Armor for America

Installed in 1903, this 12,000 ton hydraulic forging press was the only surviving turn of the century heavy steel forging press in America. It doubled the Homestead Works' armor plate capacity and enabled the mill to become one of the United States Navy's largest suppliers of steel for the next fifty years. Many World War II battleships were outfitted with armor plate from this press, including the USS Missouri, the ship on which the Japanese signed the articles of surrender that ended the war. The 12,000-ton press could squeeze billets of steel weighing up to 780,000 pounds into 18-inch-thick plate, and the enormous force it exerted created deep, thundering reverberations that could be felt throughout Homestead.

Munhall, Pennsylvania · United States