This is the Detroit Arsenal Tank plant when it was built and Closed in 1995. It was sold to the city of Warren which today still stand and Dana Corp are the current tenants. This building will never be taken down by agreement between the US Government and the State of Michigan. It is also in the National Registry as a Historical Marker. I proudly worked there in 1983 to 1986 as a Active duty soldier,a job I will never forget.
I worked my entire career ('82-'20) at a similar depot/facility in Jacksonville, Florida. It was/is a Navy-run aircraft & engine repair/overhaul facility and was built at about the same time in a similar manner. It is still in use by the Navy for the same purpose and, I believe, is also on the National Registry. I remember the glass walls in areas and wood beams were used in many areas to save steel for war production. Thanks for sharing this video.
My fathers father worked at the Rock Island Arsenal his entire life, through “The Great War” and WW2. He passed in 1964, before I could ask him so many questions....
@@scottofford3061 my twin sister has lived in Grand Junction for 40 years after getting married to one of my best friends from the 60's my older sister married one of my other friends from the 60's, We all were from the same small town Canton Illinois at the time
Both my granddads were in ww2. One did very similar work to this. Wasn't the coolest job and its not glamorized today like the combat troops are but I'm still proud of him. Thanks for putting this up! RIP Grandpa Lee!
My father was a Staff Sergeant in WWII and an airplane mechanic. He taught airplane mechanics to other soldiers. Part of there job was replacing engines, testing and fixing the, plus loading aircraft with life rafts and parachutes. He also worked on heavy bombers. What a challenge and an honor for him and your Grandpa. Is your Grandpa registered on the WWII Registry? You can do this here for him and any relatives not registered.www.wwiimemorial.com/Registry/Default.aspx
Anybody with half a brain realizes EVERY Job in the Defense industry during War time is about as an important as there can be, like you said some jobs may not be as "Glamorous" but, there Importance is NO LESS.
It always amazed me how much work it went into building tanks and planes and huge ships. And for a lot to be immediately destroyed . Along with the men in them
the shipowners were guaranteed payment whether their ship made it across the atlantic or not. The ship builders were over worked and used dodgy practices in order to get the ships out as fast as possible. New building processes (welding) had not been fully tested in all conditions (especially cold weather) , but the shipowners didn't care if the ships broke apart and sank with all hands or were torpedoed/bombed/shelled until they sank , leaving the crew in open boats with no guarantee of rescue. The crew were off pay when they abandoned ship until they signed on their next ship, which could be days, weeks or never - and their widows got nothing when their husbands didn't come home. The shipowners got their money either way. This was in 1940 - recognize any parallels with 2020 businesses? ?
@@GraemeSPa Yes, that was totally disgusting and who shouted the loudest about the IMC (Industrial Military Complex) when he ran or was elected as President? Non other then Number 34, General Dwight D Eisenhower himself and he wasn't wrong with his warnings. Now the generals retire and take up jobs with that same IMC that exploits the poor bloody taxpayers contributions while they get govt subsidies and _cost over runs_ that keep getting paid due to brown paper envelopes that surprisingly turn up in a politicians pocket. Now I wonder how that happens.
War is a such that equipment and lives are lost even by the winning side in order to win. It's best to seek a political compromise before starting war.
I worked there from '74 to '95 in Master Mechanics as a Tool Designer & Manufacturing Engineer. We built the M60 & Mi series. Great job, people & product. I gained a lot of experience & worked with some great folks.
The Drafting room is where I'd be. With just Ceiling Fans and a small ocillating fan on your table. A good tank book that covers the production process that was published in 1946, Tanks are Mighty Fine Things.
I read all these comments putting down the Sherman tank. Actually it was the most reliable tank in the field, the most likely to survive in if hit, because of the angle of its front armor had the equivalent thickness of a tiger 1 and with the numbers built it made this design a war winner. Remember, exclusive tank on tank battles were extremely rare. America's war doctrine was to simply overwhelm an enemy through fire power from land, sea and air, in this role the Sherman fit perfectly.
@@spaceghost8995 ask yourself a question, which one would you rather be in, one of five Sherman's with artillery and air support. Or a tiger facing 5 Sherman's that has artillery and air support. 🤔
@@naturalobserver1322 The big Sherman killer was German Infantry armed with Panzerfaust. I'd rather be the German Grenadier waiting in a forest with my Panzerfaust than the Sherman tank crewman whose practically blind to the outside world.
@@Snookynibbles we were attacked. Remember. Japan, and the German were sinking out ships off the east coast before we were in the war. Do the research the government kept it quiet 🤫. We had no defense against the German subs!
James Hurst, the war with Japan was complicated with beginnings. Japan launched the attack but the us drew first blood, uss ward vs mini sub. Germany didn't start the sub warfare on our eastern coast until we were well involved, long range subs had not been developed when we declared war on germany. The U.S. Had declared itself "neutral" yet had no problem supplying supplies and weapons to great britain. German subs attacked on our coastline and even as far as the southern gulf coast. And yes we did have the defenses to guard against the attacks
Yes, the war years were a defining moment in US history. It was a time when millions of Americans willingly served their country, a time when if not for our involvement, brutal naziism, fascism, and Japanese imperialism, would have controlled, Europe, Russia, China, and most if not all pacific rim nations. Americas industrial might stepped up to the plate, as one can see by the Chrysler “film”, this was the new norm for almost all industries. A United America, gave more than we promised in blood and treasure, this was a time citizens young and older gladly volunteered for combat, there were few if any unwilling to serve, even Hollywood’s top actors had front line positions. So I believe that was a defining moment in our history, just as the civil war was. These military actions told the world clearly, where the American people stand, that we don’t just build good refrigerators, that we are the sleeping bear that should not be awakened. My father recently passed away, a combat veteran of the Second World War, but I can remember times when he’d watch the evening news, shaking his head in disbelief, as he watched riots, and looting in our cities, asking “what the hell did we fight for?” And I’d tell him, your generation kept us free.
James Hurst, obviously America was attacked. Yet that doesn’t speak to how wars are among America’s defining moments as they are much less to be considered a virtue: 1.) God didn’t create mankind to kill. The fall of Adam & Eve wrought sin & the scourges thereof with endless wars & violence that continue to plague the world. That both personal & national defense is a sad necessity doesn’t make it something we ought celebrate; rather, such illustrates the depravity of mankind. 2.) Unless one grasps the reality of the hellbent Globalist Elite who through centuries have amassed $$ & control of the nations, one will be duped in to believing the necessity of wars. History shows the truth of how world wars are engineered & funded by Globalists and their central banks whereby the outcomes always serve their interests. A huge scam is to dupe the masses in to revering righteous, “patriotic” warfare. 3.) A great many serve their countries’ military call, and valiantly...for that they are to be applauded. Yet such is a matter entirely separate from ascribing any sense of virtue intrinsic to the wars they fought in.
In the mid70s to early 80s I worked in a valve plant running a Warner & Swasey 5A turret lathe. It had a cast label riveted to it that stated it was "approved by the War Production Board". I have to wonder if my lathe might have been in that plant.
Ah the WPB. My granddad ran radio and radar production for the WPB. He came out the war well-versed in mass production and distribution issues, and with a thoroughgoing lifelong hatred for FDR (to whom he always referred as "King Franklin the First" and considered one of the two vilest individuals he'd ever met, along with Amar Bose. :D )
@@spaceman081447 [edit - gaaah... browser ate my reply :P ] My grandfather was one of the pioneers of the audio industry (think chrome steel chassis, black glass panels, and big blue wattmeters :) ). He knew Bose, and characterized him as a con man, an indifferent engineer at best, and lower than a snake-oil salesman, peddling cheap, distortion-laden junk as if it were high fidelity gear. "No highs? No lows? Must be Bose!" :P :P
At 3:17-3:47, The sight of those drafting tables with French curves and triangular engineering rulers reminds me of when I first entered engineering in the mid-1960s.
@@ninemilliondollars RE: "Then came Cad-Cam, and from that point on, throw away your slide rules." CAD-CAM replaced drafting tables. What replaced slide-rules were hand-held electronic calculators.
@@spaceman081447 I graduated in 1971 with a BSME, using a slide rule through it all. In 1972 the HP-35 calculator was introduced. that was the death of the slide rule. I still have my slide rule but haven't even tried to use it for many years.
@@jjhpor RE: "I graduated in 1971 with a BSME, using a slide rule through it all. In 1972 the HP-35 calculator was introduced." I bet you LOVED that calculator! I know I loved my first calculator. I don't remember the exact model number, but it was an HP and it had an LED screen.
What's remarkable no computers were used to design and plan this endeavor. American production won the second world war. I recently retired as a Machinist. In the late 70's and early 80's I "ran" a number of machine tools labeled as war production property. They were high quality and built to last.
You probably could confirm that it was engineering knowledge behind the creation of the machines you've used. And that knowledge hasn't really changed that much. Sizing of parts, expansion, force-fits, material strength, lots of it's been know for a long time. But using computers for CNC equipment, etc. is what's new. Yet they accomplish the same thing as in the past, perhaps with more accuracy. Yss/no?
It's an ironic observation is it not?! Given that these efforts are towards war, by its nature oppositional, people divided into groups working directly against each other! Imagine if we ALL, as a species, united in cooperative projects! We probably wouldn't still be obliged to look sheepishly at our shuffling feet were aliens to arrive and inquire how come we're yet to technologically advance to a level where we can navigate beyond our planet!
This is the tank plant in warren. Most of what you see was done very quickly. Same with the willow run aircraft plant. There were also all around Detroit many many small shops that built all sorts of parts, ammunition, guns, and packages of food. Sure are tanks were under powered, under gunned but we built those things by the thousands. Things rolled off assembly lines every single minute of every single day. Yamamoto knew, that's why he wanted a decisive blow at pearl harbor. Once he found out it was a sneak attack as the declaration of war did not reach in time, he knew that japan had lost before it really got off the ground. Unlike Hitler he knew that no other country could match our industrial might and have everything we needed in one country. My dad worked at that tank plant until he was drafted.
@@tacomas9602 I see you didn't fight in the "Death Trap" or "Burning Grave". They were no match for the German and Soviet tanks, it was sheer numbers that resulted in the win, not remotely a better tank. Read your history.
The scale of this blows my mind. Almost all of WWII production is remarkable. The tech back then was so archaic (compared to now) but they still could build this huge building in 6 months?! Not to mention thousands of tanks, which require some very precise bits. And not only was the US doing this.. but Russia, Germany.. even Japan's Royal Navy is mind boggling to pull off such feats with such "basic" tech. Wow
@Izuhara Torozu RE: "but they still could build this huge building in 6 months?!" The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the entire Pentagon in 16 months.
Actually, the engineering wasn't archaic; it's still what we use today, only having computers manufacture lots more. They knew how much parts would expand and contract, how to fit oil seals on moving parts, the correct oil viscosity, the right screws and bolts with the correct holding strength.
The true definition of "total war". The hell with "red tape" just get it done. It's incredible to think that way nowadays. It take 10 years just to get a new design in the field in today's world.
@@gkprivate433 Nothing beats the F35 fighter plane as a complete waste of taxpayer money. 20 years and over a trillion dollars after starting the project, the plane performs much worse than the F16s and F18s it was designed to replace.
Wow. I'm from Canada but I've always been impressed how so much awesome construction and manufacturing was done in the U.S in the 30s and 40s. And WITHOUT HYDRAULICS!!!! When Japan attacked Pearl Harbour Yamamoto was quoted as saying "we have awakened a sleeping giant"
I think Yamamoto also said we can run wild for 6 months, after that I have no confidence. America had a lot of advantages, our population was comparable with the 3 major axis countries combined, for the most part we had plenty of natural resources like oil and steel, none of the axis powers were in a position to mount a serious attack on the US mainland where manufacturing took place. I think the leaders of the axis powers started believing their own BS.
@@pdbandit1 I don't think a solid source for the "sleeping giant" quote has ever emerged, but is the sort of thing he would've felt. He always felt it was folly for the Empire to take on an opponent so much larger and with such an advantage in industrial capacity. In fact, he had gotten so outspoken about it that the Naval staff gave him the Combined Fleet command and effectively "banished" him to his flagship most of the time to keep him out of reach of hotheaded young militarists who wanted to assassinate him. When confronted with the inevitable, he fought about the best campaign he could with what he had, and for the first year or so he did pretty much "run wild". Once we got our feet under us and the remorseless game of numbers started, it was pretty much less a question of "if" and more of "how long, and how much will it cost".
I had about the same reaction to an old British documentary describing the construction of a steam locomotive. An awful lot of good old muscle power involved in those 1930s behemoths. :)
In my place of work here in the ohio valley to this day we are still using those very old late 1930's machining mills from Chrysler that they sold back in the 70s, they have been retrofitted with modern automated systems ofc. But that just tells you the durability and quality of those products.
The Fascist economic model implemented by FDR has consequences. Devaluing the currency and hyper-inflation IS ALWAYS the result. Just wait till Millennials figure this out.
@@mitch_the_-itch "The Fascist economic model implemented by FDR" Roosevelt saved American capitalism and advanced the possibility of a more sane and inclusive society than had ever existed before. Right wing fanatics have been trying to destroy it ever since. They are closer to success today than ever before.
A friend of mine from German class in high school (1970's) brought his father to class, because he was a captain in the German army in Africa when he was captured by the Americans. He was eventually interred in a prisoner of war camp somewhere down south in the USA. Anyway, he spoke English pretty well and was making fun of the American tanks as being flimsy, and poorly built, so the MPs took a detour (he was riding in the back of a jeep), and the MPs drove him past a stockpile of tanks waiting for deployment, He asked why there were no markings on them. The MPs said no outfit had requested them yet. The kept driving for over 20 minutes, past seeming endless rows of tanks. After that my friends father (the captured German Captain), said he realized that no matter how crappy the American tanks were, if they had so many of them they could just give them out to whatever outfit requested them, that the war would be lost by Germany. He said every German tank was allocated to a unit and given a crew before it was even built. So they may have been crappy, but we built a zillion of them. My father was also in that theater of the war, and he said that he saw a tank crew bring a tank in for a 20 minute repair, but the quartermaster core just gave the crew a new tank because they did not have time to repair them, but had plenty of tanks to give out.
At the beginning of the war the American tanks had loud aircraft engines, thin armor and undersized guns. My father said that he saw a Sherman tank fire 6 shots at the front of a German tank and they bounced right off. Meanwhile, another American tank flanked the German tank and fired into the treads, disabling the German tank. He said that it was the only was a Sherman tank could win against a German tank. My dad was in the 805th Tank Destroyer division in Africa and Italy.
@@hdooley No tanks used aircraft engines. The U.S. did use numerous types of aero-derivitave engines. Loud as compared to what? The _M4_ was not underarmored compared to its contemporaries save the _Panther_ frontally. That situation is sketchy and vague
Nathan, I am talking from memory from what my dad told us. The one tank he told us about had the aircraft (must have been the air cooled aircraft derived engine you refer to), and he told us that it was noisy and the exhaust ports exited upward, giving away one's position. The other tank he told us about had twin Buick 8 Cylinder engines; he said those were the slick setup. Keep in mind that he was early in the war in Africa, but I believe he was after the Kasserine Pass. So the tanks he ran into were early US versions. He said that the best tactic for the US tanks were to fire on the German tanks from the side, he told us that the Sherman tank did not have the power to penetrate the German Tank's armor. I am not sure which version the German tanks had in Africa and Italy. Where my dad's story agrees with my friends dad (the German Army Captain) concerns the fact that the US were producing sooooo many tanks that they overwhelmed the enemy.
@@hdooley I respect your father's service but the claims are certainly exaggerated. At least outside hindsighted videos, no _M4_ had Buick engines. And all _M4_ had exhaust going downwards. Methinks he mistook it with the _M3/ M5_ light tanks. The _M4_ was more than capable against the _IV_ frontally.
@Patrick Ancona that's called corruption! It cost $5mil to do a $1mil project so these politicians can stuff theirs and their friends pockets while working man and woman scrape by. Yet people continue to vote for these criminals! Wtf have they done for you to get reelected?
1) designed by Architect to Detroit Albert Kahn (designed Packard plant, Ford Highland Park and River Rouge), during the depression he worked for Russia designing their tractor/tank plants - like Stalingrad. 2) Thought govt built the plant but Chrysler would run it, we didn't think about building tanks until mid-1940 the fall of France. 3) Kahn also designed the Willow Run B24 bomber plant - which took Ford a while to get running, but by 43 they were rolling out 1 bomber an hour 24/7.
We're quite lucky here in australia, we still have large numbers of m3 grant tanks, they can be seen on farms and museums, spent many years climbing over them! Love the look of the general lee, favourite tank!
In combat the M3 sucked. It's high silhouette made it an easy target and the 37mm turret gun was weak compared to the German tanks. The rivets would break off and bounce around inside killing the crew if the tank got hit. Also having the 75mm gun on the side in the hull limited it's use. The tank had to be completely moved to use the 75mm gun to aim at a target. Also the Americans put way too many machine guns on it which were useless. The British did like it's reliability but that was about it. The Russians who in early 1942 were desperate for tanks refused to use M3 tanks because of how bad it was. The Russians called the M3 a coffin for 5 brothers.
Garrison Nichols true but it didn't fight the German army very long before it was replaced by Sherman's and sent to fight in SE Asia where it did a good job
My midwest family lives in Eau Claire, Minneapolis and the Quad Cities. Both my Grandpa and my uncle from the 40's till the 60's they worked there and John Deere and IH. I remember the Arsenal from the 60's very well.
Hellsong89 ww2 happend because of a culmination of germany invadeing Europe of the Japanese’s wagering war against China and then us putting an embargo on allot of their imports wich led to their attack on Pearl Harbor and when we declared war on them due to their pact with Germany and Italy they all declared war on the us
The image of America in my childhood (I am 44 now). A land of industrious, intelligent, and honest people with handsome man and beautiful women where good people always won.
Even more amazing is that the US had allowed its military strength to dwindle badly since WWI. At the outset of WWII, some troops had to train with wooden guns because there weren't enough to go around. The ramping up of the industrial capabilities was the game changer - neither Germany, Japan or Italy of the Axis powers were able to continue production on a scale needed to win a war.
To think this was going on for ships and aircraft too..they definitely knew how to get the ball rolling back then, hopefully today too.. Hats off to the US..
Wasn't there a Liberty ship finished every 5 days? They were building them faster than the U-boats could sink them. Mind some of those ships sunk themselves due to the speed of the construction and corners cut but it was *total war.* I believe you are correct about that _getting the ball rolling_ could happen today. Look at the vaccine production increase when the "war footing" (or whatever the correct terminology is called) order was enacted by the President at some time after midday on 20th Jan 2021.
Joseph King, you have your dates and presidents mixed a bit. The vacinne production was started under Trump called "warp speed". He also.inacted a law not used since WW2 forcing auto manufacturers to produce much needed ventilators and stopping 3m from shipping PPE to foreign countries. He also slowed the infiltration of untested, unvaccinated illegals from flooding across our southern boarder. Unlike our current president.
Looking at videos Ike this reminds me of my years working at ALCOA’s Vernon Works that went into operation in 1938. I spent 17 years at that plant, and many things I see in this video were present while worked there.
Within one year all industrial material and production was re allocated to the war effort, factories were re designed, factories were built from the ground up, the first materials in quantity were rolling onto the loading docks, within two years, improved and completely new models were being built. Entire new fleets and new armies and new air forces were equipped while being trained from scratch and kept supplied and in the fight once sent. And during all this a great scientific gamble was undertaken, at the cost of one year's entire gross national production, in extreme secrecy, the research and production of the super bomb. While we developed the pre eminent signals intercept and decipherment system of the world, and the best medical care of any nation. That was then.
I read somewhere that the thing that really scared Adolf Hitler was when he heard that they were building a liberty ship at Kaiser shipbuilding in 48 hours. Of course that was a specialty thing and not everyone was built that quickly but that event made him sit up and take notice.
The America of the yesteryear wasn't by any means perfect but for any of it's missteps, it's lightyears ahead of where we're at now. Back then, pride and integrity were king and the march towards a better tomorrow was firmly in our sights. I sure wish I'd lived in that time to have seen it.
Railroads, trailer Winnebago parks and mechanicalized farming, cruise ships, hydrants, manifolds, emergency service call boxes and storm Drains and wired equipment...etc.
@@jimthompson153 His spelling is fine, it's the grammar he has a problem with. Well, his comment wasn't quite true- see von Luck's Panzer Commander- the Lee was a workable tank until something else hit the front. The 37mm gun was not a premier anti tank weapon, and a 75mm gun in a sponson? Shades of WWI right there; a riveted hull and enough height so you could watch your neighbour undress in their upstairs bathroom were neither considered assets. It also had fairly crappy off road abilities, probably an issue for a vehicle more than likely to be fought off road. One German Oberst's thoughts aside, the Sherman was superior in every way while the Lee was filler. Oh, the Brits replaced the turrets so they could mount radios. Cheers.
@@jimthompson153 Welcome to the game, my response has nothing to do with "too" vs "to". Just so you can get up to speed, the comment was about the word "learnt" which is entirely acceptable, but someone corrected him and said it was supposed to be "learned". Either one is acceptable English and now you can acknowledge your assumption and we can move on.
Those early tanks were meant to support infantry. Not go at other tanks . Even the German tanks . The United States built so many it didnt matter anyway unless you were inside on of em' .
The M3 tank was armed with a short 75mm gun but the main AT gun in it was the 37mm AT gun. That was not really a good gun at that time. The M4 on the other hand could handle just about any tank built and the final version the M4A4 76mm HVSS was the best tank in the world as it could actually get to any place in the world. The one aspect that the Panther had over the M4 was the longer barrel but given that the tanks of the US 3rd army rarely if ever fired at tanks during their drive across France and Germany it was not an issue. I could go on but the simple fact is the armor of the M4 was as thick as the Tiger as the armor on the Tiger was at 10 degree slope versus the 45 degree slope which although thinner gave it a relative same thickness.
Agree on some of your comment. I had an uncle who would have argued against many of your claims. He was an m4 driver, his first tank had the turret blown completely off, he and the front gunner were the only survivors. His second tank, a round from a panzer entered through the right front and killed the other crew members. He was shipped home with many injuries, both physically and mentally. We call it PTSD now. The m4 was no match against German main battle tanks.
@@donniebrown2896 my uncle wasn't as fortunate. His crew ran over a land mine and all four were killed . February 1945 . They were buried in Chattanooga National Cemetery. Two to a coffin . My father was wounded in early April 1945 . Think my uncle was 35 years old . Until he found out it was a mine , dad said he figured they must of tried to tangle with Tiger . Brave men . So many didnt get to grow old . BTW I can see your reasoning about what your uncle and those in his predicament. I once saw a documentary about that . During training those poor future Sherman crews were told that the Sherman was a far superior tank compared to the German Panzers they would be facing . Imagine your first battle . You line up your cannon on a German tank ,fire and the projectile bounces off harmlessly. You watch the German cannon take aim at the Sherman beside you and the Sherman is blown to bits . Not leaving the Sherman crews with a lot of confidence.
No social media, cell phones or computers. Everything built by hand. You think we would be unstoppable. Now we are worthless. Now we cry about how people are mean to each other. The greatest generation dead and it's so sad
Today your lucky to get the expedited results of a simple soil test even before the first form is put into the ground in less than 6 months from the E.P.A.
I really see it in front of me, a De Soto tank in berlin, defending the workers in Detroit. Shit,,,whats left? No De Soto, no workers and no Detroit,,,,,that was a victory
They didn't tell you that these tanks were.... sheet metal tanks. You see those rivets? Those were to hold the sheet metal on. How many shots from a Russian or German tank do you think a sheet of sheet metal can take before the tank goes up in flames. The USA realized this mistake in Africa before Normandy happened, so fortunately we werent too under gunned, just a little
do you not think that Germany had a similar amount of industry? They annexed Czechslovakia who had the biggest tank factories of the day. The fact that America had the best production rates was less to do with true grit and mom's apple pie than the fact they were not being bombed 24/7.
@@GraemeSPa the Germans before the war, were more of a farming/agricultural economy than a manufacturing economy. They never managed to really meet production goals, even before they were bombed, which wasn’t terribly effective anyway. They needed vast amounts of slave labor to fill the factories during the war, because they didn’t have the manpower for it, because so many were in uniform. The efficiency of French, Czech, Polish and other factories was low, which was to be expected from countries expected to produce arms for the hated aggressor. Quality varied greatly between regions and factories. Railroad tracks were different between Germany and several conquered countries, and later, the USSR, which meant loading heavy goods, unloading them, and loading them again, both ways, which led to holdups and delays. Alloys and other materials often were in short supply, as they had been imported from allied nations before Hitler began to stop trading externally, one of his national sufficiency economic programs. So there wasn’t much buildup before the war of many needed materials, such as rubber, which had Germany stopping production of cars and trucks because there were no tires for them, and the rubber was needed elsewhere. Their artificial rubber experiments never were able to product much usable substitute. This is all well documented by German officials, and there are several good books about Germanys pre and war economies.
You watch "American Factory"? That's the Chinese way, 12 hrs a day, 6-7 days/week, no dangerous job undone, f' the safety regs, start the day off with a rousing "hail to the corporate chief". They get it done, but would you want to work like that? I didn't think so...
Sure, when there's killing to be done, they build massive factories in record time. When there's something good to be done, it sits on the backburner for 20 years then takes another 20 years to build.
Try to get any of these kids or anybody to do that today lots of luck they were great back then and the factories were great now everything moved away in our country is going down the drain
Good enough tank early on, but its super high profile and weak armament (that 75mm built into the hull negated a lot of its usefulness) made it ineffective past a certain point in the war (the British used a lot of them and they worked alright on the Mark IIIs and early Mark IVs which were fairly vulnerable to its 37mm, but against the big cats, as you can guess, they were hopelessly outclassed.
People of America needed to know what was being done. Was shown in movie theaters. Even if somewhat commercialized for Chrysler's benefit, it still told how we were responding.
Absolutely astonishing to set up such a plant in 6 months! All the respect ! And highly skilled personell too ! About a tanks they were producing - .....how to say better ... - killing ratio was: - 1 german tank ( tiger-panther-STUG ) to 4 american tanks.( mostly sherman's ,pershing's maybe not) . And how many crews were lost - wery ,wery sad thing.
When Herman Goering looked overhead and saw B-17s he said, “Well this is over.” The M-3 was crap but the M-4 was a little better. I think the kill ratio was 1:4 for Panthers to Shermans. When you have 500 Sherman’s for every 1 Panther, I’ll take those odds.
This is the Detroit Arsenal Tank plant when it was built and Closed in 1995. It was sold to the city of Warren which today still stand and Dana Corp are the current tenants. This building will never be taken down by agreement between the US Government and the State of Michigan. It is also in the National Registry as a Historical Marker. I proudly worked there in 1983 to 1986 as a Active duty soldier,a job I will never forget.
Tanks for sharing
What does an active duty solider do at a factory? Were you a sentry?
It’s too big to take down anyways.
I worked my entire career ('82-'20) at a similar depot/facility in Jacksonville, Florida. It was/is a Navy-run aircraft & engine repair/overhaul facility and was built at about the same time in a similar manner. It is still in use by the Navy for the same purpose and, I believe, is also on the National Registry. I remember the glass walls in areas and wood beams were used in many areas to save steel for war production. Thanks for sharing this video.
@Constable Odo I think you know what he meant...
The logistics of such engineering feats just boggles my mind.
Without a computer to boot. no pun intended.
Me too man, me too. The scale is unbelievable.
With pen and paper only.
Totally
Hand-drawn blueprints and slide rules. Not a computer around, at least as they're now known. Genius.
There's the necessity this day for engineers and technicians to be taught how to draft by hand...
My fathers father worked at the Rock Island Arsenal his entire life, through “The Great War” and WW2. He passed in 1964, before I could ask him so many questions....
Where you from Illinois also at sometime. I left Illinois in the 70's to the service.
@@pedrojulio5889 I recently retired and lived in Woodstock Illinois for 40 years, now in Colorodo
@@scottofford3061 my twin sister has lived in Grand Junction for 40 years after getting married to one of my best friends from the 60's my older sister married one of my other friends from the 60's, We all were from the same small town Canton Illinois at the time
7:50 Pretty badass to just park a locomotive in the building to heat it.
Both my granddads were in ww2. One did very similar work to this. Wasn't the coolest job and its not glamorized today like the combat troops are but I'm still proud of him. Thanks for putting this up! RIP Grandpa Lee!
My father was a Staff Sergeant in WWII and an airplane mechanic. He taught airplane mechanics to other soldiers. Part of there job was replacing engines, testing and fixing the, plus loading aircraft with life rafts and parachutes. He also worked on heavy bombers. What a challenge and an honor for him and your Grandpa. Is your Grandpa registered on the WWII Registry? You can do this here for him and any relatives not registered.www.wwiimemorial.com/Registry/Default.aspx
@@ninemilliondollars i doubt it but I'll check his name. Thanks for the link. Very cool! And thank you to your father.
*Salute
Anybody with half a brain realizes EVERY Job in the Defense industry during War time is about as an important as there can be, like you said some jobs may not be as "Glamorous" but, there Importance is NO LESS.
He was just as important as any of the combat troops. His service is appreciated.
It always amazed me how much work it went into building tanks and planes and huge ships. And for a lot to be immediately destroyed . Along with the men in them
the shipowners were guaranteed payment whether their ship made it across the atlantic or not. The ship builders were over worked and used dodgy practices in order to get the ships out as fast as possible. New building processes (welding) had not been fully tested in all conditions (especially cold weather) , but the shipowners didn't care if the ships broke apart and sank with all hands or were torpedoed/bombed/shelled until they sank , leaving the crew in open boats with no guarantee of rescue. The crew were off pay when they abandoned ship until they signed on their next ship, which could be days, weeks or never - and their widows got nothing when their husbands didn't come home. The shipowners got their money either way. This was in 1940 - recognize any parallels with 2020 businesses? ?
@@GraemeSPa Yes, that was totally disgusting and who shouted the loudest about the IMC (Industrial Military Complex) when he ran or was elected as President? Non other then Number 34, General Dwight D Eisenhower himself and he wasn't wrong with his warnings. Now the generals retire and take up jobs with that same IMC that exploits the poor bloody taxpayers contributions while they get govt subsidies and _cost over runs_ that keep getting paid due to brown paper envelopes that surprisingly turn up in a politicians pocket. Now I wonder how that happens.
War is a such that equipment and lives are lost even by the winning side in order to win. It's best to seek a political compromise before starting war.
I worked there from '74 to '95 in Master Mechanics as a Tool Designer & Manufacturing Engineer. We built the M60 & Mi series. Great job, people & product. I gained a lot of experience & worked with some great folks.
The Drafting room is where I'd be. With just Ceiling Fans and a small ocillating fan on your table. A good tank book that covers the production process that was published in 1946, Tanks are Mighty Fine Things.
I read all these comments putting down the Sherman tank. Actually it was the most reliable tank in the field, the most likely to survive in if hit, because of the angle of its front armor had the equivalent thickness of a tiger 1 and with the numbers built it made this design a war winner. Remember, exclusive tank on tank battles were extremely rare. America's war doctrine was to simply overwhelm an enemy through fire power from land, sea and air, in this role the Sherman fit perfectly.
Said no Sherman tank crew member EVER. Those things were human incinerators.
@@spaceghost8995 ask yourself a question, which one would you rather be in, one of five Sherman's with artillery and air support. Or a tiger facing 5 Sherman's that has artillery and air support. 🤔
@@naturalobserver1322 You are now moving the goalposts.
@@spaceghost8995if you think that then obviously you didn't read my original comment.
