The History of the Ravenna Arsenal

Description

The History of the Ravenna Arsenal by Ralph Pfingsten. 342-pages filled with more than 900 photographs and diagrams of the facilities. Good coverage of Erie and B & O operations during WWII. The History of the Ravenna Arsenal trace the history of the complex that produced artillery and mortar shells in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. It closed in 1972. The arsenal was a major facility with 1,200 buildings. It took 16,000 workers to build the complex and it employed up to 15,000 at its peak. It drew workers from Akron to the west and from Warren to the east. In World War II, the plant operated 12 production lines and built more than 36 million bombs and shells, 420 million other munitions and 571,000 tons of ammonium nitrate fertilizer. More than 700 large bunkers were located on the complex to store explosives. There is also good cover of the Erie and B & O railroads that served the arsenal throughout it’s it existence.