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Metals since ancient times have been vital in warfare. This is why historians have defined a substantial part of the ancient era as the Bronze Age--it was because bronze weapons were more deadly than stone weapons. And this accelerated with the subsequent development of iron weaponry. Over time steel was developed, but it was at first very expensive and only used to produce weaponry and armor. With the industrial revolution, metals became increasingly important in the many evolving industrial processes. And World War II was an industrial war meaning that a wide range of metals were needed by industry to turn out the vast numbers of weapons and vehicles used in the War. Metals are not even distributed around the world. The Allies had access to industrail metals, the Axis did not. Part of the motivation for the Axis in launching the War was to gain access to the strategic metals needed to wage war. Access to metals affected grand strategy for both the Axis and Allies. One amazing aspect of World War II is how the Germans with virtually no important natural resources except coal, managed to wage war so effectively for nearly 6 years. Part of that story is the huge quantity of strategic materials provided by the Soviet Union while the two countries were allies (1939-41). The most important metal in warfare was the iron used to produce steel. All the major military weapons and vehicles required steel and in huge quantities. To make high quality steel, alloys were produced which required many different metals like chromium, cobalt, tungsten, and others. Electricity for the first time became a major factor in warfare which meant that copper was needed in large quantities, making it the second most important metal of World War II. And as the air war became a major part of the War. This meant that aluminum was needed in huge quantities. Aluminum ore is not rare, but to produce aluminum, huge quantities of electricity is needed. This was the major impediment to national production. Scientists in belligerent countries created all kinds of new weapons, often requiring a range of metals. Jet engines for examples required high-grade alloy steel. And of course the atomic bomb required uranium a little known metal before the war. And production of the needed uranium isotope required silver. In addition to industrial metals, precious metals like gold and silver were also important for fiscal reasons and have their own story.
Aluminum (Al, an13) became a key strategic metal in World War II. There is a lot of steel in aircraft, but aluminum is highly desirable. And America needed a lot of it to produce the amazing 300,000 aircraft manufactured during the War. Aluminum is three times lighter than steel and thus vital in the construction of aircraft frames. France was an important producer of bauxite--the primary aluminum ore. High-quality bauxite ores occur along the northern coast of the Mediterranean Spain to Turkey, including southern France, Italy, Yugoslavia, and Greece. The French mines were lost to the Allied cause when France fell to the NAZIs (1940). This was a potential threat to the British war effort which had been importing French bauxite and was launching a major air effort. America mined bauxite, but not near the quantities needed by the rapidly expanding American air forces. And the available domestic American ore grades were low. For this America turned tn South America. 【Baptiste】 Suriname and British Guiana (Guyana) mined bauxite. Surinamese bauxite was of especially high grade. With American support, production was rapidly expanded. And America established Caribbean bases to safeguard trade routes from U-boat attacks. New technical advances significantly expanded American domestic production. Aluminum had never before been used significantly in warfare. And it was extraordinarily expensive, not because of scarcity. Producing aluminum metal required two major inputs: 1) bauxite ore with was relatively inexpensive and 2) and vast amounts of electrical energy which was the the major cost. Something like 20 percent of the cost of production of aluminum was electricity. One pound of aluminum requires 10 kilowatt-hours of electricity. One source to put this in meaningful terms suggests that this is the amount of electricity to heat a kitchen oven for four hours. The electric energy was a brand new industry. And until it developed and prices reduced, aluminum could not be produced for industrial purposes. This problem was solved by the vast increase in electrical generating capacity during the inter-War years, including hydro-electric projects like the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The most important military use of aluminum was in aircraft production. This was not the case in World War I. All metal aircraft was a new innovation and only appeared in the inter-War years, mostly the 1930s. In addition to aircraft, aluminum was also used in the construction of ship infrastructure, radar chaff, not to mention millions of mess kits. With the advent of World War II, aluminum production increased exceeding 1 million metric tons for the first time (1941).
