nte-quinze_ and Japanese pieces; even captured German
field-guns were adapted to our needs in the efforts of the D.A.M.S. to
arm us. Standardization in mounting and equipment was for long
impossible. Our outcry for guns was cleverly met by the department. We
could not wait for weapons to be forged: by working 'double tides' they
ensured a twenty-four-hour day of service for the guns in issue, by a
system that our ordnance should not remain idle during our stay in port.
Incoming ships were boarded in the river, their guns and ammunition
dismounted and removed to serve the needs of a vessel bound out on the
same tide. The problem of fitting a 12-pounder on a 4.7 emplacement
taxed the department's ingenuity and resource, but few ships were held
in port for failure of their prompt action.

With the near approach to standardization in equipment (a state that
came with increased production of merchant-ship arms) the division was
able to reorganize on more settled lines. New types of armament were
issued to them and there was less adaptation for emplacements to be
considered. With every ship fitted, the pressure on their resource was
eased, the new ships being constructed to carry guns as a regular part
of their equipment. While their activities are now less confused by the
new methods, there is no reduction in their employment. Other defensive
apparatus has been placed in their hands for issue and control, and
their principal port establishments have grown from small temporary
offices to large well-manned depots. To the surface guns have been added
howitzers, bomb-throwers, and depth-charges for under-water action:
smoke-screen fittings and chemicals form a part of their stock in trade:
they issue mine-sinking rifles, and even control the supply of our
zigzag clocks. The range of their work is constantly being extended.
Their duties include inspection to ensure that darkening ship
regulations may not fail for want of preparation in port. Makeshift
screening at sea is dangerous.

Their establishments are at the principal seaports, with branch
connections and transport facilities for reaching the smaller harbours.
The gun-wharves may not present as splendid a spectacle as the huge
store-sheds of our naval bases, but they have at least the busy air of
being well occupied, a brisk appearance of having few 'slow-dealing
lines' on the shelves. Their permanent staff of armourers and
constructional experts are able to undertake all