The Sleeping Giant Awoken: Detroit Turns to War

On December 7, 1941 the Japanese navy struck at Pearl Harbor, as President Roosevelt called it 'the day that would stand in infamy'. However, the top generals of the Japanese military feared that the preemptive strike against the United States would amount to 'waking a sleeping giant'. Their fears soon began to be confirmed as the American war industry started cranking out tanks, planes, ships, and guns so fast neither Japan nor Germany could deal with. This was made possible mainly due to the efforts of America's 'Arsenal of Democracy': Detroit.

The US Armed Forces needed war material and lots of it, so the government ordered all auto manufacturers to cease car production and convert their assembly lines for production of war material, mainly airplanes. The last civilian car to be built before this conversion was a gray Pontiac, off the line in February of 1942. During the years of 1943-45, only about 300 cars would be made, mostly from the smaller car companies like Auburn, Packard and Hudson.

Last Civilian Car February 1942

The Big Three at this time made either parts for vehicles or assembled them. Chrysler made fuselages for bombers, GM's British factories made Churchill tanks, and Ford Motor Company's efforts made them the king of war production in America. Before the war, manufacturers of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber could only manage about one bomber per day. At its peak, Ford's unique Willow Run assembly plant could churn out one B-24, with over a million pieces, every hour. The Willow Run plant was unique in that it had a unique turntable on the factory floor so that the incomplete bombers could turn 90 degrees and continue on down the line. Also, the end of the assembly line also connected to an airfield so that crews sleeping over at the plants could fly the bombers out shortly after completion.

B-24s at Willow Run

The American auto industry was able to accomplish amazing feats for the military, but it was also shrouded in controversy in some cases. Henry Ford, a pacifist, had close dealings with the Nazi government in negotiating the nationalization of ford plants in Germany. He was even awarded a medal by the Nazis at one point. Also, General Motors' Opel division factories were located in Germany, and these factories were actually taken over by the Germans and were used to make weapons. The strange part about it is that GM wrote the plants off as a tax write-off, but at the end of the war collected war damages because their factories were bombed in Germany.

Whatever controversy there was, it cannot be argued that Detroit was able to do incredible feats of engineering in their production, and were able to switch their assembly lines back to making cars for the 1946 model year. All in all, it can be said that Detroit was, and will continue to be America's Arsenal of Democracy.

A Jeep By Any Other Name...

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the iconic Jeep, renowned the world over as one of America's most versatile vehicles, capable both off road and on. Today, the Jeep division of Chrysler puts out several models, but each retains the signature seven slotted grille. Many people know that the original jeeps played an important role in the US army during World War II, but many may not know the origins of the vehicle or even the name itself.

The Jeep was designed in a combined effort between Ford Motor Company and Willys, as part of a military need for a light, versatile vehicle capable of transporting infantry anywhere they may be needed, a big problem suffered by the Allies in World War I, back in the early days of the automotive industry. The iconic grille was actually the product of Ford designers, who found that the design was both lighter and more cost-effective than the grille Willys had made, but also used less resources to make.

The origins of the name 'jeep' has been a subject of some debate over the years. Some say that the car was named after a character in the cartoon 'Popeye the Sailor', others think it was a moniker used by Army mechanics referring to an untried vehicle. The most likely and most widely accepted theory is that the original designation for the vehicle was the Ford GP, which led to people saying the abbreviation 'Gee-P'. This actually led to some legal trouble after the war, since Willys adopted the name which Ford claimed was their product.

Of course, the real legacy of the Jeep is its versatility and ruggedness, a trait passed down to today's incarnations. In 1941, this ruggedness was famously demonstrated when it took some Congressmen on a ride scaling the steps of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. Some have noted that this was also the first time the term 'jeep' was used in the media.

Over the decades, Jeep has had many incarnations, has been used in the militaries of numerous nations, and has changed hands a couple of times. After Willys folded, the brand was been effectively taken over by AM General Corporation, and then Chrysler, who used the seven-slot grille on its newly acquired American Motors cars, until American Motors folded and Jeep brand was created. And so, seventy years later we still have the privilege to have a connection to a design dating back to the Second World War in our daily lives. Until next time, take care, and thank you.

