Military production during World War II

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During World War II, women worked in factories throughout much of the Western and Eastern United States.

Military production during World War II was a critical component to military performance during WWII. Over the course of the war, the Allied countries outproduced the Axis countries in most categories of weapons.

Gross domestic product (GDP)

This chart shows the relationship in GDP between the Allied and the Axis during 1938-1945.

This table shows the relationships in Gross domestic product (GDP), between a selection of Allied and Axis countries, from 1938 to 1945, counted in billion international dollars and 1990 prices.

Notes on the table (remember that the distribution values are rough estimates):

1. ^  France-Axis distribution: 1940: 56%, 1941-43: 100%, 1944: 58%.
2. ^  Italy distribution: 1938-1943: 100% Axis, 1944-1945: 100% Allies
3. ^  Japanese values are included in Axis totals for all years in order to illustrate potential contribution
4. ^  Soviet Union-Allies distribution: 1939: Only 67% due to the pact with Germany, but none to Axis. During 1940 Soviet Union is not counted at all. 1941: 44% is distributed to the Allies (after Operation Barbarossa), 1942-1945: 100%.
5. ^  US values are included in Allied totals for all years in order to illustrate potential contribution & Lend-Lease
6. ^  The Allied total is not the immediate sum of the table values; see the distribution rules used above.
7. ^  The Axis total is not the immediate sum of the table values; see the distribution rules used above.
8. ^  Allied/Axis GDP: This row shows the relation in GDP between the Allies and the Axis; i.e. 2.00 means the Allied production was 2 times larger than the Axis. Please note that only a selection of countries are included in the table. The distribution of values into alliances is described in the previous notes.

Table data source: Harrison, Mark, "The Economics of World War II: Six Great Powers in International Comparison", Cambridge University Press (1998).

Summary of production

Note that most Battleships and Cruisers were produced before the war and many served through its entirety.

US propaganda during World War II, urging citizens to increase production.

Production by country

Vehicles and ground weapons

Tanks and self-propelled guns

Soviet T-34

1. Soviet Union = 105,251 (92,595)
2. United States = 88,410 (71,067)
3. Germany = 67,429 (43,920)
4. United Kingdom = 27,896
5. Canada = 5,678
6. Japan = 2,515
7. Italy = 2,473
8. Hungary = 500

Note: Number in parenthesis equals the number of tanks and self-propelled guns equipped with main weapons of 75 mm calibre or larger. Smaller producing countries do not have this differentiation.

Artillery

Artillery includes anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons with calibres above 37 mm.

1. Soviet Union = 516,648
2. United States = 257,390
3. Germany = 159,147
4. United Kingdom = 124,877
5. Japan = 13,350
6. Canada = 10,552
7. Italy = 7,200
8. Other Commonwealth = 5,215
9. Hungary = 447

Mortars (over 60 mm)

1. Soviet Union = 200,300
2. United States = 105,055
3. United Kingdom = 102,950
4. Germany = 73,484
5. Commonwealth = 46,014

Machineguns

Machineguns do not include sub-machineguns, or machine guns used for arming aircraft.

1. United States = 2,679,840
2. Soviet Union = 1,477,400
3. Germany = 674,280
4. Japan = 380,000
5. United Kingdom = 297,336
6. Canada = 251,925
7. Other Commonwealth = 37,983
8. Hungary = 4,583

Military trucks

German Panzer III

1. United States = 2,382,311
2. Canada = 815,729
3. United Kingdom = 480,943
4. Germany = 345,914
5. Soviet Union = 197,100
6. Japan = 165,945
7. Italy = 83,000

Aircraft

Military aircraft of all types

1. United States = 324,750
2. Soviet Union = 157,261
3. United Kingdom = 131,549
4. Germany = 119,307
5. Japan = 76,320
6. Canada = 16,431
7. Italy = 11,122
8. France (09/39 - 06/40) = 4,016
9. Other Commonwealth = 3,081
10. Hungary = 1,046
11. Romania = 1,000

Fighter aircraft

1. United States = 99,950
2. Soviet Union = 63,087
3. Germany = 55,727
4. United Kingdom = 49,422
5. Japan = 30,447
6. Italy = 4,510
7. France (09/39 - 06/40): 1,597 = 542 MS.406 + 437 D.520+ 518 MB.151+ 80 C.714 + 20 VG-33

Attack aircraft

1. Soviet Union = 37,549
2. Germany = 12,539
3. France (09/39 - 06/40) = 280

Bomber aircraft

American B-17 Flying Fortress

1. United States = 97,810
2. United Kingdom = 34,689
3. Soviet Union = 21,116
4. Germany: 18,449^[1] = 214 Ar 234 + 475 Do 17 + 1,366 Do 217 + 5,656 He 111 + 1,146 He 177 + 9,122 Ju 88 + 466 Ju 188 + 4 Ju 388
5. Japan = 15,117
6. Italy = 2,063
7. France (09/39 - 06/40) = 712

Transport aircraft

1. United States = 23,929
2. Soviet Union = 17,332
3. Germany = 3,079
4. Japan = 2,110
5. United Kingdom = 1,784^[2]
6. Italy = 468

Training aircraft

1. United States = 57,623
2. United Kingdom = 31,864
3. Japan = 15,201
4. Germany = 11,546
5. Soviet Union = 4,061
6. Italy = 1,769

Naval ships

American Essex class aircraft carrier.

