St. Louis Car Company During World War Two
St. Louis, MO
1887-1974

This page added 3-12-2022.

This LVT-4 was built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1945.  It is the only known existing LVT-4 that has been identified as to which company manufactured it.  Author's photo.

This is the information board that is displayed with the LVT-4 showing that it was built by the St. Louis Car Company.  Author's photo. 

The St. Louis Car Company was formed in 1887 to manufacture streetcars and other rolling stock for the rail industry.  During its long life it also made automobiles, railroad cars, locomotives, and trolley buses.  Its last products before closing were subway cars for New York City.  It also manufactured the passenger capsules that are used in the St. Louis Arch.  I have ridden on one of these along with my family when we visited the Arch. 

Even on an overcast morning, the St. Louis Arch with its St. Louis Car Company-built passenger capsules can be seen from the Great Mound at Cahokia, IL.  Author's photo.

St. Louis Car Company World War Two Products:  Table 1 shows that the St. Louis Car Company had three major products during World War Two.  They were ammunition cars, landing craft, and electric generators.  Tracked amphibious landing craft was the largest portion of the company's business during World War Two with $54,470,000 or 79.4% of the total.   Generator sets of various types at $13,378,000 or 19.5% of the total amount contracted was second.  Ammunition cars, which was the company's first major contract that was awarded in August 1941 was for $745,00 or 1%.

Many of the streetcars and other rail equipment the company made before and after World War Two were electrically powered.  The manufacture of generator sets for the war effort was a good fit for this company.

St. Louis Car Company built Landing Vehicles, Tracked (LVT) of several types during World War Two.  Using Tables 1, 3, and 4, it can be determined in some cases how many of each type the company built.

Contract Nos 97599:  Table 1 shows contract number Nos 97599 for landing craft that were built between January and October 1942.  Table 3 shows that the LVT-1 was the only vehicle of this type built in 1942, indicating that contract Nos 97599 was for the LVT-1.  Table 4 shows that the average cost of a St. Louis Car Company-built LVT-4 was between $22,000 and $24,050.  Using a value of $23,000 for the cost of an LVT-1 and dividing that into the $2,682,000 for contract Nos 97599 results in 116.  Therefore, for the first LVT contract, the company built approximately 116 LVT-1s.  This result is displayed in Table 2.

Contract NObs 858:  The next contract for landing craft is contract number NObs 858 that was issued in December 1942 and completed in December 1943.  Again, using the average of $23,000 cost per unit and dividing that into the contracted amount of $12,676,000 gives a value of 551 units.  Table 3 shows that there were several types of LVTs built in 1943.  However, only the LVT-2 was built in a large enough volume to include the estimated 551 units for which St. Louis Car was contracted. This result is displayed in Table 2. 

Contract NObs 1469:  This contract was for the LVT-4.  Using information from Table 4 and adding 497 and 293 results in 790 total units for this contract.  Dividing 790 into the $17,775,000 total contracted cost gives an average cost per unit of $22,500, which agrees with one of the two values for average cost shown for this contract in Table 4.  Information from Table 1 and Table 4 agree.

Contract NObs 8588:  For this contract listed in Table 1, there is not an associated contract number listed in Table 4.  Dividing $23,000 estimated average cost per unit into the contract value of $13,695,000 yields 795 units.  Not being listed in Table 4 indicates this may have been something other than an LVT-4.  There were several other types of LVTs that were built in 1944.  However, St. Louis Car Company did not build the LVT-3, which leaves the LVT-2 or LVT(A)-4. Within the short period of five months from contract release until completion, it is most likely that this was an expedited build of the LVT(A)-4, which was an armed version of the LVT-4 and needed to provide short range artillery fire support for the landing forces.  With the short time frame involved and the addition of an armored turret, the average cost would no doubt be more than $23,000.  Therefore, using a higher estimated cost of $30,000 for the units results in 456 units.

Until further information is found, this value will be used.  This is one of the hazards of trying to determine what was produced 80 years ago with limited information.  It is not uncommon to find conflicting and confounding information. 

Contract NObs 1789:  Table 4 shows that there were 518 units in this contract.  However, when one divides 518 into the amount of the contract, $7,642,000, the resulting cost per unit is $14,753, not the $22,000 per unit as shown in Table 4.

I will use the 518 as the number of units built and ignore the cost issue.   

The following table shows the increased use of LVTs as they became more available during the U.S. Navy's World War Two campaign in the Central Pacific.  LVTs were utilized at Guadalcanal for the transport of supplies to the island, not in the initial assault waves.  As the war continued the LVTs became very important where the islands had coral atolls that prevented the 36-foot wooden landing craft such as the LCP(L)s, LCVs, LCP(R)s and LCVPs from crossing.  Even with their low draft, the landing craft would get hung up on the atolls.  The LVTs with their tracks could cross over the reef.  A shuttle system was instituted where the wooden landing craft would bring marines and soldiers from the troop transports to the atoll.  There, the marines and soldiers would transfer to the LVTs, which would then take them to the beach.  Transfer of the troops at the reef called for previous training by all involved to safely and efficiently make the troop transfer.  Add a heavy surf and it became an even more dangerous endeavor than normal.  Neither Iwo Jima nor Okinawa had reefs, but by the end of the war the LVT had become an important part of the landing assault forces.

St. Louis Car Company built an estimated 116 LVT-1's in 1942.  This diorama at the National Museum of the USMC depicts an LVT-1 going over a log barricade at Tarawa.  Author's photo.

This and the following photo show that the rear is a solid piece with no ramp.  The Marines had to go over the side as shown here and jump down eight feet to the sand.  Author's photo.

Author's photo.

  Below are more photos of the St. Louis Car Company-built LVT-4.

Note the internal and external armament.  Author's photo

The LVT-4 was the first in the series to have a ramp.  On the LVT-1 and 2, the soldiers and marines had to make an eight foot jump over the side to get out, and small vehicles could not be carried without the ramp.  Author's photo.    

The LVT-4 was powered by a Continental R-670-9A seven cylinder radial aircraft engine producing 250 hp.  The radial engines, being originally designed to operate at relatively constant speeds for aircraft, did not work out well when having to constantly change RPMs when being shifted through the five speeds of the Spicer transmission.  Author's photo.    

The driver's station with the Spicer transmission just visible to the right and the powered axle in front of the controls and instrument panel.   Author's photo. 

 The instrument panel inside the LVT-4.  Author's photo. 

 The radio control box is at the left.  Author's photo. 

The gunner's position with the .30 caliber machine gun.  One can see the transmission better in this photo and the covering over the driveshaft from the engine.  Author's photo. 

The first use of the LVT was at the landings at Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942, where they were used to bring supplies ashore.  St. Louis Car Company-built LVT-1 could be among those pictured here. 

This LVT-(A)4, which is armed with a 75mm howitzer, is on display at the American Heritage Museum in Hudson, MA.  My research above indicates that St. Louis Car could have built LVT-(A)-4s like this one.  Author's photo