb|Close-up of cordite filaments in a .303 British rifle cartridge (manufactured in 1964)]] [[File:Burning Cordite.webm|thumb|Burning a strand of cordite from a .303 British round]]

'''Cordite''' is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in Britain since 1889 to replace black powder as a military firearm propellant. Cordite is made by combining two chemical high explosives: nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine in certain ways, and is therefore a chemical high explosive moderated with another chemical high explosive.{{refn|group=nb|See later}} They are designed, in normal use, to produce a subsonic deflagration wave rather than the supersonic detonation wave produced by brisants, or high explosives. The hot gases produced by burning gunpowder or cordite generate sufficient pressure to propel a bullet or shell to its target, but not so quickly as to routinely destroy the barrel of the gun.

Cordite was used initially in the .303 British, Mark I and II, standard rifle cartridge between 1891 and 1915.{{Not_verified_in_body|date=November 2023}} Shortages of cordite in World War I led to the creation of the HM Factory, Gretna on the English–Scottish border, which produced around 800 tons of cordite per week. The UK also imported some United States–developed smokeless powders for use in rifle cartridges. Cordite was also used for large weapons, such as tank guns, artillery, and naval guns. It has been used mainly for this purpose since the late 19th century by the UK and British Commonwealth countries. Its use was further developed before World War II, and as {{convert|2|and|3|in|mm|adj=mid|-diameter}} Unrotated Projectiles for launching anti-aircraft weapons.<ref name="brown-chapter17">{{harvnb|Brown|1999|loc=Chapter 17}}</ref> Small cordite rocket charges were also developed for ejector seats made by the Martin-Baker Company. Cordite was also used in the detonation system of the Little Boy atomic bomb dropped over Hiroshima in August 1945.<ref>Coster-Mullen, John (2012). ''Atom Bombs: The Top Secret Inside Story of Little Boy and Fat Man''. Waukesha, WI: J. Coster-Mullen. OCLC 298514167.</ref>

During World War II, double-base propellants were very widely used, and there was some use of triple-base propellants by artillery. Triple-base propellants were used in post-war ammunition designs and remain in production for UK weapons; most double-base propellants left service as World War II stocks were expended after the war. For small arms it has been replaced by other propellants, such as the Improved Military Rifle (IMR) line of extruded powder or the WC844 ball propellant currently in use in the 5.56×45mm NATO.<ref name="The Great Propellant Controversy">{{citation |last=Watters |first=Daniel |title=The Great Propellant Controversy |url=http://www.thegunzone.com/556prop.html |url-status=dead |work=The Gun Zone |access-date=30 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722235300/http://www.thegunzone.com/556prop.html |archive-date=22 July 2013}}</ref> Production ceased in the United Kingdom around the end of the 20th century, with the closure of the last of the World War II cordite factories, ROF Bishopton. Triple-base propellant for UK service (for example, the 105&nbsp;mm L118 Light Gun) is now manufactured in Germany.

== Adoption of smokeless powders by the British government ==

===Gunpowder (black powder)=== Gunpowder, a combustable mixture of sulfur, charcoal and potassium nitrate (also known as saltpetre), was the original propellant employed in firearms and fireworks. It was used from about the 10th or 11th century onward, but it had disadvantages, including the large amount of smoke it produced. With the 19th-century development of various "nitro explosives", based on the reaction of nitric acid mixtures on materials such as cellulose and glycerin, a search began for a replacement for gunpowder.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Spencer C. |author-link=Spencer C. Tucker |title=Almanac of American Military History |date=2013 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, CA |isbn=9781598845303 |page=1170}}</ref>

=== Early European smokeless powders === The first smokeless powder was developed in 1865 by Johann Edward Schultze. At the time of this breakthrough, Schultze was a captain of Prussian artillery. Schultze eventually rose to the rank of colonel. His formulation (dubbed ''Schultze Powder'') was composed of nitrolignose derived from nitrated wood grains, impregnated with saltpetre or barium nitrate.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Schultz White Gunpowder |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-schultz-white-gunpowder/ |access-date=17 April 2022 |website=Scientific American|date=22 May 1869}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Schultze powder – Big Chemical Encyclopedia |url=https://chempedia.info/info/schultze_powder/ |access-date=17 April 2022 |website=chempedia.info}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=No text – Big Chemical Encyclopedia |url=https://chempedia.info/page/211093075100072185201130029045085251003094141219/ |access-date=17 April 2022 |website=chempedia.info}}</ref>

