United States Army in World War II: The War Department
Global Logistics and Strategy 1940–1943
by Richard M. Leighton and Robert W. Coakley
1954
. . . to Those Who Served
Table of Contents
Introductory: Logistics—The Word and the Thing
The Revolution in Warfare—Changing Conceptions of Logistics—The Vagaries of Usage—The Army’s Logistical Effort, 1940–43
Part One: The Neutrality Period
Chapter 1: Rearmament and Foreign Aid Before Lend-Lease
The Peacetime Logistical Establishment—The Impulse Toward Rearmament and Foreign Aid—Early Organization and Policy for Control of Foreign Purchases—Use of Army Stocks To Aid Anti-Axis Motions—Anglo-American Coordination of Production Planning—Aid to Other Nations—The Drift Toward Collaboration With Britain
Chapter 2: War Plans and Emergency Preparations
Britain’s War—The Logistics of Hemisphere Defense—ABC-1 and Rainbow 5—Ships for Britain—The Logistics of Emergency Expeditionary Forces—The Abortive Azores Expedition—State of Readiness: Mid-1941
Chapter 3: The Army and Early Lend-Lease Operations
The Administrative Problem—Early Operations Under Lend-Lease—The Injection of Chinese Demands—Inclusion of the Netherlands Indies—The Latin American Program—Search for an Allocation Policy: February–August 1941
Chapter 4: The Broadening Pattern of Lend-Lease Operations
The Beginnings of Aid to the USSR—Adjustments in Programs and Allocations: September-December 1941—Extension of Lend-Lease Activities Overseas—The Halting Flow of Lend-Lease
Chapter 5: Widening Commitments
Britain’s Bid for American Intervention—Skipping: Ferrying Versus Amphibious Transport—Build-up in the Philippines—Logistics for Victory—The Army’s Victory Program—Global Logistics and Mass Invasion—America’s Contribution: Weapons or Armies?
Part Two: Crisis
Chapter 6: Pearl Harbor and Early Deployment
The Impact of Pearl Harbor—The Far East and the Pacific Line of Communications—Plans and Deployment in the Atlantic—The Search for Shipping for the Far East—Change of Pace in the Atlantic—Pressure of Scarcity in Hawaii
Chapter 7: Improvisation in the Pacific
The Australian Base—Probing the Japanese Blockade—Emergence of the Southwest Pacific Area Command—Manning the Island Line—Bobcat: Case History in Joint Task Force Logistics—The Army’s Administrative Problem in the Pacific Islands—Joint Versus Parallel Supply
Part Three: The Emergence of Policy and Method
Chapter 8: Strategy, Production Goals, and Shipping
The Victory Program—Morning After—Production Goals and the Problems of Balance—Shipping: Capacity To Deploy Versus Capacity To Support—The Drain of Ship Losses—Army Allocations and New Construction
Chapter 9: The Machinery of Logistical Coordination and Administration
Logistics in the Military Committee System—Allocation and Employment of U.S. Merchant Shipping—The Army’s Logistical Organization During the Emergency Period—Logistics in the War Department Reorganization of March 1942—Supply and Transportation in the SOS—The Contest for Control of the Ports—The Limits of Port Autonomy—The Theater Segment of the Pipeline—Secession of the Air Forces
Chapter 10: Lend-Lease as an Instrument of Coalition Warfare
The Munitions Assignments Board and the Common Pool—Organization of the MAB and Its Committees—Other Combined Boards: A Summary View—The Principle of Reciprocal Aid—Adjustment of Lend-Lease Procedure to Combined Arrangements—Readjustments in War Department Organization and Procedure—Storage and Shipment of Lend-Lease Materials
Chapter 11: The Anglo-American Munitions Pool
Determination of a Basis of Assignments—The Basis of Aircraft Allocations—The Relation of Requirements to Assignments—The Weeks-Somervell Agreement—Application of Assignments Theories: The Work of the MAC(G)—The Adjustment of Assignments and Shipping
