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  
   

 Crocker-Wheeler Electric Manufacturing Company in World War Two
Division of Joshua Hendy Iron Works 1942-1949
As part of Elliot Company 1949-1960s
Ampere, NJ
1889-1960s

This page updated on 5-30-2022.


I had never heard of the Crocker-Wheeler Electric Manufacturing Company until I photographed one of its World War Two A-8 training turrets at the Air Zoo Aerospace and Science Museum in Kalamazoo, MI.  The A-8 is located in a World War Two mock-up training aircraft fuselage.  It is serial number 1751.  Author's photo.

In 1889, Francis Crocker and Schuyler Wheeler started and named their new company the Crocker-Wheeler Electric Motor Company.  Two years later, they renamed it the Crocker-Wheeler Electric Company and in 1893 moved to Ampere, NJ.  Both Mr. Crocker and Mr. Wheeler were engineers and both served as president of the American Institute of Electrical Engineers during their careers.  The primary product of their company was electrical motors that were utilized for home and industrial use.  Their motors powered many devices including sewing machines and elevators.

One of the new company's first applications for one of their Model 80V electrical motors was in a ten-barrel Gatling Gun.  With the electrical motor, the weapon could fire at a rate of 1,500 rounds per minute.

In 1942 the Joshua Hendy Iron Works purchased Crocker-Wheeler and in 1949 sold it to the Elliott Company of Jeannette, PA, which made power equipment for process plants, and it already made motors from 200 to 10,000 HP.  The Crocker-Wheeler acquisition pushed the lower limit size down to one HP. The historical record is unclear when the Crocker-Wheeler Electric Manufacturing Company stopped making products and closed. 


This is the first of three vintage photos of the Crocker-Wheeler's plant in Ampere, NJ.  Ampere is actually a small neighborhood within East Orange, NJ. 

Crocker-Wheeler Manufacturing Company World War Two Products:  Crocker-Wheeler was the only manufacturer of this turret during World War Two.  It was used in 1,584 Beechcraft AT-11s and 175 Fairchild AT-21s.  These two aircraft required 1,759 units plus any spares or those used for training purposes outside the aircraft.
 


The front view of the A-8.


The rear view of the A-8.


No. 17 is the location of the Crocker-Wheeler A-8 turret in the USAAF's AT-11 and the U.S. Navy's SNB-1.


This AT-11 was on display at the 2012 Thunder Over Michigan Airshow.  It had a Crocker-Wheeler training turret installed in it.  Author's photo added 5-20-2022.


Author's photo added 5-20-2022.


Author's photo added 5-20-2022.


This 1943 Navy SNB-1 has a top turret installed in it which may or may not be an A-8.  Author's photo added 5-30-2022.


 The aircraft was photographed at the 2007 Terre Haute, IN Airshow.  Author's photo added 5-30-2022.


 The circular metal pieces onto which the twin .30 caliber machine guns are mounted are a smaller diameter than the one shown in the AT-11 above or the one shown below at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo and Science Museum.  This may have been a design change to the A-8 or the Navy's version of a top turret.  Author's photo added 5-30-2022.


The Crocker-Wheeler A-8 turret was used in 175 Fairchild AT-21 training aircraft.  This all-wood trainer was built in 1944 and 1945.  Image added 5-8-2022.


This view shows a Crocker-Wheeler A-8 Training Turret in its replica fuselage at the Air Zoo.  Author's photo.
 


This image shows that the turret was constructed of several sections.  The two side pieces appear to be joined by some method to the main Plexiglas frame.  It has large diameter metal circles as part of the gun mounting.  Author's photo added 5-30-2022.


The Crocker-Wheeler A-8 Training Turret is on display inside the fuselage.  Author's photo. 


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


W.L. Maxson electric drive motors were used to control the azimuth of the turret and elevation of the .30 caliber machine guns.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.


Author's photo.

 

 

 

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