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  
   

 Kohler Company in World War Two
Kohler, WI
1873-Present

This page updated 9-27-2022.

An American Auto Industry in World War Two Special Edition

I never intended to do a page on the Kohler Company, as the main product lines with which I am familiar are its lines of plumbing fixtures, porcelain products, and small engines for lawn mowers and garden tractors.  At least those are the ones with which I am most acquainted.  I was therefore totally surprised while touring the submarine USS Lionfish at Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA in June 2019 to find that all of the torpedo tubes in the boat were manufactured by Kohler.  I would never have expected this.  Because of this unusual World War Two product, I have added this page to my website. 


The USS Lionfish at Battleship Cove in Fall River, MA.   Author's photo.


The Kohler Company won the Army-Navy "E" Award twice during World War Two.

Kohler Company in World War Two:  The company had $45,957,000 in major contracts during World War Two.  The diversity of the products can be seen in Tables 1 and 2.  Artillery shells, airplane parts and torpedo launch tubes made up 72.7% of Kohler's major contracts.  It is unknown what type of airplane parts the company made for the Army Air Forces.  However, it was Kohler's second largest dollar product group.

Table 1 - Kohler Company Major World War Two Product Categories
Product Customer Amount Percentage
Shells Army $22,127,000 48.2%
Airplane Parts Army $5,858,000 12.7%
Torpedo Launch Tubes Navy $5,441,000 11.8%
Generators / Power Plants Army $4,003,000 8.7%
Fuzes Army $2,016,000 4.3%
Generators / Power Plants Navy $916,000 2.0%
Total   40,361,000 87.7%

 

Table 2 - Kohler 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 Completion Date
Fuze Percussion  - Army $261,000 6-1941 6-1942
Shells - Army $1,375,000 9-1941 3-1944
Ordnance Material  - Army $214,000 12-1941 9-1942
Fuzes - Army $257,000 1-1942 9-1942
Shells - Army $1,029,000 1-1942 12-1942
Shells - Army $2,761,000 1-1942 3-1943
Shells - Army $2,975,000 2-1942 12-1942
Fuzes - Army $900,000 2-1942 1-1943
Generator Sets - Navy $183,000 2-1942 11-1942
Fuze - Army $110,000 3-1942 7-1942
Fuzes - Army $116,000 3-1942 12-1942
Power Units - Navy $272,000 4-1942 6-1943
Fuzes - Army $372,000 4-1942 12-1943
Vessel Equipment - Navy $648,000 5-1942 11-1943
Generators - Army $200,000 7-1942 3-1943
Generators - Navy $73,000 8-1942 3-1943
Generator Sets - Navy $221,000 8-1942 7-1943
Power Units - Army $1,612,000 8-1942 11-1943
Cranes - Navy $281,000 10-1942 5-1943
Airplane Parts - Army $5,100,000 12-1942 3-1944
Airplane Parts - Army $758,000 12-1942 11-1943
Power Units - Army $613,000 2-1943 9-1943
Shells 105mm HE - Army $415,000 4-1943 10-1943
Electric Plants - Army $132,000 5-1943 6-1944
Electric Plants - Army $51,000 5-1943 11-1943
Engine Generator Sets - Navy $80,000 5-1943 3-1944
Power Plants - Army $654,000 6-1943 5-1944
Electric Plants - Army $368,000 7-1943 1-1944
Shells 105mm HE - Army $1,598,000 7-1943 6-1944
Shells 105mm HE - Army $1,436,000 9-1943 3-1944
Elec Generator Sets - Army $221,000 10-1943 12-1943
Elec Generator Sets - Navy $409,000 11-1943 12-1944
Generator Sets - Army $103,000 11-1943 4-1944
Power Units M121A - Army $251,000 11-1943 7-1944
Elec Generator Sets - Navy $160,000 12-1943 8-1944
Shells 105mm HE - Army $787,000 2-1944 10-1944
Trpedo Launch Tubes - Navy $5,441,000 3-1944 8-1945
Airplane Valves - Navy $63,000 4-1944 12-1944
Shells HE M42A1 - Army $1,368,000 4-1944 12-1944
Mobile Laundry Pts - Army $139,000 6-1944 4-1945
Mobile Laundry Pts - Army $431,000 6-1944 6-1945
Shell Parts 105mm M1 - Army $1,200,000 6-1944 12-1944
Shells Renovation 105mm - Army $60,000 6-1944 12-1944
Shells 105mm HE M1 $1,947,000 6-1944 3-1945
Power Unit Parts 1M21A - Army $233,000 8-1944 4-1945
Elec Generator Parts - Army $362,000 9-1944 9-1945
Engine Bearing Shells - Navy $340,000 9-1944 1-1945
Packing Services - Army $405,000 11-1944 11-45
Rotating Bands - Army $886,000 11-1944 5-1945
Shell Parts 105mm M1 - Army $3,959,000 11-1944 6-1945
Shell Parts 105mm - Army $1,277,000 1-1945 2-1946
Elec Generator Parts - Army $166,000 1-1945 7-1945
Mobile Laundry Parts - Army $300,000 1-1945 7-1945
Eng Generator Sets - Army $193,000 3-1945 6-1945
Elec Generator Sets - Army $218,000 4-1945 9-1945
Mobile Laundry Parts - Army $53,000 5-1945 2-1946
Total $45,957,000    

Torpedo Launch Tubes:  The company was awarded a contract by the U.S. Navy for $5,441,000 in March 1944 to produce torpedo tubes for submarines.

