Editing Cordite

{{short description|Smokeless propellant, used to replace gunpowder}}
{{distinguish|text=[[Cordaites]], the extinct tree}}
{{distinguish|text=[[Cordtex]], a detonating cord}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:Cordite.jpg|thumb|A stick of cordite from World War II]]
[[File:Sectioned British 18-pounder shrapnel round photograph.jpg|thumb|A sectioned British 18-pounder field gun shrapnel round, World War I, with bound string to simulate the appearance of the original cordite propellant]]
[[File:Cordite Filled Cartridge.JPG|thumb|Close-up of cordite filaments in a [[.303 British]] Rifle cartridge (manufactured in 1964)]]
[[File:Burning Cordite.webm|thumb|Burning a strand of cordite from a [[.303 British]] round]]

'''Cordite''' is a family of [[smokeless powder|smokeless propellants]] developed and produced in Britain since 1889 to replace [[Gunpowder|black powder]] as a military [[firearm propellant]]. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a [[low explosive]] because of its slow burning rates and consequently low [[brisance]].{{Not_verified_in_body|date=November 2023}} These produce a subsonic [[deflagration]] wave rather than the supersonic [[detonation]] wave produced by brisants, or [[high explosives]].{{Not_verified_in_body|date=November 2023}} The hot gases produced by burning gunpowder or cordite generate sufficient pressure to propel a [[bullet]] or [[Shell (projectile)|shell]] to its target, but not so quickly as to routinely destroy the [[Gun barrel|barrel of the gun]].{{Not_verified_in_body|date=November 2023}}

Cordite was used initially in the [[.303 British]], Mark I and II, standard [[rifle]] cartridge between 1891 and 1915.{{Not_verified_in_body|date=November 2023}} Shortages of cordite in [[World War I]] led to the creation of the "Devil's Porridge" munitions factory ([[HM Factory, Gretna]]) on the English–Scottish border, which produced around 800 tonnes of cordite per week. The UK also imported some United States–developed smokeless powders for use in rifle cartridges. Cordite was also used for large weapons, such as [[tank gun]]s, [[artillery]], and naval guns. It has been used mainly for this purpose since the late 19th century by the UK and [[Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth]] countries. Its use was further developed before [[World War II]], and as {{convert|2|and|3|in|mm|adj=mid|-diameter}} [[Unrotated Projectile]]s for launching [[Anti-aircraft warfare|anti-aircraft weapons]].<ref name="brown-chapter17">{{harvnb|Brown|1999|loc=Chapter 17}}</ref> Small cordite rocket charges were also developed for [[ejector seat]]s made by the [[Martin-Baker|Martin-Baker Company]]. Cordite was also used in the detonation system of the [[Little Boy]] atomic bomb [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki|dropped over Hiroshima]] in August 1945.<ref>Coster-Mullen, John (2012). ''Atom Bombs: The Top Secret Inside Story of Little Boy and Fat Man''. Waukesha, WI: J. Coster-Mullen. OCLC 298514167.</ref>

The term "cordite" generally disappeared from official publications between the wars. During World War II, [[Smokeless powder#Chemical formulations|double-base]] propellants were very widely used, and there was some use of triple-base propellants by artillery. Triple-base propellants were used in post-war ammunition designs and remain in production for UK weapons; most double-base propellants left service as World War II stocks were expended after the war. For small arms it has been replaced by other propellants, such as the [[Improved Military Rifle (IMR)]] line of extruded powder or the WC844 [[ball propellant]] currently in use in the [[5.56×45mm NATO]].<ref name="The Great Propellant Controversy">{{citation |last=Watters |first=Daniel |title=The Great Propellant Controversy |url=http://www.thegunzone.com/556prop.html |url-status=dead |work=The Gun Zone |access-date=30 November 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130722235300/http://www.thegunzone.com/556prop.html |archive-date=22 July 2013}}</ref> Production ceased in the United Kingdom around the end of the 20th century, with the closure of the last of the World War II cordite factories, [[ROF Bishopton]]. Triple-base propellant for UK service (for example, the [[L118 light gun|105&nbsp;mm L118 Light Gun]]) is now manufactured in Germany.