In 1882, the Explosive Company of Stowmarket introduced ''EC Powder'', which contained nitro-cotton and nitrates of potassium and barium in a grain gelatinised by ether alcohol. It had coarser grains than other nitrocellulose powders. It proved unsuitable for rifles, but it remained in long use for shotguns;<ref name="artillery">Hogg OFG, 'Artillery: Its Origin, Heyday and Decline', Hurst & Company, London, 1989</ref> and was later used for grenades and fragmentation bombs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Æ Aeragon Redirect |url=https://www.aeragon.com/o/me/ni.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126001449/https://www.aeragon.com/military-technology-transfer/1865-1914/nitrocellulose-smokeless-powder.html#ecpowder |archive-date=November 26, 2022 |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=www.aeragon.com}}</ref>

In 1884, the French chemist Paul Vieille produced a smokeless propellant that had some success. It was made out of collodion (nitrocellulose dissolved in ethanol and ether), resulting in a plastic colloidal substance which was rolled into very thin sheets, then dried and cut up into small flakes. It was immediately adopted by the French military for their Mle 1886 infantry rifle and called ''Poudre B'' (for ''poudre blanche'', or ''white powder'') to distinguish it from ''black powder'' (gunpowder).{{sfn |Davis|1943|pp=292-297}} The rifle and the cartridge developed to use this powder were known generically as the 8mm Lebel, after the officer who developed its 8&nbsp;mm full metal jacket bullet.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bergman |first=Yoel |title=Paul Vieille, Cordite & Ballistite |date=2009 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23787093 |journal=Icon |volume=15 |pages=40–60 |jstor=23787093 |issn=1361-8113}}</ref>

Based on his earlier success in developing blasting gelatin, Alfred Nobel began work in 1887/8 on trying to find an nitrated material that could be safely used as propellant to replace black powder (gunpowder) and he later patented a smokeless propellant he called ''Ballistite''.{{sfn |Davis|1943|pp=292-297}}<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bergman |first=Yoel |date=2017-10-20 |title=Fair Chance and not a Blunt Refusal: New Understandings on Nobel, France, and Ballistite in 1889 |journal=Vulcan |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=29–41 |doi=10.1163/22134603-00501003 |issn=2213-4603|doi-access=free }}</ref> It was composed of 10% camphor, 45% nitroglycerine and 45% collodion (nitrocellulose). Over time the camphor tended to evaporate, leaving an unstable explosive.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bergman |first=Yoel |date=2011 |title=Alfred Nobel, Aniline and Diphenylamine |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23789960 |journal=Icon |volume=17 |pages=57–67 |jstor=23789960 |issn=1361-8113}}</ref>

Nobel was also to purchase of rights of a Swedish patent obtained in May 1867, by two Swedes: Ohlsson and Norbinn, for an explosive consisting of ammonium nitrate, sawdust, powdered charcoal and a nitrated substance - Picric acid and nitroglycerine were specifically given as examples in Ohlsson and Norbinn's patent.<ref name="life of nobel-7">{{Harvb|Schuck|Sohlman|1929|loc=Chapter VII: ''Blasting Gelatine, Ballastite and Progressive Smokeless Powder''}}</ref> Nobel's two Ballistite patent claims refer to the use of Celluloid, camphor, soluble nitrocellulose and the method of converting this into finished propellant. At the end of during the court case the judge concluded that Nobel was specifically distinguishing between the use of soluble and insoluble nitrocellulose; and gave detailed reasons for his decision.<ref name="life of nobel-I">{{harvb|Schuck|Sohlman|1929|loc=Appendix I: ''Mr Justice Romer's Judgement in the "Cordite Case"''}}</ref>

== Development of Cordites== thumb|upright|Sir James Dewar at work A United Kingdom government committee, known as the "Explosives Committee", chaired by Sir Frederick Abel, monitored foreign developments in explosives and obtained samples of Poudre B and Ballistite; neither of these smokeless powders was recommended for adoption by the Explosives Committee.{{sfn|Davis|1943|pp=292-297}}

