William 'the Fridge"Perry
I read where one of the Germans' big mistakes was handing out tank orders to companies who built locomotives and dockyard cranes. They were used to a much slower rate of production and didn't have the mindset to ramp things up.
We, on the other hand, went to the automobile manufacturers, who were used to high production runs.
That may be true.
The Tiger Tank, however, was an enormously complicated Tank. It was fit with a huge gun originally designed as an anti-aircraft gun. Like the Panther, it was extremely engineered, too complex, and difficult to repair. The Germans have always been noted for their engineering capability and these two tanks were excessively over engineered, the Russian T-34 and the American Sherman were relatively simple in comparison. Hitler micromanaged weapons development in the Third Reich, and was obsessed with size. He wanted the biggest and most powerful tank on the battlefield. And he got it. Problem was he couldn’t mass produce enough of them and he was running out of fuel. German troops ended up destroying many of their Tigers and Panthers rather letting them be captured by the Allies. After the war, the US later incorporated many of the features of the Panther and the Tiger into our tank design
I read where one of the Germans' big mistakes was handing out tank orders to companies who built locomotives and dockyard cranes. They were used to a much slower rate of production and didn't have the mindset to ramp things up.The Tiger was so big and so complicated it was not possible to manufacture them in vast numbers unlike the Allied tanks.The Germans used the same diesel engine to power all their different - and increasingly massive - tank models. Consequently, the bigger tanks were less mobile than their predecessors.
We, on the other hand, went to the automobile manufacturers, who were used to high production runs.
Very interesting book on the subject of American mass production of WWII weaponry:Basically, American mass production technology depended on precision to make interchangeable parts.
- Freedom's Forge:
- How American Business Produced Victory in World War II
Arthur HermanFDR didn’t wait for Pearl Harbor to start ramping up military production for WWII; that started in earnest after the fall of France in May 1940 and was well started at getting up to speed at the end of 1941. The bricks and mortar, and the precision machine tools, were already largely in place.
Due to his experience in administration during WWI, FDR knew that it would take time - he was advised 18 months - to gear up. Pearl Harbor was 18 months after the fall of France. What a coincidence!!
While over half of our Shermans were manufactured by Ford or Chrysler automobile companies, the remainder were manufactured by variety of non automotive builders. lima, AlCO, and Baldwin manufactured locomotives. Pacific Car and Foundry, Pullman Standard Car Company, and Pressed Steel Car Company built railroad cars. Fisher built automobile bodies for General motors.