Chapter 12: The Army’s System of Requirements and Controlled Distribution
The Army Supply Program—The Method of Calculating Requirements—Development of the Army Supply Program in 1942—The Distribution of Scarce Material—The Equipment Crisis and the Emergency Pool
Chapter 13: The Support of Overseas Operations
The System of Overseas Supply—Procedural Problems in Overseas Supply—Supply Versus Transportation—Filling the Pipeline—Equipping Outbound Troops—Service Troops and the Troop Basis
Part Four: Build-up and Early Offensives
Chapter 14: Build-Up in the British Isles—First Phase
Middle-of-the-Road Strategy—The Changing Outlook in Shipping—The London Staff Conversations—The Flow of Troops—The Flow of Cargo—Landing Craft: The Elusive Bottleneck—The Demise of Sledgehammer
Chapter 15: Turning Point in the Pacific
Strategy and Logistics in the Pacific War—Deployment and the Shipping Shortage—The Crisis at Nouméa—Problems of Cargo Shipment—The General Depot at Nouméa—Landing Craft and Intra-theater Transport—Equipment for Jungle Warfare—Service Troops—The Pacific Outlook at the End of 1942
Chapter 16: The Descent on North Africa
The Essay Contest—Birth of a Task Force—Inside Versus Outside—Cutting the Foot To Fit the Shoe—Launching the Western Task Force—The Pay-Off and Its Lessons
Chapter 17: Follow-Up in North Africa
Torch and the Atlantic Pool of Shipping—Administrative Arrangements for Support of Torch—The Convoy Bottleneck—Widening the Bottleneck—The Beginning of Routine Support—The Dwindling of Bolero
Part Five: Theaters of Foreign Aid
Chapter 18: The Anglo-American Orbit
Lend-Lease and Reciprocal Aid in the United Kingdom—The South and Southwest Pacific—The Middle East—French Rearmament: The Initial Phase—Military Supply to Turkey—Control of Lend-Lease by Theater Commanders
Chapter 19: China, Burma, and India
The Failure of the Prewar Chinese Lend-Lease Program—Stilwell’s Plans and Policies for Supply to China—Strategic Plans and Logistical Support: May-December 1942—Chennault’s Air Plan—Casablanca and After—Reciprocal Aid in India and China
Chapter 20: The Long Road to Russia—1
Pearl Harbor and the First Protocol—The First Protocol and the Shipping Problem—Formulation of the Second Protocol—The Search for Alternate Routes—Development of the Persian Gulf: January-July 1942
Chapter 21: The Long Road to Russia—2
The Persian Gulf: Decision on U. S. Responsibility—The Persian Gulf: Plans Versus Accomplishments—Second Protocol Deliveries Fall Behind—The Casablanca Decisions—New Disappointments—War Department Supply Agencies and the Second Protocol—Part Six: The Casablanca Period—Strategic Plans and Logistical Method
Chapter 22: War Production and Shipping: Year’s End Outlook
The Cutback in Military Supply—Shipping and the New Drift of Deployment—The Pressure for Economy in Ship Operations—Enlarging and Balancing the Merchant Fleet—The Fever Chart of Deployment Forecasting
Chapter 23: Economy and Stabilization
The Reduced Army Supply Program—The Attack on Waste—Administrative Improvements in Overseas Supply and Deployment
Chapter 24: Joint Logistical Planning and Coordination
Logistics in Joint Strategic Planning—The Army-Navy Basic Logistical Plan
Chapter 25: Casablanca and the Strategic-Logistical Debate
The Two Wars—The Mediterranean Life Line—Bolero Renewed—British Imports: The Six-Million-Ton Misunderstanding—Limitations on Amphibious Assault
Deployment Planning Adrift—British Imports: The “Bombshell”—Military Operations Versus War Economy—The President Disposes—“For Planning Purposes Only”
