Detroit Arsenal (Warren, Michigan)

{{Infobox military installation

|name = Detroit Army Arsenal

|partof = U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command

|location = Warren, Michigan

|image = US Army Detroit Tank Plant.jpg

|image_size = 300px

|caption = The plant floor in 1942

|type = TACOM

Research, Development and Engineering Center
Life Cycle Management Command

|built =

|materials =

|used =

|controlledby = US Army Installation Management Command

|garrison = US Army Garrison - Detroit Army Arsenal

|current_commander =

|commanders =

|battles =

}}

Detroit Arsenal (DTA), formerly Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant (DATP) was the first manufacturing plant ever built for the mass production of tanks in the United States. Established in 1940 under Chrysler, the plant was owned by the U.S. government until 1996. It was designed by architect Albert Kahn. The building was designed originally as a "dual production facility", so that it could make armaments and be turned into peaceful production at war's end.{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,859667,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081024134211/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,859667,00.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 24, 2008 |newspaper=Time |title=Upheaval at the Arsenal |date=May 26, 1952 |accessdate=May 21, 2011}} Notwithstanding its name, the {{convert|113|acre|km2|adj=on}} site was located in Warren, Michigan, Detroit's most populous suburb.{{cite web |url=http://ref.michigan.org/mbr/news/combo.asp?ContentId=7ED4ABC1-7C41-4039-985B-BCECC0EC8820 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090601145117/http://ref.michigan.org/mbr/news/combo.asp?ContentId=7ED4ABC1-7C41-4039-985B-BCECC0EC8820 |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 1, 2009 |title=Pure Michigan, Arsenal of Democracy |publisher=Ref.michigan.org |date=July 28, 2010 |accessdate=May 21, 2011 }}

History

File:US Army Detroit Arsenal.jpg

Chrysler's construction effort at the plant in 1941 was one of the fastest on record.{{cite book|author=Dennis Adler|title=Chrysler|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DALX2AsrZTcC&pg=PA68|year=2000|publisher=MotorBooks International|isbn=978-1-61060-871-8|page=68}} The first tanks rumbled out of the plant before its complete construction.{{cite web |url=http://www.motortrend.com/news/chrysler-revisits-its-involvement-in-world-war-ii-wvideo/ |title=Chrysler Revisits Its Involvement in World War II: Tanks, turrets, airplanes, and Power Wagons |first1=Stefan |last1=Ogbac |date=December 29, 2015 |work=Motor Trend |format=Photos, Video |accessdate=December 29, 2015}}

During World War II, the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant built a quarter of the 89,568 tanks produced in the U.S. overall. The plant made M3 Lee tanks while the buildings were still being raised and switched to M4 Sherman tanks in 1942. The Korean War boosted production for the first time since World War II had ended; the government would suspend tank production after each war. In May 1952, Chrysler resumed control from the army, which had been unable to ramp up production.

{{external image|image1=[https://clui.org/sites/default/files/ludb/mi/6299/5663074229_876e312b8d_o.jpg Aerial view of the site, 2006]{{citation |title=Detroit Arsenal, Michigan | url=https://clui.org/ludb/site/detroit-arsenal |publisher=Center for Land Use Interpretation}}}}

As a government-owned, contractor operated (GOCO) facility, Chrysler retained operational control of the production facility until March 1982, when Chrysler sold its Chrysler Defense division to General Dynamics Land Systems. General Dynamics produced the M1 Abrams tank at the facility (and at another plant in Lima, Ohio) until 1996, when the plant was closed and tank assembly and maintenance operations were consolidated{{cite press release |url=http://www.gdls.com/releases/releases_96/pr960812.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060505121930/http://www.gdls.com/releases/releases_96/pr960812.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 5, 2006 |title=Closing of Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant |date=August 12, 1996}} at the Lima plant.{{cite web |url=http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/MI3141/ |title=Land Use Distribution |publisher=Ludb.clui.org |accessdate=May 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606114855/http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/MI3141/ |archive-date=June 6, 2011 |url-status=dead }} The plant and some of the adjoining property were transferred to the City of Warren{{cite web |url=http://www.tacom.army.mil/main/history.html |title=U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command History |publisher=Tacom.army.mil |accessdate=May 21, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722182447/http://www.tacom.army.mil/main/history.html |archivedate=July 22, 2011}} in 2001. The site of the original tank plant has been parcelled up and is now dedicated to civilian uses.{{cite web |url=http://www.cityofwarren.org/index.php/economic-development |title=City of Warren Community, Economic and Downtown Development |publisher=Cityofwarren.org |date=August 23, 2005 |accessdate=May 21, 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520110129/http://cityofwarren.org/index.php/economic-development |archivedate=May 20, 2011}}

