Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1918-08-30
"STONE SHIPS"
Uncle Sam Backs Them to Defeat the
Hun U-Boats.


Uncle Sam is backing the concrete
ship US u factor to beat the C-boat.
The shipping board will invest $3O'-
OOO, 900 in building that type of vessel.
Five government yards are to be coli-
structed in addition to three private
ones now operating. Two of these Will
be on the Atlantic coast, two on the
Pacific and one on the Calf of Mexico.
The immediate programme calls Tor
forty-two ships with hulls OF re-cn-
forced steel concrete.
WHY the concrete ships: In what
way is il better than the wooden or
steel one? What has led the govern
m,nt to put its faith and its money IN
stone ships?
The answer is simple. Concrete
ships cost less than steel or wooden
ones. They can be built more rapidly
and with less expert labor. And they
add to our total tonnage without inter-
fering with IT,. construction Of boats.
For more than Il year the call has
been for ships, more ships. and still
more ships.
The first call meant steel ships, that
should be built without interrupting
fthe work upon vessels 70: our navy
The call for more ships meant that
we must increase our output without
interfering with the construction OF
warships or the enormous production
of steel ships. We turned to building
shipyards and to producing wooden
ships in quantity. That seemed about
the limit-wooden ships.
The "and still more ships meant
that Uncle sam must extend himself
and build ships without embarrass-
mcnt to our navy, TO the steel program
or to the enormous work going on III
building wooden ships. The men to
answer this almost impossible call for
still more ships" were not found
wanting. They would furnish the gov
crnmcnt with an enormous fleet OF
ships built OF rc-cnforced concrete.
Two years ago one would have
laughed If anyone would have suggest
ed a self-going ship built of stone.
Today it is an accomplished fact.
The Faith. built in record time. has
weathered the high seas and is sailing
them yictoriously. With that demon
stration of the valiant ship Faith, our
shipbuilders are preparing to remove
mountains of concrete and convert
them into ships-"and still more
ships"
Most of these stonS ships will be
tankers Of $500 tons, with a capacity
of 81, 900 barrels OF oil. Each of them
will have $500 horsepower and speed
OF more than ten knots an hour. Thr
total deadweight tonnage of the first
forty-two vessels will be close to 3OO,-
900 tons.
Already Europe has accepted the
concrete boat. The French govern
ment has put ont contracts for more
than 700 barges CT 1000 tons each.
Many Of these are already built and
are carrying soldiers and material on
the canals of that country. Power
and tow bargcs are used by England
TO transport troops across the channel.
4 great many of these are under con-
struction and will soon be called into
use.
Re-enforced concrete ships-seago-
ing and sclfpropelling-will be built at
least until the war is won and they will
contribute to the transportation Of SOL
diers and supplies to our Allies.
Take wheat. There is approximately
enough wheat in Australia to feed
England and France for one year.
But Australia is far away, al those
500, 100000 bushels cannot be trans
ported because Of lack of hulls. II is
not hard to understand why our pres
ident calls upon our people to produce
ships.
In Java there is an excess OF 1000
900 tons Of sugar last year which could
not be shipped to Europe. Yet the
French and Italian people were allow
ed only about one pour.d Of sugar
person per month. Cuba. Porto Rico
and Hawaii have bumper crops wait
ing for ships 10 transport them.
The concrete ship is less costly. The
total cost Of the plant, shipways and
yards where the Faith was built reach
ed only about $4,000. Her cost per
ton was somewhere between 500 and
$40. A wooden vessel costs ;.boIt
sl65 per ton and q steel ship between
$3.50 and 5000. The equipment is sim
pie and easily lrocurable ~ almost
| any large city Concrete mixers, crush
ers and the like are the principal re-
quisites. The materials. too. are less
expensive Roughly speaking con-
crete ship uses up only about one
half the ctecl Used in a steel ship.
That means the Grain on the steel
plants is less. 1t also means that oIr
railways arc not taxed to haul extra
steel to the shipyards on the coast.
Less expert labor is needed. more
over, to make a concrete vessel. A
shipping concern which makes steel
ships must employ the most expert
artisans. Riveters are comparatively
few in number today, because ship
building was not an important Ameri-