Hanyang Arsenal

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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 modern arsenals in Chinese history.

[edit] History

Photograph of the Hanyang arsenal

Originally known as the Hubei Arsenal, it was founded in 1891 by one of the Qing officials, Zhang Zhidong, who diverted funds from the Nanyang Fleet in Guangdong to build the arsenal. On 23 April 1894, construction was completed and the arsenal, occupying some 40 acres, could start production of small-calibre cannons.

On 14 June 1894, an industrial accident started a fire in the arsenal that destroyed all the equipment and most of the structures in the arsenal. In July of the same year rebuilding began, and in August 1895, all was back to normal and the arsenal started production of German M1888 Commission rifles, locally called 7.92cm Type 88 Mauser rifle (even though the Commission rifle was unrelated to the Mauser). At the same time, ammunition for the rifle were being produced at a rate of 13,000 rounds per month.

During the Boxer 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 their design of the Type 88, and, at the same time, production capacity was expanded to 50 rifles and 12,000 rounds of ammunition per day. For a time in 1910, the arsenal switched to producing the Type 68 rifle, at a speed 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 the Wuchang Uprising of Xinhai 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 ammo day and night.

The Republic 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 the Browning M1917 and the Mauser M1932 "Broomhandle" pistol. In 1930, the design of the Type 88 was once again modified, extending the bayonet. In 1935, a version of the Maxim gun--the Type 24 HMG--was being produced, based on blueprints from the German M08.

As the Imperial Japanese Army approached Hanyang and Wuhan in 1938, the arsenal was forced to move to Hunan, 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 Type Zhongzheng rifle.

With the Allies' victory in 1945, orders to the arsenal gradually stopped, and, on 1 July 1947, the arsenal was shut down.