Скачать или смотреть America Had No Aluminum in 1941 — So Alcoa Built the Largest Smelters on Earth to Win the Air War

At the beginning of the Second World War, the United States faced a severe shortage of aluminum, the critical metal used to build military aircraft. In 1941, American production was even lower than Germany’s, and only a few factories—mainly operated by Alcoa—produced primary aluminum. As the war intensified, the U.S. government and industry launched a massive industrial expansion, building new smelters powered by enormous hydroelectric projects such as Grand Coulee Dam on the Columbia River. Within just a few years, American aluminum production surged to about 1.25 million tons per year—more than all Axis nations combined. This surge supplied the material needed to build nearly 300,000 aircraft, giving the Allies overwhelming air power and helping decide the air war.