Technological Advancements During World War II

Technological Advancements during World War II COM/172 Michelle Kustarz December 05, 2013

“The atom bomb was no great decision... It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness” (President Harry Truman). Most people believe that World War II started in 1941 when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, in actuality it started on September 1, 1939 when Germany attacked Poland (Rosenberg).While World War II was a horrible and extremely deadly war, with roughly 56,125,262 people who died, that seemed to serve no purpose it brought with it many technological advancements that we still use today (Hitler Historical Museum, 1996-1999). World War II not only helped the world come up with
World War II saw the advancement of the aircraft into what we know today. Prior to World War II aircraft were made of wood and did not go very fast and were not suitable to wartime use. World War II saw the first aluminum aircraft. World War II allowed aircraft to be used for fighter missions, reconnaissance missions, as bombers, and many other types of missions. A wooden aircraft could not take the kind of damage that the aluminum aircraft could take and keep flying. Nor could a wooden aircraft carry the same amount of ammunitions as their lighter aluminum counterparts could carry. Compared to the aluminum aircraft wooden airplanes were heavy and bulky. Along with the improved aircraft came the first test of the aircraft carrier. The first aircraft carrier was built from the keel up as an aircraft carrier in 1925 which was the USS Saratoga, but it remained untested as a war machine until World War II (Pomar, Pawlowski, & Reynolds, 2013). The aircraft carrier was one of the most important inventions used in World War II. It allowed the combatants of the war to launch planes from a safe distance away from their target so that the carrier did not come under fire. However even if the carriers did come under fire they were equipped with their own cannons, quadruple- mount cannons, and heavy caliber anti-aircraft machine guns. They were floating tanks that housed
Penicillin was probably the number one most used invention of the entire war. Penicillin was invented in 1928 by Alexander Fleming but it was not used in mass production until World War II (Rosenberg, Alexander Fleming Discovers Penicillin). The war had so many casualties that it forced the mass use of penicillin to fight off the bacteria in the soldiers wounds and bodies. Without penicillin soldiers who had minor injuries may have died or suffered amputation do to infection caused by bacteria. Penicillin saved uncountable lives and limbs of soldiers during the war. Penicillin was the most important and lifesaving invention forced into use during World War II. Brian J. Ford