We Make Ships

When U.S. landing craft churned toward Normandy on D-Day morning, each was powered by a revolutionary diesel engine developed in a decade-long project overseen by Charles Kettering of General Motors. Based on the material in the Kettering archives and other primary sources, this book chronicles the development of the practical diesel engine and the impact of both diesel and heavy-duty gasoline engines on fisherman, towboats, and the Navy. Included is a discussion of how internal combustion supplanted steam in riverboats and a look at the Navy's adoption of internal combustion engines.