Wednesday, December 20, 2023

The Busch-Sulzer Bros. Diesel Engine Company was founded by Adolphus Busch of the Anheuser-Busch brewing company, in 1911, as a joint venture with Sulzer Brothers of Switzerland.

from the 1915 Panama–Pacific International Exposition world's fair in San Francisco, Ca


In 1897, Adolphus Busch acquired rights to build diesel engines in the United States, with Rudolph Diesel as a consultant.

The origins of the Busch-Sulzer Brothers Diesel Engine Company, the first firm to manufacture diesel engines in the United States, lie in the entrepreneurial activities of the St. Louis, Missouri, beer magnate, Adolphus Busch. Like many other late 19th century industrialists who sought “horizontal integration,” Busch began to expand his manufacturing interests in order to control the range of manufactures upon which his breweries were dependent. Thus inclined, he quickly perceived the commercial value of the new internal combustion engine invented by the German scientist, Dr. Rudolf Diesel, which burned cheap, liquid fuel under high cylinder pressure. After seeking the advice of an engineer, Edward D. Meier, Busch purchased exclusive rights for the U.S. patent in 1897, even before Diesel had perfected a working model.

 The first companies resulting from this were the Diesel Motor Company (1898–1902) of New York City and the American Diesel Engine Company (1902–1911), which relocated to St. Louis, Missouri in 1908 and was succeeded by Busch-Sulzer. 

Adolphus Busch, Meier, and Diesel died within six months of each other in 1913.




Although Busch acquired the rights to build Sulzer designs with the formation of Busch-Sulzer, the American joint venture preferred its own designs. 

The first submarines with Busch-Sulzer engines were the United States L-class submarines L-5 through L-8, designed by the Lake Torpedo Boat Company and launched 1916–17. Busch-Sulzer continued to produce engines for the US Navy and other customers through World War II, until 1946, after which its assets were sold to the Nordberg Manufacturing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

2 comments:

  1. Wow! I need one of those engines here on the mountain. Would keep everyone around a wake running that bad boy while cooling my beverages and powering this desktop. Thanks!

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  2. Look at the mass it took to create 500 HP back then!

    ReplyDelete