Part Seven: Conclusion
Chapter 27: Logistical Planning and Its End Products
Appendixes
Appendix A: Shipping Terminology and Planning Data: 1942–43
1. Weight and Space
2. Maintenance Requirements for Overseas Forces: 1942–43
3. Tonnage Requirement Factors for Overseas Shipments: July 1941–June 1943
4. Initial Cargo Shipping Requirements for Selected Units: Late 1942
5. Initial Cargo Shipping Requirements for Selected Units: Late 1943
6. Cargo Vessel Turnaround Time in Days: 1943
7. Selected Types of Landing Craft Available in 1941–42
8. Principal U. S. and British Convoys: Autumn 1939–Spring 1943
Appendix B: Procurement: 1940–43
1. Deliveries of Selected Items of Munitions to the Army: 1940–43
2. Estimated Value of War Department Procurement Deliveries: January 1942–30 June 1943
Appendix C: Lend-Lease Transfers
1. War Department Procurement Deliveries and Lend-Lease Shipments: January 1942–June 1943
2. Lend-Lease Shipments Compared With War Department Procurement Deliveries: 1 January 1941–30 June 1943
Appendix E: Overseas Deployment
1. Personnel Movement Overseas in Army-Controlled Shipping by Theater: December 1941–June 1943
2. Cargo Movement Overseas in Army-Controlled Shipping by Theater: December 1941–June 1943
1. Authorized Levels of Overseas Supplies: July 1942 and July 1943
2. Ammunition: The Unit of Fire and The Month of Supply, October 1942
3. Ammunition: The Unit of Fire and The Day of Supply, October 1943
Appendix G: Supply Responsibilities of the Ports of Embarkation
Appendix H: Shipping Losses and Gains
1. Construction and Losses of Dry Cargo Ships, United States, Allied, and Neutral: September 1939–June 1943
2. Construction and Losses of Tankers, United States, Allied, and Neutral: Fourth Quarter 1939–June 1943
Appendix I: Growth of the Service Establishment: 1942
Bibliographical Note and Guide to Footnotes
Tables
1. Shipping for RAINBOW 5: Estimated Availability and Requirements
2. Army Calculations of Shipping Requirements for Victory Program
3. Estimated Capacity of Cargo Shipping To Support Offensive Deployment: December 1941
4. Capacity To Deploy Versus Capacity To Support: January 1942
5. Proposed Tank Programs: 1942–43
6. Estimates of U. S. Landing Craft To Be Available for SLEDGEHAMMER: April-June 1942
7. Tentative Convoy Schedule for Western Task Force: 17 September 1942
8. Anticipated Port and Convoy Limitations for Slow Convoys to North Africa: September 1942
9. Eisenhower’s Proposed Convoy Schedule: 27 September 1942
10. Timetable for Preparing a Task Force: Ideal Schedule Compared With TORCH Preparations
11. Proposed Division of Troop and Troop-Carrying Contribution in TORCH . 459
12. Estimated Capacity To Support Forces in North Africa Through Morocco: September-October 1942
13. U.S. Convoys to North Africa: November 1942–May 1943
14. Types of Cargo in U.S. Convoys to North Africa: November 1942–May 1943
15. War Department Performance Under the First Soviet Protocol
16. Soviet Aid Shipments to Persian Gulf Versus Casablanca Program: January–June 1943
17. Soviet Aid Shipments Via Pacific Versus Casablanca Program: January–June 1943
18. Revised 1943 Military Program
19. Measurement Tons of Cargo Moved Per Dead-Weight Ton of Shipping: June–December 1942
20. Reduction of 1943 Army Supply Program: November 1942
21. Shipping Space Required for Moving a Division Overseas: Late 1942
22. Estimated Capacity To Support Forces in North Africa Through Morocco: January–February 1943
23. Proposed U.S. Army Deployment for 1943: January 1943
24. Tentative Allocations of American Landing Craft at Casablanca Conference.
25. Proposed Versus Scheduled U.S. Shipping Assistance to British Imports
Charts
1. The Peacetime Army: September 1939
2. Organization for Handling Military Lend-Lease: November 1941
3. The Army on the Eve of Pearl Harbor
4. The Reorganized Army: September 1942
