Thanks for posting, good info. One comment on the bronze guns corroding at the Naval Academy and Washington Navy Yard, Ft. Leslie J. McNair, DC, and other places-the problem is simply one of exposure to acid rain and bird droppings (sunlight acts as a catylist.) Removing the cannon from the acid rain exposure seems to stop the reaction.
The evidence is clear, look at the bronze cannons at Watervliet Arsenal, almost all of them were brought inside in the 1950's and are in much better condition than cannons of exactly the same vintage, model, etc. which are still outside at other military bases. Watervliet is the place where many of the Army's cannon barrel experts work, and undoubtedly some of them had an input into the decision to bring the guns inside. Unfortunately their wise decision and its historically-important positive results have not been communicated to the rest of the Army.
The situation in the Navy is worse, they seem to be totally "out of touch" with the issue and won't even answer "concerned citizen" inquiries about it. They keep replica cannons of very low commercial value and no historical value inside the nice, dry museum, but keep the priceless historical objects outside in the acid rain where they continue to dissolve. Go figure.
Nothing will be done about it until more people get interested and start calling, writing, or sending emails to the right parties. The Army and Navy are sort of deaf to me on this issue, I'm easy to ignore.
