Hanyang Arsenal (traditional Chinese:漢陽兵工廠;simplified Chinese:汉阳兵工厂;pinyin:Hànyáng Bīnggōngchǎng) was one of the largest and oldest modernarsenals in Chinese history, located in its namesakeHanyang County.
Originally known as theHubei Arsenal, it was founded in 1891 byQing officialZhang Zhidong, who diverted funds from theNanyang Fleet inGuangdong to build the arsenal. It cost about 250,000 pounds sterling and was built in 4 years.[1] On 23 April 1894, construction was completed and the arsenal, occupying some 40 acres (160,000 m2), could start production of small-caliber cannons. It built magazine-fed rifles,Gruson quick fire guns, and cartridges.[2]
On 14 June 1894, only months after the arsenal was constructed, an industrial accident started a fire in the arsenal that destroyed all the equipment and most of the structures in the arsenal, $1,000,000 in damages were reported.[3][4] In July of the same year rebuilding began, and in August 1895, all was back to normal, and the arsenal started production of GermanM1888 Commission rifles, locally called7.92cm Type 88 Mauser rifle (even though the Commission rifle was unrelated to the Mauser). Today, these rifles are known as theHanyang 88 or Type 88 rifle (which was patterned from the Gewehr 88 design)[5] At the same time, ammunition for the rifle were being produced at a rate of 13,000 rounds per month.
500,000taels were spent annually in the arsenal, which constructed Mauser rifles and used steel from the works around Hanyang. Iron and coal mines surrounded the area. 160,000 Mausers were purchased by the Chinese military, along with mountain guns and small caliber versions.[6] Smokeless powder was produced for guns at a factory next to the arsenal. The arsenal itself built 40 Mausers a day, 6 field guns a month. Every day the following was manufactured: 300 shells, 35,000 rifle cartridges, 1,000 pounds smokeless powder. They were moved via theYangtze river until reachingWuchang. Fortifications across China in the interior and on the coast received these weapons.[7]
During theBoxer Uprising of 1900, the arsenal supplied the Boxers with more than 3,000 rifles and 1 million rounds of ammunition.
In 1904, the arsenal made several modifications to the design of the Type 88, and, at the same time, expanded production capacity to 50 rifles and 12,000 rounds of ammunition per day. For a time in 1910, the arsenal switched to producing theType 68 rifle, at a rate of 38 per day.
The quality of the firearms produced in this period was generally low, because the local steel foundries were often ill-equipped and badly managed.
Because of its proximity to Wuchang, the revolutionaries, during theWuchang Uprising of theXinhai Revolution, largely equipped themselves with foreign and locally made weapons stored at this arsenal – some 7,000 rifles, 5 million rounds, 150 pack guns and 2,000 shells. The arsenal, in support of the revolution, switched into full gear and began producing weapons and ammunition day and night.[citation needed]
TheRepublic of China expanded the arsenal numerous times, and production soared. Quality, however, remained low. In 1917, a training school was established alongside the arsenal. In 1921, production began on copies of theBrowning M1917 and theMauserM1932 "Broomhandle" pistol. In 1930, the design of the Type 88 was once again modified, extending the bayonet. In 1935, a version of theMaxim gun—the Type 24 HMG—was being produced, based on blueprints from the German M08.
As theImperial Japanese Army approachedHanyang andWuhan in 1938, the arsenal was forced to move toHunan, with parts of its assets transferred to various other arsenals across the country. At Hunan, it continued production of the Type 88 rifle and carbine, and also the Chinese version of theMauser Standardmodell, theChiang Kai-shek rifle otherwise known as theType Chungcheng style rifle.
With the Allies' victory in 1945, orders to the arsenal gradually stopped, and on 1 July 1947, the arsenal was shut down. Much of the arsenal tooling was moved to Chongqing, where it provided the foundation for later arms production there, with Chongqing Jianshe being one of these manufacturing concerns. Many of the senior employees transferred to Taiwan and built the basis of today's Taiwanese arsenals. When theCommunists took over, they relocated the arsenal's remnants southeast across theYangtze near the White Cloud Cave recreational area and renamed it to the "3303 Arsenal"
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This article incorporates text fromThe Chicago daily news almanac and yearbook ...., Volume 1922, a publication from 1895, now in thepublic domain in the United States. This article incorporates text fromTimely topics, Volume 5, by Henry Romaine Pattengill, a publication from 1900, now in thepublic domain in the United States. This article incorporates text fromCommercial relations of the United States with foreign countries during the years ..., Volume 2, by United States. Bureau of Foreign Commerce, United States. Dept. of Commerce and Labor. Bureau of Statistics, United States. Bureau of Manufactures, a publication from 1904, now in thepublic domain in the United States.