Inside Seneca Shipyards: How 6,700 Farmhands Built 157 LSTs in 18 Months — Carried Patton

At 5:14 a.m. on April 22, 1942, a group of ordinary men arrived at a construction site in rural Illinois that would quietly change the course of World War II. In Seneca, a town of fewer than a thousand people, farmers, welders, miners, women, and teenagers were asked to do the impossible: build ocean-going warships in record time—without experience, without precedent, and without room for failure.

This documentary-style story reveals the hidden engineering, human endurance, and relentless urgency behind the construction of Landing Ship Tanks (LSTs), the vessels that made Allied amphibious invasions possible. Built on a cornfield along the Illinois River, these ships carried tanks, troops, fuel, and ammunition directly onto hostile beaches from Normandy to the Pacific. They were flawed, underpowered, vulnerable—but they worked. And that was enough to win a war.

Through detailed engineering challenges, brutal production schedules, and the unseen sacrifices of thousands of workers, this story uncovers how speed, compromise, and determination outpaced the enemy. These ships were not built for glory. They were built because time itself had become a weapon.

Activate notifications, subscribe to the channel, like the video, and share it with someone you know to see this story.


If you love real WW2 industrial miracles, impossible production records, factory innovations that changed the war, and the hidden engineering breakthroughs that built victory, subscribe now so you never miss the next factory breakdown. 🔔
   / @americaswarfactories  
Hit LIKE so YouTube keeps delivering these cinematic industrial war stories straight to you. 👍
#ww2 #ww2factories #ww2history