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Pressed
Steel Car Company in World War Two
Armored Tank Division
Chicago, IL
1884-1956
This page updated on 12-6-2021.
An American Auto
Industry in World War Two Special Edition
The Armored Tank Division of the Pressed Steel
Car Company, located in the Hegewisch neighborhood on the south side of
Chicago, was part of a larger company headquartered in Pittsburgh, PA.
The main product of the Pressed Steel Car Company was railroad train
cars, which were produced in several locations in the United States.
The historical record provides little information on what war products
were produced at
the company plants other than Hegewisch, but rail cars were
in demand by both the U.S. Army and the American railroad industry to
keep war products moving. It can be assumed that the plants
manufactured this product for the war effort. The historical
record shows the Pittsburgh plant forged artillery shells for the
war effort.
The Armored Tank Division of the Pressed Steel
Car Company had its beginnings with the U.S. Rolling Stock Company,
which was established in
1871 in New York as a manufacturer of railroad equipment.
The company moved to the Chicago area in 1883,
when the company's president, Adolph Hegewisch, picked the area for his
railroad car plant. This created a need for housing in the area.
The U.S. Rolling Stock Company did not own the housing, but they were
providing it through what was called the Hegewisch Land Co. Hegewisch was
subsequently established as a town in 1884 but would later become part
of Chicago in 1889. There is no documented history of Adolph Hegewisch
after 1892. So, local historians have assumed that he died, and the
U.S. Rolling Stock Company was purchased by Pressed Steel.
The British were in dire need of tanks after
losing the majority of their tanks on the Continent during the German invasion of
The Netherlands, Belgium, and France in May 1940. In June 1940, the British Purchasing Commission
began visiting various companies in the United States to find
prospective suppliers for the M3 medium tank. Pressed Steel
Car Company was one of several companies selected and was issued a
purchase order on October 25,1940 for the production of 501 M3 tanks.
The order was worth $28,455,000.00.
All of the negotiations were conducted at the
Pressed Car Company's headquarters in Pittsburgh, PA. It was there
that the original offices of the Armored Tank Division of Pressed Steel
were first housed. The Hegewisch plant had been idle since 1932
due to lack of orders during The Depression. The plant had not
been maintained and needed a concentrated effort to make it production-worthy. Even parts of the roof were missing. On February
20, 1941, work began to make the plant ready to produce M3 medium tanks.
By April 9, 1941, this work was complete. On July 13, 1941, Pressed
Steel completed the first of 11,501 tanks and motorized gun carriages.
It was an M3 Grant.
Pressed Steel Car Company went out of business
in 1956 and US Steel purchased the former tank plant in Hegewisch for
use as a steel warehouse. This building on the site have
since been razed.
This Google Map satellite photo shows the
triangular area bounded by South Torrence Avenue on the west and South Brainard
Avenue
on the northeast where Pressed Steel in Hegewisch was located. The
former plant site is now a loading point for vehicles built at the Ford
Motor Company plant to the northwest of this location.
This photo shows the plant looking northwest
with South Brainard Avenue and the railroad tracks along the right hand side of
the image. The main assembly rail car plant that was rebuilt to
manufacture armored vehicles is the long dark building. North of
it is the test track where every armored vehicle had to be tested prior
to being accepted by Army Ordnance. Up in the right hand corner of
the photo is the Ford plant that built M8 and M20 armored cars.
This area of Chicago built a significant number of armored vehicles for
the war effort. Photo courtesy of the Southeast Chicago Historical
Society.
Pressed Steel won the Army-Navy "E" Award three times during World War
Two.
It won the first award on September 10, 1942.
Pressed Steel
World War Two Armored Vehicles Accepted by Detroit Ordnance, US Army
The information below comes from "Summary Report of
Acceptances, Tank-Automotive Material, 1940-1945"
Published by Army Services Forces, Office, Chief of
Ordnance-Detroit, Production Division, Requirements and
Progress Branch
January 21, 1946. |
|
Type |
1940 |
1941 |
1942 |
1943 |
1944 |
1945 |
Total |
| Tank, Medium, M3 |
|
104 |
397 |
|
|
|
501 |
| Tank, Medium, M4(75) |
|
|
475 |
525 |
|
|
1,000 |
| Tank, Medium, M4A1(75) |
|
|
699 |
3,001 |
|
|
3,700 |
| Tank, Medium, M4A1(76) |
|
|
|
|
2,171 |
1,255 |
3,426 |
| Tank, Medium,
M4A2(76) |
|
|
|
|
|
21 |
21 |
| Tank, Recovery, M32 (Conversion) |
|
|
|
|
163 |
|
163 |
| Tank, Recovery, M32B1(New) |
|
|
|
31 |
60 |
|
91 |
| Tank, Recovery, M32B1(Conversion) |
|
|
|
6 |
378 |
|
384 |
| Tank, Recovery, M32B3(Conversion) |
|
|
|
|
298 |
|
298 |
| Carrier, Cargo, M30
(T14) |
|
|
60 |
40 |
|
|
100 |
| Carriage, Motor, 105mm Howitzer,
M7B1 |
|
|
|
|
664 |
162 |
826 |
| Carriage, Motor,155mm
Gun, M12 |
|
|
60 |
40 |
|
|
100 |
| Carriage, Motor, 155mm
Gun, M40 (T83) |
|
|
|
|
|
418 |
418 |
| Carriage, Motor, 8 inch
Howitzer, M43 (T89) |
|
|
|
|
|
24 |
24 |
|
Total |
|
104 |
1,691 |
3,643 |
3,734 |
1,880 |
11,052 |
Author's Note
and Disclaimer: The Detroit Office
of Ordnance of the U.S. Army was the primary purchasing entity for
vehicles for the U.S. Army during WWII. It also purchased vehicles
for the USMC, US Navy, and for Lend-Lease. However, there were
other organizations that also purchased vehicles including the Army
Corps of Engineers, U.S. Army Air Force, U.S. Army Signal Corps, Navy
Bureau of Ordnance, Navy Bureau of Aeronautics, and foreign countries
making direct purchases.