Abel, Sir James Dewar and W Kellner, who was also on the committee, developed and jointly patented (Nos 5,614 and 11,664 in the names of Abel and Dewar) in 1889 a new ballistite-like propellant in 1889. It consists of (by weight) 58% nitroglycerin, 37% guncotton (nitrocellulose) and 5% petroleum jelly. Using acetone as a solvent, it was extruded as spaghetti-like rods initially called "cord powder" or "the Committee's modification of Ballistite", but this was swiftly abbreviated to "Cordite".{{sfn |Davis|1943|pp=292-297}}

Cordite began as a ''double-base'' propellant.{{refn|group=nb|It contains two explosives: nitroglycerine and nitrocellulose.}} In the 1930s, ''triple-base'' propellant was developed by including a substantial proportion of nitroguanidine.{{refn|group=nb|It contains two high explosives: nitroglycerine and nitrocellulose; and a muzzle flash reducer: nitroguanidine.}} Triple-base propellant reduced the disadvantages of the double-base propellant – its relatively high temperature of combustion and significant muzzle flash.

Imperial Chemical Industries's (ICI) World War II double-base propellant ''AN'' formulation also had a much lower temperature than Cordite Mk 1, but it lacked the flash reduction properties of N and NQ triple-base propellants.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

=== Nobel and Abel patent dispute === Schuck and Solhman in their 1926 [1929] biography of Alfred Nobel specifically state that he made Paris his headquarters in 1873; and he set up an experimental laboratory there, with a young chemist as an assistant. Nobel had developed and patented a Diatomaceous earth-based Dynamite in 1875: English Patent No. 4175: ″Improved explosive (blasting gelatine or gelatine dynamite)″; and in this 1875 patent claim he specifically gives an example of using '''guncotton''' as a substance that may be used for this purpose. Dynamite had certain disadvantages: it had produced less explosive power than nitroglycerine alone, as the diatomaceous earth had a cooling effect; and as the nitroglycerine soaked into the diatomaceous earth, the dynamite ″aged″ and further reduced the explosive power compared with freshly prepared dynamite. Nobel appears to have been looking for an energetic replacement for the diatomaceous earth.<ref name="life of nobel-7"/><ref name="life of nobel-X"/> Nobel was to later supply Ballistite as a military propellant to another county and in 1890 France accused him of spying on their nearby military laboratory, so he had to close his laboratory and move it to Sanremo.<ref name="life of nobel-7"/>

Noble's Explosives Company, of Glasgow, who held Alfred Nobel's English patent for Ballistite, regarded Abel's and Dewer's cordite patent to be an infringement of their patent; and they protested, but this could not be resolved. Overall between 1893 and 1985, this disagreement went first to the British courts, as a so-called 'friendly suit′. After losing the case, it went to the Court of Appeal and eventually reached the House of Lords, in 1895.<ref name="life of nobel-7"/>

The law suit against Abel and Dewar was an alleged patent infringement of Nobel's English 1888 patent: No. 1470, 31 January 1888: ″Improvements in the manufacture of explosives″. The patent claim stated: the production of a gelatinous mixture of nitrocellulose and nitroglycerine; the nitrocellulose should be "of the well-known soluble kind"; the ratios should be between 1 to 2 and 2 to 1; a suitable solvent could be used, and then removed; the mixture was to blended by rolling it through warm rollers; a thin sheet was to be produced and this was to be cut with a knife or scissors to the required shape. On 13 March 1889 Nobel took out another English Patent No. 4449: ″Improved Manufacture of Explosives″ (Supplementary Patent to No. 1470,1888): which specified the addition of Acetic ether of Glycerine, or other non-volatile solvents used in the manufacture, but the scope was limited to explosives used for blasting in mines.<ref name="life of nobel-7"/><ref name="life of nobel-X">{{Harvb|Schuck|Sohlman|1929|loc=Appendix XI: ''Nobel's English Patents''}}</ref>

