British Production Costs

Item

Man-Time Needed

Cost

Avro Lancaster (1941)

51,000 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

Avro Lancaster (1945)

20,000 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

Supermarine Spitfire

15,200 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

Hawker Hurricane

10,300 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

Whirlwind

26,600 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

Tornado

15,500 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

Fairey Battle

24,000 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

Whitley

52,000 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

Wellington

38,000 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

Avro Manchester

52,100 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

Halifax

76,000 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

Stirling

75,000 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

Sten Gun

5 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

2 Pdr ATG

2,682 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

6 Pdr ATG

1,293 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

17 Pdr ATG

2,726 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

25 Pdr Gun

3,085 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

SMLE
(Enfield Factory)

72 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

SMLE
(BSA Factory)

48 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

SMLE
(Pratt and Whitney/Colt Factory with mass production)

28 Man Hours

UNKNOWN

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Times are from D.K. Brown's “From Nelson to Vanguard”

Conversion Factors:
Man Month = 160 man-hours
Man-Day = 8 Man-Hours

Type

Man-Time Needed

BB

46,000 Man Months (original)
7,360,000 Man Hours (calculated)

CV

31,115 Man Months (original)
4,978,400 Man Hours (calculated)

Fiji

15,017 Man Months (original)
2,402,720 Man Hours (calculated)

Dido

8,214 Man Months (original)
1,314,240 Man Hours (calculated)

'M' Class DD

4,991 Man Months (original)
798,560 Man Hours (calculated)

Hunt

2,944 Man Months (original)
479,040 Man Hours (calculated)

Corvette

922 Man Months (original)
147,520 Man Hours (calculated)

Submarine

2700 Man Months (original)
432,000 Man Hours (calculated)

Mahan DD

150,000 Man Days (original)
1,200,000 Man Hours (calculated)

Benson DD

165,000 Man Days (original)
1,320,000 Man Hours (calculated)

Fletcher DD

185,000 Man Days (original)
1,480,000 Man Hours (calculated)

River Class Escort

350,000 to 400,000 Man Hours (original)
375,000 Man Hours (average)

Captain Class Escort

600,000 to 700,000 Man Hours (original)
650,000 Man Hours (average)

Early US DE's

1,000,000 Man Hours

Late US DEs

600,000 to 700,000 Man Hours (original)
650,000 Man Hours (average)

US Liberty Ship

500,000 to 650,000 Man Hours (original)
575,000 Man Hours (average)

UK Empire Ship

350,000 Man Hours

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In Submarine construction, it was said a US worker produced 3.8 tons a year, compared to 8.8 tons per year for a British worker.

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Effort in man hours

Mark

Design

Jigging and Tooling

Spitfire Mk I

339,400

800,000

Spitfire Mk II

9,267

UNKNOWN

Spitfire Mk III

91,120

75,000

Spitfire Mk V

90,000

105,000

Spitfire Mk VI

14,340

50,000

Spitfire Mk IX

43,830

30,000

Spitfire Mk XII

27,210

16,000

Spitfire Mk VII

86,150

150,000

Spitfire Mk VIII

24,970

250,000

Spitfire Mk XIV

26,120

17,000

Spitfire Mk 21

168,500

UNKNOWN

Spitfire PR XI

12,415

UNKNOWN

Seafire Mk I

10,130

18,000

Seafire Mk II

3,685

40,000

Seafire Mk III

8,938

9,000

Seafire Mk XV

9,150

UNKNOWN

Seafire (Floats)

22,260

35,000

Figures as of September 1943 for Supermarine works in Southampton.

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As early as January 1940 when the first wartime programme embodying the heavy bombers was settled, it was reckoned that ratios of weight to man-hours would, for the principal types, work out as follows:

Airframe structure weight (lbs)

Average man-hours (thousands)

lb. structure weight per 1,000 man-hours

FIGHTERS

Spitfire

2,055

15.2

135

Hurricane

2,468

10.3

240

Whirlwind

3,461

26.6

130

Tornado

3,600

15.5

233

BOMBERS

Battle

4,466

24

186

Whitley

9,557

52

184

Wellington

10,117

38

266

Manchester

15,650

52.1

300

Halifax

16,157

76

213

Stirling

26,630

75

314

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The British placed much greater emphasis on repair throughout the war than did the AAF, because they were governed by economic considerations to a far greater extent than was the United States. 'The Air Ministry and the Ministry of Aircraft Production held that it was worth while to repair a plane even if it would require per cent of the man-hours and materials needed to build a new one, because the 10 per cent saving was essential to prosecution of the British production effort. This policy was more feasible in the United Kingdom where the aircraft factories were little more than a stone's throw from the combat bases. (AAF in WWII vol 6)