== Adoption of smokeless powder by the British government ==

=== Replacements for gunpowder (black powder)===
[[Gunpowder]], an explosive mixture of [[sulfur]], [[charcoal]] and [[potassium nitrate]] (also known as [[saltpetre]]), was the original propellant employed in [[firearm]]s  and [[fireworks]]. It was used from about the 10th or 11th century onward, but it had disadvantages, including the large amount of smoke it produced. With the 19th-century development of various "nitro explosives", based on the reaction of [[nitric acid]] mixtures on materials such as [[cellulose]] and [[glycerin]], a search began for a replacement for gunpowder.<ref>{{cite book |last=Tucker |first=Spencer C. |author-link=Spencer C. Tucker |title=Almanac of American Military History |date=2013 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |location=Santa Barbara, CA |isbn=9781598845303 |page=1170}}</ref>

=== Early European smokeless powders ===
The first smokeless powder was developed in 1865 by [[Johann Edward Schultze]]. At the time of this breakthrough, Schultze was a captain of Prussian artillery. Schultze eventually rose to the rank of colonel. His formulation (dubbed ''Schultze Powder'') was composed of [[nitrolignose]] derived from nitrated wood grains, impregnated with [[saltpetre]] or [[barium nitrate]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Schultz White Gunpowder |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-schultz-white-gunpowder/ |access-date=17 April 2022 |website=Scientific American|date=22 May 1869}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Schultze powder – Big Chemical Encyclopedia |url=https://chempedia.info/info/schultze_powder/ |access-date=17 April 2022 |website=chempedia.info}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=No text – Big Chemical Encyclopedia |url=https://chempedia.info/page/211093075100072185201130029045085251003094141219/ |access-date=17 April 2022 |website=chempedia.info}}</ref>

In 1882, the [[Explosive Company of Stowmarket]] introduced ''EC Powder'', which contained nitro-cotton and nitrates of potassium and barium in a grain gelatinised by ether alcohol. It had coarser grains than other nitrocellulose powders. It proved unsuitable for rifles, but it remained in long use for shotguns<ref name="artillery">Hogg OFG, 'Artillery: Its Origin, Heyday and Decline', Hurst & Company, London, 1989</ref> and was later used for grenades and fragmentation bombs.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Æ Aeragon Redirect |url=https://www.aeragon.com/o/me/ni.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221126001449/https://www.aeragon.com/military-technology-transfer/1865-1914/nitrocellulose-smokeless-powder.html#ecpowder |archive-date=November 26, 2022 |access-date=2025-02-08 |website=www.aeragon.com}}</ref>

In 1884, the French chemist [[Paul Vieille]] produced a smokeless propellant that had some success. It was made out of [[collodion]] ([[nitrocellulose]] dissolved in [[ethanol]] and [[Diethyl ether|ether]]), resulting in a plastic colloidal substance which was rolled into very thin sheets, then dried and cut up into small flakes. It was immediately adopted by the French military for their Mle 1886 infantry rifle and called ''[[Poudre B]]'' (for ''poudre blanche'', or ''white powder'') to distinguish it from ''black powder'' (gunpowder). The rifle and the cartridge developed to use this powder were known generically as the [[8mm Lebel]], after the officer who developed its 8&nbsp;mm [[full metal jacket bullet]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bergman |first=Yoel |title=Paul Vieille, Cordite & Ballistite |date=2009 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23787093 |journal=Icon |volume=15 |pages=40–60 |jstor=23787093 |issn=1361-8113}}</ref>