The legal suit was finally lost and a detailed judgement was given.{{refn|group=nb|See <ref name="life of nobel-I"/> which devotes nine pages to the Judgement of this case.}} It was because the patent claim used the words "of the well-known soluble kind"; and the meaning of this had to be tested in Law. It was taken to refer to the use of soluble collodion; and hence it specifically excluded the insoluble guncotton, which had a higher degree of nitration than the soluble kind.<ref name="life of nobel-7"/> The phrase "soluble nitro-cellulose" was known as ''Collodion'' and was soluble in a mixture of alcohol and ether. It was employed mainly for medical and photographic use. In contrast, the insoluble in an alcohol ether mixture, nitrocellulose was known as ''gun cotton'' and was used as an explosive.<ref name="life of nobel-7"/><ref name="life of nobel-I"/>

At the time of the case, there were two types of nitrocellulose, one known as soluble nitrocellulose and one as insoluble cellulose. Nobel's patent claim specifically refers to the production of a explosive using Celluloid, camphor and soluble nitrocellulose; and this was taken to imply that Nobel was specifically distinguishing between the use of soluble and insoluble nitrocellulose.<ref name="life of nobel-I"/>

Alfred Nobel was a prolific generator of English patents: according to Schuck and Solhman, his 1888 Ballistite patent would have been his forty eighth successful English Patent.<ref name="life of nobel-X"/> Schuck and Solhman also state that Nobel's discovery of how to make Ballistite has been wrongly described in the literature as just a lucky discovery: he had accidentally mixed nitroglycerine with a collodion solution and obtained a geletanous mass. Nobel discounts this story: he had already considered using a mixture of guncotton and nitrocellulose, and had mentioned this combination as a claim in his English 1875 Dynamite patent; but he found the absorption capacity of ordinary nitrocellulose was inadequate and he failed to make a solution out of guncotton and nitroglycerine.<ref name="life of nobel-7"/> He woke up very early from the pain of a cut finger which he had covered with collodion and this encouraged him to try that. At four o'clock in the morning he had successfully made a solution of, the lower-nitrated, collodion in nitroglycerine and showed it to his assistant.<ref name="life of nobel-7"/>

Yoel Bergman has argued that Abel and Dewar's Cordite development was driven by the inadequacy of Ballistite&mdash;which had been improved only because of British testing&mdash;and the need for an indigenous UK smokeless propellant. He concluded "Nobel's claim of patent infringement [was] at best questionable".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bergman |first1=Yoel |title=The Technological Need: Abel & Dewar's Primary Motive for Inventing Cordite in 1889 |journal=British Journal for Military History |date=November 2022 |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=202–219 |doi=10.25602/GOLD.bjmh.v8i3.1651}}</ref>

However, in her 2019 biography of Alfred Nobel Ingrid Carlberg notes how closely Abel and Dewar were allowed to follow Nobel's work in Paris, and how disappointed Nobel was with how this trust was betrayed.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Carlberg |first1=Ingrid |title=Nobel: Den gåtfulle Alfred, hans värld och hans pris |year=2019 |publisher=Norstedts |place=Stockholm |language=sv|isbn=978-91-1-306939-5 |pages=426-428, 447, 459-460, 483-484, 493-494}}</ref> Carlberg argues for Nobel as the original inventor and that the case was lost because of an unimportant technicality.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Carlberg |first1=Ingrid |title=Nobel: Den gåtfulle Alfred, hans värld och hans pris |year=2019 |publisher=Norstedts |place=Stockholm |language=sv|isbn=978-91-1-306939-5 |pages=426-428, 447, 459-460, 483-484, 493-494}}</ref>

Whilst cordite is classified as an military explosive, which introduces legal controls on its production, storage and transportation, it is not employed as a high explosive. It was specifically designed as a propellant to deflagrate, or burn, to produce high pressure gases.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

== Formulations == It was quickly discovered that the rate of burning could be varied by altering the surface area of the cordite. Narrow rods were used in small-arms and were relatively fast burning, while thicker rods would burn more slowly and were used for longer barrels, such as those used in artillery and naval guns.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

=== Cordite (Mk I) and Cordite MD === The original Abel-Dewar formulation, of 58% nitroglycerin, 37% guncotton (nitrocellulose) and 5% petroleum jelly, was soon superseded, as it caused excessive gun barrel erosion. To avoid confusion with newer formulations it was renamed as: ''Cordite Mk I''.<ref name="ministry of munition-1919">Ministry of Munitions of War (1919)</ref>