Germany launched the War as the world's leading producer of aluminum (1939). The NAZIs saw this as an important advantage. A major German effort led by Reich-marshal Göring was launched to expand production, An important part of that effort focused on Norway to utilize that country's hydro-electric power, but it failed miserably. 【Frøland and Kobberrød】 Mass recycling programs were launched. The British during the Battle of Britain launched a crash effort to expand aircraft production. They and other countries collected household aluminum utensils. 【Thorsheim, pp. 66–69.】
The Minister of Aircraft Production directly appealed to the public to turn in household aluminum for the aircraft industry. The United States would become the world largest producer for its massive aircraft building effort, but had at first had trouble with Alcoa. 【Seldes, p. 261.】
Before World War II, most of the bauxite processed in the United States was imported. The threat of German U-boat attacks on shipping caused the United stated to look for domestic sources. And this was found in Arkansas. Arkansas would provide almost all of the bauxite ore that was mined in the United States during the War. The Arkansas bauxite was, however, of lower grade than the bauxite being imported from South America. The United States had the substantial available electricity needed to produce aluminum in large quantities. As a result, the United States hugely expanded aluminum production during the War. The United States built over 300,000 military planes during World War II. This required the production of more than 3 billion pounds of aluminum. American production alone exceeded that of all the Axis countries combined. The European Axis had access to bauxite. Their problem was the electrical energy needed to produce aluminum. The American production not only supplied American aircraft plants, but also plants in Britain and the Soviet Union. There were also home front recycling drives. Some 'Tin foil drives' (actually aluminum foil) offered free movie tickets as a prize, helping to motivate children. The Soviet Union received nearly 330,000 metric tons of aluminum mostly from America (1941-45). It was mostly used for aircraft construction, but also in tank engines. 【Chandonnet, p. 338.】 Without Lend Lease shipments, the output of the Soviet aircraft industry would have fallen by more than a half. 【Weeks, p.35.】
Antimony (Sb, an51) is bluish-white, brittle, metallic element. Antimony is very unevely destributed around the world. Antimony by the time of Workd War II had become an important metal in modern industrialized societies. Its major use was to impart strength, hardness, and corrosion resistance to various iron and lead alloys. It was used in lead-acid storage batteries, making it imprtnt to the ghuge American autimobile industry. It was also used as a fire retardant in safety equiment and a variety of household goods, especilly mattresses. One author describes antomny as the most important metal in Workd War II people have never heard about. It is rarely mentioned as a vital metal in World War II. We probably do not hear much about it because America was able to fill most of its and British requirements, albeit from a single mine. Without that mine, the Allied war effort would have been significntly hampered. Antimony was an imprtant industrial metal. Before the War, the United States was largely dependent on Chinese mines for antimony, primarily from the Xikuangshan Mine in Hunan Province. The NAZI Giverment was active uin China before the War ans obtainuing strategic metals was one of their objctives. Antimony and tungsten was at the top of therir list. Smaller deposits occurred in Bolivia, Canada, Mexico, South Africa, the Soviet Union, Tajikistan, and Turkey. Much of the antimony not mined in China before the War was shipped to China for smelting. The need for antimony is legendary. The metal was used in countless military applications. This includdd vital armor piercing amunition, precision optics, hardened lead for bullets and shrapnel, ammunition primers (an combustion-supporting ingredient), tracer ammunition, flares, military clothing, and communication equipment. The two most important World War II applications were manufacturingh tungsten steel and the hardening of lead bullets. The fireproofing compound antimony trichloride (SbCl3)
saved the lives of many American soldiers because it was applied to tents and vehicle covers. And military applications have only multiplied since World War II.