The following year, 1887, [[Alfred Nobel]] invented and [[patent]]ed a smokeless propellant he called ''[[Ballistite]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bergman |first=Yoel |date=2017-10-20 |title=Fair Chance and not a Blunt Refusal: New Understandings on Nobel, France, and Ballistite in 1889 |url=https://brill.com/view/journals/vulc/5/1/article-p29_29.xml |journal=Vulcan |volume=5 |issue=1 |pages=29–41 |doi=10.1163/22134603-00501003 |issn=2213-4603|doi-access=free }}</ref> It was composed of 10% [[camphor]], 45% [[nitroglycerin]]e and 45% collodion (nitrocellulose). Over time the camphor tended to evaporate, leaving an unstable explosive.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bergman |first=Yoel |date=2011 |title=Alfred Nobel, Aniline and Diphenylamine |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/23789960 |journal=Icon |volume=17 |pages=57–67 |jstor=23789960 |issn=1361-8113}}</ref>

=== Development ===
[[File:Heike Kamerlingh Onnes - 33 - James Dewar in the Royal Institution in London, around 1900.png|thumb|upright|Sir James Dewar at work]]
A United Kingdom government committee, known as the "Explosives Committee", chaired by Sir [[Frederick Augustus Abel|Frederick Abel]], monitored foreign developments in explosives and obtained samples of Poudre B and Ballistite; neither of these smokeless powders was recommended for adoption by the Explosives Committee.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Abel, Sir [[James Dewar]] and W Kellner, who was also on the committee, developed and jointly patented (Nos 5,614 and 11,664 in the names of Abel and Dewar) in 1889 a new ballistite-like propellant in 1889. It consists of (by weight) 58% [[nitroglycerin]], 37% [[guncotton]] (nitrocellulose) and 5% [[petroleum jelly]]. Using [[acetone]] as a [[solvent]], it was extruded as [[spaghetti]]-like rods initially called "cord powder" or "the Committee's modification of Ballistite", but this was swiftly abbreviated to "Cordite".{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Cordite began as a ''double-base'' propellant. In the 1930s, ''triple-base'' was developed by including a substantial proportion of [[nitroguanidine]]. Triple-base propellant reduced the disadvantages of double-base propellant – its relatively high temperature and significant flash. [[Imperial Chemical Industries]]'s (ICI) World War II double-base ''AN'' formulation also had a much lower temperature, but it lacked the flash reduction properties of N and NQ triple-base propellants.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Whilst cordite is classified as an [[explosive]], it is not employed as a high explosive. It is designed to [[deflagration|deflagrate]], or burn, to produce high pressure gases.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

=== Nobel and Abel patent dispute ===
{{See also|1895 vote of no confidence in the Rosebery ministry}}
Alfred Nobel sued Abel and Dewar over an alleged [[patent]] infringement. His patent specified that the nitrocellulose should be "of the well-known soluble kind". After losing the case, it went to the [[Court of Appeal of England and Wales|Court of Appeal]]. This dispute eventually reached the [[House of Lords]], in 1895, but it was finally lost because the words "of the well-known soluble kind" in his patent were taken to mean the soluble collodion, and hence specifically excluded the insoluble guncotton.<ref name="life of nobel-7">{{Harvnb|Schuck|Sohlman|1929|pages=136–144}}</ref> The ambiguous phrase was "soluble nitro-cellulose": soluble nitro-cellulose was known as ''Collodion'' and was soluble in [[ethanol|alcohol]]. It was employed mainly for medical and [[photograph]]ic use. In contrast, insoluble in alcohol, nitrocellulose was known as ''gun cotton'' and was used as an explosive.<ref name="life of nobel-7"/><ref name="life of nobel-I">{{Harvnb|Schuck|Sohlman|1929|loc=Appendix I: ''Alfred Nobel's English lawsuit. Mr justice Romer's judgment in the "Cordite Case"''}}</ref> Nobel's patent refers to the production of [[Celluloid]] using [[camphor]] and soluble nitrocellulose; and this was taken to imply that Nobel was specifically distinguishing between the use of soluble and insoluble nitrocellulose.<ref name="life of nobel-I"/> For a forensic analysis of the case, see The History of Explosives Vol II; The Case for Cordite, John Williams (2014).  However, in her comprehensive 2019 biography of Alfred Nobel<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Carlberg |first1=Ingrid |title=Nobel: Den gåtfulle Alfred, hans värld och hans pris |year=2019 |publisher=Norstedts |place=Stockholm |language=sv|isbn=978-91-1-306939-5  }}</ref> [[Ingrid Carlberg]] notes how closely Abel and Dewar were allowed to follow Nobel's work in Paris, and how disappointed Nobel was with how this trust was betrayed. The book argues for Nobel as the original inventor and that the case was lost because of an unimportant technicality.

== Formulations ==
It was quickly discovered that the rate of burning could be varied by altering the surface area of the cordite. Narrow rods were used in small-arms and were relatively fast burning, while thicker rods would burn more slowly and were used for longer barrels, such as those used in artillery and naval guns.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

=== Cordite (Mk I) and Cordite MD ===
The original Abel-Dewar formulation was soon superseded, as it caused excessive [[gun barrel]] erosion. It has since become known as ''Cordite Mk I''.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

The composition of cordite was changed to 65% guncotton, 30% nitroglycerin (keeping 5% petroleum jelly), and 0.8% acetone shortly after the end of the [[Second Boer War]]. This was known as ''Cordite MD'' (modified).<ref>Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "cordite". Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 Apr. 2017, https://www.britannica.com/technology/cordite {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211229154751/https://www.britannica.com/technology/cordite |date=29 December 2021 }}. Accessed 29 December 2021.</ref>

Cordite MD cartridges typically weighed approximately 15% more than the cordite Mk I cartridges they replaced, to achieve the same muzzle velocity, due to the inherently less powerful nature of Cordite MD.<ref>Example : BL 6-inch Mk VII gun : 20 lb cordite Mk I, 23 lb cordite MD. Table 8 in [[Treatise on Ammunition]] 1915.</ref>

=== 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}}

=== Cordite SC ===
Research on solvent-free Cordite RDB technologically extremely similar to ballistite continued primarily on the addition of stabilizers, which was based on German RP C/12 propellant featuring significant amounts of [[centralite]] (Called "carbamite" in British parlance) and led to the type commonly used in [[World War II]] as the main naval propellant. In Great Britain this was known as ''Cordite SC'' (= Solventless Cordite), and it required production facilities separate from classical cordite.

Cordite SC was produced in different shapes and sizes, so the particular [[geometry]] of Cordite SC was indicated by the use of letters or numbers, or both, after the SC. For example, SC followed by a number was rod-shaped cord, with the number representing the diameter in [[Thou (unit of length)|thou]]sandths of an inch. "SC T" followed by two sets of numbers indicated tubular propellant, with the numbers representing the two diameters in thousandths.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

Two-inch (approximately 50&nbsp;mm) and three-inch (approximately 75&nbsp;mm) diameter, rocket Cordite SC charges were developed in great secrecy before World War II for anti-aircraft purposes—the so-called ''Z batteries'', using '[[Unrotated Projectile]]s'.<ref name=brown-chapter17/>

Great Britain changed to [[metric system|metric]] units in the 1960s, so there was a discontinuity in the propellant geometry numbering system.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

=== Cordite N ===
An important development during World War II was the addition of another explosive, [[nitroguanidine]], to the mixture to form ''triple-base'' propellant or ''Cordite N'' and ''NQ''. The formulations were slightly different for artillery and naval use. This solved two problems associated with the large naval guns fitted to British Navy's [[capital ship]]s: gun flash and muzzle erosion.  Nitroguanidine produces large amounts of [[nitrogen]] when heated, which had the benefit of reducing the muzzle flash, and its lower burning temperature greatly reduced the erosion of the gun barrel.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

N and NQ were also issued in limited amounts to ammunitions used by the British [[Ordnance QF 25-pounder|25-pdr]] and [[BL 5.5-inch Medium Gun|5.5-inch]] land-based artillery pieces.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

After World War II production of double-base propellants generally ended. Triple-base propellants, N and NQ, were the only ones used in new ammunition designs, such as the cartridges for 105&nbsp;mm Field and for 155&nbsp;mm [[FH70]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==Charge design==
{{Main|Internal ballistics}}

== Manufacture ==

=== UK Government factories ===
[[File:War Industry in Britain 1939-1945 A25050.jpg|thumb|Cordite production during World War II at a Royal Naval armaments factory at Holton Heath. The long strings of cordite are being combed to eliminate short lengths.]]
In Great Britain, cordite was developed for military use at the [[Royal Arsenal]] by Abel, Dewar and Kellner, [[Woolwich]],<ref name=zukas>Zukas (2002)</ref> and produced at the [[Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills]] from 1889 onwards.<ref name = hogg>Hogg (1970)</ref>

At the start of World War I, cordite was in production at [[Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills]] and by seven other suppliers (British Explosives Syndicate Ltd, Chilworth Gunpowder Company Ltd, Cotton Powder Company Ltd, Messrs Curtis's and Harvey Ltd, National Explosives Company Ltd, New Explosives Company Ltd and Nobels Explosive Company Ltd).<ref name="ministry of munitions">Ministry of Munitions (1922)</ref> Existing factories were expanded and new ones built, notably by Nobel's at Ardeer, [[HM Factory, Gretna]], which straddled the [[Scotland]]-[[England]] border at [[Gretna, Scotland|Gretna]], and the [[Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath]]. A factory was also established by the Indian Government at Nilgris. Both the Gretna and the Holton Heath cordite factories closed at the end of World War I.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

By the start of World War II, Holton Heath had reopened, and an additional factory for the Royal Navy, The [[Royal Navy Propellant Factory, Caerwent]], opened at [[Caerwent]] in [[Wales]]. A very large [[Royal Ordnance Factory]], ROF Bishopton, was opened in Scotland to manufacture cordite for the British Army and the Royal Air Force. A new cordite factory at Waltham Abbey and two additional ROF's—[[ROF Ranskill]] and [[ROF Wrexham]]—were also opened. Cordite produced in these factories was sent to [[filling factories]] for filling into ammunition.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

=== MoS Agency Factories and ICI Nobel in World War II ===
The British Government set up additional cordite factories, not under Royal Ordnance Factory control but as Agency Factories run on behalf of the [[Ministry of Supply]] (MoS). The company of [[ICI Nobel]], at Ardeer, was asked in 1939 to construct and operate six factories in southern Scotland. Four of these six were involved in cordite or firearm-propellant manufacture. The works at MoS Drungans ([[Dumfries]]) produced guncotton that was converted to cordite at MoS Dalbeattie (triple-base cordite) and at MoS Powfoot (monobase granulated guncotton for small-arms). A smaller site at Girvan, South Ayrshire, now occupied by Grant's distillery, produced cordite and [[Trinitrotoluene|TNT]].<ref name=cocroft-gaz>{{Harvnb|Cocroft|2000|loc=Gazetteer}}</ref> The ICI Ardeer site also had a mothballed World War I Government-owned cordite factory.<ref name="reader-2-14">{{Harvnb|Reader|1975| loc=Chapter 14: "Warlike Supply"}}</ref>

35% of British cordite produced between 1942 and 1945 came from Ardeer and these agency factories.<ref name="reader-2-15">{{Harvnb|Reader|1975| loc=Chapter 15: "War Production"}}</ref> ICI ran a similar works at Deer Park (which was also confusingly known as Ardeer after the adjacent suburb) near Melbourne in Australia and in South Africa.<ref name="reader-2-15"/>