HMS Hood: Pride of the Royal Navy Sunk

 



HMS Hood in peacetime

 In May of 1941, Germany let loose the most powerful battleship into the Atlantic, battleship Bismarck. To respond to this, the Royal Navy sent out the battleship Prince of Wales and battlecruiser Hood, the pride of the Royal Navy at that time. She was known as being the fastest and most heavily armed ship of its kind in the world. Unfortunately, on May 24 the HMS Hood sank, taking all but 3 of its 1,418 man crew with it down to the bottom of the Atlantic.

HMS Hood was an Admiral-class battlecruiser, and was the last battlecruiser commissioned by the Royal Navy. She was intended to have three sister ships, but the German ships built to counter the Admiral-class, the Mackensen-class, were unlikely to be finished, and so the other ships were cancelled. Even with the Hood being the only one of her class in the navy, she was seen to have serious problems with her design. Over her peacetime career, her guns were replaced, her propeller was replaced after a collision with HMS Renown, and she was intended for a full upgrade of her deck plating and armaments, but these were put on hold after the outbreak of World War II.

Hood was commissioned in 1920, and during her peacetime career she participated in several exercises intended to 'wave the flag' as it were for king and country, which included a world circumnavigation. She also was stationed in the Mediterranean during the second war between Italy and Abyssinia. When the war broke out, the Hood also was part of the fleet that destroyed the French fleet following their surrender to the Germans. After this campaign, Hood was assigned to the Home Fleet, where she participated in several attempts to intercept German battlecruisers and pocket battleships from entering the North Atlantic.

It wasn't until the middle of May that Hood was assigned to intercept the Bismarck and the German battlecruiser Prinz Eugen, alongside the battleship Prince of Wales. The two ships intended to catch the ships at the Denmark Straits, and to arrive at the mouth of the straits before the Germans, to 'cross the T' as it were, in order to bring all of their cannons to bear on the Germans while leaving the Germans able to aim their forward cannons only. However, when it came time to intercept the Germans the British found themselves out of position, and by accident the Germans had crossed the T of the British.



Depiction of Hood sinking



The Germans initially didn't respond to the British firing at them, but when they did their guns turned out to be far superior to the British. After a matter of minutes and some tentative hits on Hood, the Bismarck was able to achieve 'plunging fire', that is being able to land hits on the top deck of the Hood in order to puncture into the belly of the ships. This hit ignited the powder of a main gun battery, which led to a huge pillar of fire rising from the ship right before a large explosion which broke the ship in two and resulted in the ship sinking in a short few minutes.

Out of 1,418 men aboard the Hood, only three men survived. Testimonies from German crew members aboard Bismarck and Prinz Eugen tell how shocked the Germans were as to the destructive capabilities of Bismarck and the terrifying consequences of their actions. In a matter of minutes, the pride of the Royal Navy was no more, and the report from Prince of Wales led to the famous declaration by Winston Churchill which read "Sink the Bismarck!", and the most famous naval pursuit of World War II. Until next time, take care, and thank you.  

Germany's Stillborn Bomber

One of the many iconic images from World War II is the sight of hundreds of heavy bombers flying into the heart of Germany to pound the Fatherland into submission. Germany was well-known for its tactical dive bombers, like the Junkers Ju87. However, Germany did have one kind of heavy bomber in its arsenal, one meant to rival such planes as the B-17 Flying Fortress and the Avro Lancaster. Unfortunately, by the time the dust of radical redesigns settled, the planned mighty bomber ended up as the 'flying lighter'.

The key difference between tactical bombers and strategic bombers is the number of engines, which determines the payload the plane can carry. A tactical bomber typically has two engines, and is usually capable of ground support roles and dive bombing. A strategic bomber, like the B-17, has four engines and can carry massive bombs designed to level even the toughest bunker. The Allies had these in abundance, and Germany soon realized it needed one of its own.

