Portland Forge and Foundry in World War Two
Portland, IN
1880's - 1909 as Moffitt and Sees Company, Founders and Machinists
1909 - Current as Portland Forge and Foundry/Portland Forge

This page added 12-8-2022.

An American Auto Industry in World War Two Special Edition

It is extremely rare that a company that helped win World War Two is still in business in the same factory it used to help win World War Two.  But for the Portland Forge and Foundry of Portland, IN, this is an exceptional case.  Most times when I find a company's factory still standing from World War Two, the company no longer exists, and the factory has been divided up and repurposed among several small companies.  This is not the case for the current Portland Forge.  While the ownership of the factory has changed over the years, the company's plant still makes forgings in Portland, IN.  Author's photo.

This is the first time I have shown the current factory first.

This image is looking south at the northeast corner of the factory.  Author's photo.

Author's photo.

This image is looking southeast from the northwest corner of the plant.  Author's photo.

This image is looking directly east into the parking lot with the factory's office building in the center.  The parking lot looked to have been recently repaved.  I was impressed that the area was free of litter.  The employees have done an excellent job of taking care of the premise.  Author's photo.

Author's photo.

This image is looking at the last building on the south end of the factory.  This photo again shows the cleanliness of the parking lot and the area around the forges.  Author's photo.

These two forges appeared to be the oldest buildings of the complex.  However, if so, they have been well maintained during their lifetime.  Author's photo.

During World War Two, this forge and foundry complex employed approximately 350 employees.

History:  The history of the company goes back 120 years to the 1880's when Patrick Moffitt and Henry Sees started the Moffitt and Sees Company, Founders and Machinists Company on East North Street in Portland, IN.  The two men operated the company at this location producing equipment for the gas and oil companies in the area at the time.  In 1909, the two of them sold their business to a corporation which renamed the business as the Portland Foundry and Machine Company.  It also moved the operation to its current location on North Wayne Street in Portland.  The new owners changed the direction of the company's future by installing four drop hammers in the plant.  In 1915, this change was reflected in the company's new name of the Portland Forge & Foundry Company.

During World War One, the company forged gears for the Class B Liberty truck.  Both Durham Gear and Warner Gear in nearby Muncie, IN made transmissions for the vehicles.  Most likely the Portland Forge was providing gears for one or both of the companies.  Author's photo.

The Army-Navy "E" Award:

The Portland Forge and Foundry won the Army-Navy "E" flag four times during World War Two.
The first award was made on February 13, 1943.  The second award was announced on April 6, 1944.

Portland, IN is a small town in east-central Indiana and is the county seat of Jay County.  The current population of Portland is just over 6,000 persons, with agriculture being the primary means of earning a living in the area.  During World War Two, the Portland Forge was one of several companies in Portland.  When the Portland Forge won the "E" award, it was a big deal in town.

The February 13, 1943, edition of the Portland Daily Sun featured the Portland Forge on the first page of the newspaper.

Currently, the town of Portland, IN has a fine military museum.  Named the Museum of the Soldier, the museum not only has military artifacts, but also information on the local industries during World War Two.  Without the Museum collecting and saving this valuable information, I would not be able to write this webpage.  The newspaper pages, "E" Award information, and the Portland Forge and Foundry's "Forgings for War" are all from the Museum's collection.

This is one of many pages in the newspaper with other businesses in Portland congratulating the Portland Forge for winning the "E" Award.

Portland Forge and Foundry World War Two Products:  The two products most associated with the company during World War Two were 37mm high explosive shells, 75mm shot and high explosive shells, and 81 mm mortar high explosive shells.  Table 1 shows that the Portland Forge had $609,000 in contracts from Army Ordnance totaling $609,000 between October 1940 and November 1942.  What is interesting is that there are no major contracts over $50,000 after November 1942.  However, it is known that the company was producing something for military use after this date, as the Portland Forge received its first "E" Award in February 1943.  It then went on to receive three more renewal awards. 

It could be the contracts from Army Ordnance in 1943, 1944, and 1945 were less than $50,000 per contract.  The company was also making forgings and castings to several companies under sub-contracts. 

This is part of the Portland Forge & Foundry display at the Museum of the Soldier in Portland, IN.   Author's photo.

81mm Mortar Shell Forgings:  The Portland Forge produced the rough forgings that were made into the 81mm M42A1 high explosive mortar shell.  It was one of several forges in the United States that produced this forging. 