@@naturalobserver1322 The big Sherman killer was German Infantry armed with Panzerfaust. I'd rather be the German Grenadier waiting in a forest with my Panzerfaust than the Sherman tank crewman whose practically blind to the outside world.
My dad drove a M-3 Lee tank, then transferred to M-4’s. This was America’s finest moment!
Kudos to your dad and to millions other that willingly served their country. However, warfare is hardly a defining moment or virtue of America.
@@Snookynibbles we were attacked. Remember. Japan, and the German were sinking out ships off the east coast before we were in the war. Do the research the government kept it quiet 🤫. We had no defense against the German subs!
James Hurst, the war with Japan was complicated with beginnings.
Japan launched the attack but the us drew first blood, uss ward vs mini sub.
Germany didn't start the sub warfare on our eastern coast until we were well involved, long range subs had not been developed when we declared war on germany. The U.S. Had declared itself "neutral" yet had no problem supplying supplies and weapons to great britain. German subs attacked on our coastline and even as far as the southern gulf coast. And yes we did have the defenses to guard against the attacks
Yes, the war years were a defining moment in US history. It was a time when millions of Americans willingly served their country, a time when if not for our involvement, brutal naziism, fascism, and Japanese imperialism, would have controlled, Europe, Russia, China, and most if not all pacific rim nations. Americas industrial might stepped up to the plate, as one can see by the Chrysler “film”, this was the new norm for almost all industries. A United America, gave more than we promised in blood and treasure, this was a time citizens young and older gladly volunteered for combat, there were few if any unwilling to serve, even Hollywood’s top actors had front line positions. So I believe that was a defining moment in our history, just as the civil war was. These military actions told the world clearly, where the American people stand, that we don’t just build good refrigerators, that we are the sleeping bear that should not be awakened. My father recently passed away, a combat veteran of the Second World War, but I can remember times when he’d watch the evening news, shaking his head in disbelief, as he watched riots, and looting in our cities, asking “what the hell did we fight for?” And I’d tell him, your generation kept us free.
James Hurst, obviously America was attacked. Yet that doesn’t speak to how wars are among America’s defining moments as they are much less to be considered a virtue: 1.) God didn’t create mankind to kill. The fall of Adam & Eve wrought sin & the scourges thereof with endless wars & violence that continue to plague the world. That both personal & national defense is a sad necessity doesn’t make it something we ought celebrate; rather, such illustrates the depravity of mankind.
2.) Unless one grasps the reality of the hellbent Globalist Elite who through centuries have amassed $$ & control of the nations, one will be duped in to believing the necessity of wars. History shows the truth of how world wars are engineered & funded by Globalists and their central banks whereby the outcomes always serve their interests. A huge scam is to dupe the masses in to revering righteous, “patriotic” warfare.
3.) A great many serve their countries’ military call, and valiantly...for that they are to be applauded. Yet such is a matter entirely separate from ascribing any sense of virtue intrinsic to the wars they fought in.
7:22 the flooring they are putting down are wood blocks. Helped absorb the noise and made the floor warmer to stand on.
In the mid70s to early 80s I worked in a valve plant running a Warner & Swasey 5A turret lathe. It had a cast label riveted to it that stated it was "approved by the War Production Board". I have to wonder if my lathe might have been in that plant.
Ah the WPB. My granddad ran radio and radar production for the WPB. He came out the war well-versed in mass production and distribution issues, and with a thoroughgoing lifelong hatred for FDR (to whom he always referred as "King Franklin the First" and considered one of the two vilest individuals he'd ever met, along with Amar Bose. :D )
@@mrz80
RE: ". . . and considered one of the two vilest individuals he'd ever met, along with Amar Bose."
Why did your grandfather hate Amar Bose?
@@spaceman081447 [edit - gaaah... browser ate my reply :P ] My grandfather was one of the pioneers of the audio industry (think chrome steel chassis, black glass panels, and big blue wattmeters :) ). He knew Bose, and characterized him as a con man, an indifferent engineer at best, and lower than a snake-oil salesman, peddling cheap, distortion-laden junk as if it were high fidelity gear. "No highs? No lows? Must be Bose!" :P :P
Amazing that plant was built in 6 months. During the war it built a quarter of the 89000 tanks produced. Cool history.
Knowledge, Ability and Initiative!.............where are those terms today?
At 3:17-3:47, The sight of those drafting tables with French curves and triangular engineering rulers reminds me of when I first entered engineering in the mid-1960s.
Then came Cad-Cam, and from that point on, throw away your slide rules.
@@ninemilliondollars
RE: "Then came Cad-Cam, and from that point on, throw away your slide rules."
CAD-CAM replaced drafting tables. What replaced slide-rules were hand-held electronic calculators.
@@spaceman081447 I graduated in 1971 with a BSME, using a slide rule through it all. In 1972 the HP-35 calculator was introduced. that was the death of the slide rule. I still have my slide rule but haven't even tried to use it for many years.
@@jjhpor
RE: "I graduated in 1971 with a BSME, using a slide rule through it all. In 1972 the HP-35 calculator was introduced."
I bet you LOVED that calculator! I know I loved my first calculator. I don't remember the exact model number, but it was an HP and it had an LED screen.
What's remarkable no computers were used to design and plan this endeavor. American production won the second world war.
I recently retired as a Machinist. In the late 70's and early 80's I "ran" a number of machine tools labeled as war production property. They were high quality and built to last.
You probably could confirm that it was engineering knowledge behind the creation of the machines you've used. And that knowledge hasn't really changed that much. Sizing of parts, expansion, force-fits, material strength, lots of it's been know for a long time. But using computers for CNC equipment, etc. is what's new. Yet they accomplish the same thing as in the past, perhaps with more accuracy. Yss/no?
amazing what we can do when we work together and have a purpose
and money. :D
Yes. We always work well when we Americans have a common enemy to defeat. Otherwise we're at each other's throats 🤣
It's an ironic observation is it not?! Given that these efforts are towards war, by its nature oppositional, people divided into groups working directly against each other!
Imagine if we ALL, as a species, united in cooperative projects!
We probably wouldn't still be obliged to look sheepishly at our shuffling feet were aliens to arrive and inquire how come we're yet to technologically advance to a level where we can navigate beyond our planet!
The greatest generation.that says it all.
Some of the best engineers ever born too
yeah today it's just KARENS, BLM, rappers, and gamers
@@AdrianDucao and what are you exactly? Lmfao
@Daniël Wassink lmfao, you wanna live back when racism was rampant and police beatings were seen as normal?
@@AdrianDucao wasn't that the same generation that lynched people on pure hearsay? 🤔🤔
This is the tank plant in warren. Most of what you see was done very quickly. Same with the willow run aircraft plant. There were also all around Detroit many many small shops that built all sorts of parts, ammunition, guns, and packages of food. Sure are tanks were under powered, under gunned but we built those things by the thousands. Things rolled off assembly lines every single minute of every single day. Yamamoto knew, that's why he wanted a decisive blow at pearl harbor. Once he found out it was a sneak attack as the declaration of war did not reach in time, he knew that japan had lost before it really got off the ground. Unlike Hitler he knew that no other country could match our industrial might and have everything we needed in one country. My dad worked at that tank plant until he was drafted.
You're so full of shit. Our tanks weren't undergunned or anything. M4 was the best it could be.
@@tacomas9602 I see you didn't fight in the "Death Trap" or "Burning Grave". They were no match for the German and Soviet tanks, it was sheer numbers that resulted in the win, not remotely a better tank. Read your history.
@@oldestgamer err the M4 Sherman was the best tank of the war.
@@kekistanimememan170 nope, not even close. The Panther and the T-34 were far superior
@@kekistanimememan170 They were also called the Firefly
The scale of this blows my mind. Almost all of WWII production is remarkable. The tech back then was so archaic (compared to now) but they still could build this huge building in 6 months?! Not to mention thousands of tanks, which require some very precise bits. And not only was the US doing this.. but Russia, Germany.. even Japan's Royal Navy is mind boggling to pull off such feats with such "basic" tech. Wow
@Izuhara Torozu
RE: "but they still could build this huge building in 6 months?!"
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built the entire Pentagon in 16 months.
Actually, the engineering wasn't archaic; it's still what we use today, only having computers manufacture lots more. They knew how much parts would expand and contract, how to fit oil seals on moving parts, the correct oil viscosity, the right screws and bolts with the correct holding strength.
Mills are really, REALLY good machines.
My parents took me to school with an M3 until 1965, when they bought a new tank.
The true definition of "total war". The hell with "red tape" just get it done. It's incredible to think that way nowadays. It take 10 years just to get a new design in the field in today's world.
War!?? A big business !!!
You should look at the new Combat Rescue Helicopter program. Took so long to build now needs big advanced capability upgrades well before fielding
its called bureaucracy or.. corruption.
@@gkprivate433 Nothing beats the F35 fighter plane as a complete waste of taxpayer money. 20 years and over a trillion dollars after starting the project, the plane performs much worse than the F16s and F18s it was designed to replace.
Now, "total war" could take less than a day with half the world either dead or dying. Progress!!
Must have been great being a part of something so big . Everyone had a role to play in those days .
Racially homogenous societies are like that.
Wow. I'm from Canada but I've always been impressed how so much awesome construction and manufacturing was done in the U.S in the 30s and 40s. And WITHOUT HYDRAULICS!!!! When Japan attacked Pearl Harbour Yamamoto was quoted as saying "we have awakened a sleeping giant"
I think Yamamoto also said we can run wild for 6 months, after that I have no confidence. America had a lot of advantages, our population was comparable with the 3 major axis countries combined, for the most part we had plenty of natural resources like oil and steel, none of the axis powers were in a position to mount a serious attack on the US mainland where manufacturing took place. I think the leaders of the axis powers started believing their own BS.
@@pdbandit1 I don't think a solid source for the "sleeping giant" quote has ever emerged, but is the sort of thing he would've felt. He always felt it was folly for the Empire to take on an opponent so much larger and with such an advantage in industrial capacity. In fact, he had gotten so outspoken about it that the Naval staff gave him the Combined Fleet command and effectively "banished" him to his flagship most of the time to keep him out of reach of hotheaded young militarists who wanted to assassinate him.
When confronted with the inevitable, he fought about the best campaign he could with what he had, and for the first year or so he did pretty much "run wild". Once we got our feet under us and the remorseless game of numbers started, it was pretty much less a question of "if" and more of "how long, and how much will it cost".
I had about the same reaction to an old British documentary describing the construction of a steam locomotive. An awful lot of good old muscle power involved in those 1930s behemoths. :)
Film shows the M3 Lee tank. Half going to British units. Upgraded turret models were called Grants.
Great historical video. Thanks for posting, enjoyed it.
In my place of work here in the ohio valley to this day we are still using those very old late 1930's machining mills from Chrysler that they sold back in the 70s, they have been retrofitted with modern automated systems ofc. But that just tells you the durability and quality of those products.
Unbelievable hard work.
"Chrysler spent two hundred thousand dollars of it's own money" wow
Now that'll get you 2 new trucks
adjusted for inflation from mid1930s money to 2021 money value USD 200,000 is valued at USD 3,820,000 in today's money
They ssaid 16 milllion dollar... later they mentioned 2 million on tools alone
@@michiel1362 Those are government dollars. Some things haven't changed.
The Fascist economic model implemented by FDR has consequences. Devaluing the currency and hyper-inflation IS ALWAYS the result. Just wait till Millennials figure this out.
@@mitch_the_-itch "The Fascist economic model implemented by FDR"
Roosevelt saved American capitalism and advanced the possibility of a more sane and inclusive society than had ever existed before. Right wing fanatics have been trying to destroy it ever since. They are closer to success today than ever before.
Riding on the slung load under a gantry crane. Stuff that would get you fired today!
A friend of mine from German class in high school (1970's) brought his father to class, because he was a captain in the German army in Africa when he was captured by the Americans. He was eventually interred in a prisoner of war camp somewhere down south in the USA. Anyway, he spoke English pretty well and was making fun of the American tanks as being flimsy, and poorly built, so the MPs took a detour (he was riding in the back of a jeep), and the MPs drove him past a stockpile of tanks waiting for deployment, He asked why there were no markings on them. The MPs said no outfit had requested them yet. The kept driving for over 20 minutes, past seeming endless rows of tanks. After that my friends father (the captured German Captain), said he realized that no matter how crappy the American tanks were, if they had so many of them they could just give them out to whatever outfit requested them, that the war would be lost by Germany. He said every German tank was allocated to a unit and given a crew before it was even built. So they may have been crappy, but we built a zillion of them. My father was also in that theater of the war, and he said that he saw a tank crew bring a tank in for a 20 minute repair, but the quartermaster core just gave the crew a new tank because they did not have time to repair them, but had plenty of tanks to give out.
Crappy how?
At the beginning of the war the American tanks had loud aircraft engines, thin armor and undersized guns. My father said that he saw a Sherman tank fire 6 shots at the front of a German tank and they bounced right off. Meanwhile, another American tank flanked the German tank and fired into the treads, disabling the German tank. He said that it was the only was a Sherman tank could win against a German tank. My dad was in the 805th Tank Destroyer division in Africa and Italy.
@@hdooley No tanks used aircraft engines. The U.S. did use numerous types of aero-derivitave engines. Loud as compared to what?
The _M4_ was not underarmored compared to its contemporaries save the _Panther_ frontally. That situation is sketchy and vague
Nathan,
I am talking from memory from what my dad told us. The one tank he told us about had the aircraft (must have been the air cooled aircraft derived engine you refer to), and he told us that it was noisy and the exhaust ports exited upward, giving away one's position. The other tank he told us about had twin Buick 8 Cylinder engines; he said those were the slick setup. Keep in mind that he was early in the war in Africa, but I believe he was after the Kasserine Pass. So the tanks he ran into were early US versions. He said that the best tactic for the US tanks were to fire on the German tanks from the side, he told us that the Sherman tank did not have the power to penetrate the German Tank's armor. I am not sure which version the German tanks had in Africa and Italy. Where my dad's story agrees with my friends dad (the German Army Captain) concerns the fact that the US were producing sooooo many tanks that they overwhelmed the enemy.
@@hdooley I respect your father's service but the claims are certainly exaggerated. At least outside hindsighted videos, no _M4_ had Buick engines. And all _M4_ had exhaust going downwards. Methinks he mistook it with the _M3/ M5_ light tanks.
The _M4_ was more than capable against the _IV_ frontally.
Ha! Today I don't think we could get the surveying done in 6 months, let alone the whole factory! lol
Jim Beau hell, today the environmental impact statement would take a decade!
It takes 3 years for small bridges to get repairs where I live just this weekend one finished they started 2016 now they finish with it
If we could cut back regulations....
Hell, you can't even get the PAPERWORK done in 6mos today!
@Patrick Ancona that's called corruption! It cost $5mil to do a $1mil project so these politicians can stuff theirs and their friends pockets while working man and woman scrape by. Yet people continue to vote for these criminals! Wtf have they done for you to get reelected?
1) designed by Architect to Detroit Albert Kahn (designed Packard plant, Ford Highland Park and River Rouge), during the depression he worked for Russia designing their tractor/tank plants - like Stalingrad. 2) Thought govt built the plant but Chrysler would run it, we didn't think about building tanks until mid-1940 the fall of France. 3) Kahn also designed the Willow Run B24 bomber plant - which took Ford a while to get running, but by 43 they were rolling out 1 bomber an hour 24/7.
Uk here and retired. We still had old Cincinnati lathes in use here ten years ago. There must be hundreds of themstill in peoples hobby garages.
We're quite lucky here in australia, we still have large numbers of m3 grant tanks, they can be seen on farms and museums, spent many years climbing over them! Love the look of the general lee, favourite tank!
In combat the M3 sucked.
It's high silhouette made it an easy target and the 37mm turret gun was weak compared to the German tanks. The rivets would break off and bounce around inside killing the crew if the tank got hit. Also having the 75mm gun on the side in the hull limited it's use. The tank had to be completely moved to use the 75mm gun to aim at a target. Also the Americans put way too many machine guns on it which were useless. The British did like it's reliability but that was about it. The Russians who in early 1942 were desperate for tanks refused to use M3 tanks because of how bad it was. The Russians called the M3 a coffin for 5 brothers.
Garrison Nichols true but it didn't fight the German army very long before it was replaced by Sherman's and sent to fight in SE Asia where it did a good job
....yeah you're lucky in Australia...🙄
@@garrisonnichols7372 It is bizarre to see such an inferior tank compared with the USSR's T-34 and German's Panzer IV.
I agree with Garrison, pretty rubbish tank all things considered.
Warren, Michigan. I was there in 1980 and got to see XM-1 testing.
My midwest family lives in Eau Claire, Minneapolis and the Quad Cities. Both my Grandpa and my uncle from the 40's till the 60's they worked there and John Deere and IH. I remember the Arsenal from the 60's very well.
If the EPA existed back then, they would still be investigating and determining if some cockroach was going to be endangered.
The obligatory pipe smoker at 3:49 that always pops up in documentaries of that time.
When America was "Truly" Great and not Divided !!! Semper Fi
QProg
Except for the "America First" movement. We were pretty divided on the war. You may want to look into that a little bit.
Well America was already back then controlled by Zionists, hence why ww2 even happened.
Hellsong89 ww2 happend because of a culmination of germany invadeing Europe of the Japanese’s wagering war against China and then us putting an embargo on allot of their imports wich led to their attack on Pearl Harbor and when we declared war on them due to their pact with Germany and Italy they all declared war on the us
Racial and religious discrimination was all over the country. Do not think for a minute that it was not.
The image of America in my childhood (I am 44 now). A land of industrious, intelligent, and honest people with handsome man and beautiful women where good people always won.
How’s that image holding up now?
And now we have whiney, skinny jeans wearing Millennials who cry about pronouns. Yikes.
Even more amazing is that the US had allowed its military strength to dwindle badly since WWI. At the outset of WWII, some troops had to train with wooden guns because there weren't enough to go around. The ramping up of the industrial capabilities was the game changer - neither Germany, Japan or Italy of the Axis powers were able to continue production on a scale needed to win a war.
To think this was going on for ships and aircraft too..they definitely knew how to get the ball rolling back then, hopefully today too.. Hats off to the US..
Wasn't there a Liberty ship finished every 5 days? They were building them faster than the U-boats could sink them. Mind some of those ships sunk themselves due to the speed of the construction and corners cut but it was *total war.*
I believe you are correct about that _getting the ball rolling_ could happen today. Look at the vaccine production increase when the "war footing" (or whatever the correct terminology is called) order was enacted by the President at some time after midday on 20th Jan 2021.
Joseph King, you have your dates and presidents mixed a bit. The vacinne production was started under Trump called "warp speed".
He also.inacted a law not used since WW2 forcing auto manufacturers to produce much needed ventilators and stopping 3m from shipping PPE to foreign countries. He also slowed the infiltration of untested, unvaccinated illegals from flooding across our southern boarder. Unlike our current president.
Looking at videos Ike this reminds me of my years working at ALCOA’s Vernon Works that went into operation in 1938. I spent 17 years at that plant, and many things I see in this video were present while worked there.
Fantastic documentary!
Tanks alot boyz! 😅
🇺🇸
Within one year all industrial material and production was re allocated to the war effort, factories were re designed, factories were built from the ground up, the first materials in quantity were rolling onto the loading docks, within two years, improved and completely new models were being built.
Entire new fleets and new armies and new air forces were equipped while being trained from scratch and kept supplied and in the fight once sent.
And during all this a great scientific gamble was undertaken, at the cost of one year's entire gross national production, in extreme secrecy, the research and production of the super bomb.
While we developed the pre eminent signals intercept and decipherment system of the world, and the best medical care of any nation.
That was then.
Whenever a threat cones, Americans came prepared. Thats the thing i love about America.
Respect from India
Ty. One of the things I respect about India is your country’s Defiance against China
This is so beautiful
This voice is something you never forget
everyone is wearing the same suit and hat.
oh I like your hat, I like yours to!
They only had one suit and hat so they all had to share
We won
end
@@ghostmost2614 what?
the gay😉🙉
*I was Looking for this*
Individual initiative is something most Americans are lacking in today.
What individual was shown in this exactly?
Individualism isn't what won the war though.
I read somewhere that the thing that really scared Adolf Hitler was when he heard that they were building a liberty ship at Kaiser shipbuilding in 48 hours. Of course that was a specialty thing and not everyone was built that quickly but that event made him sit up and take notice.
I'm from New Castle, IN I can't believe they mention it.
Even though i don't seem to like modern America, i admire this America.
same
@Leroy Awar Racism has nothing to do with the high standard of production quality America was able to achieve during this time.
@Weird Yu-Gi-Oh! Kid hehe he won’t do a shit about the people, he’s only in for the power
@Weird Yu-Gi-Oh! Kid yes
The America of the yesteryear wasn't by any means perfect but for any of it's missteps, it's lightyears ahead of where we're at now. Back then, pride and integrity were king and the march towards a better tomorrow was firmly in our sights. I sure wish I'd lived in that time to have seen it.
Railroads, trailer Winnebago parks and mechanicalized farming, cruise ships, hydrants, manifolds, emergency service call boxes and storm Drains and wired equipment...etc.
To bad those Lee/Grant tanks were already obsolete even as they were being made.
Racer X learn how to spell.
Yes. As we’re there Sherman replacement. But we made up for it in quantity.
@@jimthompson153 His spelling is fine, it's the grammar he has a problem with. Well, his comment wasn't quite true- see von Luck's Panzer Commander- the Lee was a workable tank until something else hit the front. The 37mm gun was not a premier anti tank weapon, and a 75mm gun in a sponson? Shades of WWI right there; a riveted hull and enough height so you could watch your neighbour undress in their upstairs bathroom were neither considered assets. It also had fairly crappy off road abilities, probably an issue for a vehicle more than likely to be fought off road. One German Oberst's thoughts aside, the Sherman was superior in every way while the Lee was filler. Oh, the Brits replaced the turrets so they could mount radios. Cheers.
@@58Rev Wrong, it should be Too not To.
@@jimthompson153 Welcome to the game, my response has nothing to do with "too" vs "to". Just so you can get up to speed, the comment was about the word "learnt" which is entirely acceptable, but someone corrected him and said it was supposed to be "learned". Either one is acceptable English and now you can acknowledge your assumption and we can move on.
Those early tanks were meant to support infantry. Not go at other tanks . Even the German tanks .
The United States built so many it didnt matter anyway unless you were inside on of em' .
The M3 tank was armed with a short 75mm gun but the main AT gun in it was the 37mm AT gun. That was not really a good gun at that time. The M4 on the other hand could handle just about any tank built and the final version the M4A4 76mm HVSS was the best tank in the world as it could actually get to any place in the world. The one aspect that the Panther had over the M4 was the longer barrel but given that the tanks of the US 3rd army rarely if ever fired at tanks during their drive across France and Germany it was not an issue. I could go on but the simple fact is the armor of the M4 was as thick as the Tiger as the armor on the Tiger was at 10 degree slope versus the 45 degree slope which although thinner gave it a relative same thickness.
Agree on some of your comment. I had an uncle who would have argued against many of your claims.
He was an m4 driver, his first tank had the turret blown completely off, he and the front gunner were the only survivors.
His second tank, a round from a panzer entered through the right front and killed the other crew members.
He was shipped home with many injuries, both physically and mentally. We call it PTSD now.
The m4 was no match against German main battle tanks.
@@donniebrown2896 my uncle wasn't as fortunate. His crew ran over a land mine and all four were killed . February 1945 . They were buried in Chattanooga National Cemetery. Two to a coffin .
My father was wounded in early April 1945 . Think my uncle was 35 years old . Until he found out it was a mine , dad said he figured they must of tried to tangle with Tiger . Brave men . So many didnt get to grow old .
BTW I can see your reasoning about what your uncle and those in his predicament.
I once saw a documentary about that .
During training those poor future Sherman crews were told that the Sherman was a far superior tank compared to the German Panzers they would be facing .
Imagine your first battle . You line up your cannon on a German tank ,fire and the projectile bounces off harmlessly.
You watch the German cannon take aim at the Sherman beside you and the Sherman is blown to bits . Not leaving the Sherman crews with a lot of confidence.
Actually fighting tanks was expected
Back when Warren was a bunch of corn fields.
No social media, cell phones or computers. Everything built by hand. You think we would be unstoppable. Now we are worthless. Now we cry about how people are mean to each other. The greatest generation dead and it's so sad
You seem to be crying a lot.
@@stephenjackson6111 where
That tall turret may as well have a sign saying "hit me".
"Turret of FREEDOM" asshole
2tall4u
KV-2
"selected for their knowledge, ability, and initiative".
Yeah, we would be in much better shape as a country if political correctness didn't put an end to this.
Amazing how that produces the best results!
Ah. How I love being educated about WW 2.
Right?
*It's Amazing Isn't It?*
Totally crazy
It’s like music to my ears. Oh wait it’s also Glenn millers in the mood I’m hearing
Yeah its great man
Ball bearings, pen tips and curtain abicuses are needed back for appropriate use, buck shot bellers and gun shelling as well
Great video thank you to men and women who did this for our country 🇺🇸, I wonder if it could be done today.
Today your lucky to get the expedited results of a simple soil test even before the first form is put into the ground in less than 6 months from the E.P.A.
you're
I wish our current America was this holistically unified and determined,
One thing I find entertaining is how small many of the working trucks in use are compared to today's passenger half-ton trucks.
I really see it in front of me, a De Soto tank in berlin, defending the workers in Detroit. Shit,,,whats left? No De Soto, no workers and no Detroit,,,,,that was a victory
now Detroit is in the war zone
All that machinery- shapers, planers, lathes, drills, etc😯😯!!
Yep,it's a MOPAR world... The slowest vehicle Dodge ever produced with the highest mileage road test ever...
They didn't tell you that these tanks were.... sheet metal tanks. You see those rivets? Those were to hold the sheet metal on. How many shots from a Russian or German tank do you think a sheet of sheet metal can take before the tank goes up in flames. The USA realized this mistake in Africa before Normandy happened, so fortunately we werent too under gunned, just a little
I believe this is the Tank Automotive Command in Warren Michigan.
I live 2 miles away from this place.
Yes. I lived in miles from it. On Van Dyke avenue that's where it was. Very close to the GM world headquarters tech center
Is this where Michael Dukakis had his tank ride photo opportunity?
Absolutely phenomenal undertaking I doubt it possible today to many sissies
do you not think that Germany had a similar amount of industry? They annexed Czechslovakia who had the biggest tank factories of the day. The fact that America had the best production rates was less to do with true grit and mom's apple pie than the fact they were not being bombed 24/7.
@@GraemeSPa the Germans before the war, were more of a farming/agricultural economy than a manufacturing economy. They never managed to really meet production goals, even before they were bombed, which wasn’t terribly effective anyway. They needed vast amounts of slave labor to fill the factories during the war, because they didn’t have the manpower for it, because so many were in uniform. The efficiency of French, Czech, Polish and other factories was low, which was to be expected from countries expected to produce arms for the hated aggressor. Quality varied greatly between regions and factories.
Railroad tracks were different between Germany and several conquered countries, and later, the USSR, which meant loading heavy goods, unloading them, and loading them again, both ways, which led to holdups and delays. Alloys and other materials often were in short supply, as they had been imported from allied nations before Hitler began to stop trading externally, one of his national sufficiency economic programs. So there wasn’t much buildup before the war of many needed materials, such as rubber, which had Germany stopping production of cars and trucks because there were no tires for them, and the rubber was needed elsewhere. Their artificial rubber experiments never were able to product much usable substitute.
This is all well documented by German officials, and there are several good books about Germanys pre and war economies.
You watch "American Factory"? That's the Chinese way, 12 hrs a day, 6-7 days/week, no dangerous job undone, f' the safety regs, start the day off with a rousing "hail to the corporate chief". They get it done, but would you want to work like that? I didn't think so...
Chrysler at its best!!
Hard to think of that area ever being a cornfield
The Heroes that made EVERYTHING POSSIBLE. Words FAIL
Hello,
Can you tell me where you sourced the tank production line footage from? We'd like to use it in one of our programmes.
Thanks a lot
Ben
*BULLET RESISTANT STEEL* >mild concern
There's armor, and then there's armor. :D
Fajny filmik. Robi wrażenie.
Dużo Polaków pracowało i budowało amerykańska potęgę
There was a tank factory in Philly, bomb proof roof, long gone, it was very hard to demolish it,
From Wikipedia: M3's overall performance was not satisfactory and the tank was withdrawn from combat in most theaters
But only after the "M4 Sherman became available in larger numbers."
The tanks were before wikipedia. Wikipedia will be gone before the tanks.
Those were sent to the repair depots to be modified into gun motor carriages holding a 75mm and 105mm howitzer or prime movers for heavy artillery.
Sure, when there's killing to be done, they build massive factories in record time. When there's something good to be done, it sits on the backburner for 20 years then takes another 20 years to build.
Nope, its pulling the trip wire on the school bully and smacking the shit out of him when he tipped over the wheelchair kid.
I expected Superman to swoop in any second to give his okey-doke...
I love how little the people in the comments know about tanks and history
@Worlds Biggest Loser I love the fact you think history doesn't matter... you should add world's dumbest human to your name as well.
Kekw noob rekt
someone is a little cheesed off.
@@SuperGunboy probably cause you're an idiot
Before you shoot your mouth, consider who i was talking about you moron.
@@SuperGunboy cheddar cheesed. But sometimes also provolone or brie
Sure it had its defects. But the brits welcomed it in North Africa. Plus it's big Canon was not a pea shooter. And it had American reliability.
who won?
@@Mjc103 who won what?
@@mobiousenigma you pretty much just repeated what the op said. The op is saying that the Sherman was a good tank
Try to get any of these kids or anybody to do that today lots of luck they were great back then and the factories were great now everything moved away in our country is going down the drain
can you?
I have a iron golem factory
The iron golem factory:
Imagine considering the M3 Lee the epitome of "... streamlined modern warfare."
Well they get to make everything sounds impressive in some way in the old days
@@WamuroRiXi08 You're right, and it goes on to this very day.
Good enough tank early on, but its super high profile and weak armament (that 75mm built into the hull negated a lot of its usefulness) made it ineffective past a certain point in the war (the British used a lot of them and they worked alright on the Mark IIIs and early Mark IVs which were fairly vulnerable to its 37mm, but against the big cats, as you can guess, they were hopelessly outclassed.
The tallest version of the M4 Sherman was 9'9" tall, 1 inch shorter than the German Panther.
Just as the earlier panzers were hopelessly out classed, what's your point?
The M3 used a temporary superstructure while Ordnance finalized the design of the M4's turret ring and casting of its upper hull.
is this the warran tank plant in warran mich and who were the contractors
Wooow, amazing.
Chrysler commercial, but still pretty good.
People of America needed to know what was being done. Was shown in movie theaters. Even if somewhat commercialized for Chrysler's benefit, it still told how we were responding.
Absolutely astonishing to set up such a plant in 6 months! All the respect ! And highly skilled personell too ! About a tanks they were producing - .....how to say better ... - killing ratio was: - 1 german tank ( tiger-panther-STUG ) to 4 american tanks.( mostly sherman's ,pershing's maybe not) . And how many crews were lost - wery ,wery sad thing.
Not really in regards to armor on armor losses.
Still driving my 38 year old RamCharger...the Germans laughed about it whrn they lifted thier skirts n sold it all off to Daimler.
凄い貴重映像に秀樹感激Goodです=3
Type writer, gym barbels, anchor and sewing machine, telegraph equipment and such
When Herman Goering looked overhead and saw B-17s he said, “Well this is over.” The M-3 was crap but the M-4 was a little better. I think the kill ratio was 1:4 for Panthers to Shermans. When you have 500 Sherman’s for every 1 Panther, I’ll take those odds.
The 4th and 8th ADs had a 1:3 panther kill ratio