Forging Giant Cannons at Bethlehem Steel in 1918 — 4K Restored Film Documentary
Restored Century
106,571 views
In 1917 and 1918, cameramen of the U.S. Army Signal Corps filmed inside the Bethlehem Steel Company in South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, at the time the largest maker of munitions in America. This restored film follows the heavy guns of the First World War from molten steel to the finished cannon: the melting shop and the ingots, the forge and the lathe, boring the barrel, heat treatment and the shrink-fitted jacket, howitzers on their carriages, aerial bombs, shells and caissons, and finally the guns loaded on freight cars and test-fired on the sand dunes of Cape May, New Jersey.
The Signal Corps edited this footage into a historical film in 1936, and it has survived in the U.S. National Archives ever since. We follow the work step by step, with the facts behind each stage, and end with what became of the guns, the company and the plant after the war.
Original film: "Manufacture of Ordnance Materiel, 1917-1918", Reel 3 of 3 (U.S. Army Signal Corps).
Digitally restored and upscaled to 4K, with narration, an original music score and archival photographs.
CHAPTERS
0:00 Introduction
0:49 Molten Steel
2:49 Ingots and Ore
3:58 Forge and Lathe
5:14 Boring the Barrel
6:04 Heat and Pressure
8:48 The Gun Shop
9:39 Howitzers
11:21 Bombs and Shells
13:44 Caissons
14:38 To the Front
16:00 After the War
ABOUT THIS HISTORIC FILM
Title: Manufacture of Ordnance Materiel, 1917-1918 (Reel 3 of 3)
Filmed by: U.S. Army Signal Corps, 1917-1918; edited as a historical film in 1936
Location: Bethlehem Steel Company, South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; the company's proving ground at Cape May, New Jersey
Source: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer (Record Group 111), local identifier 111-H-1162, National Archives Identifier 24667
The original film is silent. Narration and music were added for this documentary.
ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPHS
U.S. National Archives: 111-SC-56093, 56094, 56096, 56097, 56100, 56101, 56103 and 99971 (Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, RG 111); 165-WW-59B-10, 209A-78, 350A-25, 350A-32, 350A-38, 350A-53, 350A-64, 350A-77, 350A-119, 350A-126, 393C-5, 393C-9, 393C-13 and 393C-17 (War Department, American Unofficial Collection of World War I Photographs, RG 165).
SOURCES
Benedict Crowell, America's Munitions 1917-1918 (War Department, 1919); NARA scene list for 111-H-1162; U.S. National Archives photograph captions; Encyclopaedia Britannica and published histories of Bethlehem Steel.
#WW1 #BethlehemSteel #RestoredFilm
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Forging Giant Cannons at Bethlehem Steel in 1918 — 4K Restored Film Documentary
Restored Century
106,571 views
In 1917 and 1918, cameramen of the U.S. Army Signal Corps filmed inside the Bethlehem Steel Company in South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, at the time the largest maker of munitions in America. This restored film follows the heavy guns of the First World War from molten steel to the finished cannon: the melting shop and the ingots, the forge and the lathe, boring the barrel, heat treatment and the shrink-fitted jacket, howitzers on their carriages, aerial bombs, shells and caissons, and finally the guns loaded on freight cars and test-fired on the sand dunes of Cape May, New Jersey.
The Signal Corps edited this footage into a historical film in 1936, and it has survived in the U.S. National Archives ever since. We follow the work step by step, with the facts behind each stage, and end with what became of the guns, the company and the plant after the war.
Original film: "Manufacture of Ordnance Materiel, 1917-1918", Reel 3 of 3 (U.S. Army Signal Corps).
Digitally restored and upscaled to 4K, with narration, an original music score and archival photographs.
CHAPTERS
0:00 Introduction
0:49 Molten Steel
2:49 Ingots and Ore
3:58 Forge and Lathe
5:14 Boring the Barrel
6:04 Heat and Pressure
8:48 The Gun Shop
9:39 Howitzers
11:21 Bombs and Shells
13:44 Caissons
14:38 To the Front
16:00 After the War
ABOUT THIS HISTORIC FILM
Title: Manufacture of Ordnance Materiel, 1917-1918 (Reel 3 of 3)
Filmed by: U.S. Army Signal Corps, 1917-1918; edited as a historical film in 1936
Location: Bethlehem Steel Company, South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; the company's proving ground at Cape May, New Jersey
Source: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer (Record Group 111), local identifier 111-H-1162, National Archives Identifier 24667
The original film is silent. Narration and music were added for this documentary.
ARCHIVAL PHOTOGRAPHS
U.S. National Archives: 111-SC-56093, 56094, 56096, 56097, 56100, 56101, 56103 and 99971 (Records of the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, RG 111); 165-WW-59B-10, 209A-78, 350A-25, 350A-32, 350A-38, 350A-53, 350A-64, 350A-77, 350A-119, 350A-126, 393C-5, 393C-9, 393C-13 and 393C-17 (War Department, American Unofficial Collection of World War I Photographs, RG 165).
SOURCES
Benedict Crowell, America's Munitions 1917-1918 (War Department, 1919); NARA scene list for 111-H-1162; U.S. National Archives photograph captions; Encyclopaedia Britannica and published histories of Bethlehem Steel.
#WW1 #BethlehemSteel #RestoredFilm