New-York tribune., 1919-01-15
Admiral Taylor Tells Sen
ate Committee Cost Was
Over First Estimates
Profit Waiver Offered
Only Three 'Destroycrs' Got
to Atlantic Ocean Before
Armistice Was Signed
By Theodore M. Knappcn
New York Tribune

Washington Bure0u
WASHINGTON. Jan. lathe Ford
Eagles investigation by the Senate
Naval Affairs Committee started to-
dav and the result so far as the days
evidence, went, was parallel to almost
all the other war productio.. contracts
50 far investigated AS usual the only
"scandal' brought out was the indis.
putablc fact that production did not
proceed as rapidly as promised and
that cost is greater than estimated
Admiral Taylor of the Navy Bureau
of Construction and Repair was on the
stand throughout the session and about
the only fault he found with the
Eagles job was that the deliveries
we're about sixty to ninety days be-
hind schedule. This, he said, was true
of practically all work for the navy
during the war.
He attributed the discrepancy in time
between promise and performance to
the general failure of contractors to
make due allowance for the extraordi-
nary conditions under which they had
&c work during the war
Three Got to Ocean
The Ford schedule called for one Of
the Eagle type of submarine destroy
ers at the end of July, ten in August,
twenty in September and thereafter
~ !
one was completed in October Seven
left the Ford plant for the sea before
the Great Lakes froze up, and of these
only three escaped the ice and reached
the Atlantic. Arrangements had been
made, had the war continued, to as
sembe the Eagles at Kearny, n. j.,
during the winter at the rate of ten
to twenty a month. At present there
are five completed Eagles at Detroit
in addition to the seven mentioned, and
there are twenty-one of the little de-
stroyers on the ways. Considered as
whole, the work on the Ford contracts
to build 112 Eagles was two-thirds
completed when the armistice was
signed. Of the 112, 100 represented the
original order given last January and
twelve were subsequently added for
the Italian government. Only sixty all
told would not be completed.
Noise Hampered Detectors
Explaining the origin and develop
ment of the Eagles, Admiral Taylor ex-
planned that the navy had for some
time been considering the development
of q type of war vessel intermediate
between the 110-foot wooden sub
marine chasers and the standard de-
stroyers.
This type was especially desired in
connection with the use of the sub
marine detector. The detector was
efficient only when the machinery of
the vessel was still. For that reason
the regular destroyers were not suit
planned to use Diesel instead of steam
engines, but that idea was abandoned
because of the difficulty of building
Diesels in this country and because it
was found that with proper arrange
ments and drill it was possible in
stantly to stop all machinery on the
Eagles, even though the power was
steam.
On January ID the Ford Motor Com
pany, through the medium Of a long
telegram, submitted definite PROPOSE
ticn to build the 200-foot stee! Eagles
at an estimated cost of S275.0O0 each.
Iuey were tOtO 10 go aneaO OH January
II and the formal contract was signed
some months later
Profit $4,000 Each
The Ford company was to receive
Profit of 100000 on each vessel and
bonus Of onefourth Of any saving on
the estimated price The government
was to stand in addition the cost of
erecting the shipbuilding plant at
Riyer Rouge, the company having an
option to purchas- the plant at the
end Of the work. This plant cost s.