Editing Cordite (section)

=== Cordite RDB ===
During World War I, acetone was in short supply in Great Britain, and a new experimental form was developed for use by the [[Royal Navy]].<ref name=ministry>Ministry of Munitions of War</ref> This was ''Cordite RDB'' (= ''R''esearch ''D''epartment formula ''B''); which was 52% [[collodion]], 42% [[nitroglycerin]] and 6% [[petroleum jelly]]. It was produced at [[HM Factory, Gretna]];<ref name=ministry/> and the [[Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Acetone for the cordite industry during late World War I was eventually produced through the efforts of Dr. [[Chaim Weizmann]], considered to be the father of [[industrial fermentation]]. While a lecturer at [[Victoria University of Manchester|Manchester University]] Weizmann discovered how to use bacterial fermentation to produce large quantities of many desired substances. He used the bacterium ''[[Clostridium acetobutylicum]]'' (the so-called Weizmann organism) to produce acetone. Weizmann transferred the rights to the manufacture of acetone to the Commercial Solvents Corporation in exchange for royalties. After the [[Shell Crisis of 1915]] during World War I, he was director of the British Admiralty Laboratories from 1916 until 1919.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Cordite RDB was later found to become unstable if stored too long.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}