Shortly after the end of the Second Boer War, the composition of cordite was changed to 65% guncotton, 30% nitroglycerin (keeping 5% petroleum jelly), with acetone as a solvent. This was known as ''Cordite MD'' (modified) and it produced a cooler burning propellant.<ref name="ministry of munition-1919"/><ref>Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "cordite". Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Apr. 2017, https://www.britannica.com/technology/cordite {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229154751/https://www.britannica.com/technology/cordite |date=29 December 2021 }}. Accessed 29 December 2021.</ref> Cordite MD cartridges typically weighed approximately 15% more than the equivalent Cordite Mk I cartridges they replaced, as to achieve the same muzzle velocity more propellant needed to be loaded into the guns, due to the inherently less powerful nature of Cordite MD.{{refn|group=nb|Example: BL 6-inch Mk VII gun : 20 lb; cordite Mk I, 23 lb cordite MD. Table 8 in Treatise on Ammunition 1915.}}

=== Cordite RDB === {{see also|Shell Crisis of 1915}}

During World War I, acetone was in short supply in Great Britain, and a new experimental form of cordite was developed in the Research Department, at the Royal Arsenal, specifically at the request of the Admiralty. To arm the large naval guns fitted to the Royal Navy's warships, the navy needed access to the more stable Cordite MD; and in January 1915 the Admiralty pressed the War Office to accept alternatives to Cordite MD propellant, so as direct more Cordite MD to the Royal Navy.<ref name="ministry of munition-1919"/><ref name=cocroft-2006>{{Harvnb|Cocroft|2006|loc=Chapter 3}}</ref>

This was accepted as a War Emergency Measure in May 1915. For large guns, this was to be ''Cordite RDB'' (= ''R''esearch ''D''epartment formula ''B''); which was 52% collodion, 42% nitroglycerin and 6% petroleum jelly. By using collodion instead of guncotton, alcohol and ether, which was available in Great Britain, could be used to gelatinate the propellant into a paste ready for extrusion into rods, rods or tubes.<ref name=cocroft-2006/>

Cordite RDB was produced both at HM Factory, Gretna, which was the largest cordite factory in Great Britain;<ref name="ministry of munition-1919"/> and the Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath.<ref>{{cite web |title=Monument record MDO8224 - Royal Naval Cordite Factory Holton Heath, Wareham St Martin |url=https://heritage.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/Monument/MDO8224 |publisher=Dorset Heritage Explorer}}</ref>

Acetone for the cordite industry during late World War I was eventually produced through the efforts of Dr. Chaim Weizmann, considered to be the father of industrial fermentation. While a lecturer at Manchester University Weizmann discovered how to use bacterial fermentation to produce large quantities of many desired substances. He used the bacterium ''Clostridium acetobutylicum'' (the so-called Weizmann organism) to produce acetone. Weizmann transferred the rights to the manufacture of acetone to the Commercial Solvents Corporation in exchange for royalties. After the Shell Crisis of 1915 during World War I, he was director of the British Admiralty Laboratories from 1916 until 1919.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Cordite RDB was later found to become unstable if stored too long.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

=== Cordite SC === Research on solvent-free Cordite RDB, technologically extremely similar to ballistite, continued primarily on the addition of stabilizers, which was based on German RP C/12 propellant featuring significant amounts of centralite (Called "carbamite" in British parlance) and led to the type commonly used in World War II as the main naval propellant. In Great Britain this was known as ''Cordite SC'' (= Solventless Cordite), and it required production facilities separate from classical cordite.

Cordite SC was produced in different shapes and sizes, so the particular geometry of Cordite SC was indicated by the use of letters or numbers, or both, after the SC. For example, SC followed by a number was rod-shaped cord, with the number representing the diameter in thousandths of an inch. "SC T" followed by two sets of numbers indicated tubular propellant, with the numbers representing the two diameters in thousandths.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Two-inch (approximately 50.8&nbsp;mm) and three-inch (approximately 76.2&nbsp;mm) diameter, rocket Cordite SC charges were developed in great secrecy before World War II for anti-aircraft purposes—the so-called ''Z batteries'', using 'Unrotated Projectiles'.<ref name=brown-chapter17/>

Great Britain changed to metric units in the 1960s, so there was a discontinuity in the propellant geometry numbering system.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

=== Cordite N === An important development during World War II was the addition of another explosive, nitroguanidine, to the mixture to form ''triple-base'' propellant or ''Cordite N'' and ''NQ''. The formulations were slightly different for artillery and naval use. This solved two problems associated with the large naval guns fitted to British Navy's capital ships: gun flash and muzzle erosion. Nitroguanidine produces large amounts of nitrogen when heated, which had the benefit of reducing the muzzle flash, and its lower burning temperature greatly reduced the erosion of the gun barrel.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

N and NQ were also issued in limited amounts to ammunitions used by the British 25-pdr and 5.5-inch land-based artillery pieces.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

After World War II large scale production of double-base propellants generally ended. Triple-base propellants, N and NQ, were the only ones used in new ammunition designs, such as the cartridges for 105&nbsp;mm Field and for 155&nbsp;mm FH70.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==Charge design== {{Main|Internal ballistics}}

== Manufacture ==

=== UK Government factories === thumb|Cordite production during World War II at a Royal Naval armaments factory at Holton Heath. The long strings of cordite are being combed to eliminate short lengths. In Great Britain, cordite was developed for military use at the Royal Arsenal by Abel, Dewar and Kellner, Woolwich,<ref name=zukas>Zukas (2002)</ref> and produced at the Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills from 1889 onwards.<ref name = hogg>Hogg (1970)</ref>

At the start of World War I, cordite was in production at Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills and by seven other suppliers (British Explosives Syndicate Ltd, Chilworth Gunpowder Company Ltd, Cotton Powder Company Ltd, Messrs Curtis's and Harvey Ltd, National Explosives Company Ltd, New Explosives Company Ltd and Nobels Explosive Company Ltd).<ref name="ministry of munitions-1922">Ministry of Munitions (1922)</ref> Existing factories were expanded and new ones built, notably by Nobel's at Ardeer, the HM Factory, Gretna, which straddled the Scotland-England border at Gretna, and the Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath. A factory was also established by the Indian Government at Nilgris. Both the Gretna and the Holton Heath cordite factories closed at the end of World War I.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

By the start of World War II, Holton Heath had reopened, and an additional factory for the Royal Navy, The Royal Navy Propellant Factory, Caerwent, opened at Caerwent in Wales. A very large Royal Ordnance Factory, ROF Bishopton, was opened in Scotland to manufacture cordite for the British Army and the Royal Air Force. A new cordite factory at Waltham Abbey and two additional ROF's—ROF Ranskill and ROF Wrexham—were also opened. Cordite produced in these factories was sent to filling factories for filling into ammunition.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

=== MoS Agency Factories and ICI Nobel in World War II === The British Government set up additional cordite factories, not under Royal Ordnance Factory control but as Agency Factories run on behalf of the Ministry of Supply (MoS). The company of ICI Nobel, at Ardeer, was asked in 1939 to construct and operate six factories in southern Scotland. Four of these six were involved in cordite or firearm-propellant manufacture. The works at MoS Drungans (Dumfries) produced guncotton that was converted to cordite at MoS Dalbeattie (triple-base cordite) and at MoS Powfoot (monobase granulated guncotton for small-arms). A smaller site at Girvan, South Ayrshire, now occupied by Grant's distillery, produced cordite and TNT.<ref name=cocroft-gaz>{{Harvnb|Cocroft|2000|loc=Gazetteer}}</ref> The ICI Ardeer site also had a mothballed World War I Government-owned cordite factory.<ref name="reader-2-14">{{Harvnb|Reader|1975| loc=Chapter 14: "Warlike Supply"}}</ref>

35% of British cordite produced between 1942 and 1945 came from Ardeer and these agency factories.<ref name="reader-2-15">{{Harvnb|Reader|1975| loc=Chapter 15: "War Production"}}</ref> ICI ran a similar works at Deer Park (which was also confusingly known as Ardeer after the adjacent suburb) near Melbourne in Australia and in South Africa.<ref name="reader-2-15"/>

