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  
   

 Vilter Manufacturing Company in World War Two
 Milwaukee, WI

1867 - Current
Currently part of Emerson Climate Technogies in Cudahy, WI

This page added 6-8-2022.

Vilter Manufacturing Company was formed in Milwaukee, WI by Peter Weisel and Ernst Vilter to supply steam engines to other companies operating in Milwaukee.  In 1882 the company used a Corliss steam engine to drive a horizontal ammonia compressor which put the company in the refrigeration business.  Previously, vertical compressors had been used for early refrigeration, but the horizontal compressor was more efficient.  In 1910, the Santa Fe Railroad contracted with Vilter to build an ice making plant that could produce 225 tons of ice per day.  This allowed the railroad to move perishable fruit to market.


The Vilter Manufacturing Company won the Army-Navy "E" Award four times during World War Two.

During World War One, Vilter produced a 500-ton ice plant that was used by the U.S. Army in Europe to keep 5,000 tons of beef cool for the American Expeditionary Force.  During World War Two, the company continued to provide refrigeration equipment to help win World War Two.  In this case, Vilter built pack ice machines that were used on transport ships that brought fresh food to American forces all over the world.  This allowed American troops to be the best fed of the war.

The company also produced armaments.  The two photos below are from the breech of a M5 three-inch anti-tank gun that was on display at the annual Findlay, OH military show. 


Normally, the breeches on anti-tank guns and artillery pieces have so many coats of paint on them, it is not possible to read the manufacturer of the unit.  This is not the case for this breech.  It indicates that it is serial number 2385 out of the 2,500 M5 anti-tank guns built during World War Two.  Author's photo.


This view better shows the Vilter name and the date.  Author's photo.


This and the next photo show the M5 on display.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Building the weapon involved several other entities.  The U.S. Army's Rock Island Arsenal not only made recoil mechanisms for the M5 anti-tank gun, but also for other weapons as well.  This was one of the specialties of the Arsenal and during the war it made 24,539 recoil mechanisms for various weapons.  Author's photo.


The Pullman-Standard plant in Hammond, IN was a large producer of gun carriages during World War Two.  The manufacture of artillery pieces and anti-tank guns was a cooperative effort of several companies and arsenals.  Author's photo.

The barrel manufacturer is not identified on the weapon.  It is unknown whether Vilter produced that, or it was manufactured by some other company or arsenal.  The Vilter Manufacturing Company may well have been the final assembly point for a portion of the weapons built, with major components produced by other companies.

Table 1 below indicates that the Vilter Manufacturing Company was a significant and important producer of artillery weapons for the U.S. Army.  With the exception of one contract for Climate Test Chambers of $62,000, Vilter was responsible for $11,613,000 for the manufacture of guns, 105mm howitzers, and various components and subassemblies.  Its first contract in June 1942 was for howitzers.  Most likely these were 105mm howitzers, as various company histories indicate that the company was deeply involved with making 105 howitzers for the war effort.

To an artilleryman, a gun and a howitzer are two different weapons.  A gun is a long barreled cannon which has a low trajectory and a long range.  A howitzer has a shorter barrel and has a higher trajectory for the shell which can be used to bombard reverse slopes.  In Table 1 it is unknown whether early in the war the contracting officers knew the difference.  It may well be that to a contracting officer, a gun and howitzer were the same.  The eight contracts for "Guns" may well have been for howitzers.  Later in the war, the type of weapon was added to the description for clarity.

Table 1 - Vilter Manufacturing 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 - Customer Contract Amount Contract Awarded Date Completion Date
Howitzers - Army $1,072,000 6-1942 5-1942
Guns -  Army $1,251,000 6-1941 3-1943
Guns -  Army $572,000 12-1941 4-1943
Guns -  Army $644,000 1-1942 4-1943
Gun Castings - Army $123,000 3-1942 3-1943
Guns -  Army $919,000 4-1942 12-1943
Guns -  Army $1,132,000 5-1942 12-1943
Guns -  Army $163,000 8-1942 12-1943
Guns -  Army $115,000 4-43 6-1944
Howitzers - 105mm M2A1 - Army $1,481,000 4-45 12-1943
Guns -  Army $1,618,000 6-1943 6-1944
Climate Test Chambers - Army $62,000 11-1943 3-1944
Guns M5 - Army $150,000 4-1944 10-1944
Howitzers - 105mm M4 - Army $1,801,000 6-1944 7-1945
Howitzers - 105mm M2A1 - Army $125,000 8-1944 11-1944
Howtrr Barrel Assys $76,000 12-1944 6-1945
Howitzer Parts 105mm - Army $151,000 12-1944 3-1946
Total $11,675,000    


8,536 M2A1 Howitzers were built during World War Two of which Vilter was a major producer.  However, it was one of two companies in Milwaukee that was turning out M2A1 105mm howitzers.  U.S. Army procurement officers normally had more than one supplier for a weapon as was the case for the 105mm howitzer.  The city of Milwaukee was instrumental in producing this weapon.  Author's photo.


In World War Two the M2A1 105mm howitzer was used on a global basis by both the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.

 

 

 

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