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' quips Plant to Make Forgings To Meet War Emergencies, a Forge Plant Formerly Specializing on Enlarges Its Shops to Handle Marine Forgings Railroad Work O ENLARGE its plant 19 times in size since 1914 is what the Camden Forge Co., Camden, / ).. did im. 2 successful effort to furnish heavy forgings on a large scale for government needs. Orig- inally, this company specialized on railroad forgings but at the present time it turns out finished forgings for | such massive marine units as propel- ler shafts, rudder stocks, etc. The conditions which prompted the com- pany to take such drastic measures toward expansion are evidenced in) the names of the two latest addi- tions to the plant. These are called the Liberty and Victory shops. aie company originally | was equipped to manufacture railroad forgings exclusively, its production facilities at the outbreak of the war being housed in a 50 x 100-foot struc- ture with equipment consisting of. three steam hammers, ranging in size from 3000 to 6000-pound capacity the necessary lathes for rough-turning the forgings produced under these ham- mers, and a heat-treating department. When the war broke out, the com- pany had begun work on the con- struction of a 75 x 250-foot hammer shop, the principal equipment of which was to consist of four steam hammers of 3.to 5-ton capacity and lathes for rough turning the forg- GROUP OF HEAVY-DUTY LATHES SPECIALLY EQUIPPED FOR TURNING AND BORING TUNNEL 384 ings. At this time, the company was confronted with an expansion prob- lem along one or the other of two lines--it could specialize on ordnance or marine work. Due to the fact that its site was on tidewater,. and in the heart of the big Delaware river shipbuilding district, the man- agement decided to turn its efforts to ship forgings. In April 1917, when the govern- ment was urgently in need of quan- tity production, the Camden com- pany, of its own accord, added a 75 x -480-foot forge shop. which it equipped with two 1200-ton, steam hy- draulic. forging presses, 16 oil-fired heating furnaces and the necessary machine tools to finish the forgings thus produced. This building is called the Jiberty shop. ~~ On April: 8, 1918, the Victory shop, the .comipany's fourth building, was begun. Work on this structure was carried on with all possible speed so that production was started in this building on May 25. This building is 75 x 480 feet and in its equipment is included 30. lathes, the largest of which is 72-inch swing with 55-foot center distance, and four planers, the largest of which takes 60 inches square between the hous- ings with a 20-foot cutting stroke. Much of the equipment of the Lib- erty shop was transferred to the Victory shop when this department was completed. This change allowed more space for the production of forgings. Special equipment of the Victory shop includes six 48-inch lathes for boring and turning forg- ings. These tools take stock 80 feet between centers and are specially adapted for boring large tail and tun- nel shafting. During the war, and since the sign- ing of the armistice, the company's chief output has been propeller shaft- ing, mostly for torpedo boat destroy- ers. This is exacting work due to the fact that the engines of these craft turn over comparatively fast. The company was the first to produce propeller shafts for the war destroy- er program. The first shafts were finished in January, 1918, and within three months after orders had been placed, production was at a maxi- mum. Beside producing shafting, the company also has made a number of other heavy marine forgings which include engine parts and rudder stocks. The plant includes a 50 x 100-foot heat treating building which is equipped with both vertical and horizontal oil-fired heating furnaces and vertical quenching tanks. The horizontal furnaces are used -- for forgings up to 50 feet in length AND TAIL SHAFTING