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   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   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   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   Gibson Guitar   Gibson Refrigerator Company   Goodyear   Hall-Scott   Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company   Harley-Davidson   Harris-Seybold-Potter   Herreshoff Manufacturing Company   Higgins Industries    Highway Trailer   Hill Diesel Company   Holland Hitch Company   Homelite Company   Horace E. Dodge Boat and Plane Corporation   Huffman Manufacturing   Indian Motorcycle   Ingersoll Steel and Disk   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   Queen City Manufacturing Company   R.G. LeTourneau   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   Youngstown Steel Door Company  
   

American Auto Industry-Built Anti-Aircraft Guns in World War Two

This page added 7-1-2020.

Military historians have generally overlooked the American Automobile Industry's contribution to the production of anti-aircraft guns during World War Two.  While there is some recognition of the 40mm Bofors that Chrysler and the 20mm Oerlikon that Hudson built, the volumes and various types of anti-aircraft guns built by General Motors and Willys-Overland have gone unnoticed.  When consolidated in the table below, it can be seen that the American Auto Industry built both anti-aircraft guns and components of all sizes from the .50 caliber machine gun to the 120mm anti-aircraft gun, the largest built in the United States during the war.

Definition:  A complete anti-aircraft gun was the operating gun mechanism and the barrel.  Mounts may or may not have been have been built by the manufacturer of the operating weapon.  In the case of the 40mm Bofors, both Chrysler and Pontiac built the weapons, but other companies built the mounts. 


Ka-Boom times four!  All of the 120mm anti-aircraft guns, like the four firing simultaneously here, were built by the General Motors Fisher Body Divisions Grand Rapids plant. 

Summary Table - American Auto Industry Built Anti-Aircraft Guns
This table includes not only completed weapons but components to the weapons that were produced by the American Automobile Industry.  Dark shading indicates assembly of a complete weapon.
Weapon Company Gun Mechanisms Gun Tubes Breeches Gun Mounts Complete Anti-Aircraft Guns Comments
.50 Caliber HB Browning AC Spark Plug Division of GM 100,000 100,000 Included in Mechanism   100,000 This is an estimate based on total General Motors build of 1.27million machine guns produced in four different GM Divisions.
1.1 inch Willys-Overland     3,374 Breech Housings and Recoil Cylinders for 1.1 inch anti-aircraft guns      
20mm Oerlikon Hudson 33,201 33,201 Included in Mechanism 33,201 33,201 Production started 7-7-41 and ended 10-43.
20mm  Oerlikon Pontiac Unknown Amount 47,026 estimated.  See calculations below.

 

 Included in Mechanism 39,275 estimated single mounts. 5,760 twin 20mm Oerlikon mounts. Yes Pontiac started production before Pearl Harbor.
40mm Bofors US Navy Chrysler 28,884 28,884 Included in Mechanism   Yes Chrysler reported 14,442 Dual 40mm Bofors at the end of the war.
40mm Bofors US Army Chrysler 30,095 51,684 Included in Mechanism   Yes Gun Mechanisms is an end of war number.  Gun tubes is as of 3-31-44.
40mm Bofors US Army Pontiac 4,900 17,892 Included in Mechanism   Yes  
40mm Bofors US Army Firestone       20,231 Yes Firestone mounted the weapons provided by Chrysler, Pontiac and other gun manufacturers onto mounts.  In essence, it was the final assembler of a complete weapon.
40mm Bofors US Navy Firestone       10,434  Yes Same as above.
3-inch/50-caliber Dual Purpose Naval Gun Fisher Body Division of GM- Detroit Die and Machine     9,459      
90mm US Army Fisher Body Division of GM- Pontiac Plant         2,359  
90mm US Army Buick Division of GM       2,402   Buick (2,952) 90mm and 4.7 Anti-Aircraft Gun Mounts, 
90mm US Army Chevrolet Division of GM   2,000 2,000     Breech Block, Breech Ring, Recoil Rails, and bored and rifled the 15-foot gun tube
120mm US Army Fisher Body Division of GM-Grand Rapids Stamping Plant         550  
120mm US Army Buick Division of GM       550    
5-inch/38-calliber inch Dual Purpose Naval  Fisher Body Division of GM- Detroit, MI Die and Machine     6,342 total Breech Housings between Detroit and Grand Rapids Plants.  Detroit Die and Machine built the majority of the housings.      March 1944: 300 per month both plants combined
 
5-inch/38-calliber inch Dual Purpose Naval  Fisher Body Division of GM- Grand Rapids, MI Stamping Plant     6,342 total Breech Housings between Detroit and Grand Rapids Plants     March 1944 300 per month both plants combined

130 per month
5-inch/38-calliber inch Dual Purpose Naval  Fisher Body Division of GM-Pontiac, MI       480    

.50 Caliber Browning Machine Guns:  AC Spark Plug Division of General Motors built an estimated 100,000 M2 HB .50 caliber Browning machine guns.  The .50 caliber machine gun was used on just about every type vehicle, small ship, boat, and aircraft during the war.  One of its main functions was providing low altitude anti-aircraft protection for army units and its vehicles.


