Procurement of the 4.2-Inch Mortar Shell

In October 1941 the War Department authorized procurement of 160,879 more E38R2 shells later this authorization was changed to 143,230 M2 shells and 33,584 M3 shells. The OC, CWS, directed the Pittsburgh district to procure these additional shells, whereupon the contracting officer of that district sent invitations to bid to six prospective contractors. The successful bidders were the Lempco Products Co. of Cleveland, a producer of industrial machine tools, grinders, and equipment used in the automotive industry the Hydril Corp., Rochester, Pa., a manufacturer of oil field supplies and equipment and the H. K. Porter Co. which was already working on the shell. 

An adapter is a metal lining put into the nose or base of a shell to make it fit the fiize. TM 20-205, 18 Jan 44. 

By the spring of 1942 requirements for the shell had reached a point where the CWS felt obliged to seek additional contractors, and the service awarded 4 additional prime contracts at that time. Two of the new contractors, Erie Basin Metal Products, Inc., and the David Bradley Manufacturing Division of Sears Roebuck and Co., were located in the Chicago Chemical Procurement District. The other 2, the Guiberson Co. and Hardwicke Etter Co., were in the Dallas procurement district. In 1943 another prime contractor was added, the Day and Night Manufacturing Co. in the San Francisco district. Early in 1945 prime contracts were awarded 5 more manufacturers, 3 in the Boston procurement district and 2 in the Dallas procurement district. But the war came to an end before any of these 5 got into production. 

In order to exchange information on the 4.2-inch shell program, a Shell Manufacturers Co-ordinating Committee was established in 1942. This committee, whose chairman was Mr. Cecil of the Scaife Co., held monthly meetings, at which one representative of each manufacturer in the United States was present. In attendance also, but not as active committee members, were experienced officers and civilians from the CWS.  

The CWS estimated requirements for the shell on the basis of a continually growing theater demand and, of course, passed on the requirements to Headquarters, ASF, to be incorporated into the Army Supply Program. On 1 October 1944 the ASF reduced the Army Supply Program figure for 4.2-inch shells from 5,645,306 to 4,007,000 without stating the reasons. After the CWS protested this action. Headquarters, ASF, reversed its decision and on 13 November approved the original figure of 5,645,306. The CWS had meanwhile been retarded over a six-week period in efforts to secure steel for its 1S 45 production, a procedure that required considerable 

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