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   Haynes Stellite Company   Hercules Body Company   Horton Manufacturing Company   Howe Fire Apparatus   J.D. Adams Company   Kokomo Spring Company   Magnavox  
Muncie Gear Works   Pierce Governor Company   Portland Forge and Foundry   Reliance Manufacturing Company   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   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   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   Gibson Guitar   Gibson Refrigerator Company   Goodyear   Hall-Scott   Hanson Clutch and Machinery Company   Harley-Davidson   Harris-Seybold-Potter   Herreshoff Manufacturing Company   Higgins Industries    Highway Trailer   Hill Diesel Company   Holland Hitch Company   Homelite Company   Horace E. Dodge Boat and Plane Corporation   Huffman Manufacturing   Indian Motorcycle   Ingersoll Steel and Disk   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   Queen City Manufacturing Company   R.G. LeTourneau   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   Youngstown Steel Door Company  
   

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.

Table 1 - St. Louis Car 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 Contract Amount Contract Awarded Completion Date Contract Number
Cars Ammunition $745,000 8-1941 6-1942  
Landing Craft $2,682,000 1-1942 10-1942 Nos 97599
Electric Generators $781,000 8-1942 9-1943  
Generators $641,000 9-1942 4-1943  
Generating Plants $3,772,000 9-1942 9-1943  
Landing Craft LVT $12,676,000 12-1942 12-1943 NObs 858
Diesel Generator Units $5,807,000 11-1943 8-1944  
Landing Vehicles LVT $17,775,000 1-1944 4-1945 NObs 1469
Landing Vehicles. LVT $13,695,000 4-1944 8-1944 NObs 8588
Landing Vehicles. LVT $7,642,000 6-1944 8-1945 NObs 1789
Diesel Generator Stations $2,377,000 3-1945 10-1945  
Total $68,593,000      

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.   

Table 2 - Estimated Number of  LVTs of all types built by the St. Louis Car Company
Type LVT Number Built Source Contract
LVT-1 116 Estimated from Tables 1 and 3.  Nos 97599
LVT-2 551 Estimated from Tables 1 and 3.  NObs 858
LVT-4 790 From Tables 1 and 4.  NObs 1469
LVT(A)-4 ? 456? Estimated NObs 8588
LVT-4 518 From Table 4 NObs 1789
Total 2,431 This is an estimate.  

 

Table 3 - World War Two LVT Production
From "Amtrack:  US Amphibious Assault Vehicles by Steven Zaloga published 1987
Type 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 Total
LVT-1 72 851 302     1,225
LVT(A)-1   3 288 219   510
LVT-2     1,540 1,422   2,962
LVT(A)-2     200 250   450
LVT-3     1 733 2,230 2,964
LVT-4     11 4,980 3,360 8,351
LVT(A)-4       1,489 401 1,890
LVT(A)-5         269 269
Totals 72 854 2,342 9,093 6,260 18,621

 

Table 4 - St. Louis Car Company LVT-4 Contracted Production
Information from "LVT(4) Amtrac - The Most Widely Used Amphibious Tractor of World War II" by David Doyle
Number Contracted  U.S. Navy Hull Numbers U.S. Navy Contract Number Cost per LVT-4
497 C-58855 - C-59351 NObs 1469 $22,500
293 C-63790 - C-64082 NObs 1469 $24,050
390 C-88869 - C-89258 NObs 1789 $22,000
518 C-90707 - C-91224 NObs 1789 $22,000
1,698 Total    

 

 Table 5 - Total LVT-4 Contracted Production
Information from "LVT(4) Amtrac - The Most Widely Used Amphibious Tractor of World War II" by David Doyle published 2020
Company Number Contracted Percentage
FMC Riverside, CA 1,876 19.4%
FMC San Jose, CA 3,451 35.6%
FMC Lakeland, Lakeland, CA 1,825 18.9%
FMC Sub-Total 7,152 74%
St. Louis Car Company 1,698 17.6%
Graham-Paige 757 7.8%
Unknown 60 .62%
Total 9,667 100%
Cancelled LVT-4s in August 1945 1,838  
Total Production 7,829  

St. Louis Car Company was contracted to build 1,698 out of 9,667 LVT-4s during World War Two.  With the termination of hostilities in August 1945, 1,300 units were cancelled among the four companies building the LVT-4.  It is unknown how many of the 1,698 LVT-4s St. Louis Car was contracted for were actually built and accepted by the U.S. Navy.

While the U.S. Navy was the military organization that contracted for the LVT-4, 74% were transferred to the U.S. Army., who used most of them in Europe for river crossings, many of them under fire.

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.

Table 6 - Number of LVTs and LVT(A)s used in the Assault Waves during the Central Pacific Campaign
The first LVT(A)s were armed with 37mm cannons and the later ones with 75mm howitzers.  These provided close-in fire support for the LVTs as they made their run-in to the beach.  It is unknown whether Graham-Paige made this type vehicle.

Island Date LVT LVT(A)
Guadalcanal 8-1942 0 0
Tarawa 11-1943 87 0
Saipan 6-1944 594 138
Guam 7-1944 381 75
Tinian 7-1944 453 66
Peleliu 9-1944 223 72
Iwo Jima 2-1945 380 68
Okinawa 4-1945 872 92


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

 

 

 

Email us at:  Webmaster