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Burke Electric Company During World War Two
Erie, PA
1904-1949 (when purchased by
the Marathon Electric Company of Wausau, WI)
This page added 8-27-2024.
In 1904, James Burke formed the Burke Electric
Company in Erie, PA. Mr. Burke had previously worked in several
positions at the Edison General Electric Company and the General
Electric Company. Starting with the Edison General Electric
Company in 1889, Mr. Burke was assigned as an assistant to Thomas
Edison. Mr. Burke served at the president of the Burke Electric
Company until 1928 and then as chairman of the board until 1933 when he
retired. He passed away in 1940.
The Burke Electric Company won the Army-Navy
"E" Award twice during World War Two.
This newspaper advertisement in the June 15,
1945 issue of the Lake Shore Visitor shows that the Burke Electric
Company has been awarded a star for its "E" flag.
This letter shows a date of May 25, 1945
when the company was notified of its second "E" award. Also in the
letter is the address of the company at 1202 Cranberry Street in Erie,
PA.
The original "E" award was announced six
months earlier on November 23, 1944.
Burke Electric Company
in World War Two:
Table 1 - Burke Electric Company's Major World War Two Contracts
The information below
comes from the "Alphabetical Listing of Major War Supply
Contracts, June 1940 through September 1945." This was
published by the Civilian Production Administration,
Industrial Statistics Division. |
|
Product - Customer |
Contract Number |
Contract Amount |
Contract Awarded
|
Completion
Date |
| Generators - Army
Signal Corps |
227-SC-2501 |
$101,000 |
10-1940 |
3-1941 |
| Generators - Army |
|
$68,000 |
11-1940 |
2-1941 |
| Ordnance
Equipment - Navy |
Nos-82442 |
$259,000 |
2-1941 |
5-1941 |
| Equipment
Electrical - Navy |
Nos-87265 |
$119,000 |
6-1941 |
9-1941 |
| Generators -
Foreign |
|
$77,000 |
11-1941 |
12-1941 |
| Generator Sets -
Navy |
Nos-5410 |
$57,000 |
4-1942 |
9-1942 |
| Generator Sets -
Navy |
Nos-1641 |
$107,000 |
4-1942 |
9-1942 |
| Ammunition - Navy |
Nxs-4174 |
$100,000 |
5-1942 |
2-1943 |
| Burke Electric
Company |
Nxs-6812 |
$184,000 |
6-1942 |
1-1943 |
| Generators - Navy
|
Xxs-9336 |
$1,180,000 |
6-1942 |
2-1945 |
| Generator Sets -
Navy |
Nxs-13078 |
$120,000 |
9-1942 |
9-1943 |
| Generator Sets -
Navy |
Xxs-21729 |
$370,000 |
1-1943 |
2-1944 |
| Ordnance
Equipment - Navy |
Ord-3309 |
$76,000 |
4-1943 |
12-1943 |
| Dynamotors
- Army Signal Corps |
2134-SC-12668 |
$110,000 |
4-1943 |
12-1943 |
| Ordnance
Equipment - Navy |
Ord-3492 |
$120,000 |
5-1943 |
4-1944 |
| Electric
Generators - Army Signal Corps |
26039-SC-951 |
$199,000 |
9-1943 |
8-1944 |
| Motor Generators
- Navy |
Obs-14004 |
$268,000 |
4-1944 |
2-1945 |
| Motor Generators
- Navy |
Obs-16879 |
$123,000 |
9-1944 |
4-1945 |
| Motor Generators
- Navy |
Obs-20787 |
$193,000 |
3-1945 |
11-1945 |
| Mot Gen Sets -
Navy |
Obs-21033 |
$695,000 |
5-1945 |
1-1946 |
| Total |
|
$4,526,000 |
|
|
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Table 2 - Burke Electric Company's
World War Two Customers |
|
Customer |
Contract Amounts |
Percentage |
|
| U.S.
Navy |
$3,971,000 |
87.7% |
|
| U.S.
Army Signal Corps |
$478,000 |
10.5% |
|
|
Foreign |
$77,000 |
1.7% |
|
|
Total |
$4,526,000 |
99.9% |
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Table 2 shows that the U.S. Navy was the
company's largest customer during World War Two.
This is the Burke Electric Company generator
that is on display at the Atterbury-Bakalar Air Museum in Columbus, IN.
It is the generator portion of the motor generator set. The
Cummins diesel engine that was built in Columbus for the war effort.
The primary reason for the display is the Cummins engine. However,
this also provides the only example of a Burke Electric Company
generator that I have found in my museum visits across the country.
Author's photo.
The information label is not specific about the
actual application of the generator set. The museum is correct
about its use in small vessels, as larger ships primarily used engines
from both the Detroit Diesel and Cleveland Diesel Divisions of GM during
World War Two. Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Ships Service would indicate that the Burke
Electric generator supplied the electrical power for the non-propulsion
needs of the vessel. The contract NXS-12852 is not included in the
major contracts listed in Table 1. Major contracts were for over
$25,000 indicating the value of this contract was less than that amount.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
The Plant:
The address given in the letter from the
U.S. Navy shown above is 1202 Cranberry Street in Erie, PA. This
Google Maps Street Views shows this as the intersection of Cranberry and
West 12th Streets.
What is interesting about this old factory
complex is that the address is 1202 West 12th Street. Could it be
that the Navy got the address wrong, and this is the former Burke
Electric Company plant? The plant is of the proper era in its
design. Image courtesy of Google Maps.
This and the next image are Google Earth
images which give tilted views of the plant.
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