Aircraft carriers

1. United States = 22 (141)
2. Japan = 16
3. United Kingdom = 14
4. Germany = 0 None completed by the end of the war. Two were in production , Graf Zeppelin and Flugzeugträger B.
5. Italy = 0 None completed by the end of the war. Two were in production: see Aquila and Sparviero.

Figure in parentheses indicates merchant vessels converted to Escort carriers.

Battleships

^{[citation needed]}

1. United States = 8
2. United Kingdom = 5
3. Italy = 3
4. Japan = 2
5. Germany = 2

Cruisers

1. United States = 48
2. United Kingdom = 32
3. Japan = 9
4. Italy = 6
5. Soviet Union = 2

Destroyers

1. United States = 349
2. United Kingdom = 240
3. Japan = 63
4. Soviet Union = 25
5. Germany = 17
6. Italy = 6

Convoy escorts

American Fletcher class destroyer.

1. United States = 420
2. United Kingdom = 413
3. Canada = 191
4. Germany = 23

Submarines

1. Germany = 1,141^[3]
2. United States = 203^[3]
3. Japan = 167
4. United Kingdom = 167
5. Soviet Union = 52
6. Italy = 28

Merchant tonnage

1. United States = 33,993,230
2. United Kingdom = 6,378,899
3. Japan = 4,152,361
4. Canada = 3,742,100
5. Commonwealth = 2,702,943
6. Italy = 1,469,606

Large Scale Civil Engineering Construction

Concrete bunkers and pillboxes

Estimate - uk only - 72,128,141 tonnes of steel and concrete germany-132,685,348 tonnes of steel and concrete

Concrete runways

10,000,000 tonnes ^[4]

Materials

Coal

In millions of metric tons

1. Germany = 2,420.3
2. United States = 2,149.7
3. United Kingdom = 1,441.2
4. Soviet Union = 590.8
5. Japan = 184.5
6. Canada = 101.9
7. Italy = 16.9
8. Hungary = 6.6
9. Romania = 1.6

Iron Ore

In millions of metric tons

1. United States = 396.9
2. Germany = 240.7
3. United Kingdom = 119.2
4. Soviet Union = 71.3
5. Japan = 21.0
6. Hungary = 14.1
7. Romania = 10.8
8. Italy = 4.4
9. Canada = 3.6

Crude Oil

In millions of metric tonnes (1 tonne = ~7.2 barrels of oil)

1. United States = 833.2
2. Soviet Union = 110.6
3. United Kingdom = 90.8
4. Germany = 33.4 (including 23.4 synthetic)
5. Romania = 25.0
6. Canada = 8.4
7. Japan = 5.2
8. Hungary = 3.1

See also

• American armored fighting vehicle production during World War II
• Army-Navy ‘E’ Award
• German armored fighting vehicle production during World War II
• Italian aircraft production 1935 to 1945
• Rosie the Riveter
• Soviet armored fighting vehicle production during World War II
• World War II aircraft production
• World War II

Notes

This article's citation style may be unclear. The references used may be made clearer with a different or consistent style of citation, footnoting, or external linking. (September 2009)

1. ^ NOTE: The number of Nazi Germany bomber aircraft does not include more than 3,172 operational V-2 rockets and approximately 10,000 operational V-1 unmanned aircrafts used by for bombing
2. ^ By agreement, the UK drew most of its transport aircraft, excepting converted bombers, from the US allowing it to concentrate on production of bombers
3. ^ ^{a b} Wagner, Kennedy, Osborne, and Reyburn. The Library of Congress World War II Companion. pp 202-203.
4. ^ http://energydiscussiongroup.wikispaces.com/file/view/war+tonnages.xls An estimate of the rates of production carried out in WW2 as a guide to how quickly a crash programme of renewables could be built by comparison.

References

• GDP values: Harrison, Mark, "The Economics of World War II: Six Great Powers in International Comparison", Cambridge University Press (1998).
• Milward, Alan S., "War, economy, and society, 1939-1945", University of California Press (1979).
• Overy, Richard, "Why the Allies Won (Paperback)", W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (1997).
• Barnett, Correlli, "The audit of war : the illusion & reality of Britain as a great nation", Macmillan, (1986).
• 'Gross Domestic Product' 1940

External links

• Allies and Lend-Lease Museum, Moscow
• Canada's WWII Industry & Production

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