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  
   

 Owens Yacht Company in World War Two
Dundalk, MD
1932-1961
Sold to Brunswick Corporation in 1961

This page updated 4-19-2022.

An American Auto Industry in World War Two Special Edition

Owens Yacht was started in 1932 by John Charles and Norman Owens in Baltimore, MD.  In 1936 the company purchased eight acres of land on Bear Creek in Dundalk, MD, and built a state-of-the-art boat building plant on the site.  The Owens brothers studied the mass production techniques of the American Auto Industry and applied them to boat building at Dundalk.  In 1957 the company switched from wood to fiberglass construction, and also developed a line of marine V-8 engines.  In 1961 Owens was purchased by Brunswick Corporation. 

Owens Yacht Company World War Two Products:  The company had $10,014,000 in major war contracts during the war.  $9,538,000 or 95.3% of the of the total was for the U.S. Navy.  The remaining $476,000 or 4.7% was for two U.S. Army contracts early in the war.  $7,136,000 or 71.2% was for landing craft and landing craft LCVP.

Table 1 - Owens Yacht 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.  This table added 4-19-2022.
Product - Customer Contract Amount Contract Awarded Date Completion Date
Boats - Army $255,000 4-1941 10-1941
Boats - Navy $337,000 1-1942 8-1942
Boats Rescue - Army $221,000 3-1942 10-1942
Boats - Navy $1,898,000 4-1942 12-1942
Landing Craft - Navy $1,240,000 10-1942 11-1943
Landing Craft - Navy $1,180,000 4-1943 5-1944
Landing Craft - Navy $3,295,000 8-1943 6-1945
Ship Parts - Navy $67,000 9-1944 1-1945
Landing Craft LCVP - Navy $1,004,000 10-1944 6-1945
Landing Craft LCVP - Navy $417,000 12-1944 6-1945
Ship Machinery Pts - Navy $100,000 4-1945 7-1945
Total $10,014,000    

 

Table 2 - Boats built by Owens Yacht during World War Two
Designation Number Built Customer Description Year Comments
P-25 to P-41 17 U.S. Army 42-foot Rescue Boat Oct 1941 - Apr 1942 This was an Owens design based on one of it's recreational boats.
P-190 to P-206 17 U.S. Army 42-foot Rescue Boat Dec 1942 - Mar 1943  
J-672 to J-681 10 U.S. Army Patrol Boat Apr 1943 - Jun 1943  
LCP(L) 575 estimated U.S. Navy Landing Craft 1941-1945 Dates given is the time period these types were built.
LCV 575 estimated U.S. Navy Landing Craft 1941-1943 Dates given is the time period these types were built.
LCVP 1,000 estimated U.S. Navy Landing Craft 1942-1945 Dates given is the time period these types were built.

42-Foot Rescue Boat:


This and the next drawing show some of the features of a 42-foot rescue boat that was based on an Owens recreational boat.  Drawing added 2-14-2020.


This type of boat was used for inland waterways and close-to-shore rescues.  Drawing added 2-14-2020.

Landing Craft, Personnel, Large (LCP(L)):


Owens built a number of LCP(L) landing craft, the number of which is unknown due to lack of records.  This outline drawing and the one below are from the "Operators Manual, 36-foot "Eureka" Landing Motor Boats," revised June 1944 by Higgins Industries.  Owens and other manufacturers of the LCP(L) built them from outline drawings like this along with a full set of details drawings and parts lists.  Drawing added 2-14-2020.


Drawing added 2-14-2020.


The final product looked like this, which is a 1944 Higgins-built LCP(L).  It is on display at the National World War Two Museum in New Orleans, LA.  Author's photo added 2-14-2020.

Landing Craft, Vehicle (LCV):  The LCV was the first ramped 36-foot landing craft designed and built by Higgins Industries.  It was the predecessor of the more well-known LCVP or Higgins boat.


There were 2,633 LCVs built between 1941 and 1943 by Higgins Industries, Chris-Craft, Richardson, and Owens Yacht.  While not built in the quantities of the LCVP, LCVs saw duty in early American invasions in World War Two.  It continued to be utilized even after the LCVP became the dominant landing craft later in the war.


