The preliminary Liberty 8 was delivered to the Bureau of Standards, Washington, D. C., July 3, 1917, by the group of industrial concerns named. A 54-hour test was made of a Liberty 12 on August 25 by the Bureau of Standards. The Liberty 12 was detailed for quantity production, and the actual work was begun, and the work done by these companies in producing Liberty-engine parts is above praise. It was then that the mighty energies of their splendid organizations demonstrated the ability of American industrial life to fight the battle behind the lines. WAR DEPARTMENT STATEMENT Departing from its policy of secretiveness concerning all things of a military character, the United States War Department on May 15, 1918, issued an authorized statement dealing with the technical features and characteristics of the Liberty 12, then in quantity production. This statement was published in the _Congressional Record_ of an early subsequent date. Secretary of War Baker in his report published elsewhere in this book gives the following account of Liberty motors built: PRODUCTION OF SERVICE ENGINES In view of the rapid progress in military aeronautics, the necessity for the development of a high-powered motor adaptable to American methods of quantity production was early recognized. The result of the efforts to meet this need was the Liberty motor—America’s chief contribution to aviation, and one of the great achievements of the war. After this motor emerged from the experimental stage, production increased with great rapidity, the October output reaching 4,200, or nearly one-third of the total production up to the signing of the armistice. The factories engaged in the manufacture of this motor, and their total production to November 8, are listed in Table 21. TABLE 21.—PRODUCTION OR LIBERTY MOTOR TO NOVEMBER 8, 1918, BY FACTORIES: Packard Motor Car Co 4,654 Lincoln Motor Co 3,720 Ford Motor Co 3,025 General Motors 1,554 Nordyke & Marmon Co 433 ——— Total 13,396 Of this total, 9,834 were high-compression, or army type, and 3,572 low-compression, or navy type, the latter being used in seaplanes and large night bombers. In addition to those installed in planes, about 3,500 Liberty engines were shipped overseas, to be used as spares and for delivery to the Allies. Other types of service engines, including the Hispano-Suiza 300 horse-power, the Bugatti, and the Liberty 8-cylinder, were under development when hostilities ceased. The Hispano-Suiza 180 horse-power had already reached quantity production. Nearly 500 engines of this type were produced, about half of which were shipped to France and England for use in foreign-built pursuit planes. Table 22 gives a résumé of the production of service engines by quarterly periods: TABLE 22.—PRODUCTION OR SERVICE ENGINES IN 1918: