The American Automobile Industry in World War Two
An American Auto Industry Heritage Tribute by David D Jackson

 Overview      Lansing Michigan in World War Two   The U.S. Auto Industry at the Normandy Invasion, June 6, 1944    The U.S. Auto Industry and the B-29 Bomber   U.S. Auto Industry Army-Navy "E" Award Winners   The Complete listing of All Army-Navy "E" Award Winners   Sherman Tanks of the American Auto Industry   Tank Destroyers of the American Auto Industry    M26 Pershing Tanks of the American Auto Industry   M36 Tank Destroyers of the American Auto Industry   Serial Numbers for WWII Tanks built by the American Auto Industry   Surviving LCVP Landing Craft    WWII Landing Craft Hull Numbers   Airborne Extra-Light Jeep Photos  The American Auto Industry vs. the German V-1 in WWII   American Auto Industry-Built Anti-Aircraft Guns in WWII   VT Proximity Manufacturers of WWII   World War One Era Motor Vehicles   National Museum of Military Vehicles   Revisions   Links

 Automobile and Body Manufacturers:  American Bantam Car Company   Briggs Manufacturing Company   Checker Car Company   Chrysler Corporation   Crosley Corporation   Ford Motor Car Company   General Motors Corporation   Graham-Paige Motors Corporation   Hudson Motor Car Company   Murray Corporation of America   Nash-Kelvinator   Packard Motor Car Company      Studebaker    Willys-Overland Motors

General Motors Divisions:  AC Spark Plug   Aeroproducts   Allison   Brown-Lipe-Chapin   Buick   Cadillac   Chevrolet   Cleveland Diesel   Delco Appliance   Delco Products   Delco Radio   Delco-Remy   Detroit Diesel   Detroit Transmission   Electro-Motive   Fisher Body   Frigidaire   GM Proving Grounds   GM of Canada   GMC   GMI   Guide Lamp   Harrison Radiator   Hyatt Bearings   Inland   Moraine Products   New Departure   Oldsmobile   Packard Electric   Pontiac   Saginaw Malleable Iron   Saginaw Steering Gear   Southern California Division   Rochester Products   Ternstedt Manufacturing Division   United Motors Service   Vauxhall Motors

 Indiana Companies:  Bailey Products Corporation   Chrysler Kokomo Plant   Continental Steel Corporation  Converto Manufacturing    Cummins Engine Company   Diamond Chain and Manufacturing Company   Delta Electric Company   Durham Manufacturing Company   Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation   General Electric Kokomo Plant   Haynes Stellite Company   Hercules Body Company   Horton Manufacturing Company   Howe Fire Apparatus   International Machine Tool Company   J.D. Adams Company   Kokomo Spring Company   Magnavox   Muncie Gear Works   Pierce Governor Company   Portland Forge and Foundry   Reliance Manufacturing Company-Kokomo Plant   Reliance Manufacturing Company-Washington Plant   Republic Aviation Corporation - Indiana Division   Ross Gear and Tool Company   S.F. Bowser & Co.   Sherrill Research Corporation   Tokheim Oil Tank and Pump Company   Warner Gear   Wayne Pump Company   Wayne Works

Commercial Truck and Fire Apparatus Manufacturers:  American LaFrance   Autocar   Biederman Motors Corporation   Brockway Motor Company   Detroit General   Diamond T   Duplex Truck Company   Federal Motor Truck   Four Wheel Drive Auto Company(FWD)   International Harvester   John Bean   Mack Truck   Marmon-Herrington Company   Michigan Power Shovel Company   Oshkosh Motor Truck Corporation   Pacific Car and Foundry   "Quick-Way" Truck Shovel Company  Reo Motor Car Company  Seagrave Fire Apparatus   Sterling Motor Truck Company    Ward LaFrance Truck Corporation   White Motor Company

Aviation Companies:  Abrams Instrument Corporation    Frankfort Sailplane Company   Hughes Aircraft Company   Kellett Aviation Corporation   Laister-Kauffman Aircraft Corporation   Naval Aircraft Factory   P-V Engineering Forum, Inc.    Rudolf Wurlitzer Company-DeKalb Division  Schweizer Aircraft Corporation   Sikorsky Division of United Aircraft Corporation   St. Louis Aircraft Corporation   Timm Aircraft Corporation

Other World War Two Manufacturers:  Air King Products   Allis-Chalmers   American Car and Foundry   American Locomotive   American Stove Company   Annapolis Yacht Yard   Andover Motors Company   B.F. Goodrich   Baker War Industries   Baldwin Locomotive Works   Blood Brothers Machine Company   Boyertown Auto Body Works   Briggs & Stratton   Burke Electric Company   Caterpillar   Cheney Bigelow Wire Works   Centrifugal Fusing   Chris-Craft   Clark Equipment Company   Cleaver-Brooks Company   Cleveland Tractor Company   Continental Motors   Cushman Motor Works   Crocker-Wheeler   Dail Steel Products   Detroit Wax Paper Company   Detrola   Engineering & Research Corporation   Farrand Optical Company   Federal Telephone and Radio Corp.   Firestone Tire and Rubber Company   Fruehauf Trailer Company   Fuller Manufacturing   Galvin Manufacturing   Gemmer Manufacturing Company   General Railway Signal Company   Gerstenslager Company   Gibson Guitar   Gibson Refrigerator Company   Goodyear   Hall-Scott   Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company   Harley-Davidson   Harris-Seybold-Potter   Herreshoff Manufacturing Company   Higgins Industries    Highway Traile    Hill Diesel Company   Holland Hitch Company   Homelite Company   Horace E. Dodge Boat and Plane Corporation   Huffman Manufacturing   Indian Motorcycle   Ingersoll Steel and Disk   Iron Fireman Manufacturing Company   John Deere   Johnson Automatics Manufacturing Company   Kimberly-Clark   Kohler Company   Kold-Hold Company   Landers, Frary & Clark  Lima Locomotive Works   Lundberg Screw Products   MacKenzie Muffler Company   Massey-Harris   Matthews Company   McCord Radiator & Mfg. Company   Metal Mouldings Corporation   Miller Printing Machinery Company   Morse Instrument Company   Motor Products Corporation   Motor Wheel Corporation   National Cash Resgister Company   Novo Engine Company   O'Keefe & Merritt Company   Olofsson Tool and Die Company   Oneida Ltd   Otis Elevator   Owens Yacht   Pressed Steel Car Company   Pressed Steel Tank Company   Queen City Manufacturing Company   R.G. LeTourneau   Richardson Boat Company   R.L. Drake Company   St. Clair Rubber Company   Samson United Corporation   Shakespeare Company   Sight Feed Generator Company   Simplex Manufacturing Company   Steel Products Engineering Company   St. Louis Car Company   Twin Disc Company   Victor Adding Machine Company   Vilter Manufacturing Company   Wells-Gardner   W.L. Maxson Corporation   W.W. Boes Company   Westfield Manufacturing Company   York-Hoover Body Company   York-Shipley, Inc.   Youngstown Steel Door Company  
   

