In 1942 the production of civilian automobiles came to a halt in order to focus on the war effort. Roosevelt had a goal to produce 50,000 combat aircrafts in a span of 12 months to prepare for the approaching war. Prior to this endeavor, the U.S. had only 3,000 warplanes in its arsenal. The War Department chose Ford Motor Company to mass produce the newly designed B-24 Liberator from Consolidator Aircraft. It was a very large and complex bomber aircraft, and many believed that Ford, a motor company, did not have the capacity to make them. A plant in Michigan proved them wrong when it produced 8,645 aircrafts in two and a half years. The production of war vehicles and tanks was also essential. A Ford assembly plant in Richmond, California, assembled jeeps, armored cars, and put finishing touches on tanks. More than 250 Dodge army trucks were produced each day by Chrysler Corporation. Chrysler also established a large arsenal and tank plant in Detroit. Hundreds of experts contributed to the project by going over blueprints, designing tools and machinery, and planing the most efficient plant layout. In 1942 the plant built 5,004 tanks, and at its peak in 1943 it produced 5,111. These large companies played a fundamental role in World War II and couldn't have done it without the assembly line.
I found it intriguing how companies like Ford and Chrysler pitched into the war effort, stopping the production of their products, in favor of using their factories to serve the US government. After some further research, I learned that Henry Ford, despite generally having anti-war sentiments, still allowed his company to become an influential contributor to the war effort. The most prominent plant for Ford in this regard was Willow Run, which covered around 3.5 million square feet, in addition to having an airport. In the Willow Run B-24 plant, Ford began producing B-24 bombers, tank engines, and jeeps, and various other military hardware to aid in the war effort.
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https://auto.howstuffworks.com/1941-1948-ford-super-deluxe4.htm
I found that your post very well written and informative. I never knew that these large companies like Ford and Chrysler produced mass amounts of aircrafts and tank, which definitely helped the war cause. It gave the US a lot of more mobility and power. I found that other big companies like General Motors who made weapons and tanks, and Packard which made Rolls-Royce engines also supported with more manufacturing. Including other smaller companies, the shift to manufacturing weapons for the war made a huge impact on how the US could contribute to the war.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.pbs.org/thewar/at_home_war_production.htm
I liked how your post was short, concise, and informative. I never realized how much of an impact the assembly line had on the war. After doing some research I found that Dwight Eisenhower, a commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, was amazed by the amount of destroyed vehicles and machinery. The D-Day invasion used 50000 vehicles of all types, 5000 ships, and more than twice that number of airplanes. He realized that normally mass amounts of destroyed munitions would prove fatal for countries, but America's massive production line managed to surpass that.
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https://www.history.com/how-detroit-won-world-war-ii