War Production After the fall of France, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked America to become the arsenal of democracy. American industry provided almost two-thirds of all the Allied military equipment produced during the war: 297,000 aircraft 193,000 artillery pieces 86,000 tanks two million army trucks 6 million tons of bombs 20 million rifles and other small arms 41 billion rounds of ammunition 1,500 naval vessels, 5,600 merchant ships, and 80,000 landing craft At the end of the war, half of the worlds manufacturing capacity and two-thirds of its gold stocks were located in the United States

New departures in basic science, applied technologies, and improved fabrication methods were the key to victory The quantity, the quality of the American output got off to a somewhat shaky start. American fighter aircraft at first were not the equal of Japanese planes in the Pacific. American tanks were never a one-on-one match for German tanks. Early troubles existed with torpedoes and other equipment and new technologies and weapon systems were sometimes slow in developing. But by the middle of the war, qualitative as well as quantitative problems were being solved, and science and technology were enabling breakthroughs essential to the American war machine… Civilian government agencies worked closely with industry and the military, and also with universitiesdeveloping what might be called the military-industrial-scientific academic complex

New York State in 1940 NYS had 10.2% of country's total population The state needed to determine how to quickly mobilize war production with as little dislocation of workers as possible - wanted to utilize existing plants to save resources for rearmament Inventoried idle plants, machines/tools across the state; became clear that many manufacturers engaged in civilian production must convert to war production. [Kelloggs went from making breakfast cereal to making K- rations; Kimberly-Clark converted from Kleenex to maching gun mounts.] Between June-November 1940, NYS manufacturers received over 1 billion worth of war contracts. With moderate expansion of plant facilities, NYS turned out the highest dollar volume of war supplies of any state in the country

Chautauqua County Production Dunkirk Radiator became the countrys largest manufacturer of hand grenades, bomb noses and land mines –200,000 hand grenades per month –2000 incendiary bomb noses per month Van Raalte plant, Dunkirk made 1 million pairs of gloves, 500,000 mosquito nets, and 50,000 parachutes

Marlin Rockwell made bearing for many different machines Art Metal made parts for the B-29 Superfortress; furniture for submarines; radar cabinets

American Aviation, located at Jamestown Airport, made a wooden drone (steel frame), the TDR-1 The TDR-1 engine was made to fly for 50 hours and then to explode as shrapnel. The landing gear was also made to drop off the plane and detonate as shrapnel. The planes were used to attack large gun installations in the Solomon Islands. Had mixed success and contract was discontinued. Used television camera to fly plane remotely

Self-Propelled Artillery M7 Priest Made by American Locomotive Co (ALCO) Used by US Army, Belgian Army, British Army, Philippine Army, Israel Defense Forces Produced 1942 – 1945 Built 3,490 (+ 953 later variants: M7B1, B2) Main armament 105 mm M1/M2 Howitzer Weighed 50,640 lbs Men & women at ALCO developed the M7 almost from scratch. It was brought to them as a pencil sketch. M7 had the 105mm mobile artillery gun which had a firing range of 12 miles The M7 was a secret weapon that made its first appearance at El Alamein; All 1,000 used at El Alamein when Rommel was defeated were made in Dunkirk In part because of the effectiveness of US TD tactics, no German campaign against the US ever achieved its objectives, nor did any TD unit lose more vehicles than its German opponent

Long Tom 105 MM & 155 MM Artillery

Military didnt realize that the Long Tom needed an equilibrator. The gun is so long that the trunion (to raise & lower the gun) when put at the center of balance, causes the breech of the gun to go into the ground when the muzzle was raised. ALCO crew came up with a solution: put the trunion farther back and made the gun easier to raise & lower by substituting mechanical balance for natural balance. The equilibrator does the mechanical balancing. *The equilibrators were so smoothly machined & honed along their entire length that the nitrogen gas they contain did not escape in operation

Liberty Ships In 1941, it had taken East Coast shipyards about a year to build the 10,000-ton Liberty Ships so vital to wartime transport. By 1942, Kaisers shipyards in Portland, Oregon, and Richmond, California, had reduced production time to two months and in 1944 could build a Liberty Ship in two weeks. The Liberty ship represented the design solution that would fill the need for an emergency type of simple, standardized cargo steamer. Based on a British design, it could be mass-produced cheaply and quickly using assembly-line methods and could easily be converted to individual military service needs. While reviewing blueprints of the Liberty ships at the White House, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who loved naval vessels and had an eye for design, mused aloud to Maritime Commission administrator Admiral Emory S. Land, "I think this ship will do us very well. She'll carry a good load. She isn't much to look at, though, is she? A real ugly duckling. Thus, the Liberty ships received their second nickname, the ugly ducklings. The United States designated this new type of ship the EC2 (E for emergency, C for cargo and 2 for a medium-sized ship between 400 and 450 feet at the waterline. Many technological advances were made during the Liberty shipbuilding program. A steel cold- rolling process was developed to save steel in the making of lightweight cargo booms. Welding techniques also advanced sufficiently to produce the first all-welded ships. Prefabrication was perfected, with complete deckhouses, double-bottom sections, stern-frame assemblies and bow units speeding production of the ships. In all, 2,751 Liberties were built between 1941 and 1945, making them the largest class of ships built worldwide.

SS Zebulon B Vance 1941

SS Robert E. Peary launched 12 Nov 1942 built in 4 days 15 ½ hours Shortest construction time to date; due to competition between shipyards; built in Richmond, California

Getting Supplies to Russia

ALCOs role When almost all of Russias supply lines were cut off by the Axis, the only way into the country was through Iran. Iran didnt have enough coal or diesel to run standard size train from supply centers across mountain range to Russia A new train car had to be developed quickly that had four wheels instead of six, making it lighter so that it could carry the supplies through the mountains without requiring as much fuel

Marine Boilers A fleet of 10,000 ton cargo vessels was being rushed into production for the British. 90 marine boilers were needed. Boilers were 15 feet high, weighed 60 tons and could not be mass produced. They were needed in Massachusetts ASAP. They were too tall to fit on standard railcars. Secured special railroad gondolas that could transport the boilers, but they still were too tall for some clearances between Schenectady and the shipyard. 3 bridges had to be raised; 80 feet of track in the White Mountains had to be moved; several hundred feet of rock was cut; and new track had to be laid. The delivery has been called one of the most ingenious & successfully planned and executed moves in the history of American transportation

Conclusion Of the 4283 plants in the US that received the Army Navy E award, 483 were in NYS (award based on excellence in quality and quantity of production; low absenteeism, low/no work stoppages, training, low/no accidents; health) If excellence maintained for 6 months, received star award. Two companies in NYS won 6 stars (only 8 in entire country received 6 stars). ALCO received 4 gold star awards; Art Metal earned 3 stars Buffalo region: 5008 contracts: $3930 Million for aircraft; 118 M for ships; 274 M for ordnance; 687 M for all other The war closed 100,000 small businesses in NYS By 1945 over 34% of the state's labor force was female (over 2 million) 16 million square feet of floor space at 41 large gov. war plants had been constructed during the war, employing 200,000 workers