Other Tanks and equipment built by the Armored Tank Division of
Pressed Steel:
-
Two T29 Heavy Tank
Prototypes
-
One T12 Heavy Tank
Recovery Vehicle - This was built on the chassis of an M26
Pershing Heavy Tank.
-
41 M4 "Scorpion" Mine
Exploders - This was based on a British design and was mounted
out in front of a tank. It consisted of chains spinning at 100
rpms to explode mines before the tank rolled over them.
-
254 M4A3E2 Sherman
Turrets and Gun Mounts - These were built under a sub-contract
to the Fisher Body Tank Plant in Grand Blanc, MI, which was the
final assembly point for the tanks.
Other World War Two
Products: In September 1940, Pressed Steel received a
$2,191,000 contract from the U.S. Army to produce artillery ammunition
components.
A tank crew trains on a mine exploder.
This M4A3E2 with a Pressed Steel-built
turret is part of the U.S. Army Armor and Cavalry Collection at Fort Benning, GA.
The front and sides of the turret were six inches thick. Author's
photo added 12-6-2021.
The rear section of the turret had two
inches of armor. Author's photo added 12-6-2021.
Pressed Steel-built Armored Vehicle
Photos:
This Pressed Steel-built small hatch
M4A1(75) is serial number 192, built in July 1942. It
is USA number 3014948. It is the oldest Pressed Steel
M4A1(75) known to exist and is owned by the Virginia Military Museum of
Military Vehicles. Note that this tank has the direct vision ports
for the driver and assistant driver. Author's photo.
Pressed Steel originally built this tank as
an M4A1 with serial number 415 in August 1942. Note that it does not have the direct vision
ports. This one was converted to the M42B1 flame thrower configuration
in 1945. It is USA number 3015171. It was photographed by
the author in June 2019 at the former International World War Two Museum
in Natick, MA, which closed early August 2019. The tank
is now owned by the Museum of American Armor on Long Island, NY.
Pressed Steel M4A1, serial number 644, is on
display on the south side of the Georgia National Guard Armory in
Calhoun, GA. The original 75mm main gun was replaced with a
flamethrower. Author's photo added 4-9-2021.
Author's photo added 4-9-2021.
Author's photo added 4-9-2021.
This
M4E9(75) was built by Pressed Steel and is on display at the USS Alabama
in Mobile, AL. Note that it has two different types of tracks on
it. Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
This M32B1 Tank Retriever Vehicle was converted to this configuration by
Pressed Steel from one its own M4A1(75) small hatch tanks. This
vehicle was photographed by the author at Sam Winer Motors in Akron, OH.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
This
M32B3, serial number 560, was converted by the Pressed Steel Car Company in August 1944.
It was converted from Ford serial number 11903, which was an M4A3(75) built in March 1943.
This tank is located at the American Legion Post 134 in Circleville, OH and has white tent pole going up through the bottom of
the tank and the turret. Author's photo.
This Pressed Steel M4A1(76) HVSS was converted
into
an M32A1B1 by Baldwin. This is part of the National Armor and
Cavalry Collection at Fort Benning, GA. Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
This Pressed Steel M4A1(76) is on display at
the Hartford City, IN Army National Guard Armory. It is one of
several Pressed Steel M4A1(76)s on display at Indiana Army National
Guard armories. Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
This 1944 Pressed Steel M7B1, serial number
758, was on display at the
2019 MVPA National Convention at York, PA. The following photos
show the high degree of restoration on this vehicle. Author's
photo.
Author's photo.
The strip of brightly colored material laid
across the top of the engine bay was used to identity the
vehicle as friendly to Allied aircraft. Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
This
M43 is located in Wyoming, MI. Pressed Steel built 24 of them.
The Lima Tank Depot operated by the United Motors Division of General
Motors converted 24 others from Pressed Steel-built M40s. It is
unknown which of the two this is. In either case, Pressed Steel built
the chassis. Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
The Pressed Steel Car Company built two T29 prototype heavy tanks.
Development began March 1944 and the first one was completed in
September 1945. Chrysler also built eight T29s. It is
unknown which company built this one. Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
Author's photo.
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