The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1917-06-25
WOODEN SHIP
PLAN WOULD
SHORTEN WAR
(ContinueS From Page One.)

that they could and would carry car
goes to Allied ports and attain
speed of 10 1-2 knots With these
few requirements met, the great con-
Germ of the Shipping Board was that
they could be built quickly in large
numbers.
Having determined the feasibility
of this project from such war view
point the Shipping Board submitted
the plan to tie Council of National
Defense and to the President 1t was
specifically approved by the Presi-
dent and by the Council of National
Defense and the Board was author
lied to start work.
At that time Congress had placed
at the disposal of the Board On ap-
preparation of S500OOO0O. But this
was inadequate for the program and
steps were at once taken to ask Con-
gress for a much larger appr0pria-
ton, which has since been granted
Shipbuilders were told meanwhile to
prepare their ways for the cOnstruc-
ton of these wooden ships, and were
assured that contracts would " Civ
en- them on the basis of cost of con-
struction of the ships, plus a fee
amounting to about 10 per cent. They
at once started eagerly and patriot
lcally to make the necessary prepare
lions.
For some time before this the
question of the best man to take
charge ofsthis work was under con-
sideration. 1t seemed to the Board
that Major General G. w. Goethals
was ideally fitted fer the job He rad
expressed himself as in sympathy
with the plan, and his splendid rec
ord on the Panama Canal had given
him the confidence of the country.
When asked to undertake the work,
! however, he refused, saying that he
knew nothing OF shipbuilding, and
felt that he was not the man for the
place. He said that his success on
the canal had been due to the one
fact that he knew every detail of
the work better than anyone else
that ne did r,0J }saao,ss any tl>;,ars aho.sf
shipbuilding and that it would take
him a year to learn. When it was
urged upon him that he could employ
experts he insisted that no concern
| could succeed whose head depended
upon subOrdinates for information
| Yet the Board felt that he was the
| one man who should be entrusted
| with this work and, a little later,
! the President also requested him to
undertake it. General Goethals there
upon periodically put aside his per-
sonal objections and acceded to the
Iueuuest, albeit he did so reluctantly
and under protest.
The preliminary investigation had
made it evident that wooden ships
of the ordinary or conventional de-
| sign, large enough Cor economical
/ transatlantic service, would be dnti-
l cult to build rapidly in large quantl-
\ ties. To build such ships requires
a large proportion of highly special
l lied ship carpenters at work on each
l hull, and there is today only limit
ed number of ship carpenters in this
country. Moreover, only about is
per cent of the cut of lumber can
be used in the construction of ships
of such design But fortunately the
! Shipping Board secured two designs
which obviated these difficulties. One
was presented by William 7. Don.
nelly of New York, and the Other
. by Edw. S. Hough of San Francisco
Both of these designs had been care
fully studied by the American Blu
: reau of Shipping and had been glveI
| the highest rating for insurance
I That approval attests the seaworthi
ness of these two designs. The Curvet
lines of the conventional ship desigl
were eliminated as far as possible
| These ships were not designed 70
= beauty nor for high speed, out SoleI
= with a view to their quick construc
p ton. Yet they were good for spec
' of 10 ID knots and they were sea
. worthy as their approval for insuT
% ,v,,,o showed Their Deculiar deSig