Japan's invasion of China and than launching the Pacific War, cut off America from its Chinese suppliers. As far as we know, the Germans had no access to antimony during the War. Shortages of the metals needed to produce alloys was a major problem for the Germans in the later years of the War. In particular it hampered the Me-262 jet program. The Japanse had access to the mines in occupied China, but we have no information on the extent to which hey were accessed. Fortunately for America, a gold mine in central Idaho called the Stibnite mine produced small quantities of antimony as a by product. The mine operators were able to expand antimony production which supplied much of the Allied requirement. The United Srartes reopened idle domestic mines, expaned foreign mines, as well as recovered antimony from scrap became a major supply source, idle domestic mines were reopened, foreign mines expanded production, and recovered antimony
from scrap. Imprts from Boliviawere imprtant. The Stibnite mine alone, howevr, produced some 90 percent of the antimony reqquired by American war industries. It was used to produce 40 percent of the tungsten steel needed for the war effort. 【Blackmon】
Chromium (Cr, an24) is not that rare overall, but useful minerals deposits (including India) high grade ores are. Chromium into the early 19th century was was primarily used not only as a component of paints, but also in tanning salts. The chromite found in Russia was the main source for such tanning materials. A larger chromite deposit was discovered near Baltimore in the United States (1827). This quickly furnished the demand for tanning salts much more adequately than the Russian chromite that had been used previously. The United States became the largest producer of chromium products. This changed when even larger deposits of chromite were uncovered near the city of Bursa, Turkey (1847). With the development of advanced industrial metallurgy and chemical industries in Europe and America, the demand for for chromium increased. Most of the know deposits were in Allied-controlled territory, with the exception of neutral Turkey. Chromium is one of several metals vital in producing alloy steel which was important to fighting a modern war. Chromium was valuable in the production of alloy steel for its high corrosion resistance and hardness. Civilian uses included stainless steel. And American car manufactures liked to add gleaming chrome trim on new cars. Alloyed steel was much more effective than un-alloyed steel (carbon-steel) for many military purposes. It was used for ball bearing surfaces, especially in engines, particularly in demanding high performance aircraft engines. Chromium was also used in the alloy steel to harden armor plate. As well as for armor-piercing (AP) shells.
Cobalt (Co, an30) is a hard, brittle, metallic element commonly found in association with nickel, silver, lead, copper, and iron ores. It resembles nickel and iron in appearance. Before it was discovered, it caused serious illness in mines extracting other metals. It is a rare elements that is naturally magnetic. It thus can be easily magnetized and even maintains its magnetism at high temperatures. As late as the 19th century, it had no industrial uses. Rather it was only used to produce dyes for pigmentation. Cobalt-based blue pigments (cobalt blue) were used in ancient times for jewelry and paints, and to give a distinctive blue color to glass. This of course was before cobalt as an element was discovered. Vincent van Gogh’s masterwork, 'Starry Night Over The Rhône' employed a combination of ultramarine, Prussian blue, and cobalt. It was primarily produced at the Norwegian Blaafarveværket. The Cobalt-Chromium alloys, actually super-alloys in general, caused a real leap in cobalt use, Cobalt ore was discovered half across the globe in the Pacific Ocean--New Caledonia (1864). European production began to decline. Other deposits were found in Ontario, Canada (1904) and the discovery of even larger deposits in Katanga, Belgian Congo (1914). The military applications were the production of wear-resistant cobalt alloys. These alloys were developed in the first decade of the 20th century with the steel alloys, also containing chromium with varying quantities of tungsten and carbon. These super-alloys were important because of their corrosion- and wear-resistant characteristics. 【Campbell, pp. 557–58.】 Industrial development of wear-resistant cobalt alloys began after the turn of the 20th century. They were referred to as stellite alloys with chromium with varying amounts of tungsten and carbon. Alloys with chromium and tungsten carbides are extremely hard and extraordinarily wear-resistant.[Campbell, pp. 557–58] Cobalt because of its rarity was more expensive than the other alloy metals. Cobalt-based super-alloys came to consume most of the world's the cobalt production. 【Shedd】 These allows have superior temperature stability which made them desirable for turbine blades for gas turbines and aircraft jet engines, although nickel-based single-crystal alloys surpass them in performance. 【Donachie】 They were used in the production of artillery tubes and armor in addition to the new jet edginess. German shortages of cobalt and other metals used to produce super alloys is part of the reason their Me-262 jet engines had such short operational lives.
The Germans built more than 1,400 Me-262s, but only 50 were certified for combat according to German air ace Adolf Galland. There were never more than 25 operational at any given time and engine problems was one of the major reasons.
