Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant
| Type | 129 Factory | |
| Historical Name of Location | Warren, Michigan, United States | |
| Coordinates | 42.496944444, -83.041666667 |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseThe Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant was the United States Army's first manufacturing plant that mass-produced tanks. The facilities were designed by the famous industrial architect Albert Kahn, and the facilities were erected by the automobile manufacturing firm Chrysler in the winter of 1940 to 1941. The plant was built on 113 acres of former farmland. The main building, gigantic in size, was protected by 3-foot (0.91-meter) thick concrete walls against potential hostile bombardment. Even prior to the plant's completion, Chrysler had already received, in late 1940, a contract to build 1,000 M3 tanks. The first M3 tank constructed at this plant was delivered on 24 Apr 1941. It would soon be converted to build M4 tanks. 896 M4 tanks were delivered in Dec 1942, which would remain the WW2-era production record. When WW2 ended, about 25% of the tanks built by the US were built at the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant. Tank production was suspended at the conclusion of WW2, but it would resume during the Korean War; 3,443 M47 tanks were built between 1952 and 1954. During the 1960s, it produced 500 M60A2 tanks. In the days after the outbreak of the 1973 Arab-Israeli War, it was producing 5 tanks per day. In 1979, while still building M60 tanks, it began to also build components for M1 tanks; shortly after, it would perform final assembly for M1 tanks as well (previously it was only done at the Lima Art Tank Plant in Ohio, United States, which was also operated by Chrysler under US Army contract). In Mar 1982, Chrysler sold the division running the tank plants to General Dynamics Land Systems, which would continue building M1 and M60 tanks at Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant until 1987. The plant closed in 1996. Some of the land was turned over to the city government of Warren, Michigan, United States, but the US Army would keep a portion of the property to run several of its agencies, including branches of the US Army Tank Automotive Research and the US Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command.
ww2dbaseSources:
United States Library of Congress
Wikipedia
Last Major Update: Feb 2015
Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant Interactive Map
Photographs
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Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant Timeline
| 15 Aug 1940 | The US Army contracted with the automobile manufacturer Chrysler to build the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant in Michigan, United States. It was to be the country's first government-owned contractor-operated facility. |
| 24 Apr 1941 | The first M3 tank constructed at the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant in Michigan, United States was delivered to the US Army. |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
16 Jul 2017 12:36:07 AM
Have you ever seen a Detroit Arsenal pin that's in the shape of a tank? It also has 4 numbers on it.
1 Aug 2017 03:37:57 PM
Sir I am looking for someone helping me locate some spare parts for a M60 A 3 tank.
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
| WW2-Era Place Name | Warren, Michigan, United States |
| Lat/Long | 42.4969, -83.0417 |
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16 Feb 2017 08:36:44 AM
do you of a list of employees of he Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant