There are a million “things that won WWII” and many of them are debated hotly. In terms of Bangshifty stuff that “won WWII” horsepower is pretty much tops. It was a fully mechanized war and the side that produced the most, best, and most powerful machines would prevail. There were standout engines and vehicles during WWII but few of them rose to such prominence and legend as the vaunted Rolls Royce Merlin V12. There were other monster engines that did work as well.
The Allison was an American behemoth that powered planes and boats but it was the Merlin that was the true hot rod mill that proved superior to all others in the sky. With its addition to the P-51 Mustang the plane became unbeatable in the right hands and by the time the war was over the Mustang was the scourge of the bad guy’s nightmares. All this being said, volume was key. It was one thing to have awesome stuff but if you could not produce it in huge volumes you’d be in trouble (see Panzer tank).
At first, Henry Ford was to use his factories to produce the engines under license from Rolls Royce but Ford balked when he saw that he’d be supplying the engines for American and British planes. With Ford out of the running, the government sought a suitable industrial outfit to produce the engines and Packard was their choice. Reportedly, Rolls Royce was impressed with Packard’s engineering and production prowess so they agreed and by August of 1941 the first Merlin built by Packard was fired. These guys were not effing around.
We have no idea how they changed the plants and moved the machines but they did and the photos below show it all in great detail. You’ll see engines in all levels of construction, parts being tested, stuff being inspected, and the big 1,650ci V12s being prepped for their final homes in the noses of aircraft.
Early engines had a single speed supercharger but later engines were equipped with a two speed blower and those were the ones that out performed all others in high altitude situations. Making around 1,400hp at “normal altitude” and still almost 1,300 at high altitude due to the two speed huffer, you can see right off the bat how their performance would be stout.
Before you go check out the photos, here are the basic rundown of specs of the Packard/Merlin V-1650
Bore and stroke: 5.4″x 6.0″
SOHC design
dry sump oiling
twin carbs
1,645lb dry weight
6:1 compression
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE HOW PACKARD/MERLIN V-1650 ENGINES WERE BUILT AT THE PACKARD PLANT IN 1943 – AWESOME PHOTOS –
I agree with Dan – amazing engines from an amazing company. Packard had an extremely long history with aircraft engines, stemming from their (and Jesse Vincent’s) leadership in designing the Liberty V-12 aircraft of WWI. [Here is a list of Packard’s aero engines, which number around two dozen – (http://www.enginehistory.org/Packard/StatsAllPackardAero.pdf – Statistics of All the Aero Engines of Packard – From author Robert J. Neal of book Master Motor Builders) Packard was even there at the beginning of the jet age, in building three different jet engines. Because of Packard’s involvement with myriad of aviation engines, it is a common misconception that the Packard Merlin was used in WWII PT boats. It was not. The Packard PT boat engine stemmed from the Packard 1A-2500, 2A-2500, 3A-2500, 4A-2500 and 5A-2500 family of aviation engines of 1924 to 1930. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Packard_1A-1500)
(http://all-aero.com/index.php/component/content/article/64-engines-power/13357-packard-1a-2500-packard-2a-2500-packard-3a-2500-packard-4a-2500-packard-1a-2500-packard-5a-2500) (http://central.gutenberg.org/articles/Packard_1A-2500)
The Packard PT boat engines of WWII were designated ether 3M-2500, 4M-2500 and 5M-2500 and had a displacement of 2540 cu. in. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PT_boat – PT boat) (http://www.pt-boat.com/packard/packard.html – Packard V12 Marine Engine) (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/classiccars/8209523/Packard-V12-4M-2500-engine-in-detail.html – Packard V12 4M-2500 engine in detail.
I had a personal connection with the Packard PT boat engine as a little boy, if ever so slight. My mother’s father was a toolpusher on an offshore rig in the Gulf of Mexico out near his home of New Iberia, Louisiana. This was around 1960 and they used surplus PT boats as crew boats. I was asked if I would like to go offshore to my granddad’s rig and ride on the deck of a PT boat in getting there. ABSOLUTELY I WOULD!!! What were these people thinking – that I would say NO?! My dad and I arrived at the boat at the appointed time. We were immediately informed that contrary to what we had been told, I couldn’t ride on deck due to insurance considerations. Shoot!! As we boarded, through the open engine hatch, I was able to study the port Packard engine at idle. And I took my time, too!! The hatches were open due to the hot climate, were in two parts and ran the length of the engines. I can still see the Packard script on the left bank cam cover quivering as the engine ticked over.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp9ijOGo5SY – PT Boat Engine Pre Startup Engine Checks Higgins PT658 Portland OR
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq3x_noQ-bk – PT Boat Engines Running sound and visual checks, Higgins PT658 Portland OR Dad and I were directed to the charthouse cabin (below deck in front of the bridge) by the captain. A word about the captain – he was only 18 and the only one on board, except us!! So much for insurance concerns! Dad and I rode in the charthouse seated at a small round table (covered with patterned formica). I remembering it being rough seas, but what a ride! And what a wonderful, wonderful day!! My grandfather, father and that day are all now gone but they all still live in my memory. Thanks Dan, for causing me to remember.
My Dad had a war essential job at a engine factory in Detroit during WW2. It would be a trip to catch his mug in one of these pictorials. Wonder how much flak he caught because of our German heritage…