=== Overseas supplies ===
Additional sources of propellant were also sought from the British Commonwealth in both World War I and World War II. [[Canada]], South Africa, and Australia had ICI-owned factories that, in particular, supplied large quantities of cordite.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==== World War I ====
[[File:Bird’s-eye view of a portion of Canadian Explosives Ltd., Nobel, Ontario - Vue à vol d’oiseau d’une partie de l’entreprise Canadian Explosives Ltd., Nobel (Ontario) (39057463364).jpg|thumb|right|Bird's-eye view of a portion of Canadian Explosives Ltd., Nobel, Ontario]]
[[Canadian Industries Limited|Canadian Explosives Limited]] was formed in 1910 to produce [[rifle]] cordite, at its [[Beloeil, Quebec|Beloeil]] factory, for the [[Quebec]] [[Arsenal]]. By November 1915 production had been expanded to produce 350,000&nbsp;lb (159,000&nbsp;kg) of cordite per month for the [[Imperial Munitions Board]].<ref name="carnegie">Carnegie (1925).</ref>

The Imperial Munitions Board set up a number of additional explosives factories in [[Canada]]. It built ''The British Cordite Ltd'' factory at [[Nobel, Ontario]], in 1916/1917, to produce cordite. Production started in mid-1917.<ref name = carnegie/>

Canadian Explosives Limited built an additional cordite factory at Nobel, Ontario. Work started in February 1918 and was finished on 24 August 1918. It was designed to produce 1,500,000&nbsp;lb (681,000&nbsp;kg) of cordite per month.<ref name = carnegie/>

Factories, specifically "heavy industry" (Long, and Marland 2009) were important for the provision of munitions. Cordite factories typically employed women (Cook 2006) who put their lives at risk as they packed the shells.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

== Production quantities ==
Large quantities of cordite were manufactured in both World Wars for use by the military.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Neushul |first=Peter |date=1989 |title=Seaweed for War: California's World War I Kelp Industry |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3105951 |journal=Technology and Culture |volume=30 |issue=3 |pages=561–583 |doi=10.2307/3105951 |jstor=3105951 |s2cid=111835074 |issn=0040-165X}}</ref>

===Pre-World War I===
Prior to [[World War I]], most of the cordite used by the British Government was produced in its own factories. Immediately prior to World War I, between 6,000 and 8,000 tons per year of cordite were produced in the United Kingdom by private manufacturers; between 1,000 and 1,500 tons per year were made by [[Nobel Enterprises|Nobel's Explosives]], at Ardeer.<ref name=reader-2-14/> However, private industry had the capability to produce about 10,000 tons per year, with Ardeer able to produce some 3,000 tons of this total.<ref name=reader-2-14/>

=== World War I ===
At the start of World War I, private industry in the UK was asked to produce 16,000 tons of cordite, and all the companies started to expand.<ref name=reader-2-14/> [[HM Factory, Gretna]], the largest propellant factory in the United Kingdom, which opened in 1916, was by 1917 producing 800 [[ton]]s (812 [[tonne]]) of Cordite RDB per week (approximately 41,600 tons per year).<ref name=ministry/><ref name=reader-2-14/> The [[Royal Navy]] had its own factory at [[Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath|Holton Heath]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Royal Naval Cordite Factory at Holton Heath, Wareham St. Martin – Dorset (UA) {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/heritage-at-risk/search-register/list-entry/1644468 |website=historicengland.org.uk |access-date=12 April 2022 }}</ref>

In 1910, [[Canadian Industries Limited|Canadian Explosives Limited]] produced 3,000&nbsp;lb (1,362&nbsp;kg) of [[rifle]] cordite per month at its [[Beloeil, Quebec|Beloeil]] factory, for the [[Quebec]] [[Arsenal]]. By November 1915 production had been expanded to 350,000&nbsp;lb (159,000&nbsp;kg) of cordite per month (approximately 1,900 tonnes per year).<ref name="carnegie"/> The Canadian Explosives Limited cordite factory at [[Nobel, Ontario]], was designed to produce 1,500,000&nbsp;lb (681 tonne) of cordite per month (approximately 8,170 tonnes per year).{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

