WOOLWICH ARSENAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17335, 25 November 1916, Page 12

WOOLWICH ARSENAL.

I THE BICENTENARY. Tn the clash of the greatest war of . all time, and the whirl of gigantic machines turning out for us implements of war, the. bicentenary of the State factory passed by unnoticed. It was in the year 171(5 thai, Woolwich Arsenal wo& founded for tho production of cannon for tho Navy and Army. Its origin was a matter of accident —literally. Till that timo the guns of our armadas had ail been cast by private contractors, their efficiency being afterwards proved by tests conducted by tho Hoard of Ordnance. Tho chief foundry for tho purpo.se, when Georgo I. came io tho English throne, was one kept by Mr Baglay, in Moorlields, out&ide tho ' city wall, it happened that certain lnonz cannon taken from the French in .Marlborough's wars had been sent there for recasting. A young engineer, Andrew Sehaich, who was one of the many spectators assembled, noticed thai the moulds were not thoroughly dried, and is said to have warned the founder* of the danger; but, believing the.y knew their own business best, they took no heed. As soon as the metal was run a terrific explosion occurred, demolishing" the building and adjacent houses and killing a number of people. Sehaich was tho first masler-foundei of tho Royal Arsenal, an oflice which he held for nearly .sixty years, and the story runs that he, 'owed his appointment to his disregarded warning, but lie must already have had practical experience of tho trade. The disastrous consequences of the /accident in. 1716 convinced tho Hoard of Ordnance that a crowded area in the city was not a suitable place for carrying on so dangerous a trade, and they looked about lor some easily accessible but uninhabited spot.. Miles of waste land and marshes tan by tho Thames-side below the Naval Dockyard at "Woolwich, and there, on a rabbit, warren, the ..Royal lirakh Foundry, the beginning of Woolwich's great arsenal, was set up the same year. YEAR'S OUTPUT OF CANNON. Arrangements for the supply 01 munitions were evidently m a parlous slate, for the Royal Warrant for croat- i ing tho foundry directs that " no time bo lost therein, inasmuch as there are but two 12-pqunders and not one 18 or 24-pounder for land service." The cost was to be defrayed out of £oOOO granted that year by Parliament for recasting brass ordnance. Fancy £SOOO for a. year's output of cannon! —an inunite.simal part of the charge for a single modem great gun. It would seem that the State itself did not at first go into the business, but was still content to leave the manufacture to contractors under supervision, for an advertisement the same year in the ''London Gazette" notified that "a brass foundry is now building at "Woolwich for his Majesty's service,'" and invited contractors desirous of casting brass ordnance there to give in their proposals forthwith. Such were tho modest beginnings of the. great establishment for the output of everything pertaining to war that has now spread so far around tho original site. It continued to be known as '"'Tho Warren" till last century. Georgo 111., paying a visit there in 1805, noticed how little .appropriate the name was to tho place, and by his command it was thereafter denominated the Royal Arsenal. I It developed very largely during the Napoleonic wars; it has developed ever since with even' increase in the weight and raugo j of artillory: and when King George, j Y. made n memorable tour of tho j depot in 1913, a year before the outbreak of the, European war. the original Royal Brass Foundry of 1716 may truly be said to" have developed out of all recognition. One day, when tho war is over, there will be an interesting comparison to be drawn between the capabilities of Woolwich two centuries ] a<zo and to-day. but that cannot bo mad© at the present time. THE GREAT HARRY.

Woolwich's association with Britain's fighting forcss is, of course, much older than the Royal Arsenal. There is some evidence of. a naval establishment there ns early as King .Henry VII. Certainly it was a naval dockyard of importance in the reign of Henry VIII., for there was built as accounts still preserved at the Public Record Office show, that monster ship Harry-Graee-a-Pieii, the wonder of its age—a monster truly, with stem and poop rolling: high out of the water, and decks frowning with rows of bronze cannon. Its burden was 1500 tons. Our superDreadnoughts to-day are certainly larger, but wo hare lost the capacity for wonderment, and nono of them is regarded as quite such a niervellous achievement as, was the Great Harry by that Monarch's loyal subjects. Many a stout three-decker and frigate, and iron ship, too. has beon launched from "Woolwich Dockyard. But as ships grow in si«o the shallow and crowded Thames was recognised as no longer' a suitable, place for their construction, and the dockyard was disestablished in the -year 1869.