USS Lionfish Stern Torpedo Room: 


The self-guided tour of the USS Lionfish starts at the front of the boat and finishes at the aft torpedo room.  Author's photo.


In looking at the torpedo tubes, I noticed that they had manufacturers tags on them.  I have never noticed this on any of the other submarines I had previously toured.  Author's photo.


I was totally surprised to find that the maker of porcelain plumbing products had built torpedo tubes to help win World War Two.  How cool is this?  Author's photo.


Author's photo.


All four aft torpedo tubes were built by Kohler. Author's photo.


The torpedo tubes are all brass castings  Author's photo.


Author's photo.

USS Lionfish Bow Torpedo Room:


 I finished the tour.  Then I went back to the front of the boat and down into the bow torpedo room to see what I had missed. I had overlooked the Kohler data plates on my first pass because there is more distance between where I was able to view the tubes than at the stern tubes.  These were also Kohler-cast torpedo tubes.  The bow has six tubes but only four can be seen.  Author's photo.


The torpedo tubes can be used either in the bow or the stern.  They just go on opposite sides of the boat.  Author's photo.


Author's photo.

It is unknown how many submarines were outfitted with the Kohler torpedo tubes or how many were built.  Electric Boat Company of Groton, CT cast its own torpedo tubes for the submarines it manufactured.


Workers at the Kohler plant are working on a mold with a torpedo tube in it. 

Shells:  Artillery and tank gun shells were the largest category of war material the company produced during World War Two.  This category comprised 48.2% of the Kohler's World War Two output.  Many of the contracts were for unidentified types of shells.  However, several contacts specifically name the shell type.


Kohler had at least six contracts for 105mm high explosive shells.  One application was for use in the M4A3(105) HVSS Sherman tank. Author's photo added 9-27-2022.


Author's photo added 9-27-2022.


In April 1944 Kohler was awarded a $1,368,000 contract for the production of 76mm M42A1 shells.  The company produced the shell portion only, which was what went down range to the target.  These shells were for use in the Buick M18 Hellcat tank destroyer.  This M18 was on display at the Buick Museum in Flint, MI in 2015.  Author's photo added 9-27-2022.


This image shows M42A1 shell casings in the ready storage area of the M18.  Kohler did not make the shell casings.  Author's photo added 9-27-2022.

Electric Generators / Power Plants: 


This is a Kohler Model 1M21A 115VAC liquid-cooled power generator on display at the Roberts Armory in Rochelle, IL.  The U.S. Army Signal Corps designation for it was PU-41/G.  Author's photo added 6-2-2021.


Author's photo added 6-2-2021.


Author's photo added 6-2-2021.


Author's photo added 6-2-2021.


Author's photo added 6-2-2021.


The serial number is 87447 and the engine runs at 1,200 RPM.  Author's photo added 6-2-2021.

Plumbing Supplies:  During World War Two hundreds of military bases and installations were built in the United States.  All of the barracks, along with many of the other buildings on these bases, needed plumbing fixtures, sinks, commodes, and urinals.  Kohler supplied these important products to these bases.


This is the sole survivor of originally more than 1,000 barrack that were built at Fort Knox, KY during World War Two.  It is now on display the General George Patton Museum of Leadership at Fort Knox.  Author's photo added 9-27-2022. 


Kohler Company was one of many companies that supplied plumbing for the latrines.  There was too much business for any one company to handle.  Author's photo added 9-27-2022.


Barracks very similar to this were built at over 1,000 Army and Army Air Forces bases during World War Two.  Author's photo added 9-27-2022.


Barracks like these were still in use at Fort Custer, MI, Fort Jackson, SC, and Fort Gordon, GA in the 1970s.  I know because I stayed in several of them.   The ones at Fort Jackson and Fort Gordon were painted white.  I do not remember there being two doors to the barracks at these two locations.  I think there was only one.  Author's photo added 9-27-2022.


Fort Knox had nice floors.  Fort Jackson and Fort Gordon had linoleum floors.  I think Fort Custer had unfinished floors.  The barracks there were rather rough.  Author's photo added 9-27-2022.


The latrines inside the Fort Knox barracks were basic during World War Two.  Author's photo added 9-27-2022.


These were the sinks for the third part of the three S's in the morning.  Author's photo added 9-27-2022.


This was the shower area for the second of the three S's in the morning.  Author's photo added 9-27-2022.


 There was not a lot of privacy the soldiers at Fort Knox when they did the first of the three S's in the morning.  At Fort Jackson, our latrine was set up different from this.  The commodes had stalls, but no doors.  Author's photo added 9-27-2022.


Author's photo added 9-27-2022.

For those who had a father or grandfather at Fort Knox during World War Two, the last several photos illustrate the total lack of privacy he had while in the latrine. 

When the all-volunteer Army was formed, barracks like this had to go away.  Today, the recruits live in college style dormitory buildings. 
 

 

 

 

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