The Heinkel He-177 Greif (Eagle) was originally designed to be a traditional four-engined bomber with some German ingenuity added in. The reason the bomber appears to have only two engines is because it has four engines, they're just doubled up on each other. Each of the two engine bays has two engines connected to each other to drive the propeller, giving it exceptional power. This design process could have yielded a powerful and effective bomber. Unfortunately, Hitler intervened.

The He-177 was extensively modified because the Fuehrer wanted the bomber to be a dive bomber, a technique mastered in the Spanish Civil War and the invasion of Poland and the Low Countries by the Ju87 Stuka. This required the bomber to be lighter than intended and to be equipped with large dive brakes on the wings. This cut in weight also affected the amount of armor in critical areas of the plane, such as the engines  and the fuel tanks. This is how the Greif got the name 'flying lighter', because it took only a handful of well placed shots to set the plane aflame very quickly.

Of course, these problems were eventually fixed, and the Luftwaffe had a successful bomber to use. However, by this time Germany had so few resources that the Greif's role was reduced to almost nothing, priorities in the Luftwaffe shifted mostly towards fighter aircraft to shoot down Allied bombers. It is interesting to hypothesize what might have been had the Germans got the Greif to its full potential earlier in the war, but in the end the Grief has become a curiosity of the German war machine, one that is mostly overlooked. Until next time, take care, and thank you.

Stars and Stripes Review: April 19, 1943

In this issue, the headline story details the efforts of the Allies to destroy the German war machine by destroying their factories, in this case a plane factory in Bremen. The article describes a week-long endeavour of bombing raids, both day and night and post mission reconnaissance missions showing Bremen as a pile of rubble, her factories annihilated. While it is true that German cities were severely damaged in Allied bombing raids, nearly 1/3 of Berlin's housing was destroyed by wars end, German factories were inexorably rebuilt and hidden. The Germans became very adept at camouflaging their factories, either in dense forests or inside mountains or underground. It was even considered to build a rocket-launching facility inside a mountain to prevent its destruction. In the end, though, it wasn't Germany's loss of factories that crippled their war effort but rather the Allies continual destruction of their supply convoys: war material was being produced but wasn't getting to the front.

Other stories in this issue include a progress report on the North African campaign from Dwight D. Eisenhower: the German Afrika Corps has been pushed back to Tunis and is clawing for whatever time it can get for evacuation. Also, there is a remarkable story about a soldier whose troop ship was torpedoed and sunk. The soldier was rescued out of the Atlantic by an Allied destroyer only to have the destroyer torpedoed as well. The soldier was picked out of the water by a French ship, who in turn sunk the two subs in the area responsible for sinking the troop ship and the destroyer.

Also, there is a story speculating on the Republic P-47 acting as a bomber escort in light of heavy bomber losses and the lack of a plane with sufficient range to escort the bombers all the way to their targets. Unfortunately, the P-47 was especially fuel-hungry, and could only escort the bombers a third of the way to Berlin at the most. Of course, this would all change with the later introduction of the legendary P-51 Mustang.

Finally, this issue has lighter news, such as the beginning of the year's Army boxing tournament, the start of baseball season, comic strips such as Blondie and Joe Palooka, as well as some pictures of the lovely Rosemary LaPlanche, Miss America 1941, and some ladies from the Women's Army Corps to cheer the boys up up at the front. All in all, a typical issue of the Stars and Stripes. Until next time, take care and thank you.

France's Mighty, Unlucky Super Submarine

In 1934 the French Navy commissioned what was then the world's largest submarine in the world: the Surcouf, a submarine and yet much more. However, through a series of tragic and unforeseeable events, the Surcouf's career was blotched with bad press and resulted in the sub's virtual nonexistence.

Launched in 1929, the Surcouf's main goal in life was to combine the roles of a submarine and a surface cruiser. The most notable features on this sub are the main guns, which had an 8-inch bore. The Surcouf also carried various antiaircraft guns, a total of ten torpedo tubes and even carried a small seaplane in a hangar. In the end, this sub was intended to carry 118 men 12,000 miles out to sea without refueling, on the surface that is. Surcouf was indeed a mighty ship on paper. Unfortunately, when war broke out things went downhill fast.

