ORDNANCE ARTIFICER 



5868 



ORDOVIC1AN 



mortars, trench howitzers, and 

 bomb throwers constitute what 

 is practically a distinctive class 

 of ordnance in that extreme 

 simplicity and light weight are 

 factors of first importance. On 

 this account many of these wea- 

 pons are smooth-bore muzzle- 

 loaders, the barrel consisting of a 

 simple weldless steel tube, and 

 there is no provision for recoil 

 absorption. In order to obtain 

 the greater accuracy of a spinning 

 projectile without rifling the barrel, 

 the shell for these weapons are fre- 

 quently provided with metal tails, 

 the vanes of which are set at an 

 angle, so causing the shell to 

 rotate on its major axis as it travels 

 through the air. As a rule the 

 propellant charge is secured to the 

 tail of the shell, and may be auto- 

 matically fired as the bomb drops 

 to the breech end of the ban-el. 



In army organization, the term 

 ordnance formerly embraced the 

 engineers and artillery and all 

 their equipment, but now is con- 

 fined to the latter branch and their 

 stores. The master-general at the 

 war office controls the artillery 

 and fortifications, but the duties 

 of the army ordnance depart- 

 ment include the provision, storage, 

 distribution, and maintenance of 

 arms and ammunition of all kinds, 

 personal and camp equipment, 

 vehicles, harness, and saddlery, 

 horseshoes, signalling stores, tele- 

 graphic, barrack, hospital and mis- 

 cellaneous stores, bridging ma- 

 terial, stationery, etc. The A.O.D. 

 also supplied naval requirements 

 in the way of arms and am- 

 munition, but this is now under- 

 taken by naval establishments 

 under the control of the director of 

 armament supply, the technical 

 branch being controlled by the 

 director of naval ordnance. The 

 naval armament depots are at 

 Priddy's Hard (Portsmouth), 

 Lodge Hill (Chatham), Bull Point 

 (Plymouth), andCombie (Rosyth). 

 See Ammunition ; Army Ordnance 

 Corps ; Artillery ; Breech Block ; 

 Fire-arm ; Guns ; Howitzer ; 

 Machine Gun ; Obturator ; Pora- 

 Pom ; Rifle ; Trench Howitzer. 



Ordnance Artificer. Non- 

 confmissioned officer of the British 

 navy. The branch to which they 

 belong was established in Dec., 

 1919, to provide a force to care for 

 and maintain the naval gun arma- 

 ment. It took over the work then 

 being performed by the armourer 

 branch and the turret engine-room 

 artificers. The ranks of ordnance 

 lieutenant - commander, ordnance 

 lieutenant, commissioned ordnance 

 officer, and warrant ordnance 

 officer were authorised. Men were 

 enrolled as chief ordnance artificer 



(1st and 2nd class), and ordnance 

 artificer (lst-4th class). The pay 

 ranged from 7s. lid. per day for 

 1st class chief ordnance artificer to 

 5s. lid. per day for 4th class ord- 

 nance artificer. These ratings were 

 given the status of chief petty 

 officer. See Armour, Naval ; Ar- 

 mourer ; Artificer. 



Ordnance Board. Former 

 name of a body of artillery experts 

 attached to the British war de- 

 partment who were responsible for 

 the design and investigation of 

 weapons and ammunition. This 

 body is now styled the Ordnance 

 Committee. Similar bodies of 

 experts are maintained by all the 

 great powers. 



Ordnance College. Establish- 

 ment at Woolwich similar to a 

 staff college where officers are 

 trained in the duties of the ord- 

 nance department. Those who 

 qualify as ordnance officers at the 

 final examination are distinguished 

 in the Army List by an 0. A 

 course of instruction at this college 

 for five months is the preliminary 

 to admission to the school of gun- 

 nery at Shoeburyness (q.v. ) for 

 officers of the Royal Garrison Ar- 

 tillery who wish to qualify as 

 instructors in gunnery. The Wool- 

 wich curriculum embraces the 

 theory of gunnery, and instruction 

 about ammunition and machinery, 

 and lectures on optics, position 

 finding, and range finding. 



Ordnance Committee. British 

 advisory committee of experts in 

 artillery and gunnery. Officers 

 from all three services are detailed 

 to act on the committee, which 

 also includes civilian scientists and 

 meets regularly at its headquarters 

 hi the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich. 

 Its decisions are referred to the 

 director of artillery (war office), 

 the director of naval ordnance 

 (admiralty), and the director of 

 armament (Royal Air Force). 



Its normal functions are to con- 

 sider inventions relating to both 

 weapons and ammunition, suggest 

 suitable designs for specific pur- 

 poses, investigate failures and 

 accidents, and advise the authori- 

 ties on all questions of ordnance 

 manufacture and practice. 



Ordnance Survey. Topo- 

 graphical survey of the United 

 Kingdom. In 1747, following the 

 Jacobite rebellion of 1745, General 

 Watson organized the making of a 

 map of the Highlands, but the 

 ordnance survey cannot be said to 

 have come into existence until 

 1784, when General Roy measured 

 a base line on Hounslow Heath. 



At first all the work was carried 

 out on the scale of 1 in. to 1 m., 

 but in 1824 mapping on the 6-in. 

 scale was begun. Later, in 1854, 



the map of Great Britain on the 

 scale of 1/2,500, approximately 25 

 ins. to the mile, was begun, and in 

 1895 work on the same scale was 

 taken up hi Ireland. Classifying 

 the ordnance survey maps accord- 

 ing to their scales, the largest scale 

 maps are the cadastral maps on the 

 scales of 1/2,500 and 1/10,560, i.e. 

 the 25-in. and 6-in. maps, and the 

 5 ft. and 10 ft. to the mile maps. 

 The cadastral maps, since they 

 show boundaries of properties and 

 individual buildings, are of great 

 value in local administration, for 

 the control of estates and property, 

 and for general detailed work of 

 all kinds. The 6-in. map is a reduc- 

 tion of the 25-in. The 5 ft. and 10 

 ft. to the mile maps are city and 

 town plans, and since 1892 have 

 been produced only when the 

 towns concerned bear part of the 

 cost of survey. 



The maps on the scales of 

 1/63,360, 1/126,720 and 1/253,440, 

 i.e. the 1-in., -in., and J-in. maps 

 respectively, may be termed topo- 

 graphical maps. They show the 

 natural features of the country, as 

 well as towns and villages, railways, 

 roads, canals, bridges, telegraph 

 lines, etc. Unlike the cadastral 

 maps, they do not show the pro- 

 perty boundaries, but they are the 

 best maps for travel or for war 

 operations. The best known is the 

 1-in. map, the standard British 

 topographical map. It is issued 

 in three forms, of which that 

 printed in colour and showing 

 relief by means of contours and 

 hachures is perhaps the best 

 example of a British ordnance 

 map. The smallest scale maps are 

 the 1/633,600 and 1/1,000,000. 

 These are the best maps for use 

 when details are not required, i.e. 

 for strategical or general purposes. 

 See Maps and Map Making. 



Ordovices. Celtic tribe in- 

 habiting a large part of N. Wales 

 at the time of the Roman occupa- 

 tion of Britain and subdued by 

 Agricola in the first century of 

 our era. 



Ordovician. In geology, name 

 given to the period following the 

 Cambrian and preceding the Upper 

 Silurian. The rocks of this period, 

 named after the Ordovices, are 

 found in Great Britain, Europe, 

 Asia, N. and S. America, and Aus-. 

 tralia, but are not known in Africa. 

 They consist of grits or grey- 

 wackes, shales and limestones, and 

 provide valuable building stones, 

 including slates and marbles. The 

 rocks are typical in Wales, giving 

 to the country much of its pictur- 

 esque and rugged scenery. The 

 Ordovician rocks of N. America, 

 in Ohio and Indiana, are sources 

 of petroleum and natural gas, 