Quartermaster vehicles needed protection against low-flying aircraft.  This GMC CCKW-352 was on display at the Virginia Museum of Military Vehicles 2016 Open House.  Author's photo.


Four .50 caliber machine guns were used in the M45 quad mount anti-aircraft gun mount trailer.  Author's photo.


The .50 were also mounted on M3 half-tracks which were re-designated as M16s.  Author's photo.


The M15 half-track mounted two .50 caliber machine guns and one 37mm cannon for providing anti-aircraft defense.  This on is on display at Fort Jackson, SC.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.

1.1 inch Anti-Aircraft Guns for the US Navy:  Willys-Overland is most well known for building Jeeps during World War Two.  A look at my Willys-Overland page reveals that it had a large and diversified product line during the war.  Included in this product line were 3,374 breech housings and recoil cylinders for the weapon.  The 1.1 inch quad mount was the low level anti-aircraft gun on U.S. Navy ships at the beginning of World War Two.  However, the weapon was problematic; and for the most part was replaced by the 20mm Oerlikon and the 40mm Bofors.  At the end of the war, there were still some 1.1 inch weapons still on navy ships.  The 1.1 was too heavy and not able to move fast enough as a close in-weapon.  On the other hand it was too small a caliber to serve as an intermediate weapon between a heavy machine gun and a five-inch dual purpose gun.  In 1940, even though the 1.1 was scheduled for replacement  by both the 20mm Oerlikon and 40mm Bofors, production was increased while manufacturers tooled up for its replacements.  A 1.1-inch was better than no weapon at all.  Willys-Overland was part of this pre-war buildup. 


The 1.1-inch (28mm) quad mount anti-aircraft gun was used by the US Navy during the first part of World War Two.  Prone to overheating and jamming if not properly maintained, the weapons were replaced on US Navy ships, for the most part, by the both the 20mm Oerlikon and 40mm Bofors cannon later in the war.  Willys built 3,374 breach housings and recoil cylinders for the weapons starting in 1941 and ending in 1943.  As seen on the USS Yorktown at Patriots Point, SC.  Author's Photo.


Author's Photo.


Here is another 1.1-inch quad mount photographed in Freedom Park, Omaha, NB.  This one has one of the gunner's seats still attached.  This weapon may not exist anymore.  Freedom Park is/was right along the Missouri River in Omaha and has been devastated several times since my visit by flooding.  The park is supposed be moved to safer area.  Author's Photo.


This photo gives a good view of the feed trays for the 1.1-inch shells.  Author's Photo.

20mm Oerlikon Anti-Aircraft Guns for the US Navy:  There were four companies that produced 146,956 20mm Oerlikon cannon during World War Two.  Two of them were from the auto industry, Pontiac and Hudson.  The U.S. Navy replaced Hudson with Westinghouse as the managing company at the U.S. Navy Ordnance plant in Centerline, MI in October 1943.  The fourth company was American Oerlikon Gazda Corporation.

In December 1941, contracts with each company gave a monthly production rate.  While there are no known production numbers available for the individual companies of the 20mm cannon, with the exception of Hudson, a total production is available.  With this information, an estimate of each manufacturer can be made and is done in Table 1 below.

Pontiac 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannon photos:  There are two different dates found for the beginning of the 20mm program at Pontiac.  "Pontiac at War," shown below, gives March 6, 1941.  The "U.S. Navy Bureau of Ordnance in WWII" by Buford Rowland gives a contract signing date of April 3, 1941.  In any event, eight months before Pearl Harbor, Pontiac started work on the production of the 20mm Oerlikon cannon for the United States Navy. The original contract was for 2,000 weapons for the British through Lend-Lease.  The contract was then modified for another 4,000 weapons.  It is unknown whether the 4,000 units were for the British or the U.S. Navy.  The initial production rate was for 200-400 weapons per month.  At the time of Pearl Harbor Pontiac had delivered 115 weapons.

The weapon included both the gun and the mount as shown in the first set of photos below.

Between June 1941 and December 1945 a total of 146,956 20mm Oerlikon guns were produced.  It is known that Hudson built 33,201 guns.  From the table below, it can be seen that Pontiac produced an estimated 47,026 20mm Oerlikon cannons.

Table 1 - Production of 20mm Oerlikon Cannon in World War Two
Company Contracted Monthly Production Rate - 20mm Oerlikon Cannon % of the Total Production Contracted Estimated or Known Number of 20mm Oerlikons built Comments
American Oerlikon Gazda Corporation 500 27 39,678 - Estimated  
Pontiac 600 32 47,026 - Estimated Pontiac delivered 115 weapons previous to Pearl Harbor.
Centerline Naval Ordnance Plant -Hudson 750 41 Confirmed 33,201 out of estimated 60,252 Hudson did not deliver any weapons until after Pearl Harbor.  Production started 7-7-41 and ended 10-43.
Centerline Naval Ordnance Plant -Westinghouse 750 41 27,051 - Estimated Westinghouse took over production at Center Line in 10-43.
Totals 1,850 100 146,956  

The same thought process can be used to estimate the number of single weapon mounts that Pontiac and others built during the war.  There were a 122,735 mounts built by the same four companies at the same three locations.

Table 2 - Production of 20mm Oerlikon Mounts in World War Two
Company Contracted Monthly Production Rate - 20mm Oerlikon Mounts % of the Total Production Contracted Estimated or Known Number of 20mm Mounts built Comments
American Oerlikon Gazda Corporation 500 27 33,139 - Estimated  
Pontiac 600 32 39,275 - Estimated Pontiac delivered 115 weapons previous to Pearl Harbor.  Pontiac also built 5,760 twin 20mm Oerlikon mounts under a separate contract starting January 1945.
Centerline Naval Ordnance Plant -Hudson 750 41 Confirmed 33,201 out of estimated 50321 Hudson did not deliver any weapons until after Pearl Harbor.  Production started 7-7-41 and ended 10-43.
Centerline Naval Ordnance Plant -Westinghouse 750 41 27,051 - Estimated Westinghouse took over production at Center Line in 10-43.
Total   100 122,735  

Hudson:  To date, I have been unable to find any of the 33,201 20mm Oerlikon guns or mounts that Hudson made.  Those that I have found were built by Westinghouse after the U.S. Navy replaced Hudson as the manager of the Centerline, MI Naval Arsenal with Westinghouse in October 1943.


This Hudson factory photo shows a few of the 33,201 20mm Oerlikon guns and mounts it built over a two year period during World War Two.  Note that Hudson built a solid circular mount for the weapons.  Pontiac produced a different type as shown below.

Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors:  Pontiac built an estimated 47,026 20mm Oerlikons for the US Navy.


Pontiac's first war job was building 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons for the US Navy.  This particular weapon, along with the stand and gun sight, were all built by Pontiac.  This weapon is serial number 223843.  Author's photo from the 2016 Virginian Museum of Military Vehicles Open House.

This is the best and most complete Pontiac unit I have found.  All the components were built by the Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors.  For some unknown reason the data plates give General Motors Corporation of Pontiac as the builder.


 Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Data plates on the Mark 10 20mm gun stand.  The serial number on the middle plate is 267182. This matches the serial number on the bottom plate.  Author's photo.


The serial number on the Mark 4 gun breach is 223843.  Author's photo.


The brass Mark 4 gun sight assembly was also manufactured by Pontiac.  Author's photo.


It has a weight of 12 pounds.  Author's photo.


This twin 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun is on the destroyer escort USS Slater in Albany, NY.   The weapon closest to the camera was built by Pontiac.  Author's photo.


Both of the 20mm mounts in both gun tubs are twin mounts.  These could be part of the 5,460 Pontiac built.  Author's photo.


This is the USS Massachusetts at Fall River, MA.  The Oerlikon 20mm cannon in the foreground was built by Pontiac.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


This is Serial Number 43469.  Author's photo.

40mm Bofors Anti-Aircraft Cannon:

Chrysler:  Chrysler built 14,442 Dual 40mm Bofors for the U.S. Navy during World War Two.  Some of these weapons can be found on museum ships.  In many cases the data plates on the weapons are missing, painted over, or just illegible due to weathering.  However, in some cases, the data plates tell which weapons were built by Chrysler. 


During World War Two, Chrysler built 40mm water cooled Bofors Guns for the US Navy under license from the Bofors Company of Sweden.  After Chrysler engineers set up the manufacturing and assembly techniques based on the mass manufacturing, the weapon could be assembled in ten hours.  Bofors in Sweden was taking 450 hours. 