This important production site of the Arsenal of Democracy is memorialized by a Michigan Historical Marker.{{cite web |url=http://www.michmarkers.com/Frameset.htm |title=Michigan Historical Marker |publisher=Michmarkers.com |accessdate=May 21, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315141338/http://www.michmarkers.com/Frameset.htm |archive-date=March 15, 2010 |url-status=usurped}}

The structure of the plant was designed to survive bombardment by the weapons of the day. It included {{convert|3|ft|m|adj=mid|-thick}} concrete walls in some areas and a reinforced roof with slats to direct bombs away from vulnerable windows and exhaust fans.

The portion of the property not sold to the city remains an active Army facility with many agencies present. The installation is managed by Installation Management Command (IMCOM) and hosts the headquarters of the United States Army CCDC Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC), formerly United States Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC),{{Cite book |last1=Dasch |first1=Jean M. |last2=Gorsich |first2=D.J. | title=The TARDEC Story. Sixty-five Years of Innovation 1946-2010 |publisher=US Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center |year=2012}} and it hosts the United States Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command. TACOM continues to function at the location, and experienced a major building boom in the 2010s.{{cite web|url=https://www.tacom.army.mil/main/index.html |title=TACOM public website |publisher=Tacom.army.mil |access-date=May 21, 2011}}

Tenant units

Tanks produced

M3 Lee, 1941–1942
M4 Sherman, 1941–1945
M26 Pershing, 1945
M46 Patton, 1949
M47 Patton, 1951–1953
M67 "Zippo", 1955–1956
M60, 1960–1987
M1 Abrams, 1980–1996

References

External links

[http://www.DetroitArsenalOfDemocracy.org Detroit Arsenal of Democracy Museum], Veterans' Memorial Park, 27400 Campbell Road, Warren, Michigan 48093
{{HAER |survey=MI-12 |id=mi0170 |title=Detroit Arsenal, 6501 East Eleven Mile Road, Warren, Macomb County, MI |photos=26 |data=61 |cap=3}}
[https://web.archive.org/web/20210131190427/http://imperialclub.com/Yr/1945/46Tanks/Cover.htm "Tanks Are Mighty Fine Things", a booklet about the WW2 History of the Detroit Tank Arsenal]
{{Internet Archive|id=tanmightyfi00stou|name="Tanks are mighty fine things" (1946)}}
Congressional Record [https://web.archive.org/web/20040225081944/http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/release.cfm?id=211125 , remarks on the dedication of the Michigan Historical Marker concerning the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant by] U.S. Senator Carl Levin
[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/detroit.htm Description of Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant at] Globalsecurity.org
[http://centerline.grobbel.org/misc_photos.htm#arsenal Detroit Tank Arsenal in Warren Township, 1941]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110722182447/http://www.tacom.army.mil/main/history.html U.S. Army Tank Automotive Command history]
[http://wikimapia.org/2282977/Detroit-Arsenal-Tank-Plant Wikimapia, Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant]
{{Internet Archive film clip|id=Assembly_Lines_of_Defense|description="Assembly Lines of Defense"}}

Category:Warren, Michigan

Category:Buildings and structures in Macomb County, Michigan

Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant

Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Michigan

Category:United States Army Materiel Command

Category:United States Army arsenals

Category:1940 establishments in Michigan

Category:Armories in Michigan

Category:Industrial buildings and structures in Michigan