GD World, Volume 14, Issue 6, June 1984 Page: 4 of 4
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Electric Boat and Navy Join in Major Ship Technology Program
By Jim Reyburn
Electric Boat and the U.S. Navy are
teaming up in a major program to boost
productivity and quality that is expected
to have long-lasting effects at the corpora-
tion's largest division.
The joint effort has resulted in the
Shipbuilding Technology Program, which
now potentially includes some $18 million
worth of capital improvement projects at
Electric Boat's Groton, Conn., shipyard
and its Quonset Point, R.I., hull fabrica-
tion facility. Projected annual savings on
these projects add up to $6 million.
The program, which grew out of a 1982
technology modernization study, works
this way: Electric Boat proposes a project
that includes the potential cost savings
and investment required and submits it to
the Navy. If the Navy approves, the project
moves to the development stage, in which
cost and savings estimates are made firm.
Approval at that point gives the go-ahead
for implementation.
Currently, there are several projects in
the development and implementation
stages. Those being implemented now are:
" Machine Shop Modernization -
This calls for the installation of six com-
puter numerically controlled "machining
centers" - four at Quonset and two in
Groton. The centers, capable of boring,
milling, tapping and other functions, are
three to four times faster than the older
manually operated machines that have
been in use for a number of years. Each
center carries a number of different tools
in an automatic tool changer. Tool
changers carry 48 to 100 different tools,
depending on the machine. Two centers
are already in operation at Quonset. An-
other two are on order and will be in-
stalled and operating by the end of next
month. The two for Groton will be re-
ceived early in 1985.
" Hull Blast Articulators - These are
self-propelled aerial work platforms with
a four-nozzle head that can be pro-
grammed to automatically blast or paint
components or entire submarines. Four
of these will go into operation next month
in Groton.
Two Fort Worth Films
Rate High at Festival
Two films made at Fort Worth received
special recognition in the recent 1984 Best
of Texas Competition at the USA Film
Festival in Dallas.
"Thunderbirds - The Legend Lives On"
won first place in the Informational
Category. The film on the U.S. Air Force's
Air Demonstration Squadron features
photography of the team's F-16s, the
preparations that are made before a Thun-
derbirds show and precision flight maneu-
vers. It was produced and directed by
Greg Hubbard, written by John Stevens,
edited by Bob Simons and filmed by Nick
Alvarado and Gary Tolbert, all of the
Multimedia Department.
"Out of the Sun" received an honorable
mention certificate as one of the top films
in theDocumentary Category.tWritten
and produced by Bob Cunningham of
Marketing, the film explores the history
of aerial combat and is a continuation of
Cunningham's work in writing and illus-
trating the book "Aces High." It features
interviews with a number of renowned
aces from wars in which combat aircraft
were used, from World War Ito Vietnam,
and actual combat footage obtained from
military sources. It was directed and
edited by Simons and filmed by Alvarado,
Tolbert and Bob Waldrop of Multimedia.
Govette Elected
William H. Govette, Vice President ofFabrication and Assembly at Pomona, has
been elected President for 1984-85 of the
Board of Directors of the California Vo-
cational Industrial Clubs of America
(VICA) Leadership Foundation.
In this position, he will help to develop
leadership abilities and continued interest
in vocational education for students en-
rolled in vocational and industrial classes.The four projects approved for develop-
ment under the program are:
" Quonset Point Blast and Paint
Facility - This new building would con-
solidate and modernize Quonset's blasting
and painting operations and would in-
crease its capacity for such work, nowlimited by the current facility's size. Pre-
liminary concepts call for a multibayed
building to handle both large and small
components. A centrally located "core"
would contain support systems hop-
pers to hold blast grit, air compressors for
the painting apparatus, shot recovery
fMachine Modernization, Electric Boat and the Navy have joined in a capital
improvements program that is modernizing shipbuilding machines and facilities at
the division. Shown above is a 5,000-ton vertical plate bender included in the
program that will be a main feature of a new Heavy Steel Forming Facility at
Quonset Point, R. I.equipment and a temperature humidity
control center. The facility is targeted for
operation in mid-1985.
" Quonset Point Heavy Steel Form-
ing Facility - This new building would
consolidate heavy steel processing cut-
ting, burning, welding and forming
now performed in several locations at
Quonset. Focal point of the building
would be a 5,000-ton vertical plate bender
that would provide greater forming accu-
racy than the horizontal plate rollers now
in use. Bridge cranes would move the steel
through the building. Completion is ex-
pected by mid-1985.
" Automated Cutting and Handling
Process for Pipe and Bar Stock - This
would automate the cutting and handling
process in the Quonset warehouse. A com-
puter numerically controlled cutting
machine and an associated material feed
system will provide for more speed and
efficiency in that operation, which is now
performed manually. Completion is ex-
pected by mid-1985.