=== Overseas supplies === Additional sources of propellant were also sought from the British Commonwealth in both World War I and World War II. Canada, South Africa, and Australia had ICI-owned factories that, in particular, supplied large quantities of cordite.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==== World War I ==== thumb|right|Bird's-eye view of a portion of Canadian Explosives Ltd., Nobel, Ontario Canadian Explosives Limited was formed in 1910 to produce rifle cordite, at its Beloeil factory, for the Quebec Arsenal. By November 1915 production had been expanded to produce 350,000&nbsp;lb (159,000&nbsp;kg) of cordite per month for the Imperial Munitions Board.<ref name="carnegie">Carnegie (1925).</ref>

The Imperial Munitions Board set up a number of additional explosives factories in Canada. It built ''The British Cordite Ltd'' factory at Nobel, Ontario, in 1916/1917, to produce cordite. Production started in mid-1917.<ref name = carnegie/>

Canadian Explosives Limited built an additional cordite factory at Nobel, Ontario. Work started in February 1918 and was finished on 24 August 1918. It was designed to produce 1,500,000&nbsp;lb (681,000&nbsp;kg) of cordite per month.<ref name = carnegie/>

Factories, specifically "heavy industry" (Long, and Marland 2009) were important for the provision of munitions. Cordite factories typically employed women (Cook 2006) who put their lives at risk as they packed the shells.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

== Production quantities == Large quantities of cordite were manufactured in both World Wars for use by the military.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neushul |first=Peter |date=1989 |title=Seaweed for War: California's World War I Kelp Industry |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3105951 |journal=Technology and Culture |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=561–583 |doi=10.2307/3105951 |jstor=3105951 |s2cid=111835074 |issn=0040-165X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Pre-World War I=== Prior to World War I, most of the cordite used by the British Government was produced in its own factories. Immediately prior to World War I, between 6,000 and 8,000 tons per year of cordite were produced in the United Kingdom by private manufacturers; between 1,000 and 1,500 tons per year were made by Nobel's Explosives, at Ardeer.<ref name=reader-2-14/> However, private industry had the capability to produce about 10,000 tons per year, with Ardeer able to produce some 3,000 tons of this total.<ref name=reader-2-14/>

=== World War I === At the start of World War I, private industry in the UK was asked to produce 16,000 tons of cordite, and all the companies started to expand.<ref name=reader-2-14/> HM Factory, Gretna, the largest propellant factory in the United Kingdom, which opened in 1916, was by 1917 producing 800 tons (812 tonne) of Cordite RDB per week (approximately 41,600 tons per year).<ref name="ministry of munition-1919"/><ref name=reader-2-14/> The Royal Navy had its own factory at Holton Heath.<ref>{{cite web |title=Royal Naval Cordite Factory at Holton Heath, Wareham St. Martin – Dorset (UA) {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/heritage-at-risk/search-register/list-entry/1644468 |website=historicengland.org.uk |access-date=12 April 2022 }}</ref>

In 1910, Canadian Explosives Limited produced 3,000&nbsp;lb (1,362&nbsp;kg) of rifle cordite per month at its Beloeil factory, for the Quebec Arsenal. By November 1915 production had been expanded to 350,000&nbsp;lb (159,000&nbsp;kg) of cordite per month (approximately 1,900 tonnes per year).<ref name="carnegie"/> The Canadian Explosives Limited cordite factory at Nobel, Ontario, was designed to produce 1,500,000&nbsp;lb (681 tonne) of cordite per month (approximately 8,170 tonnes per year).{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

=== Between wars === HM Factory, Gretna, and the Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath, both closed after the end of the war and the Gretna factory was dismantled.<ref name="ministry of munition-1919"/> This left the Waltham Abbey and Ardeer factories in production.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

[[File:MV Cordite, Royal Military College of Canada.jpg|thumb|right|MV ''Cordite'', Royal Military College of Canada]]

=== World War II === As noted above, in addition to its own facilities, the British Government had ICI Nobel set up a number of Agency Factories producing cordite in Scotland, Australia, Canada and South Africa.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==See also== * Shimose powder