=== Between wars ===
[[HM Factory, Gretna]], and the [[Royal Navy Cordite Factory, Holton Heath]], both closed after the end of the war and the Gretna factory was dismantled.<ref name=ministry/> This left the Waltham Abbey and Ardeer factories in production.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

[[File:MV Cordite, Royal Military College of Canada.jpg|thumb|right|MV ''Cordite'', [[Royal Military College of Canada]]]]

=== World War II ===
As noted above, in addition to its own facilities, the British Government had ICI Nobel set up a number of Agency Factories producing cordite in Scotland, Australia, Canada and South Africa.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==See also==
* [[Shimose powder]]

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last1=Bowditch |first1=M.R. |last2=Hayward |first2=L. |year=1996 |title=A Pictorial Record of the Royal Naval Cordite Factory: Holton Heath |location=Wareham |publisher=Finial Publishing |isbn=1-900467-01-1}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Brown|first1=David K.|last2=McCallum|first2=Iain|year=2001 |title= Ammunition Explosions in World War I|journal= Warship International|publisher=International Naval Research Organization |volume=XXXVIII |issue=1|pages=58–69|issn=0043-0374}}
* {{cite book |last=Brown |first=Donald |year=1999 |title=Somerset v Hitler: Secret Operations in the Mendips 1939 – 1945 |location=Newbury |publisher=Countryside Books |isbn=1-85306-590-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Carnegie |first=David |year=1925 |title=The History of Munitions Supply in Canada 1914-1918 |location=London |publisher=Longmans, Green and Co}}
* {{cite book |last=Cocroft |first=Wayne D. |year=2000 |title=Dangerous Energy: The archaeology of gunpowder and military explosives manufacture |location=Swindon |publisher=[[English Heritage]] |isbn=1-85074-718-0}}
* {{cite book |last=Davis |first=Tenney L. |year=1943 |title=The Chemistry of Powder and Explosives |volume=II |location=New York |publisher=John Wiley & Sons}}
* {{cite book |last=Hartcup |first=Guy |year=1970 |title=The Challenge of War: Scientific and Engineering Contributions to World War Two |location=Newton Abbot |publisher=[[David & Charles]] |isbn=0-7153-4789-6}}
* {{cite book |last=Hogg |first=O.F.G. |year=1970 |title=Artillery: its origin, heyday and decline |location=London |publisher= C Hurst and Company}}
* {{cite book |last=Ministry of Munitions |year=1922 |title= The Official History of the Ministry of Munitions Volume X The Supply of Munitions Part IV Gun Ammunition: Explosives }}
* {{cite book |last=Reader |first=W.J. |year=1975 |title=Imperial Chemical Industries: A History. Volume II; The First Quarter-Century 1926-1952 |location=London |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=0-19-215944-5}}
* {{cite book |last1=Schuck |first1=H. |last2=Sohlman |first2=R. |title=The Life of Alfred Nobel |year=1929 |location=London |publisher=William Heinemann}}
* {{cite book |author=Ministry of Munitions of War |year=1919 |title=H.M. Factory, Gretna: Description of plant and process |location=Dumfries |publisher=J. Maxwell and Son, for [[Her Majesty's Stationery Office|His Majesty's Stationery Office]]}}
* {{cite book |last=Rotter |first=Andrew J. |year=2008 |title=Hiroshima: The World's Bomb |location=Oxford |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-280437-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/hiroshimaworldsb00rott_0}}
* {{cite book |last1=Zukas |first1=John A. |last2=Walters |first2=William P. |year=2002 |title=Explosives, Effects and Applications |publisher=Springer}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Cordite}}
* [http://nigelef.tripod.com/ammo.htm#PROPELLANT Ammunition]
* [http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SN19170602.2.77 Sausalito News 2 June 1917 – California Digital Newspaper Collection]

[[Category:Cordite| ]]
[[Category:British inventions]]
[[Category:Firearm propellants]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]