Henry M. Crane

Henry Middlebrook Crane (June 16, 1874 – January 21, 1956) was an American engineer and pioneer in the automobile industry. He was the president of Crane Motor Car Company, vice president of engineering for the Simplex Automobile Company, and designed the Pontiac Six motor for General Motors.

Crane also designed speedboat motors for three American Power Boat Association Gold Cup champions and three Harmsworth Cup winners. During World War I, he designed and oversaw the production of airplane engines for Wright-Martin, which were used by both French and United States warplanes.

Early life Crane was born in New York City on June 16, 1874, to Elizabeth and Jonathan Crane. By 1892, his father was with the American Casualty Insurance and Security Company and came up with the idea of salary insurance.

Crane attended private schools before going to Phillips Exeter Academy.

As a hobby, Crane started building racing boats with his brother, Clinton H. Crane. Crane designed the engines, and Clinton worked on the hulls. In 1898, they sailed another of their designs, the yacht Seawanhaka, in the trials for the Sewanhaka-Corinthian International Challenge.

Career

Early career In September 1896, Crane became an engineer for the American Bell Telephone Company and worked at their experimental lab in Boston, Massachusetts. In June 1899, Crane and T.C. Wales Jr. received a patent for a telephone toll circuit.

Crane began working for the New York branch of Western Electric Company in November 1898, remaining there through May 1906. While with Western Electric, he worked on experimental and engineering projects with telephones and switchboards. The company started with $50,000 (equivalent to $ in 2023) in capital stock and $14,900 (equivalent to $ in 2023) of cash to "deal in motor engines". Crane served as company president; Whitman was the company's agent, vice-president and treasurer; P. M. Erickson was its secretary; and R. W. Wasson was its superintendent. Crane & Whitman also made engines and did custom machine work to order. They were known for using the best available materials for each part of their engines and vehicles, including high-quality bronzes, and Krupp and nickel steel. Crane designed an eight-cylinder, 200-horsepower engine, the largest marine engine at the time. and made many parts from steel rather than bronze, as was typical for marine engines at the time. The engine achieved 220 horsepower with its true screw propeller with elliptical blades. Motor Boat magazine noted, "Crane & Whitman seems to have brought forward a marine motor which is better than the best of the foreign manufacturers."

By 1908, Crane & Whitman had forty employees and announced that they had developed a new car for the 1908 season. The same year, Crane designed a new six-cylinder automobile engine. The Crane brothers continued to collaborate on speedboat designs. Their Dixie III (a retrofitted Dixie II) won the Harmsworth Cup and the Gold Cup in 1910, and Dixie IV won the Harmsworth Cup in 1911.

In July 1911, Crane advertised for an expert tool maker for steady work and good wages. He released the Model 3 automobile in 1912. It had a six-cylinder, 563.7-cubic-inch engine, giving the car an estimated 110 horsepower. This was followed by the Crane Model 4. Crane's cars were sold as bare chassis as the factory produced no bodywork.

Crane-Simplex

In late 1914, the Simplex Automobile Company of New Brunswick, New Jersey bought Crane Motor Car Company to acquire Crane's engineering advances. Crane became the vice president and consulting engineer for Simplex.

Crane would not deliver an engine to his customers until it had gone through the equivalent of of road travel on a belt test that took 36 hours, as well as a block test of 48 hours. The Hartford Courant reported, "The six-cylinder power plant on which the Crane-Simplex Company has established its reputation for mechanical excellence, is the result of H. M. Crane's engineering genius." The Wall Street Journal described acquiring the rights to manufacture the Hispano-Suiza as "a particular achievement". There, Crane oversaw the production of the Hispano-Suiza engines.

Wright Aeronautical Corporation At the war's end, Wright-Martin—which had been focused on manufacturing engines for wartime aviation—closed its operations and sold most of its assets. However, $3 million (equivalent to $ in 2023) was earmarked to establish the Wright Aeronautical Corporation. Crane was the new company's vice president and chief engineer.

Crane-Simplex Company Wright Aeronautical sold the Simplex Automobile Company assets to Emlen S. Hare and his Hare's Motors in 1920. In November 1922, Crane bought the Simplex assets from Hare, planning to restart production of his vehicles. The Crane-Simplex Company was formed but produced only a few units before declaring bankruptcy. Sloan directed Crane to develop a six-cylinder car in the Chevrolet laboratories. Crane not only designed the engine but also "the only car with a short bore and a low-pressure flood system of oiling." Crane consulted on the development of the Pontiac 6, created using Crane's engine and an elongated Chevrolet chassis with updated radiators and fenders. Crane was a consulting engineer for General Motors until he died in 1956. The same year, he chaired the SAE Aeronautic Division of the Standards Committee, and helped write the American Air Safety Code for the U.S. Department of Commerce in 1926. In 1920, he also was chairman of the SAE Automobile Lighting Division of the Standards Committee, helping to reduce the glare from car headlights.

In 1923, Crane testified at the United States Senate Hearings on the High Cost of Gasoline and Other Petroleum Products. He spoke about experiments conducted by the SAE research committee with the United States Bureau of Standards, which aimed "to determine the economically correct grade of fuel to use" to achieve "the greatest mileage per gallon, with other operating conditions being met." Tests were conducted under different weather conditions, variations in lubrication, and various drivers. In 1922 and 1923, he was on the executive committee of the National Research Council's Advisory Board of Highway Research. He was also a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). He was a member of the American Gas Association, serving on the office labor saving devices committee.

Personal In the 1920s, Crane lived in New York City at 44 West 44th Street.

He was a member of the Coffee House of New York City, the St. Anthony Club of New York, the St. Anthony Club of Boston, the University Club of New York, Engineers Country Club, Piping Rock Club, the Recess Club of Detroit, Michigan, and the Nassau Country Club where he played tennis and served as president. He also belonged to the Technology Club of New York and Garden City Golf Club. He was a member of the American Flying Club and the Aero Club of America, serving as chairman of its technical committee and on its Collier Trophy committee. He was also a member of the Automobile Club of America.

Publications "Research Promises Fuel Savings." SAE Journal 12 (January 1923): 241 "Automotive Engineering and its Relation to Aeronautics." ICAC Papers (1920): 81–84 "Possible Effect of Aircraft Engine Development in Automobile Practice." SAE Journal 14 pt. 1 (April 1919): 240–42 "The Future Passenger Car." SAE Transactions 14 pt. 2 (1919): 155–156 "Water and Air Cooled Aviation Motors." Aero World 1:4 (November 1916): 63–67 "Engines of Dixie IV." The Rudder (October 1911): 177–178