Driggs-Seabury

Last updated
Driggs-Seabury Ordnance Company
Industry Artillery, Automotive
Founded1897
Founder
  • William H. Driggs
  • Samuel Seabury
Headquarters
Key people
  • William H. Driggs
  • Samuel Seabury
  • Louis Labadie "L. L." Driggs
Products Naval artillery, Army artillery, motor vehicles

Driggs-Seabury Ordnance Company was founded in 1897 by William H. Driggs and Samuel Seabury, both US Navy officers, in partnership with William's brother Louis Labadie "L. L." Driggs, [1] originally to produce guns for the US Army and US Navy designed by the partners. After a few reorganizations and an entry into the motor vehicle market, the company reorganized again in 1925; its ultimate fate is unclear from references. [2]

Contents

History

Driggs-Seabury was preceded by the Driggs-Schroeder series of weapons, designed by W. H. Driggs and Seaton Schroeder in the late 1880s and produced by the American Ordnance Company in the 1890s. Driggs-Seabury incorporated the former Seabury Gun Company at its founding. Driggs-Seabury's plant was initially in Derby, Connecticut, in the former Brady Manufacturing facility. [3] Although Seabury died in 1902, followed by Driggs in 1908, the company continued under the leadership of Driggs' brother Louis Labadie "L. L." Driggs until at least 1935. [4] L. L. Driggs was formerly with the American Ordnance Company, manufacturer of Driggs-Schroeder weapons. [3] The company moved production to Sharon, Pennsylvania in 1904; the US Rapid Fire Gun and Power Co. acquired the plant in Derby. [3] The company manufactured motor vehicles 1913–15 and 1921–25, but sold its weapons production and plant in Sharon to Savage Arms in a 1915 merger. [5] [6] [7] [8] Under Savage Arms, the Sharon plant made Lewis guns in World War I. A probably related "Driggs Ordnance Company" existed in 1917. [9] Dropping the Seabury name, Driggs was reconstituted as a motor vehicle manufacturer in New Haven, Connecticut in 1921, confusingly named "Driggs Ordnance & Manufacturing Corporation". Driggs went into receivership in 1925 due to delivery of inferior taxicabs. [10]

Driggs was reorganized out of receivership as "Driggs Ordnance and Engineering" in 1925. Over the next ten years, with assistance from the War and Navy departments, Driggs attempted to gain foreign orders and resume manufacturing in the United States. These efforts mostly involved anti-aircraft guns, both land and shipboard types, already in service with the United States and made partially with Driggs-designed components. The countries Driggs solicited included Poland, Denmark, Turkey, Greece, Lithuania, Venezuela, Colombia, and Guatemala. The military departments were attempting to increase the munitions manufacturing capacity of the United States, and required Driggs to secure orders of sufficient size to accomplish this before releasing plans of the non-Driggs components of these weapons to Driggs. The attempts to gain foreign orders appear to have been unsuccessful; in January 1932 L.L. Driggs wrote to the US Army's Chief of Ordnance that other governments were making even greater efforts on behalf of their companies. The ultimate fate of the Driggs company after 1935 is unclear. [4]

Weapons

3-inch gun M1898 on retractable masking parapet carriage M1898, both made by Driggs-Seabury. Gun3MaskPar01.gif
3-inch gun M1898 on retractable masking parapet carriage M1898, both made by Driggs-Seabury.
A Hotchkiss 6-pounder gun on USS Oregon (BB-3), generally similar to the Driggs-Seabury 6-pounder. 6 pounder Hotchkiss gun and crew USS Oregon.jpg
A Hotchkiss 6-pounder gun on USS Oregon (BB-3), generally similar to the Driggs-Seabury 6-pounder.

Weapons produced by Driggs-Seabury included:

Vehicles

The vehicles produced by Driggs-Seabury and Driggs (some of which were other manufacturers' designs) included:

1914 Twombly Model A cyclecar. 1914 Twombly Model A.jpg
1914 Twombly Model A cyclecar.

Other products

Driggs Ordnance Company advertised a boat engine designed for quiet operation in 1917. [9]

See also

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References

  1. Court of Appeals of the State of New York (1922). calendar no. 47. New York: The Hecla Press. p. 8.
  2. Patent assigned by William Hale Driggs in 1906 to Driggs-Seabury Ordnance Corp.
  3. 1 2 3 Williford, p. 222
  4. 1 2 3 4 U.S. Senate committee on investigation of the munitions industry (1935). Munitions Industry. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office. pp. 179–184.
  5. Poor’s Manual of Industrials, 1916, Vol. 7, New York: Redmond & Co., pp. 1722–1726
  6. Unofficial Savage Arms company history
  7. "Official Savage Arms company history". Archived from the original on 2015-04-03. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  8. Official Savage Arms history outline
  9. 1 2 "Speed with Silence" advertisement, Power Boating magazine, July 1917, p. 7
  10. 1 2 Supreme Court of the State of New York (1925). Papers on appeal, amended complaint. New York: Press of Fremont Payne. p. 9–27.
  11. Lohrer, George L. Ordnance Supply Manual, U. S. Ordnance Dept., Washington: Government Printing Office, 1904, pp. 295-300
  12. Berhow, Mark A., ed. (2004). American Seacoast Defenses, A Reference Guide (Second ed.). CDSG Press. pp. 70–71, 200–228. ISBN   0-9748167-0-1.
  13. Smith, Bolling W. (Fall 2019). "The Driggs-Seabury 15-pounder (3-inch) Masking-Parapet Carriage". Coast Defense Journal. Vol. 33, no. 4. Mclean, Virginia: CDSG Press. pp. 16–18.
  14. DiGiulian, Tony 3"/23 gun at Navweaps.com
  15. 1 2 Campbell, p. 147
  16. Lohrer, George L. Ordnance Supply Manual, U. S. Ordnance Dept., Washington: Government Printing Office, 1904, pp. 282-295
  17. 1 2 Berhow, pp. 188–189
  18. Williford, pp. 44–45
  19. DiGiulian, Tony US 6-pounder guns Mks 1-13
  20. "Blueprint for a Driggs-Schroeder 3.2-inch gun from Winchester Repeating Arms Company, at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West". Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-03-28.
  21. Scientific American, Vol. 79, Issue 6, article on the 3.2-inch Driggs-Seabury field gun
  22. Ordnance Corps, US Army (1896). Annual Report of the Chief of Ordnance, Field Material section. Washington: Government Printing Office. p. 53.
  23. DiGiulian, Tony, 3-inch gun Marks 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8 at Navweaps.com
  24. Twombly cyclecar description Archived copy
  25. Hemmings Motor News, December 2011
  26. Vulcan Power Wagon article, 1912
  27. History of Early American Automobile Industry, 1921, Ch. 29, Section “Driggs” (from Motor Age magazine)
  28. "Diamond Cab built by Driggs Company", Automotive Industries magazine, 5 October 1922