The 23,220,000 high explosive shellswas the most produced of the four different types of 81mm mortar shells manufactured during World War Two.  It was 63% of the total 37,043,000 mortar shells produced.  It is unknown how many of the 23,220,000 rough forgings the Portland Forge made.

On the left is an 81mm mortar shell rough forging produced by the Portland Forge and Foundry Company.  On the right is a machined 81mm mortar shell.  The Portland Forge only made the rough forgings, which were then sent to another company for the machining.  In the background is a completed mortar shell.  Author's photo from the Museum of the Soldier.

This is an M43A1 finished 81mm high explosive shell.  To make a complete mortar shell, several different companies furnished different parts to the final product.  The fuse and tail fins also needed to be built.  All of the component parts were then sent to an Ordnance plant that assembled all the components and then added the explosives to the final product.  The yellow paint indicates this is a high explosive shell.  Author's photo from the Museum of the Soldier.

An 81mm mortar is shown at the top of the image.  Author's photo.

37mm Forgings:  The Portland Forge also made 37mm high explosive shell rough forgings for the war effort.  As Table 3 shows, the production of this shell was limited to three years.  This was due to the fact the 37 anti-tank guns were being phased out at the end of the war.  

There are two examples of 37mm shells in this photo.  Author's photo.

Below is a series of photos showing the different types of weapons that used 37mm high explosive shells produced by the Portland Forge in World War Two.

At the beginning of World War Two, the 37mm anti-tank gun was the primary towed weapon of this type used by the U.S. Army.  It soon became obsolete as German tanks added more armor plate.  Author's photo.

The M3 and M3A1 series light tank was the light tank of the U.S. Army and USMC at the start of the war.  It was superseded in American service by the M5 series light tank.  However, other Allied forces continued to use the M3 and M3A1 series light tank until the end of the war.   Author's photo.

The M5A1 replaced the M3 series light tank with U.S. forces and was still in use at the end of the war.  Author's photo.

The M3 towed anti-aircraft gun also used high explosive ammunition.  Author's photo.

The M15A1 half-track was used to carry anti-aircraft weapons.  Author's photo.

This photo shows the M1A2 37mm anti-aircraft gun mounted above the M2 .50 Browning machine guns.  Author's photo.

75mm Shell Forgings:  The Portland Forge produced the rough forgings that were made into the 75mm M72 APC anti-tank and 75 mm M48 High Explosive Shell.  It is unknown how many forgings for each type of shell the company made.  Table 4 shows the total shells for each type made by all manufacturers during World War Two.

* Includes M61 APC.

The shell on the left is a completed 75mm M72 AP-T anti-tank projectile weighing 18 lbs.  On the right is a completed M48 high explosive shell.  To be completed, it would have needed to have been sent to an Ordnance plant to have 1.47 lbs. of TNT added along with an M48 fuse.   Author's photo from the Museum of the Soldier.

When completed with the shell casing and fuse, the finished shell forging looks similar to these two 75mm examples. 

The most common use for the 75MM M48high explosive shell was in Sherman tanks when they were used in the infantry support role.  High explosive shells were used to destroy enemy bunkers and fortifications so that the infantry could advance beyond them.  About 75% of the 75mm shells carried in Sherman tanks were high explosive types.  The Sherman tank was also the prime user of the M72 APC round.  This Chrysler-built M4A4(75)VVSS is on display at the Evansville Wartime Museum in Evansville, IN.  Author's photo.

Other World War Two Products:  Forgings for  shells, bomb bases, bomb noses, Hip flanges, and pipe time flanges.  Other forgings and castings were used in various other types of equipment such as submarines, landing craft, gun carriages, armored cars, jeeps, trucks, tanks, airplane tractors, bulldozers, and aircraft.

This photo is from the "Forgings for War" shown below and shows some of the many other components the Portland Forge made to help win World War Two.  This parts appear be castings.

"Forgings for War:"  This is a 1943 publication by the company on its efforts to provide forgings and castings for the war effort. This is part of the collection at the Museum of the Soldier in Portland, IN.  It is always most helpful to find a primary source document written by a company during World War Two to obtain an inside look from the company.

Mrs. E.F Cartwright was elected president of the company in April 1942.  This woman was way ahead of her time.  For a woman to be elected president of any company in the 1940s was unheard of.  To be elected to that position in a male dominated forge plant in a small conservative farming community in rural Indiana is even more amazing.  She must have really been an outstanding leader and business person!