" Automatic Storage and Retrieval
- The main storehouse material at
Groton would be retrieved at the press of
a button by large carousel conveyor units,
speeding the retrieval process. Completion
is expected by early spring, 1985.
The program will not end after these
projects are completed. There are several
others in the preliminary stages of consid-
eration, and any new projects will con-
tinue the shipbuilding technology pro-
gram well into the future.GD Flashback
Tank-Building Tradition Began with M-3 in WW 11
The Land Systems Division has a proud tradition of producing outstanding main battle tanks, with its first tank setting the
standard more than 43 years ago.
Land Systems' first armored combat vehicle was the M-3 medium tank, which it began producing in 1941 while the division was a
subsidiary of the Chrysler Corporation. The M-3, also known as the Lee and later the Grant, earned immediate recognition for the
company by figuring prominently in British victories over the German Afrika Korps in North Africa in early World War II.
A London newspaper at the time said, "Although they have not been long in action on the Libyan front, the U.S. General Grant
tanks have already earned a brilliant reputation."
The M-3 was supplied to the British under the Lend-Lease Act, and they promptly named it in honor of General Robert E. Lee.
Shortly after, the British Government requested modifications including an elongated turret to meet British Army require-
ments and bought these modified M-3s directly. They named this version in honor of Ulysses S. Grant. The Lees and Grants were
the first American tanks sent to British troops fighting the Germans and Italians in North Africa. They were received with great
enthusiasm by the British 8th Army, which now had an armored vehicle capable of meeting German tanks on equal terms.
At the time it became operational, the M-3 was the world's most heavily armed vehicle for its weight. It weighed 28%z tons, had a
maximum armor thickness of 57-mm., could travel a maximum of 28 miles an hour on roads and had a maximum radius of 108
miles. It had a crew of six and was armed with a 75-mm. gun on the hull, a 37-mm. gun in the turret and four .30-cal. machine guns.
Early M-3s were powered by a Wright Continental R-975 engine, a 9-cylinder, radial, air-cooled engine developing 340 horsepower.
Later versions had different engines as the Wright came into short supply.
Oddly, the M-3 had greater firepower than its bigger, heavier-armored successor, the 32-ton Sherman. This, however, was due to
a drawback in the M-3's design. The M-3 carried its 75-mm. gun well down the right side of the hull, where its angle of fire was
restricted. It was obvious that the place for this large gun was in the turret where it could fire in any direction, so this change was
made with the Sherman, and the 37-mm. cannon was not included in the newer tank's design.
The M-3 was the first American medium tank to be produced in quantity prior to the U.S. entry into the war. The U.S. Army on
Aug. 15, 1940, awarded Chrysler a contract for 1,000 M2Al tanks, which were then being produced only at the Rock Island (Ill.)
Arsenal in small numbers. Since Chrysler was just getting into the tank-manufacturing business and had no production facilities of
its own, the contract was based on the planned construction of a new Army plant at Detroit.
Thirteen days after the contract was signed, the Army canceled the order for the 23-ton M2A1 tank, which was designed in 1939,
and replaced it with one for the M-3, which was still on the Army's drawing boards. The Army general staff had concluded that the
M2A 1 was not good enough for combat, based on reports from Europe, and would be obsolete before it could be produced at
Detroit. The M-3 was pushed to production as a hurried answer to the German blitzkrieg.Land Systems' first test tank was rolled
out in April 1941, and the first production
tank was completed on July 8, 1941, actu-
ally about three months before the plant,
itself, was fully constructed. The Chrysler-
operated Detroit plant delivered 3,352
M-3s in six basic production versions by
the time the M-3 was succeeded on the
assembly line by the M-4 Sherman on
Aug. 3, 1942.
Although overshadowed later by the
newer Sherman, the M-3 Lees and Grants
gave the division a solid foothold in tank
manufacturing at a time when the British
badly needed an answer to the shortcom-
ings of their own tank designs. The first
American M-3s arrived when British
military operations in North Africa were
at a low ebb, and many saw long service.
They chased the Germans and Italians
across the desert and were still fighting in
Tunisia when what was left of the Axis
armies finally surrendered. A British offi-
cial gave this unsolicited testimonial: "The
Grants and the Lees have proved to be the
mainstay of the fighting forces in the
Middle East; their great reliability, power-
ful armament and sound armor have en-
deared them to the troops."T.
r'
4" ~ ,
f
sLand Systems' First Main Battle Tank, the M-3
Page 4
GENERAL DYNAMICS WORLD
June 1984
Ama&ao
3
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General Dynamics Corporation. GD World, Volume 14, Issue 6, June 1984, periodical, June 1984; St. Louis, Missouri. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1108921/m1/4/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, Fort Worth.