   Chrysler Main Page   Dodge Trucks in World War Two   Dodge Trucks in Service with the Polish Army   Chrysler built M3 Grant/Lee Photos   Chrysler built M4 Sherman Photos   Chrysler built M4A3 Sherman Photos   Chrysler built M4A4 Sherman Photos  Detroit Tank Arsenal Photos   Chrysler Post WWII M60 Patton Tank Photos   Chrysler Post WWII M103 Heavy Tank Photos   Chrysler T23 Tank Photos

Detroit Tank Arsenal Photos
Operated by Chrysler, US Tank Command, and General Dynamics
Warren, MI
1941-Present

This page updated 11-30-2017.

 The former Detroit Tank Arsenal, actually located in Warren, MI is most famous for its production the 22,234 tanks Chrysler produced there from 1941 to 1945.  After WWII, as can be seen in the table below, it produced more tanks, not all of them by Chrysler.  Also, Chrysler's portion of M48 tanks were built at its Newark, DE plant.  Today, as the photos show below, the former tank arsenal has been modernized, with all of the former windows covered with sheet metal.  It is now the home of several commercial operations. 

Total Tank Production at the Detroit Arsenal, Warren, MI
Type Numbers Produced Years Operator Comments
M3 Lee/Grant 3,352 1941-1942 Chrysler  
M4 Sherman 17,947 1942-1945 Chrysler  
T23 250 1943-1944 Chrysler These were ever used operationally. A Ford GAN engine drove an electric generator that powered two electric drive motors.
M26 Pershing 473 1945 Chrysler This had a 90mm main gun.
M45 105mm GMC 185 1945 Chrysler This was the howitzer version of the M26.
M47 Patton 3,443 1952-1954 Tank Command/Chrysler After WWII the government took back control of the Government Owned Detroit Tank Arsenal.  In May 1951 the Detroit Tank Arsenal began production of the M47.  In July 1952 Chrysler was asked to come in and manage the production of the M47.   Production of the of the 3,443 was out of a total of either 8576 or 8676.
M48 Patton No production at Detroit Arsenal 1952-1959   Chrysler's Newark, DE tank plant built~ 6,000 of 11,703 M48 tanks.
M60 Patton 15,000 1960-1978 Chrysler Initial production of 360 was started at Newark, DE, but production was moved back Detroit after a few units were made.
M1 Abrams Unknown - A portion of 5,000 1982-1996 General Dynamics Shared Production with Lima Tank Depot, Lima, OH.  Production of the M1 started at Lima by Chrysler in 1980.  General Dynamics then purchased the tank business in 1982.  Because Lima could not meet production schedule, General Dynamics also
Estimated Total ~43,000 1996   Ownership transferred to the city of Warren, MI

The Detroit Tank Arsenal Today

The Detroit Tank Arsenal in 1941-42


Chrysler built the M3 Lee/Grant from April 1941 to August 1942.  Note that the entire exterior is all glass, and that the M3 is coming out a little door in the side of the building.


This set of overalls from the Warren Tank Arsenal are on display at the the Michigan Military Technical and History Society Museum in Eastpointe, MI.   Author's photo added 2-21-2017.

The Tanks of the Detroit Arsenal 1941-1996


The Warren Tank Arsenal won the Army-Navy "E" Award four times in WWII.


A Chrysler built M3.  It is serial number 4444 and was built in July 1942.


A Chrysler built M4(105) composite.  This is the only M4 composite with a 105mm howitzer, as it was the prototype for the Chrysler built series of 105 Shermans.  It is serial number 44272 and was built in September 1943.


A Chrysler built M4A4.  It is serial number 21169 and was built in July 1943.  Photo Courtesy of David Jackson, Jr.


A Chrysler built M4A3E8(105).  It is serial number 65404 and was built in January 1945.


A Chrysler built M4A3E8(76).  The serial number and build date are unknown.


This M26 Pershing, serial number 2018, was by Chrysler built in July 1945. 


The M47 was built by several manufacturers.  M47s like this were built at the Warren Tank Arsenal, originally by the Tank Command, and then by Chrysler.


A Chrysler built M60.  The serial number and build date are unknown.


This M60 actually has the Chrysler nameplate on it.  This is rare.


The M1 and M1A1 were built at both the Warren Tank Arsenal and the Lima, OH Tank Depot.  It is unknown whether this M1A1 was built by General Dynamics at Warren.
 

 

 

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