When Germany invaded Poland, Surcouf was escorting a convoy to Europe from the Caribbean. The Surcouf suffered engine troubles and experienced turbulent seas, resulting in the scattering of the convoy which led to seven ships being sunk by German U-boats. When Germany invaded France, the Surcouf sailed across the English Channel with only her backup electric motors and a jammed rudder. When France signed its armistice on June 22 1940, England recognized the Free French forces, and also told French sailors that either they join the fight or scuttle their ships. This resulted in a small altercation on the Surcouf with the crew and English commandos, resulting in four men dead and two wounded.

After that, the Surcouf fought with the Free French, but her involvement was connected with some questionable operations. Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the Free French, wanted to invade two islands off the coast of Canada; these islands were colonial holdings of France that vowed loyalty to the German-collaborating Vichy government. de Gaulle feared that these islands could radio information on transatlantic convoys, so the Surcouf and three other ships were sent to take the islands. Unfortunately for the Surcouf she couldn't enter the shallow harbor, so the troops she carried were transferred to the other ships and they got the glory of 'liberating' the islands.

After this event, the Surcouf was seen as either unlucky, or worse cursed. A freighter captain complained that the Sucrouf chased his ship around the ocean before they sailed away, rumors circulated that she was torpedoing Allied ships, she was even hit by one of the world's first rocket-propelled anti-submarine weapons, ironically launched accidentally by an Allied plane. This streak of bad luck would culminate on the fateful night that would claim the Surcouf and her entire crew. The Surcouf was ordered through the Panama Canal to Tahiti to aid the Allies against Japan. On February 18 1942, a very dark night, the Sucrouf was sailing partially submerged north of Cristobal when the American Army transport USS Thompson Lykes hit the sub and kept on going, thinking they had hit a German sub.

In actuality, all 129 crew members of the Surcouf went down with their ship, and there is a memorial in Cherbourg, France to commemorate their loss. The sad part about this seemingly mighty submarine is that she never once fired her guns against an enemy target in her short-lived life. Until next time, take care, and thank you.

Star and Stripes Review: April 13, 1945

April 12 is the anniversary of many events: It's the anniversary of the opening shots of the Civil War at Fort Sumter, it's the anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's spaceflight marking man's first trip into space, and 66 years ago today it is the anniversary of the death of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Struck down into the president's fourth term, all of America mourned, and those overseas mourned just as much as those stateside.

This issue is one of the most collectible Stars and Stripes in existence, partly because of the extra large headline, but also it marks a huge landmark not only in the course of the war, but also for the rest of the postwar world. As the front page has emblazoned, the 32nd president of the United States died on April 12, 1945 from a cerebral hemorrhage, brought on from his weakened state due to his polio. It is also noted in light of this event that Harry S. Truman was the seventh vice-president to become Chief Executive after the President's death, the other six being John Tyler, who succeeded William Henry Harrison; Millard Fillmore, who succeeded Zachary Taylor; Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Abraham Lincoln; Chester Arthur, who succeeded James Garfield; Theodore Roosevelt, who succeeded William McKinley, and Calvin Coolidge, who succeeded Warren G. Harding.

However, as with the rest of life, the war went on. Other events depicted in this issue are the US Ninth Army crossing the Elbe river, and Patton's Third Army is only 85 miles away from linking up with the Red Army. Also, it was announced that the British were no longer going to draft anyone over 31 years old, with the exception of specialists. Also, the German town of Schweinfurt was captured, which was significant for American airmen because of the heavy losses sustained from the disastrous air raids on the town.

It is important to note that this issue is not only shorter than most issues of Stars and Stripes, but the third page is almost entirely devoted to comic strips, including Blondie, Dick Tracy, and Donald Duck. It could be said that this was intentional for the purpose of helping the soldiers deal with the grief of losing their president. Whatever the reason, this issue is but one way of viewing the passing of one of America's greatest wartime leaders. Until next time, take care, and thank you.