Cheyenne record., 1918-07-18

ship out OF the way and with force of care
fully chosen workmen, the keel of the collier was
laid and assembling rushed.
The men were keen to make good and they
labored with unfiagging ZEAL Not only that, but
they worked in three shifts and speeded up the
building continuously night and day. There
fore they were ablo at the end Of 27 days to put
the craft overheard.
This makes it plain why in ordinary times
three or four months were required to advance a
ship far enough to warrant launching and why
It took two three months to install her en-
gines and boilers and to get her otherwise out
fitted and finished for active service. In the
case Of the Tuckahoe her builders found 1t pos
sible to. accumulate all of the materials needed
and once she started to forge ahead to her as
sembhng without hitch. t4
But even though the pace set by the West
Lianga and the Tuckahoe cannot be maintained
generany by old-line shipbuilding plants. still
most Of vnese are In q position today to produces
faster than heretofore because of mechanical aids
now at their disposal. And what was done at
Camden in turning out the Tuckahoe is doubly
interesting because the practice there may be
likened in measure to what Is now termed the
fabricated ship.
The fabricated ship was offered as a solution Of
a very vexatious situation that had number
Of angles First, for ship construction 1t was
needful to draw upon steel workers and allied
labor who were quite unfamiliar with ship
building. Next, 1t was essential that steel
terials {0r bridges, the framework Of great ohice
buildings and the steel parts Of other land struc
lures should be made available and their ton
mage utilized In the construction of the manifold
parts for oceangong cargo carriers. Finally. con-
venient points on deep water had to be chosen
for the assembling Of these elements. which were
manufactured far and wide and delivered at the
places OF building in a more or less advanced
stage Of fabrication. 1#flA ttis
The fabricated ship is not, strictly speaking.
h~A> - r<1e~1nd vn5or
or construction which depends primarily upon
a measure Of advanced preparatory work done
at plants remote from the shipyard and done
well and accurately that similar parts iden-
tical and can be put in any one of group Of
type hulls of corresponding dimensions Inter
changeability is the paramount requirement.
The three distinctive fabricating yards on the
Atlantic seaboard are the Newark bay plant
of the Submarine Boat corporation, the Hog Ii
land plant of the American International corpor-
alton, and the yard Of the Merchants Shipbuild-
ing corporation at Bristol, Pa. Because Of the
way In which these establishments are laid out
and because they receive their materials ninety
odd per cent ready for erection and assembling
the spot per ship than otherwise would be re-
quired, It Is practicable for them to handle ut
one time unusually large number Of vessels.
While the materials are manufactured at some
score Of different steel mills they are true
to dimensions, thanks to drawings of excep-
ional accuracy and fullness of detail and pat
terms that exact in every particular that the
independent concerns can Be relied upon to fur-i
nish just what Is wanted. gs;s asb iea E
81! Chairman Hurley Of the Emergency Fleet cor.
poration has told NJ that we should be able to
turn out annually quite 600 tons of wooden
craft. This means not only exceptional indus
Try on our part but It Represents the surmount-
Ing Of seeminsiy mountainous, obstacles. But
his confidence 10 70 far tustined In the scores Of
our old and new timber plants that he has rs-l
Gently ordered approximately 200 additional