United Shoe Machinery Corporation (USMC) was a U.S.-based manufacturer of various industrial machinery, particularly for the shoe manufacturing industry and monopolized the American shoe machinery business. [1] It was an important federal government's defense contractor during the World War I, Interbellum years, World War II and the Cold war era, which developed and manufactured various land and aircraft armaments, as well as components for the military hardware made by other manufacturers. Founded in Beverly, Massachusetts, its corporate headquarters were eventually relocated to Boston, with key production facilities scattered around Massachusetts. It had subsidiaries in other countries including British United Shoe Machinery in England.
The Smithsonian National Museum of American History provides the following account of the history of the United Shoe Machinery Corporation.
The United Shoe Machinery Company was formed in 1899 by the consolidation of three shoe machinery firms in the industry: Goodyear Shoe Machinery Company; Consolidated McKay Lasting Machine Company; and McKay Shoe Machinery Company. The new company continued the practice previously followed by its constituent firms of renting machinery that it manufactured instead of selling it. After the 1899 merger, United grew quite rapidly. In 1903, it began construction of a new factory in Beverly, Massachusetts about thirty-five miles from Boston. At its peak, this company employed 9,000 workers and produced eighty-five percent of all shoemaking machines in the United States. By 1910, it had an eighty percent share of the shoe machinery market with assets reaching forty million dollars, and it had acquired control of branch companies in foreign countries. In 1917, the United Shoe Machinery Corporation, incorporated in 1905, absorbed the United Shoe Machinery Company. The United Shoe Machinery Corporation had its headquarters in Boston and its main manufacturing plant in Beverly, Massachusetts. In 1968, the United Shoe Machinery Corporation changed its name to USM Corporation. In 1976, United Shoe Machinery Company merged with Emhart Industries and produced the modern-day Emhart Corporation. In 1989, in order to resist a two billion dollar takeover attempt by a New York investment group (which included oil heir Gordon P. Getty), Emhart merged with Black & Decker Corporation. The merged company operates from Black & Decker's headquarters in Towson, Maryland. The company headquarters in Farmington, Connecticut, were closed in June 1989. [2]
In December 1947 the US government brought proceedings against USM alleging a breach of the Sherman Antitrust Act in that the company had been a monopoly since 1912. [3] A "trial of prodigious length" followed, with the verdict going against USM, but the corporation wasn't broken up and the judgement and remedy was confirmed by the Supreme Court in 1954.
The government renewed its complaint in 1967 but although the District Court ruled nothing had changed, this time the Supreme Court ordered USM to be broken up. It was required to divest a substantial part of its business and change its leasing strategy over a 10-year period, with the sell-off raising $400 million. It continued to innovate within the shoe manufacturing industry, but it also developed such modern inventions as the hot glue gun, the soda can pop-top, the drive mechanism for the lunar module, and pop rivets for the Concorde. [3] However, the attempts at diversification failed to generate enough money and in 1976 the company, heavily in debt, was bought by Emhart Corporation, now Stanley Engineered Fastening, [4] an organisation half its size. [5]
In 1987 a management buyout led by the management of British United Shoe Machinery (BUSM) bought the shoe machinery operations, including USM, from Emhart Industries and control of USM then passed to the U.K. as part of the newly created United Machinery Group (UMG). [6] Subsequently, the USM headquarters moved into a new high-tech factory outside Boston. In 1995 UMG was acquired by Venture Capitalists Apax Partners Corporate Finance Limited, [7] but after financial difficulties UMG went into administration in 2000.
The corporation pioneered the development and production of a synthetic leather materials. [8]
During the Interbellum era corporate Research Division designed and developed gun mounts, gun turrets, fire control equipment, automatic guns, automatic fuse setting, bomb release equipment, automatic conveying equipment, and automatic rocket projectors, as well as many other things of military interest. [9]
During the postwar years, the corporate engineers experimented intensively with armoured fighting vehicles of modular design, kindred by common chassis, common armor elements, interchangeable armament, automatic loading for weapons, and low weight in order to attain high speeds, coupled with various comfort add-ons provided for the housed crew. [10]
The corporation had several divisions, subsidiaries and affiliates, which were located mainly in Massachusetts.
The M551 "Sheridan" AR/AAV was a light tank developed by the United States and named after General Philip Sheridan, of American Civil War fame. It was designed to be landed by parachute and to swim across rivers. It was armed with the technically advanced but troublesome M81/M81 Modified/M81E1 152 mm gun/launcher, which fired both conventional ammunition and the MGM-51 Shillelagh guided anti-tank missile.
The M3 Stuart/Light Tank M3, was an American light tank of World War II. An improved version of the tank entered service as the M5 in 1942 to be supplied to British and other Commonwealth forces under lend-lease prior to the entry of the U.S. into the war. Afterwards, it was used by U.S. and Allied forces until the end of the war.
The M36 tank destroyer, formally 90 mm Gun Motor Carriage, M36, was an American tank destroyer used during World War II. The M36 combined the hull of the M10 tank destroyer, which used the M4 Sherman's reliable chassis and drivetrain combined with sloped armor, and a new turret mounting the 90 mm gun M3. Conceived in 1943, the M36 first served in combat in Europe in October 1944, where it partially replaced the M10 tank destroyer. It also saw use in the Korean War, where it was able to defeat any of the Soviet tanks used in that conflict. Some were supplied to South Korea as part of the Military Assistance Program and served for years, as did re-engined examples found in Yugoslavia, which operated into the 1990s. Two remained in service with the Republic of China Army at least until 2001.
