The cannon for this gun were tested at the Erie Proving Grounds and there packed for overseas shipment. We had many cannon and carriages awaiting shipment when the armistice was signed, the plan being to send them to France, where they would be equipped with recuperators.
--------------------+------------------+--------+---------+----------+-------- | | | Number | Number | Number Units. | Contractors. | Number |completed|completed |floated | |ordered.|Nov. 11, | Apr. 17, |Nov. 11, | | | 1918. | 1919. | 1918. --------------------+------------------+--------+---------+----------+-------- 155-mm. gun carriage|Minneapolis Steel | 1,446 | 370 | 800 | 16 model 1918 | & Machinery Co. | | | | (Filloux) | | | | | | | | | | 155-mm. gun carriage| do. | 1,446 | 370 | 800 | 16 limber, model 1918| | | | | (Filloux) | | | | | | | | | | 155-mm. gun cannon |Bullard Engine | 1,400 | 53 | 250 |} proper | Works | | | |} 16 Do |Watervliet Arsenal| 760 | 18 | 68 |} --------------------+------------------+--------+---------+----------+--------
In the early days of the war the British designed an 8-inch field howitzer that proved itself on battle fields in France. Great Britain loaded her own plants with orders for this weapon and then turned to the United States for additional facilities. The Midvale Steel & Ordnance Co. at Nicetown, Pa., was manufacturing this unit for the British at the time we entered the war.
On April 14, 1917, exactly eight days after we had formally announced our purpose of warring with Germany, an order for 80 of these 8-inch howitzers was placed with the Midvale Steel Co. It was understood that production on our order was to be begun upon the completion of the British contract on which the Midvale Co. was then engaged. The order included the complete units, with carriages, limbers, tools, and accessories, all to be built in accordance with British specifications.
Contracts for the trails were sublet by the Midvale Co. to the Cambria Steel Co; for the wheels, to the American Road & Machinery Co.; for the limbers and firing platforms, to the J. G. Brill Co.; and for the open sights, to the British-American Manufacturing Co. Panoramic sights for these guns were furnished by the Frankford Arsenal.