Copper (Cu, an29) was one of the most vital metals in World War II. This was the case since the ancient bronze age. Even in modern times it became important in the use of shell casings. But copper became especially important because of its high conductivity characteristics. There were important copper mines in the United States, Chile and the Belgian Congo. The Germans invaded and occupied
Belgium, but the Belgian authorities in the Congo joined the British led Allied resistance to the NAZIs. The Germans achieved a copper bonanza when they occupied France (June 1940). They were thus able to seize the French strategic reserve. Another important acquisition was the Bor mine in eastern Serbia which they obtained with the invasion of Yugoslav (April 1941). American domestic production of 70,000 tons was totally inadequate for war-time requirements (1939). The Federal Government rationed copper. Eventually even pennies were made in steel. Gold mining was stopped to free miners to work in copper mines. Miners were exempted from military service. Domestic production thus greatly expanded and was supplemented by imports. Electricity became a huge factor in warfare for the first time in World War II. It had began to appear in World War I, but in World War II it was vital. Copper was used for generator and motor windings, and radio circuitry. Copper was used in huge quantities for wiring every piece of rolling, floating, or flying equipment that went to war. The radio was just beginning to be used in World War I. It was vital by the time of World War II. It was needed for modern warfare--vital for German Blitzkrieg, essentially modern warfare, which the Allies and Soviets also finally mastered. Millions were produced and put into use along with all that wiring. Another new and vital system was radar. Small arm shell casings were made of brass, which contains copper. Most bullets had a copper 'jacket' to keep them from fouling the gun barrel. There were shortages of everything during the War. The United States even began making steel pennies to save copper. The steel pennies notably were coated with Zinc to keep them from rusting.
Gold (Au, an79) did not have much in the way of industrial uses at the time of World War II, unlike today. But that did not mean it did not play a role in the War. Many countries went off the gold standard as a result of World War II. This was a process begun in World War I. Belligerent countries had to limit civilian gold movement. There was a rush to move gold to the United States. Even so the treasuries of the belligerents were depleted. Britain had been the center of world finance before the War with enormous gold reserves. As the War progressed, Britain had to finance not only its own war effort, but its allies as well, including France, Italy, and Russia. The result there was a shift of gold reserves as well as overseas investments and the flow of private credit, primarily to America. Britain had to borrow huge sums, mostly from private banks in the United States. This gave the United States had huge leverage. President Wilson after the 1916 election began pressuring the belligerents to make peace. Britain had no choice, but to consider the American demands. The Germans rejected them and opted for a military solution. That military solution failed. Britain and the Allies won the War, but the British and French had lost most of their gold reserves. The Germans had much more limited gild reserves to begin with and what they had was largely depleted. American gold reserves in contrast increased. It was the Depression that finally forced countries to abandon the gold standard. Britain abandoned the gold standard completely (1931) and the United States followed suit partially when it prohibited possession of gold bullion (1933). The NAZIs upon seizing power in Germany launched a massive and very costly rearmament program. This was done largely through financial slight if hand. The Government hid the extent of the borrowing so the Reich Mark would not crash. The armaments program also adversely affected German exports meaning the ability to generate foreign currency. All this mean that NAZI Germany was bankrupt by the time of World War II. If Hitler had not gone to war, the economy would have collapsed. It also meant that the NAZIs had an enormous appetite for gold. The stunning German military successes in the West resulted in a sharp increase in the rate of flow of gold to the United States. Britain had allowed the NAZIs to seize the Czech gold (1939) but British policy soon changed and other countries began shipping their gold reserves to the United States. The Germans needed the gold for purchases from neutral countries. It could seize what it wanted from occupied countries and even allies like Romania, but neutrals which had needed strategic materials demanded payment and here gold was important. The Allied naval blockade effectively cut Germany off from international trade, but there were rail connections with several neutrals (Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and Turkey) as well as secure Baltic shipping links with Sweden.
Iron (Fe, an26) is a very common element. It us used to produce steel and is by far the most important metal used for military purposes. It is a very common element with important deposits located around the world. It was not at first used for military purposes because it required the development of high temperature furnaces. When this technology developed it was a game changer in human civilization--ending the Bronze Age. Iron/steel weapons were much more effective than bronze weapons. It also resulted in what might be called the democratization of warfare. Leaders could afford to amass and arm much larger armies with iron than bronze weapons. Iron/steel weapons were much cheaper than bronze weapons. At the time of World War II, iron ore was being mined in the United States, the Soviet Union, and other countries under Allied control. The Axis countries did not have major iron deposits to fuel their war machines, but acquired some as a result of successful military campaigns early in the War, or in the case of Japan well before the outbreak of war. Germany did not have major mines producing high grade ore within the Reich, but was able to get the iron ore it needed from neutral Sweden. Without the Swedish iron ore, NAZI Germany could not have waged World War II. Germany had the second largest
steel industry in the world. Germany committed most of its manpower to the the Ostkrieg. This was not true for its war industries beginning with steel. Much of this was used to fight the Western Allies, leaving the Ostheer poorly supported--a major factor in its failure. German production was only exceed by that of the United States. And America after Pearl Harbor rapidly expanded steel production. American steel production had declined because of the production, but was rapidly expanded to meet the needs of not only the American military, but that if their allies. The rapid technological development during the War created a demand for specialty or alloy steels. The United States could produce the alloy steel in needed quantities. While Germany maintained steel production, obtaining the needed metals to produce the alloy steels was an increasing problem as the War progressed. This proved to be a major problem in the final years of the war, especially with the jet program.