The M18 Hellcat is a tank destroyer that was used by the United States Army in World War II and the Korean War. Despite being equipped with the same main gun as some variants of the much larger Sherman tank, the M18 attained a much higher top speed of up to 55 mph (89 km/h) by keeping armor to a minimum, and using the innovative Torqmatic automatic transmission.
The M103 Heavy Tank was a heavy tank that served in the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps during the Cold War. Introduced in 1957, it served through 1974, by which time evolution of the concept of a main battle tank considered heavy tanks obsolete.
The M10 tank destroyer was an American tank destroyer of World War II. After US entry into World War II and the formation of the Tank Destroyer Force, a suitable vehicle was needed to equip the new battalions. By November 1941, the Army requested a vehicle with a gun in a fully rotating turret after other interim models were criticized for being too poorly designed. The prototype of the M10 was conceived in early 1942 and delivered in April that year. After appropriate changes to the hull and turret were made, the modified version was selected for production in June 1942 as the 3-inch Gun Motor Carriage M10. It mounted a 3-inch gun M7 in a rotating turret on a modified M4 Sherman tank chassis. An alternate model, the M10A1, which used the M4A3 variant chassis, was also produced. Production of the two models ran from September 1942 to December 1943 and October 1942 to November 1943, respectively.
The M3 half-track was an American armored personnel carrier half-track widely used by the Allies during World War II and in the Cold War. Derived from the M2 half-track car, the M3 was extensively produced, with about 15,000 standard M3s and more than 38,000 variant units manufactured.
The Heavy Tank M6 was an American heavy tank designed during World War II. The tank was produced in small numbers and never saw combat.
The 37 mm gun M3 is the first dedicated anti-tank gun fielded by United States forces in numbers. Introduced in 1940, it became the standard anti-tank gun of the U.S. infantry with its size enabling it to be pulled by a jeep. However, the continuing improvement of German tanks quickly rendered the 37 mm ineffective and, by 1943, it was being gradually replaced in the European and Mediterranean theaters by the more powerful British-developed 57 mm gun M1. In the Pacific, where the Japanese tank threat was less significant, the M3 remained in service until the end of the war, but some 57mm guns were issued.
The 3-inch gun M1918 was a United States 3-inch anti-aircraft gun that entered service in 1918 and served until it was largely superseded by the 3-inch anti-aircraft gun M3 in 1930, though the M1918 remained with some National Guard units until early in World War II. The M3 was subsequently replaced by the M1 90mm AA gun early in World War II, primarily during 1942. The M3 3" gun was later adapted for the anti-tank role, serving as the main armament of the M10 tank destroyer during World War II.
The 76 mm gun M1 was an American World War II–era tank gun developed by the U.S United States Ordnance Department in 1942 to supplement the 75 mm gun on the basic Medium tank M4. It was also used to arm the M18 Hellcat tank destroyer.
The Heavy Tank T29 was an American heavy tank project started in March 1944 to counter the appearance of the German Tiger II heavy tank. The T29 was not ready in time for the war in Europe, but it did provide post-war engineers with opportunities for applying engineering concepts to artillery and automotive components.
The 75 mm Howitzer Motor Carriage M8 was a self-propelled howitzer vehicle of the United States in use during World War II. It was developed on the chassis of the M5 Stuart tank and was equipped with a M116 howitzer in an M7 mount.
The Light Tank, T1 was a United States Army light tank of the late 1920s and early 1930s that was only built in prototype form. The tank was an Army design built by James Cunningham, Son and Company. Introduced in 1927, it was developed up through 1932 as a series of modified versions. The tank was never mass-produced, nor was it ever used in combat.
The Chrysler TV-8 was a tank design project by Chrysler in the 1950s. The tank was intended to be a medium tank capable of land and amphibious warfare. The design was never produced.
The M13 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage (MGMC), otherwise known as the M13 half-track, was a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun used by the U.S. Army during World War II that was armed with two .50 caliber M2HB heavy-barrel Browning machine guns. Developed in response to a requirement for a mobile anti-aircraft (AA) vehicle, the vehicle was produced by the White Motor Company between July 1942 and May 1943. The only time it was ever used in combat was when the Americans landed at Anzio in January 1944. It was replaced by the more heavily armed M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage in April 1944.
The M15 half-track, officially designated M15 Combination Gun Motor Carriage, was a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun on a half-track chassis used by the United States Army during World War II. It was equipped with one 37 millimeter (1.5 in) M1 autocannon and two water-cooled .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning heavy machine guns. Based on the M3 half-track chassis, it was produced by the White Motor Company and Autocar between July 1942 and February 1944, and served alongside the M16 Multiple Gun Motor Carriage.
The T19 Howitzer Motor Carriage (HMC) was a 105 mm (4.1 in) howitzer mounted on a M3 Half-track chassis. It saw service during World War II with the U.S. Army. Its secondary armament consisted of an air-cooled .50 in (13 mm) M2 machine gun for local defense. It was produced by Diamond T between January 1942 and April 1942.
The 105mm L/65 T5 was an American rifled anti-tank gun developed in 1945. The T5E1 was the main armament for several American WWII heavy tanks designs, including the double-tracked T28 Super Heavy Tank and T29 Heavy Tank.