The name given to the LCV at the time of this drawing on 12-29-1941 was 36 Foot Ramp Type Eureka Surf Landing Boat.  Owens Yacht would have used this outline drawing and the one below along with a full set of detail drawings and a parts list to build the LCV.  Engineering drawing courtesy of C. Robert Gillmor added 1-9-2020.


The length of the boat was 36 feet and 4-1/2 inches.  It was 10 feet and 9 inches in height, and 10 feet and 9-1/2 inches wide.  The engine shown is a Hall-Scott 168 Invader six-cylinder gasoline powered engine.  Hudson Motor Car Company supplied many of the Invader engines for this landing craft.  Other engines were installed in this boat depending on availability.  Engineering drawing courtesy of C. Robert Gillmor added 1-9-2020.


C. Downing drew this engineering drawing of the 36 Foot Ramp Type Eureka Surf Landing Boat on 12-29-1941.  Note that it was neither checked nor approved.  Engineering drawing courtesy of C. Robert Gillmor added 1-9-2020.

Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel (LCVP):

"Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus."
From a poem by Francis Pharcellus Church in the September 21, 1897 in the New York Sun.  This was in reply to eight-year-old Virginia O'Hallon who wrote a letter to the newspaper asking whether there really was a Santa Claus.

Like the famous editorial reply by Francis Pharcellus Church to Virginia O'Hallon in the September 21, 1897 New York Sun when asked if there really was a Santa Claus...

"No Virginia, not every LCVP during World War Two was built by Higgins Industries."
The builders of the LCVPs during World War Two need to be clarified, because when I go to museums with WWII LCVPs and ask who built it, the answer is always "Higgins."  Then the docent will always add that Higgins built all the LCVPs of World War Two.  This is categorically incorrect.  Higgins built only 52.8% of the total LCVP production; and was one of seven known companies that built the LCVP during the war.

Owens Yacht is one of six builders of the LCVP and built an estimated 1,000 LCVPs, or 4.2% of the total.  

The Six Companies that built the LCVP during World War Two
I have had to do some best-guess estimating because the hard data of who built exactly how many LCVPs does not exist or has not yet been found.
Company Number of LCVPs built Percentage of the total built Comments
Chris-Craft, Algonac, MI 8,602 36.8% This is a derived valued based on various pieces of information found in the literature.  See my Chris-Craft page for the calculations.   
Dodge Boat and Plane Corporation, Newport News, VA 2,533 10.8% This is number was published in the September 4, 1945 issue of the Newport News, VA Daily Press.
Higgins Industries, New Orleans, LA 9,725 41.6% This is a derived valued based on various pieces of information found in the literature.  See my Higgins Industries page for the calculations.
Matthews Company, Port Clinton, OH 1,000 4.2% By the end of the war, Matthews was producing two landing craft a day or 730 boats per year. Over a three-and-a-half year period, this would be 2,555 landing craft of all types.  This is the best estimate for this company at this time.  I will assume that 1,000 were LCVPs.  
Owens Yacht Company, Baltimore, MD 1,000 4.2% Owens Yacht Company is credited with building a total of 2,150 LCP(L)s, LCVs and LCVPs.  I will assume that 1,000 were LCVPs.
Richardson Boat, North Tonawanda, NY 500 2.1% Richardson Boat Company is credited with building a total of ~1,000 LCP(L)s, LCVs and LCVPs.  This may also include LCMs built by the company.  I will assume that 500 were LCVPs.
Total 23,360   The established number of LCVPs built during World War Two is 23,358.  My estimate is surprisingly extremely close. 

 


This ramp hoisting gear layout drawing gives a general idea of the outline of the LCVP.  Owens would have built its share of the LCVPs from a full set of prints provided by Higgins Industries.  Engineering drawing courtesy of C. Robert Gillmor added 1-9-2020.


The final product would look similar to this, which is a replica built from Higgins engineering drawings just like Owens used to build its portion of LCVPs during World War Two.  This replica is on display at the National World War Two Museum.  It is in the main lobby by the ticket booths. Author's photo added 2-14-2020.


 

 

 

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