Lead (Pb, an82) is not a metal that gets much consideration in World War II histories, but it was actually of some importance. It is metal that has been widely used such ancient times. This is primarily because of the low melting point, making it easy to work with even with limited technology. The Romans used it for plumbing--explained the Pb symbol. Its characteristics include softness meaning extreme work ability. It has a high specific gravity, beneficial alloying properties, low cost, high recoverability, and corrosive resistance. Many of these characteristics are what attracted medieval alchemists as they tried to create gold. With technological advances, other properties became useful in World War II. Lead could shield both radio waves and radiation.
Magnesium (Mg, an 12) has a variety of industrial uses, including military uses. Thism is primarily because it is the lightest of all metals, incredably about two-thirds lighter than aluminium. Magnesium is not rare. It is eighth-most-abundant element in the Earth's crust by mass and tied in seventh place with iron in molarity (concentration). It occurs as deposits of magnesite, dolomite, and other minerals, and in mineral waters, where magnesium ion is soluble. Like aluminum, producing magnesiumn requires large amounts of energy. This ia a calculation the Germans did not make in their pre-War planning. The first successful industrial production occurred in Germany (1886) by Aluminium und Magnesiumfabrik Hemelingen.
With the advent of ar, the U.S. Government began funding magnewsiium oproductuiin oprojects. The Dow Chemical Company of the United States and Magnesium Elektron Limited of the United Kingdom began the electrolytic reduction of magnesium from seawater pumped from Galveston Bay, Texas, and the North Sea at Hartlepool, England. At the same time in Camada, L.M. Pidgeon's process of thermally reducing magnesium oxide with silicon in externally fired retorts was developed for commercial production.
The major issue with magnesium is the cost of production which involved large amouns of ebnergy. The high prices precluded many industrial uses. Of course during war this changes. The Germans as part of their rearmament program gave attention to strategic material that was generally lacking in the democracies. Magnesium, was one of the metals that the Germans addressed. As with aluminum, the Germans participated in cartels. With magnesium this involved IG Farben and magnesium producers in the United States and Britain. The NAZIs through IG Farben worked to discourage any build up of stockpiles in the democracies being targeted militarily. 【U.S. Senate】 At the onset of the War, Germany was the leading producer of magnesium with production exceeding that of all other countries combined. Magnesium was one of the main aerospace construction metals, especially in Germany. The Germans began using magnesiumn in military aircraft during World War I and much moire extensively in World War II. The Germans coined the name "Elektron" for magnesium alloy. German dominanced changed very rapidly after the United States was thrust into the War by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (1941). And much more rapidly than the Germans had thought possible.
The production of magnesium just prior to the War was about 32,000 tons with most of it coming from Germany. Britain also produced important quantities. Smaller quantities were produced in France and the United States. Production increased exponentially during the war, peaking at 232,000 tons. Most of that expanded production came from the 15 plants that the U.S. Government helped build as part of the war mobilization effort.
Magnesium is a low density metal, even lighter than aluminum. As a result it was used for a range of military purposes in both World War I and II. World War I applications consisted largely of tracer rounds and incendiary flares and munitions. This continued in World War II, but it found a much larger range of uses, especially in the production of Thermite and avizatiion. .
Like aluminum, magnesium found many uses in aircraft production. It elped reduce the weight of aircraft bodies and parts. It was used in incendiary bombs, but by far, the largest use were sheet, plate, forgings, extensions, tubular products and castings for military aircraft fuselage and wing skins, structural frame members, body panels, decking/flooring, brackets, engine compressor casings, gear box housings and landing gear wheels. Thisn was mostly done through aluminum alloys Thus many aircraft at the time which extensively used magnesium components. The most important plane appeared after the war--the B-36 bomber, known as the 'Magnesium Wonder of the World'.
Nickel (Ni, an28) was extremely rare until the 19th century. The only source was the rare Kupfernickel. Nickel was first isolated (1751). It was named even eratlier by copper and silver miners in Saxony. They ebcountered ore containing an unknown substance which gaver them considerable trouble. Smelted produced a brittle, unfamiliar product which they called kupfernickel. The name cane from the cooper (kupfer) thery were familiar with nickel after old Nick and his mischievous gnomes. With new processes, nickel was obtained as a byproduct of cobalt blue production (1824). The first large-scale smelting of nickel began in Norway from nickel-rich pyrrhotite (1848). The nickel deposits of New Caledonia were discovered (1865). The introduction of nickel alloys in steel production increased the demand for nickel (1889). This meant that for the first time nickle had military/strategic value. This provided most of the world's supply (1875 -1915). There were further discoveries: Sudbury Basin, Canada (1883), Norilsk-Talnakh, Russia (1920), and in the Merensky Reef, South Africa (1924). These made large-scale production of nickel possible. Canada was especially important bedcause of the availbility of hydro-electric power needed to produce nickel as well as the kumber needed for mine timbers. . The Sudbury mines were the largest spirce of nicel duting thevWar. They also produced copper, platinum, and other metals. The age of the dreadnoughts arrived (after the turn of the 20th century). High quaklity steel armor was needed. These high-tech ships were clad in nickel-steel. As other European countries (especially Germany) and America conducted naval building programs to keep up with Britain, the demand for nickel increased exponentially,. The Sudbury mines virtually exploded with activity. Sudbury was the principal source during World War I (1914-18). Much more nickle was needed during World War II. And new veins were developed in the Subbery Basin.
INCO's Frood Mine alone accounted for a 40 percent of the nickel used in Allied artillery production. The mines were operated 24 hours a day. A good deal of the labot was stilldine by hand. The processing invilvd sepoaring the sulfur and copper. An electolytic process further purified the nickel. More refining took place an INCO's Hunnington West Virginia plant where actual nickel igots and other priducts like sheetbar, rod, wire, and sheet were produced. 【INCO】 World War II was a mechanized war, although horses were still used. Highly technical advanced equipment was used for all kinds of new weapon systems. Thousands of pounds of nickel were used in the high tech American B-29 Superfortress. The Pacific War was primarily a naval and amphibious conflict requiring especially rugged engines with many nickel alloy parts needed to retard the corrosive effects of salt water. Nickel-hardened armor plate was used for tanks and nickel alloys for anti-aircraft guns and ordnance. One not often mentioned use was for lightweight and tough portable bridges the Allies used as part of the invasion of Germany at the end of the War. The Inco mines that grew out of the nickel mines in Sudbury, produced 95 percent of the nickle used by the Allies. One author wrote, "Given the chance, Hitler would willingly have traded the whole Silesian basin, and thrown in Hermann Goering and Dr. Goebbels to boot, for a year’s possession of the Sudbury Basin." 【Gray】
Platinum (Pt an78) is a naturally occurring element that is some 30 times rarer than gold. It is the least common of all the major precious metals. Platinum is mined primarily in South Africa, but also found in Russia and Zimbabwe (at the time of World War II Southern Rhodesia). Most platinum is derived from a mineral called cooperite (platinum sulfide). The United States classified platinum a strategic material during World War II. We are not entirely sure just why American officials made this decision, but its use for non-strategic purposes was prohibited. As far as we know, until the War, it was primarily used in jewelry with some industrail applications developing in the 20th century. Platinum has a higher melting point than gold or silver which is why it was not much used in jewelry until modern times, although it was known to and coveted by the Egyptians. The name platinum comes from the Spanish who discovered it in Colombia. They did not view it as valuable, discarding it as an impurity in the silver they were mining. The Spanish became experts in silver mining. The Spanish miners began calling it disdainfully platina--means little or unimportant silver. This evolved into the English word platinum. The melting point of platinum is very high -- 3,215 °F (1,768.4 °C). Compare this to aluminum at 1,218°F and steel at 2,500°F. It is also a basically non-reactive characteristics which lent it to some industrial processes, although we do not have much actual information. One source reports Japanese submarine was sunk with 2 tons of platinum in 1943. Unfortunately we do not know what the Japanese were going to do with it. One possible use in high temperature aircraft engines. Even 3,215°F wasn’t enough for some jet and turbojet exhaust systems.
The Germans developed the only jet fighter that played any real role in the War--the Me-262 Swallow. It was a superb aircraft. If Hitler had not interfered in its development and use, it could have has a significant military impact. It had one major weakness. The jet engine powering the Me-262 had to be replaced after a mere 10 hours of operation. This was because the Germans had a lack of access to strategic metals needed to make heat resistant alloys. Without them there was no way of preventing t wear and high temperature warping of the internal blades of the jet engines. At the end of the war, the Allies found incompletely manufactured Me-262s, due to the lack of strategic materials.
Other sources insist that platinum does not have explicit military application, but significant industrial uses. The catalytic properties of platinum are important in the manufacture of vital products that did have military applications. Platinum is an excellent if expensive and difficult to use conductor. It may have been used in detonators. Platinum was used as a catalyst in the Oswald process to convert ammonia and air into nitrous oxides for the manufacture of nitric acid, which then was used for making explosives.
One source reports that platinum because it was a refractory metal with low electron emission at high temperatures, was used as a grid material in some types of high performance electron tubes used in radar equipment. One example is the American VT-127 oscillator triode. Specialized alloys were developed for the purpose, which were much less expensive than platinum.
Silver (Ag, an47) from ancient times was a monetary metal It was actually more important than gold as few ordinary people were rich enough to accumulate gold. It was more of a metal for royalty and the very rich. European production was very limited, although German production in the Thaler Valley is where the term dollar originated. As a result of the Spanish conquest of the America (16th century), huge silver deposits were discovered in Mexico and the Andes (modern Bolivia). The Spanish essentially discovered a silver mountain at Potosi (1545). The massive flow of silver had a huge impact on the European economy and financed European trade with China. (The Europeans produced very little the Chinese wanted.) Until the 19th century, silver was almost entirely, like gold, a monetary and jewelry metal. In the 19th century, unlike gold, industrial uses began to be found for silver. As the South American mines were depleted, production moved to North America, particularly Canada, Mexico, and Nevada in the United States. Some secondary production from lead and zinc ores also took place in Europe, and deposits in Siberia and the Soviet Far East as well as in Australia were mined. In addition to monetary and jewelry, a wide range of uses have been found for silver, including medical, electronics, brazing alloys, chemical equipment, and catalysts. As a result, the United States during World War II, upgraded silver to the status of a strategic war material. Silver was a potential substitute to address shortages of tin and aluminum and other metals. The most serious problem was the developing shortage of copper as a result of the huge increase in demand from the military. This was the most serious obstruction to the American war effort other than the rubber shortage after the Japanese seized most of Southeast Asia. And silver was especially important in electronics and photo recon photography. Especially important was the role of silver in the Manhattan Project. Silver was a vital element in the production of U 235. Army Secretary Simpson made and unusual request to Treasury Secretary Morgenthau--15,000 tons of silver. It was used to to produce magnets. It was these coils that were key to the U 235 separation process. 【Schewe】
Tin (Sn, an50) was best known by American children in the days before plastic as used to produce cheap toys--many coming from Japan.. Strangely while tin was seen as a easily bendable metal--it was the heaviest of the major industrail metals. Tin alone did not have a lot of combat military uses. It was, however, used as an alloy with copper to produce brass. And brass was used in large quantities to produce shell casings. It was also used as a rust-proof coating over steel to produce tin cans, in solder, babbitt (bearing metals), and other metals. The military used tin for plasma containers, airplane instrument panels, ammunition boxes, and morphine syrettes for administering needed pain relief for wounded soldiers. The United States had no domestic tin ore deposits. American industry relied on Asian sources. especially Southeast Asia. Japan after Pearl Harbor invaded and occupied the area. Thus the United States helped expand operations in Bolivia, Belgian Congo, and Nigeria. The Japanese also seized tin smelters of Malaya and Dutch East Indies (modern Indonesia). The United States relied on smelting operations in Britain and Belgian Congo. The United States prohibited the use if tin in luxury items and household and kitchen utensils. The use of tin was ended for canned fruits and vegetables (March 1943). Industry turned to electrolytic tinplating which replaced the hot dip method because it involved a thinner coating. These and other measures reduced tin consumption about 50 percent (1941-45).
Tungsten (W, an74) is perhaps the king of metals. The Germans did not have access to tungsten, but were able to obtain it from neutral Portugal. The United States had access to deposits in the Rocky Mountains. Unlike the other major industrial metals discussed here, it is not a metal that many people have come in contact with for decades. The name came from Swedish for 'heavy stone'. It is better known in Europe as Wolfram from which the scientific symbol is derived. The density is two and half times that of iron and equal to that of gold. Tungsten carbide is the hardest metal than known--in hardness second only to diamond. It has a tensil strength of 1,510 megapascals. It was a new metal to mankind because only in the industrial age could it be used. It has the highest melting point of any metal--an amazing 6152°F. The vacuum tube became important in World War II electrical equipment. It was the best materiel for the liniment. And it was vital in industrial processes most importantly mass production. Mass production requires hot work stress and machine tools made of high-speed steels. High quality high-speed machine steel tools. The highest quality such tools and precision instruments that measure minute tolerances are made from tungsten alloy steels and tungsten carbides.
Uranium was a little known metal which no one played much attention to. It was uses as coring gent for glass. Suddenly it becane a one of the most importabt strategic metals. The War was finally ended with the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, ushring in the nuclear age.
Zinc (Zn, an30) is another under appreciated metal. The American Tri-State Mining District (Kansas, Oklahoma, and Missouri) produced about half of the world's zinc supply bat the time of World War II. One source describes copper, lead and zinc as the 'driving force' behind the American war effort. 【Heidebrecht, p. 3】 Copper certainly, but zinc and lead were not unimportant. Zinc is a good example as to how American financial power revolutionized the war effort. The Federal Government through the Premium Price Plan increased prices paid for metals, bringing all kinds of additional supply on line for the war effort. Concerning zinc, it made it possible to mine low-grade ores -- significantly increasing the American domestic reserve. The primary use for zinc was to give iron and steel an anti-corrosive coating. This was achieved through a hot-dip galvanizing process. Zinc was also used for die-cast products. This means essentially a heavy duty stencil for metal items that were produced in shapes and sizes from hot metal extrusion. 【Heidebrecht, p. 3】
Baptist, Fitzroy André. "The Exploitation of Caribbean bauxite and petroleum, 1914-1945," Social and Economic Studies Vol. 37, No. 1/2 (March – JuneE 1988), pp. 107-142.
Blackmon, David. "Antimony: The most important nineral you never heard o," Forbes (May 6, 2021).
Chandonnet, Fern. Alaska at War, 1941–1945: The Forgotten War Remembered (University of Alaska Press. : 2007).
Campbell, Flake C. "Cobalt and Cobalt Alloys, Elements of Metallurgy and Engineering Alloys (2008).
Donachie, Matthew J. Superalloys: A Technical Guide (ASM International: 2002).
Frøland, Hans Otto and Jan Thomas Kobberrød. "Norwegian Contribution to Göring's Megalomania. Norway's Aluminium Industry during World War II," Dans Cahiers d'histoire de l'aluminium (2009) Vol. 1-2. (N° 42-43), pp. 130-47.
Gray, James H. Article about Subury, Maclean’s (October. 1, 1947).
Heidebrecht, Aaron. "Lead and zinc: The 'gold' of World War II and Picher, Oklahoma May 1st, 1942 to June 30th, 1947," Pittsburg State University Digital Commons (April 24, 2012).
INCO--Internrionsl Nickel Corporation. "The story of nickel". This film is undated, bytwas nprobbly mde anout 1940. The industrial processes are amazing. We are not familar with German pricesses, but suspect tght they were less feficient.
Schewe, Philip F. "Silver crucial for WWII bomb," Inside Sience (January 13, 2010).
Seldes, George). Facts and Fascism 5th ed. (In Fact, Inc.: 1943).
Shedd, Kim B. "Commodity Report 2008: Cobalt" United States Geological Survey.
Thorsheim, Peter. Waste into Weapons (Cambridge University Press: 2015).
U.S. Senate. Subcommittee of the Committee on Military Afairs. "Elimination of German resources for war," (GOP: June 22, 1945.
Weeks, Albert Loren (2004). Russia's Life-saver: Lend-lease Aid to the U.S.S.R. in World War II (Lexington Books: 2004).
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