Detroit Diesel Corporation

 Upload a photo

General Motors Detroit Diesel Engine Division

In 1930, General Motors, seeking to enter the diesel engine field acquired the Winton Engine Co. of Cleveland, Ohio. Founded in 1912 by auto pioneer Alexander Winton, Winton was a successful producer of large marine engines for yachts and workboats which had expanded into the railway field. At the same time GM bought Electro-Motive Co., a builder of gas-electric rail cars and Winton's biggest customer.

With the help of Winton's engineers, GM's Charles Kettering sought to develop a smaller version of the large four cycle engines produced by Winton. Following a number of years of development, they began testing a two stroke engine which became the basis of the Series 71 diesel engine. In 1937, GM formed the Detroit Diesel Engine Division to build the "smaller" diesel engine, while Winton Engine was reorganized to become the Cleveland Engine Division (later the Electro-Motive Division) which would concentrate on the marine, stationary and railway markets.

In 1938, GM erected a new 480'x 240' factory on 75 acres at 13400 Outer Drive. Other buildings included an office building and an engineering laboratory to pursue further development on small diesel engines.

World War II

With the advent of World War II, the demand for diesel power greatly expanded. Detroit Diesel produced over 193,000 engines over the course of the war, with peak production of 6,000 engines a month. The one to six cylinder engines produced from 10 to 238 horsepower and were used in four types of tanks and tank destroyers, eleven types of landing craft, tugboat engines, generators, earth moving equipment and in other applications. Series 71 engines were used in 19,653 Grant, Sherman and M-10 tank destroyers (comprising 16% of all M3 and M4 type tanks - the military preferring gasoline engines), and 33,549 landing craft. Several additions were made to the plant during the war to accommodate the increased production.



www.detroitdiesel.com/
usautoindustryworldwartwo.com/General%20Motors/detroit-...