Powder and propellants : energetic materials at Indian Head, Maryland, 1890-2001 / Rodney Carlisle.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Carlisle, Rodney P.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United States Naval Ordnance Station (Indian Head, Md.)--History.

United States Naval Ordnance Station (Indian Head, Md.).

United States. Navy--Ordnance and ordnance stores--History.

United States.

United States. Navy.

Ordnance--Research--Maryland--Indian Head.

Ordnance.

Ordnance--Research.

History.

Maryland--Indian Head.

Physical Description:

xviii, 322 pages, 24 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 26 cm

Edition:

Second edition.

Place of Publication:

Denton, Tex. : University of North Texas Press, 2002.

Summary:

Powder and Propellants is the story of the U.S. Navy's premier facility for research, development, testing, and evaluation of "energetic materials, " the chemical compounds used in gun and rocket propellants as well as in aircraft cockpit ejection seats.

Initially charged to improve the penetrating power of warheads against steel armor, Indian Head became the proving grounds for testing guns, propellant powder, shells, mounts, and armor, notably the manufacture and testing of Jet Assist Takeoff (JATO), Zuni, Talos, and Polaris rockets and missiles.

First published in 1990 as a private publication for the navy, Powder and Propellants is now available again as a revised and expanded second edition, with a new chapter on the institution's last decade. Those interested in military history, technology, and government institutional history will find this book invaluable.

Contents:

Chapter 1 Origins of the Naval Ordnance Station 1

A Patented Breech

The Naval Inventor at Work 5

The Proving Ground

Structured Innovation in Ordnance 8

Structured Innovation Under Way: Testing of Guns, Armor, Shells 10

1889-1896: Ordnance Issues and the Place of Indian Head 16

Chapter 2 Early Powder Manufacturing and Ordnance Testing 19

Powder Under Development 20

Powder Factory: Industrial Management 24

Doubled Capacity 26

The Beginnings of Civilian Management 27

Management Problems: Information, Staff, Costs 32

Cost Accounting and Chemical Engineering 34

Proving Ground: Guns, Armor, Shells 35

Experimental Work 37

Zealots at Work 40

Chapter 3 Ordnance Technology in the World War I Era 43

Range Safety 45

Standardization of Shells and Powder 47

Powder Expert at Work 50

Relationship with Private Industry

The Roles Redefined 51

Powder Production 55

Indian Head Goes to War 57

Evolution of Mission 62

Chapter 4 Indian Head in Ordnance Research, 1921-1941 63

Factors Shaping the Research Agenda 66

Specific Problems: Lessons Applied 69

The Variable Delay Fuze

A Case of Incremental Innovation 73

Policies, Budgets, Treaty, Foreign Progress 75

The Agenda Juggled: Ships Challenged From Above and Below 78

Indian Head

A Place in the Network 81

The 1930s

Experiments, Personnel, Technology Transfer 83

The Interwar Years

Quiet Progress and Cross-Currents 86

Chapter 5 Indian Head: The Navy and the Community, 1890-1940 89

Indian Head's Earliest Years 91

World War I and Postwar Growth 95

Indian Head Between the Wars 99

Chapter 6 World War II 105

Indian Head in Rockets, World War II 107

The JPL at Indian Head 113

Explosives Investigation Laboratory 114

Powder Factory Research and Development During the War 118

Chapter 7 Postwar Patterns 121

Early Work on JATOs 122

The Postwar Search for a Research and Development Mission 123

Pilot Plants and Manufacturing Expansion 127

Research and Development: Problems with Implementing the Mission 131

Chapter 8 Years of Transition, 1955-1963 137

Continuing Problems: Personnel, Safety, and Equipment 139

The Search for a Mission 141

Internal Divisions 143

Ad Hoc Mission Add-Ons: CAD, Terrier, Weapon A 146

Mission Redefinition by Planned Remodelling 149

The Shaping of a Dominant Personality: Joe L. Browning 151

Management Problems Addressed 152

Browning's Management Ideas 154

Polaris Work 156

Challenge and Response 159

Chapter 9 From Naval Propellant Plant to Naval Ordnance Station 161

Mission Visions, Market Realities 162

Products, Plants, and Processes in 1960 164

The Propellant Plant in 1962 166

Management Concepts 168

Workload Development: NASA Efforts and Inert Diluent 169

From Research to Production: Otto II 170

The Bootstrap Problem Mastered 172

Shots in the Arm: 2.75 Revived, Zuni, Line-Thrower, C-3 Plastic 174

Guns: Old Weapons Redesigned 176

A Crisis in Workload

Pessimists' View 177

The Optimists' View 179

Facing the Seventies 182

Chapter 10 The Post-Vietnam Years 185

Lee Aboard

Reorganization and Public Relations 188

Adding Tasks Through the Seventies 190

Ordnance Devices 190

Standard Anti-Radar Missile 192

Simulators 192

JATOs 193

Work for Others 193

Guns 194

Reorganizations 194

Problems and Solutions 195

Production and Engineering: Striking the Balance 196

New Assignments 201

Planning Conferences, Review Panels, Training 203

Successes and Adjustments 206

A New Technical Director 206

Glassware to Stainless Steel; Laboratory to Production 211

Chapter 11 The Second Century Begins 213

A Decade of Turbulence 214

Navigating into a New Century 217

Buffeted by BRAC 220

Growing Role in a Shrinking Business 222

Responding to Requirements 228

Integrated Circuits and the Internet 231

Energetics and the Environment 232

Continuities and Changes 235

Epilogue: Retrospectives and Prospects 237

1. Tours of Duty, Inspectors of Ordnance in Charge and Commanding Officers, Indian Head 245

2. Biographical Information, Officers in Charge and Commanding Officers, Indian Head 247

3. Oral History Interviews Conducted for this Work 258

4. Milestones in Technology and Management 259

5. Chiefs of the Navy Bureau of Ordnance and its Successors, 1881-2001 263.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 311-316) and index.

ISBN:

1574411497

OCLC:

49386168