An Asbury Mechanism opens and closes the breech of heavy artillery for reloading with a projectile and bags of propellant. It was widely used for naval artillery of the world wars and similar coastal artillery and railway guns. The device was invented at the Washington Navy Yard in 1916 by draftsman Dorsey Frost Asbury. It is sometimes called a Smith-Asbury mechanism by the United States Navy in recognition of Asbury's supervisor, Lieutenant Commander George Leonard Smith, USN.