5. Combined Assignments Machinery: 1942
6. Organization and Procedures for Handling Lend-Lease (Ground Matériel): October 1942
7. The Port of Embarkation in the Overseas Supply System: 1942
8. Procedure for Equipping a Typical Unit for Overseas Movement: December 1941
9. Procedure for Equipping a Typical AGF Unit for Overseas Movement: Mid-1942
10. Procedure for Equipping a Typical AGF Unit for Overseas Movement (POM): February 1943
11. The Joint Committee System: December 1942
12. Dissolution of the Casablanca Deployment Program: First Quarter 1943
13. The Effort To Formulate a Deployment Program, February-March 1943: OPD Versus SOS Estimates
14. Comparison of “Agreed Deployment” Program With Actual Army Deployment: April-December 1943
15. The Two Wars: The Division of Effort, January 1942–March 1943
16. The Two Wars: The Flow of Army Troops Overseas, December 1941–April 1943
17. The Two Wars: The Flow of Army Cargo Overseas, December 1941–April 1943
18. The Two Wars: Build-up of Army Strength Overseas, 31 December 1941–30 April 1943
19. The Two Wars: Build-up of Army Assigned Shipping, March 1942–March 1943
Maps
1. Logistics of British Imperial Defense, 1940–41
2. Logistics of Hemisphere Defense, 1941
3. The Pacific Areas, 1 August 1942
4. American Transoceanic Supply, 1942–43
5. Lines of Communication in French North Africa
6. Lines of Communication in China–Burma–India Theater, December 1942
7. Persian Corridor Supply Routes
8. Logistics of Coalition War, 1942–43
Illustrations
Army and Navy Munitions Board, June 1941—Army-Navy Amphibious Maneuvers, August 1941—Beachhead Supply Dump—Aboard HMS Prince of Wales During the Atlantic Conference, August 1941—Meeting of the Joint Board, November 1941—Army War Plans Division, November 1941—The Troop Transport SS Monterey—En Route to Northern Ireland, February 1942—Quonset Huts in Northern Ireland and Newly Arrived Troops—The Liner Normandie Burning—Rear Adm. Emory S. Land, Maritime Commission Chairman and War—Shipping Administrator—Lewis W. Douglas, Deputy Administrator, War Shipping Administration—Key Figures of the Services of Supply, March 1942—Preparing To Board a Troopship—Loading Ships, New York Port, 1943—American and British Air Chiefs, Lt. Gen. Henry H. Arnold and Air Chief—Marshal Sir Charles Portal—The Queen Elizabeth, One of the “Monsters”—Crated 2½-ton Trucks, Twin-Unit Packs, England, 1943—Amphibious Training in Mock LCV—Three Types of Landing Craft, Summer 1942—The Beached Transport SS President Coolidge, October 1942—Survivors Coming Ashore at Espiritu Santo—Dock at Nouméa, December 1942—Aerial View of Nouméa, January 1943—Sorting Damaged Rations, New Caledonia, April 1942—The “Maracaibo” HMS Misoa, October 1942—Seatrain USS Lakehurst in North Africa, November 1942—Aerial Views of Casablanca—Burdened Soldiers Debarking at Phosphate Pier, Casablanca—Convoy of LCIs Crossing the Atlantic—Draft of “Pentagon” Cable, Styer to Somervell—Allied Convoy Passing Gibraltar—U.S. Tanks at Heliopolis, Egypt, January 1943—Workshop at Heliopolis—A Lend-Lease 105-mm. Howitzer (Self-Propelled) in Egypt—Lend-Lease Material for the French, North Africa—Chinese Soldiers and an American Instructor—The Bengal-Assam Railroad—Arriving for a Conference in New Delhi, India, 1943—Trucking Supplies to Tehran Through the Persian Corridor—Train Loaded With Tanks for the USSR—Liberty Ships Unloading at the Port of Khorramshahr—Soviet and American Officials at Qaleh Morgeh Airport, Iran, 1943—Soviet Freighter Docked at Portland, Oregon, 1943—The War Against the U-Boat—Army, Navy, and Civilian Chiefs at Lunch, 8 December 1942—At Casablanca, January 1943—Churchill on Shipping Losses—Lord Leathers on British Port Capacity—General Gross on British Imports
The illustrations on pages 218 and 219 are from the U.S. Maritime Commission. All others are from the Department of Defense files.