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5. Tanks and Other Armored Vehicles
- Wayne State University Press
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p r e p a r i n g f o r w a r b e f o r e p e a r l h a r b o r 119 In the late 1930s, the U.S. Army was not using tanks in any combat capacity. There were no facilities in the United States to manufacture tanks—not even in small quantities. The U.S. Army Ordnance Department awarded its first contracts for tanks in 1939 to manufacturers of railroad locomotives and railroad cars. They mistakenly believed that railroad locomotive manufacturers were best suited for making tanks because of their experience in handling large castings in their shops. Locomotives, however, were typically custom-made for each railroad, so these firms were not capable of large-scale production. As late as July 1940, the Ordnance Department issued only three contracts to build tanks: one to the American Locomotive Company (ALCO), another to the Baldwin Locomotive Works, and the last to the Chrysler Corporation. Railroad equipment makers built substantial numbers of tanks throughout the war, but the Ordnance Department soon turned to the auto industry as its major source of tanks. By the end of the war, American industry produced 88,410 tanks, with the auto industry accounting for 49,676 of these, or 56 percent of the total. The major automotive producers of tanks were the Chrysler Corporation (22,234 medium and heavy tanks); General Motors’ Fisher Body Division (13,137 medium and heavy tanks); the Cadillac Division of General Motors (10,142 light tanks); and Ford (1,690 medium tanks). The most significant railroad equipment companies making tanks 5 tanks and other armored vehicles 119 120 c h a p t e r 1 included the American Car and Foundry Company (15,524 light tanks); the Pressed Steel Car Company of Chicago (8,648 medium tanks); the Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company (3,926 medium tanks); ALCO (2,985 medium tanks); Baldwin Locomotive (2,515 medium and heavy tanks); and Lima Locomotive (1,655 medium tanks). Taken together, the railroad equipment manufacturers accounted for 41 percent of total tank production during the war. The mix of tanks coming from America’s factories changed during the course of the war. Most of the 28,919 light tanks were made in 1940–1943, while the small production of heavy tanks (2,464 units) came in 1944 and 1945. The medium tanks (the M3 General Grant and the M4 General Sherman) were the “bread and butter” of the tank factories, which spit out 57,027 of them before war’s end. The Buick Division of General Motors also produced a “tank-like” vehicle, the M18 Hellcat tank destroyer. With thin armor and no turret top, it weighed only 19 tons and could achieve a top speed of 55 mph. The Hellcat had a long-range gun that enabled it to knock out German tanks. Buick made 2,507 Hellcats over an eighteenmonth period. Most of this chapter will focus on the principal automotive producers of tanks: Chrysler, Fisher Body, Cadillac, and Ford. One of the main challenges the automakers and the Ordnance Department faced was finding adequate supplies of large engines to power these tanks. For this reason, Cadillac, Ford, and Chrysler all became significant producers of tank engines in addition to assembling tanks. 120 c h a p t e r 5 [54.208.135.174] Project MUSE (2024-03-29 07:18 GMT) p r e p a r i n g f o r w a r b e f o r e p e a r l h a r b o r 121 The U.S. Mark VIII tank, built at the U.S. Army Rock Island Arsenal in 1919–1920. This was a joint U.S.–British project, and Rock Island completed one hundred of these behemoths. The tank weighed forty-four tons, had a crew of eight, was powered by a V-12 340-horsepower Liberty Engine, and had two six-pound British Naval Guns and five .30-caliber machine guns as its weaponry. (ACWP) Groundbreaking for the Chrysler Tank Arsenal in Warren, Michigan, 11 September 1940. Chrysler president K. T. Keller at the controls on the right, with Chrysler vice president for engineering Fred Zeder on the left. (CKH) t a n k s a n d o t h e r a r m o r e d v e h i c l e s 121 122 c h a...