The Power of American Industry

[Subdeacon Joe]

Newly built F4U Corsair and F6F Hellcats being prepared to be shipped to the Pacific theatre, USA, 1944

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

Title: NAS Weeksville, N.C.

Caption: F4U, F6F and TBM aircraft laid up in blimp hangarII, on 8 April 1946.

Description:

Catalog #: NH 84328

Copyright Owner: Naval History and Heritage Command

Original Creator:

Original Date: Mon, Apr 08, 1946

After this Year: 1940

Before this Year: 1949

Original Medium: BW Photo

 

 

[Subdeacon Joe]

Title: Naval Air Station Clinton Photograph Collection

Description: Collection of 17 photographs taken at the Surplus Aircraft Storage Facility at NAS Clinton, OK, circa 1946. Eleventh of the photographs are aerial views showing the entire NAS base with thousands of aircraft in storage. Six of the photographs are surface views of storage areas for particular kinds of planes, including: PBJ, F4U, OS2U, SBD, and TBM. TBMs seen have been partially dismantled, with engines cut off firewalls and lying in front of the planes. Also included is a listing of the inventory of the numbers of each type of aircraft that had been received by April 9, 1946.

Accession#: S-495

 

 

[Buckshot Bear]

Reading some WWII books at the moment and the way the U.S pumped out tanks, ships and planes etc was astronomical.

 

The outcome of WWII was in no way certain at the beginning and this industrial might was what tipped the scales along with the bravery of beach landings, over country bombing raids and the massive toll the submarine force took on enemy shipping. 

[Subdeacon Joe]

9 minutes ago, Buckshot Bear said:

Reading some WWII books at the moment and the way the U.S pumped out tanks, ships and planes etc was astronomical.

 

 

Truly boggles the mind the scale of industrial planning and innovation that went into it.  I'll have to see if I can find the video on YouTube about the planning and building of an aircraft factory.  Part of that planning was using the heat generated in the testing of engines to power something else in the plant.

 

10 minutes ago, Buckshot Bear said:

The outcome of WWII was in no way certain at the beginning and this industrial might was what tipped the scales

 

Not to disparage our allies, but I think it was a foregone conclusion as long as the American people didn't lose the will to win.  The scale of American industry as well as our being far removed from all combat theatres meant that the Allied Powers would be supplied with the arms, munitions, and materials needed to wage war.  Midway pretty much assured Allied victory in the Pacific and Germany having to split its forces among Western Europe, North Africa, and Eastern Europe where the Soviets bled and bled and bled the German armies assured eventual victory in the European Theatre.  

Not unlike our War of 1861 in that, the industrial base of the North simply overpowered the agrarian South. The only real chance the Confederacy had, in my opinion, would have been if they had been willing and able to march on and capture Washington City after First Manassas.  Manassas got the Northern population riled up and "Those blankety blank pipsqueak Southrons can't be allowed to to that to us!" became the more common attitude.  What was amazing was that the South was able to resist for so long.

[Buckshot Bear]

For the size of Japan, their 'Empire' at its height was large -

 

[Subdeacon Joe]