The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1918-10-03
United States Is Now
Greatest Shipbuilding
Country, Exceeding
All Records
Leaps From Third To First
Place In Little Over A Year
Ways, Yards, And Work
ers Exceed World

| The Shipping Board authorizes the
following:
Within the jurisdiction of the United
States Shipping Board at the present
time (Sept. l, 1919 there are 2,l83 sea
going vessels, .totaling 9,511,915 dead
weight tons. Of these, 1924, totaling
! $3.50, 405 dead weight tons,fly the Amer
can flag. Under charter to the Shipping
! Board and to American citizens there are
S9i foreign vessels totaling G,9l5,5lO
lightweight tons. At the time the United
States entered the war the American
:ne!ctan: nar',ie included approx We
IL only 2.750,o00 lightweight tons If
sea going vessels of over 800 dead
weight tons. The expansion of the fleet
within the jurisdiction of the Shipping
Board has come about for the most part
during the past year.
EXPANSION OF OUR MERCHANT
MARINE.
The American merchant marine is to-
day expanding more rapidly than any
other in the world. In August of this
year the United States took rank as the
leading shipbuilding nation in the world.
1t now has more shipyards, more ship
ways, more shipworkers, more ships un-
der construction, and is building more
ships every month than any other coun-
try, not excepting the United Kingdom,
hitherto easily the first shipbuilding pow
er. Prior to the war the United States
stood poor third among the shipbuld-
ing nations.
Since August, 1917 more seagoing ton
mage has been launched from American
shipyards than was launched before in
a similar period anywhere. The total,
as of September l, 1918, 574, vessels, of
3,017, 23S lightweight tons, is nearly four
times all the seagoing tonnage (of over
800 lightweight tons) built in the
United States in any four prewar years.
this year, 4S2 vessels, Of >, 800 ,692 dead
weight tons, are more than eight times
the seagoing tonnage (of over 300 dead
weight tons produced III this country in
any prefar year.
DELIVERIES DURING THE YEAR
More than 100000 dead-weight tons
of new ships have been completed. and
delivered to the Shipping Board during
the past year. The first delivery was
made on August 80, 1917, by the Toledo
ShiPbuilding Company of Toledo, Ohio
The first million tons of completed ships
were obtained in May; the second mill
lion in August. The deliveries TO the
Shipping Board in August broke all
world s records III the production Of
ocean-going tonnage and established the
United States as the leading shipbuilding
nation Of the world. They totaled 349,-
783 lightweight tons. Those from Amer
lean shipyards to the Shipping Board
in August totaled 324, $50 lightweight
tons, exceeding the previous world IS rec
ord for any month, which had been made
by British shipyards in May, 1918, by
2S,669 lightweight tons. The deliveries
to the Shipping Board by American ship
yards from August 80, 1917, to and in
Guiding August 81, 1918, totaled 1927 sea-
going vessels Of 1,952,675 lightweight
tons delivered by japanese shipyards, the
grand total of deliveries to the Shipping
Board up to September 1, 1918, was 335
vessels of 2,O19,O32 lightweight tons.
RECORDS MADE BY SHIPYARDS.
The most spectacular achievement in
the history of shipbuilding, in this or
any other country, was the launching
from American shipyards on Independ-
ence Day of 95 steel, wood and composite
vessels, totaling 474,464 lightweight
tons; thus in one day there were launched
900 more lightweight tons than was
the output Of seagoing tonnage '(of over
l 800 lightweight tons) in the best pre-
war year of American shipbuilding.
Another worlds record was made by
American shipyards for the month of
July. There were launched in that month
1876 steel, wood and composite vessels,
totaling GA All lightweight tons. This
total more than doubles the launching
totals for any month in the history of
British shipyards. Prior to this year
British shipyards launched more vessels
annually than all the others in the
| world.
Thus an unprecedented pace Of con-
struction marks the rapidly increasing
output Of tonnage from American ship
yards. All records for fast shipbuilding
are now held by them.
A world s record was made when the
| Tuckahoe was launched 80 per cent com
| plete on June 5 in 81 days 2 hours and
80 minutes from keel laying. Another
| world s record was made 10 DAYS later
| Whom tho rTroLohaa H., e.