==Bibliography== * {{cite book |last1=Bowditch |first1=M.R. |last2=Hayward |first2=L. |year=1996 |title=A Pictorial Record of the Royal Naval Cordite Factory: Holton Heath |location=Wareham |publisher=Finial Publishing |isbn=1-900467-01-1}} * {{cite journal|last1=Brown|first1=David K.|last2=McCallum|first2=Iain|year=2001 |title= Ammunition Explosions in World War I|journal= Warship International|publisher=International Naval Research Organization |volume=XXXVIII |issue=1|pages=58–69|issn=0043-0374}} * {{cite book |last=Brown |first=Donald |year=1999 |title=Somerset v Hitler: Secret Operations in the Mendips 1939 – 1945 |location=Newbury |publisher=Countryside Books |isbn=1-85306-590-0}} * {{cite book |last=Carnegie |first=David |year=1925 |title=The History of Munitions Supply in Canada 1914-1918 |location=London |publisher=Longmans, Green and Co}} * {{cite book |last=Cocroft |first=Wayne D. |year=2000 |title=Dangerous Energy: The archaeology of gunpowder and military explosives manufacture |location=Swindon |publisher=English Heritage |isbn=1-85074-718-0}} * {{cite book |last=Cocroft |first=Wayne D. |year=2006 |chapter=Chapter 3, First World War Explosives Manufacture: the British Experience |title=Frontline and Factory: Comparative Perspectives on the Chemical Industry at War, 1914-1924 |editor-last1=MacLeod |editor-first1=Roy |editor2-last=Johnson |editor-first2= Jeffrey Allan |publisher=Springer |location=Dordrectch, The Netherlands |series=Archimedes: New Studies in the history and philosopy of Science and Technology |volume=19 |isbn=978-1-4020-5489-1}} * {{cite book |last=Davis |first=Tenney L. |year=1943 |title=The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives |volume=II |location=New York |publisher=John Wiley & Sons}} * {{cite book |last=Hartcup |first=Guy |year=1970 |title=The Challenge of War: Scientific and Engineering Contributions to World War Two |location=Newton Abbot |publisher=David & Charles |isbn=0-7153-4789-6}} * {{cite book |last=Hogg |first=O.F.G. |year=1970 |title=Artillery: its origin, heyday and decline |location=London |publisher= C Hurst and Company}} * {{cite book |author=Ministry of Munitions of War |year=1919 |title=H.M. Factory, Gretna: Description of plant and process |location=Dumfries |publisher=J. Maxwell and Son, for His Majesty's Stationery Office}} * {{cite book |author=<!-- not stated --> |last=Ministry of Munitions |orig-year=1922 |title= The Official History of the Ministry of Munitions, Volume X: The Supply of Munitions, Part IV: Gun Ammunition: Explosives, Chapter I: Devopments in the Use and Manufacture of Explosives. |publication-place=Uckfield, East Sussex |publisher=The Naval & Military Press |publication-date=n.d. |isbn=978-1-84734-884-5}} * {{cite book |last=Reader |first=W.J. |year=1975 |title=Imperial Chemical Industries: A History. Volume II; The First Quarter-Century 1926-1952 |location=London |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-215944-5}} * {{cite book |title=Alfred Nobel och hans släkt. Minnesskrift utgiven av Nobelstiftelsens styrelse |last1=Schuck |first1=H. |last2=Sohlman |first2=R. |language=English |orig-year=1926 |translator-last=Lunn |translator-first=Brian and Beatrice |trans-title=The Life of Alfred Nobel |year=1929 |location=London |publisher=William Heinemann}} * {{cite book |last=Rotter |first=Andrew J. |year=2008 |title=Hiroshima: The World's Bomb |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-280437-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/hiroshimaworldsb00rott_0}} * {{cite book |last1=Zukas |first1=John A. |last2=Walters |first2=William P. |year=2002 |title=Explosives, Effects and Applications |publisher=Springer}} * {{cite book |author=<!-- not stated --> |title=History of the Ministry of Munitions |volume=X:The Supply of Munitions |orig-year=1922 |publication-place=Uckfield, East Sussex |publisher=The Naval & Military Press |publication-date=n.d. |isbn=978-1-84734-884-5}}

==Footnotes== {{reflist|group=nb}}

==Citations== {{reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Cordite}} * [http://nigelef.tripod.com/ammo.htm#PROPELLANT Ammunition] * [http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SN19170602.2.77 Sausalito News 2 June 1917 – California Digital Newspaper Collection]

Category:Cordite Category:British inventions Category:Firearm propellants Category:Articles containing video clips