The Washington times., 1901-07-08
At SHIPBUILDERS' MERCY.
Naval Plans Frustrated by the De-
lays of Contractors.
Congress to Look Into an Evil That
Menaccs America and England
Government Work Neglected for
the Demands of Private Customers


Menaccs America and England
Government Work Neglected fOl
the Demands of Private Customer,
The delay in construction of battleships
both in England and the United States
has at last begun to arouse the indigua-
| tion of high naval authorities. The con
| dition of things is now coming to be re-
| garded as so serious in Great Britain thai
some of her greatest naval strategists and
| authorities believe that her supremacy or
the ocean has been impaired by the fail
ure of the shipbuilders to carry out theiI
| contracts.
If the naval authorities of Great Britain
have cause to complain the United States
| Navy Department has a much greater
! grievance, for American contractors are
/ taking eighteen to twenty-four months
! longer TO build battleshiD than their
! British rivals. The cost of the modern
warship, including hull, machinery, arm
or. and armament. exceeds Sc, 600, 600. Since
there is progressive Improvement both
in the design and the material of such
| a'vessel, and since every part of the YES
! sci is exposed to deterioration, there must
OF necessity be an annual depreciation in
| her value a fighting unit This depre-
citation, conservatively stated, will aver
| age per cent of her first cost. a delay of
! two years, therefore, in the construction
| of battneship-and this has occurred in
| the case of the Iilinois-would result in a
| direct loss to the Government of nearly
| $3.50, coo
But this direct loss does not comprise
| the sum total of the evil that results
from delay in ship construction 1t is
often the case that innovations in design
are Incorporated in new ships and this
was notably the case with the Kearsarge
and the Kentucky, where superimposed
turrets We're Installed. From the day
contracts We're awarded for the construc-
ton of these ships the naval experts
were exceedingly anxious to find out the
worth Of the design, and this value could
only be ascertained after the ships had
been placed in commission and the guns
| had been repeatedly fired The delay in
completing these two ships prevented the
naval authorities from passing judgment
on the worth of the design. It is only
recently that the Navy Department de-
cided to build more ships with super
imposed turrets, and the long delay in
determining the fighting efficiency of the
Kearsarge and the Kentucky has un-
doubtedly caused many able and cour-
these two ships had been finished on
time the value of that class of turrets
would have been known at least eighteen
months ago, and more of this type, or
the former, of vessels might have been
authorized by Congress. AS a matter of
fact, the worth of the innovation is more
seriously doubted at the present time
than it was three years ago.
Through the action of the Navy League
of England, an association which has
branches throughout the Empire, and
whose primary object is to strengthen
the British feet and to overcome its
weaknesses, the taxpayers of that coun-
try have been made acquainted with the
manner in which the shipbuilders have
treated the people. The contractors nave
laid the fault TO the frequent strikes that
have taken place il their works. This
excuse has been accepted by the Admiral
ty. but has not altogether satisfied the
people. 1t has been observed that nearly
all the delay in construction has been on
the warships of England. The merchant
ships under construction at the same
yards have almost all been finished on
time and the battleships building for for
elgn nations have been delivered al the
time and place appointed under the origi-
nal contracts.
League of Great Britain that all custo-
mers should be treated alike by the ship
builders, and that, particularly in the
construction of battle ships, the foreigner
and possible future enemy should be the
one TO wait. 1t has even been asserted
that the shipbuildeTs have so apportoned
the work on the battle ships that con-
struction on them would practically be
done only when there was a slackness in
orders from the merchant marine and
foreign Governments. Public sentiment
III England has been bitterly aroused in
regard TO the matter, and the patriotism
OF the shipbuilders, as well as the judg
ment, If not the integrity, OF the naval
administrators, has been assailed for the
continuance of this evil. Whether OF not
the shipbuilders have been at fault,
different state of affairs viii prevail in
the future, since the Admiralty has de-
cided to hereafter heavily PenaliZe all de-
linquent contractors. If satisfactory speed
construction cannot be secured in any
other way then the experiment viii be
made Of entrusting the work to 3e dock
yards.
The question OF the speed of construc-
tion on United States battleshiDs and
other naval vessels under contract Is go
ing TO he well ventilated by the coming
Congress. II is said that not a single
shipbuilder IN America has constructed
a battleship on time. The Navy Depart
ment has customarily allowed six months
longer for ship 10 be completed than
does the British Admiralty for "A similar
vessel, and yet American shipbullders
have come to be regularly eighteen
y
filling their contracts a superficial
knowledge OF the business and managc-
meut of the great shtpbuilding plants VIII
enable anyone to understand that IL is
exceedingly profitable to have at all times
an order on hand which Will permit the
work on IL to be taken NJ or diScontin-
ued at will. Then, when business is brisk
and an emergency order Is secured, the
work on the battleship ceases, and atten-
tion is given to the work that pays the
best. 1t has been particularly noticeable
in the last two years that while all the
shipbuldeIs have been seeking delay and
making requests to the Navy Department
tleships they have not hesitated to seek
new work in other directions. and among
the shipbuilders having naval contracts
all have been equally insistent in their
pleas for extension of the time limit.
Less than three years ago there were
only three firms I'm the country to which
the Navy Department cared TO entrust
the building of battleships. At the pres
ent time there are seven firms, absolutely
distinct from each other. building battle
ships or armored cruisers. AT least three
new firms in addition have recently dem
Onstrated that they are competent to do
the work. When there were only few
the navy could be assigned, il was natural
that the department officials should do all
that was consistently within their power
to encourage these firms but now that
the Government is no longer dependent
on a few shipbuilders a more stringent
enforcement>of the contracts can be eX-
pected. Several of the national navy
since the Spanish war began, are now
fully prepared to build the largest war
ships that have yet been designed, and If
the strike clause cannot be obliterated