This example is located on the USS Sullivans in Buffalo, NY, and is located on the middle of the ship on the starboard side.  It should be noted that Chrysler built only the firing portion of the total weapon.  The gun mounts were built by other companies.


There is a data plate on each barrel and assembly.  This one is mounted on the breech of the gun facing the rear of the ship.  This Chrysler-built 40mm Bofors gun mechanism is serial number 29869.  Author's photo.


This is the other gun of the pair.  Author's photo added 10-12-2017.


Here is the data plate for the gun mechanism for the gun facing the front of the ship.  This one is serial number 39869.  What are the chances of a gun mount having two Chrysler 40mm guns with serial numbers separated by exactly10,000 units?   Author's photo.


This is the USS Massachusetts at Fall River, MA.  A visit to the USS Massachusetts in June 2019 revealed that most, if not all, of the 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns onboard were built by Chrysler in 1942.  This makes sense because the Massachusetts was launched in September 1941 and commissioned on May 12, 1942.  The Chrysler-built Bofors outfitted the battleship in 1942 as the weapons were coming off the assembly lines.  All of the 40mm Bofors I was able to visit on the USS Massachusetts were built by Chrysler.  Author's photo added 12-16-2019.


The USS Massachusetts bristles with 16-inch, 5-inch and 40mm guns.  Author's photo added 12-16-2019.


  There are two gun tubs on the fantail of the USS Massachusetts with two dual 40mm Bofors mounts in each.  Author's photo.


 The serial numbers from the four Chrysler-built 40mm Bofors in the starboard side rear quad 40mm gun tub are shown below.  Author's photo added 12-16-2019.


 This is serial number 25067.  Author's photo.


I have lightened this data plate as it was on the shade side of the weapon.  It is so worn that it is hard to read.  This is serial number 25065, just two less than the previous matching gun in the twin mount.  Author's photo.


This is serial number 35065.  Author's photo.


This is serial number 35067, two more than the matching gun in the twin mount.  Author's photo.

Chrysler produced 30,095 gun mechanisms and 51,684 gun tubes for the U.S. Army M1, M1A1, M2 and M2A1 anti-aircraft guns, and for U.S. Navy M3 single-gun ship-mounted guns. 


The Navy used the single mount with Chrysler 40mm gun mechanisms and tubes.  Author's photo.


Chrysler-built 40mm mechanisms and gun tubes went it into Army anti-aircraft guns like this one on display at the Museum of American Armor on Long Island, NY.  Author's photo. 

Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors:  Pontiac produced 4,900 gun mechanisms and 17,892 gun tubes through March 1944.


Pontiac began work on the 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun mechanisms and gun tubes in January 1942.  Pontiac cleared 217,000 square feet of the sheet metal plant space to manufacture the weapon.  The Bofors could fire 130 rounds per minute, and the two pound projectiles had a range of 5,420 yards.  Author's photo.

The information for the two tables below comes from "The History of the Americanization of the Bofors 40mm Automatic Antiaircraft Gun" written by the Historical Section of the Ordnance Department in May 1944.

Pontiac produced 16.5% of the gun mechanisms and 20.8% of the gun tubes for the US Army 40mm Bofors like the one shown above.  Note that the information came from an article written in May 1944.  Over a year of war still remained, and the need for gun tubes continued.

Production of 40mm Gun Mechanisms for the US Army as of March 1944

Company Date Quantity Percentage Comments
Chrysler 3-31-1944 24,802 83.5%  
Pontiac After 12-1943 4,900 16.5% This was the scheduled amount that was completed some time in 1944.
Total   29,702    

 

Production of 40mm Gun Tubes for the US Army as of March 1944

Company Date Quantity Percentage
Chrysler 3-31-1944 51,684 60.2%
Pontiac 3-31-1944 17,892 20.8%
Otis Fensom 3-31-1944 16,258 18.9%
War Supplies 10-42 40 0.1%
Total   85,874  

Firestone Tire and Rubber Company:  Firestone built 20,231 40mm gun carriages for the U.S. Army during World War Two.  It received the assembled gun mechanisms and tubes from both Chrysler and Pontiac, and then assembled them into the gun carriages.  It also built 10,434 single-gun mounts for the U.S. for use on submarines, PT boats, and other small water craft.


This 40mm anti-aircraft gun with a Firestone Navy gun mount is on PT-305 in New Orleans, LA.  Author's photo.


 This carriage is serial number 16430 which was built in 1943.  Author's photo.


A Firestone-built 40mm Bofors mount and carriage can be seen at the Indiana Military Museum in Vincennes, IN.  Author's photo.


This is an M3 mount and is serial number 9899.  Author's photo.

3-inch/50-caliber Naval Dual-Purpose Guns:  The Fisher Body Division of General Motors Die and Machine plant in Detroit, MI built 9,459 breeches for the 3-inch gun during World War Two. 


The number one three-inch/50-caliber gun on the USS Slater DE-766 has a Fisher Body-built breech.  The USS Slater is on display along the Hudson River water front in Albany.  It is the only Cannon Class Destroyer Escort on display in the world.  Author's photo.


The number one gun on the USS Slater.  Author's photo.


The tour guide encouraged those on the tour to get on the gun mount and operate the elevation and transverse controls.  Author's photo.


This is Fisher Body three-inch breech serial number 13324.  Author's photo.


The tour guide showed the size of the three-inch round to my tour group.  Author's photo.


Here the tour guide is showing how the shell is inserted into the Fisher Body-built breech.  Author's photo.


Author's photo added 8-25-2017.

90 mm Anti-Aircraft Gun:

Fisher Body Pontiac, MI Plant:  This plant built 2,359 90mm anti-aircraft guns with the parts furnished by several other General Motors plants.  Buick supplied all of the gun mounts for the weapons, Chevrolet provided at least 2,000 each of the needed Breech Blocks, Breech Rings, and Recoil Rails  It also bored and rifled the 15-foot gun tube.


This 90mm anti-aircraft gun is on display at Jackson Barracks in New Orleans.  It is representative of the 2,359 built by the Pontiac Plant of the Fisher Body Division during World War Two.  Author's photo.


 Author's photo.


 Author's photo.


 Author's photo.

120mm Anti-Aircraft Guns:  The Grand-Rapids plant of the Fisher Body Division of General Motors built all 550 of the 120mm anti-aircraft guns produced.  Buick provided the gun mounts.  There are only a few of the 120mm anti-aircraft guns left.  I have provided several photos below of the weapon on display at the USS Alabama in Mobile, AL to show all the features and complexity of the weapon.



This is one of the few surviving 120mm M1 anti-aircraft guns of the 550 built by Fisher Body Grand Rapids during World War Two.  Author's photo.


The M120mm anti-aircraft gun was the signature weapon produced by Fisher Body Grand Rapids Stamping Plant during World War Two.  The Power Rammer was designed and built by the Grand Rapids plant.  Author's photo.


 Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo added 3-20-2018.


Author's photo added 3-20-2018.


Author's photo added 3-20-2018.


Author's photo added 3-20-2018.

One of the last known uses for the Fisher Body Grand Rapids built M1 120mm anti-aircraft gun was at the Hanford Engineering Works plutonium production reactor complex along the Columbia River in Washington.  In the early 1950s, 16 batteries of four M1 anti-aircraft guns were set up around the facility as the Cold War heated up.  5,000 soldiers of the 501st, 518th, and 519th AAA Battalions manned the 64 M1s against an air attack from the Soviet Union.  In 1955 the M1s were phased out and replaced by Nike Ajax anti-aircraft missiles. 

5-inch/38-caliber Naval Dual-Purpose Guns:  Both the Fisher Body Grand Rapids, MI and Detroit Die and Machine plants built 6,342 breech housings for these weapons.  The Detroit Die and Machine plant started producing the housing in April 1941.  It received the Navy "E" flag for shipping breech housings only five months after tooling began.  The Grand Rapids Fisher Body plant tooled up in 1943.  By March 1944, the two plants were producing 300 5-inch housings per month.

The Pontiac, MI Fisher Body plant produced 480 gun mounts for the five-inch gun between September 1943 and January 1945.


The Fisher Body Die and Machine plant in Detroit and the Fisher Body in Grand Rapids produced naval gun breeches for five-inch, 38-caliber guns like this one.  This five-inch gun can be seen at the USS Sullivans at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park in Buffalo, NY.  Author's photo.


This is one of four five-inch, 38 caliber naval guns without the turret armor.  It is on display at the USS Alabama.  This allows for an excellent inspection of both the breeches and the mounts.  Many non-combat ships had five-inch guns like these for defensive protection.  Liberty ships had a five-inch gun like this, manned by a Navy crew, on the fantail of these important transport ships.   Author's photo.


The gun mechanism was a complicated and precision device consisting of 218 components.  The Fisher Body built breech housing weighed 2,932 pounds.  It is the component in the center of the gun mechanism with the opening for the five inch round, to which the remaining 217 components were added.  Author's photo.


 One of the seven different components that Fisher Body Pontiac assembled into the gun mount weighed 5,250 pounds.  This was a huge undertaking on the part of Fisher Body Pontiac.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.

 

 

 

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