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50 Years Ago: Thursday, 25 June, 1942

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mor...@ramblr.enet.dec.com

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Jun 29, 1992, 8:34:01 AM6/29/92
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From mor...@ramblr.enet.dec.com ()


In article <1992Jun25....@lawday.DaytonOH.NCR.COM>, mili...@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) writes:
|>"One shot from a 16-inch gun consumes 1,500 pounds of sugar, enough to
|>supply the sugar rations of a family of four persons for a period of
|>fifteen years." - Waldemar Kaempffert, "Science News in Review," in
|>The New York Times

Could someone explain this quote to me? They made explosives from sugar?

-Mike

Randy Appleton

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Jun 29, 1992, 8:46:25 AM6/29/92
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From ra...@ms.uky.edu (Randy Appleton)

mili...@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) writes:

>"One shot from a 16-inch gun consumes 1,500 pounds of sugar, enough to
>supply the sugar rations of a family of four persons for a period of
>fifteen years." - Waldemar Kaempffert, "Science News in Review," in
>The New York Times


What did a 16" gun use that much sugar FOR?

-Thanks
-Randy

mili...@cbnews.att.com

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Jul 6, 1992, 6:16:48 PM7/6/92
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From mili...@cbnews.att.com

In article <1992Jun29.1...@lawday.DaytonOH.NCR.COM> mor...@ramblr.enet.dec.com writes:

>In article <1992Jun25....@lawday.DaytonOH.NCR.COM>, mili...@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) writes:
>|>"One shot from a 16-inch gun consumes 1,500 pounds of sugar
>

>Could someone explain this quote to me? They made explosives from sugar?

Not directly. I'm not absolutely positive (I had hoped someone else would
answer this) but I believe the sugar is used to make alcohol which is
needed for manufacturing the explosive or propellant.

The US began rationing sugar early after its entry into the war, but found
some relief by using alcohol produced by whiskey distilleries. (This way,
they could use corn as a sugar source, as well as beets and cane.)

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Bill Thacker Moderator, sci.military military...@att.att.com
(614) 860-5294 Send submissions to mili...@att.att.com

Arno Hahma

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Jul 9, 1992, 10:32:43 PM7/9/92
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From aha...@utu.fi (Arno Hahma)

In article <1992Jul6.2...@lawday.DaytonOH.NCR.COM>
mili...@cbnews.att.com writes:

>>|"One shot from a 16-inch gun consumes 1,500 pounds of sugar
>>Could someone explain this quote to me? They made explosives from sugar?

>Not directly. I'm not absolutely positive (I had hoped someone else would
>answer this) but I believe the sugar is used to make alcohol which is
>needed for manufacturing the explosive or propellant.

That is right, one such shot might well require that much alcohol to
be made. In other words, if you need 300 kg of alcohol, it means you
need about 700 kg of sugar to make the alcohol. Alcohol is used as a
solvent for smokeless powder manufacture (ether-alcohol mixture; ether
is made from alcohol as well). Not all of the solvent mixture can be
recovered.

>Bill Thacker Moderator, sci.military military...@att.att.com
>(614) 860-5294 Send submissions to mili...@att.att.com

ArNO
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