The New York herald., 1921-02-02
IDLE LEVIATHAN
COSTLY TO NATION
Continued from First Page.

restored to service ior less tnah SlV'VVV'-
coo. The fall IN labor costs and cost
of material has resulted in a potential
saving OF about 1000 600 already. BY
the time we conclude an arrangement
concerning her the cost of conditioning
may drop to around $1,000, GOO.
People may wonder. doubtless. why 1t
is that the British Government has been
able to put into passenger service great
ships of the general type OF the LeVla-
than. The British received the Imperator,
only slightly smaller than the Leviathan.
To them was allocated also the Bismarck,
sister ship of the Leviathan They had
on their hands. too. their own Mauri-
tania and Aquitana. Those four. the two
ships they took over from the Germans
and their own two, are the largest pas
senger ships In the world except for the
Leviathan. The reason the British were
able to get these boats to sea and make
them work was that their ways of doing
things are not the same as ours.
'In the first place when their ships
were prepared to be used as transports
the furniture and fixtures removed from
them were stored away. When the time
came to refit the ships these furnishings
and fixtures were simply taken from
warehouses and reinstalled much money
being saved. In the case of the Levia-
than. her furniture and fixtures We're
junked when she was made over into
transport. That had to be, because there
was no time to waste. Converting the
Leviathan for transport service was a
war emergency job. But everything that
goes into her now when she is restored
will have to be bought new.
Comparative Operation Costs.
1T is much cheaper to operate British
ships, as is known. than it is to run
American vessels. Moreover, the policy
OF the British Government toward their
merchant marine has been very differ
ent from the policy of our Government.
Apparently the British Government vir-
tually gave some ships to the Cunard
line on the theory that it was worth
while to get these ships into service as
great advertisement for the whole
British merchant marine.
"Of course, the Leviathan should be
back in the service, but the problem is
not so simple as it might look We are
going to think it out carefully and see
IL we can arrive at fair plan for
operating her. In the meantime ] can
state that she is in first class condi ton.
Except for her engines she is little more
than a shell. of course. but engines and
hull are being kept up to the mark OF
perfection. She is ready to go back to
work any day"
<AuIillTdI fStIlSOH tnHI tnc
Shipping Board will take up the Levia-
than problem very soon in an effort to
dispose of ii permanently.
Probably w. F. Gibbs. chief of con-
struction OF the International Mercantile
Marine Company. knows more about
the Leviathan than any other single
person. When the Government put up
to the International Mercantile Marine
the job of surveying the Leviathan with
H. - al. I il.
her to service an effort was made 20
obtain the original plans of the vessel
from her former German owners of the
Hamburg-American line. The former
owners calmly demanded Si.000,000 for
the plans and naturally the demand was
refused. Thereupon Mr.. Gibbs and his
assistant went back to the first prin-
cipes of ship building and studied out
every curve and angle. When they fin
ished their work the United States Gov
ernment was in possession of a new set
of plans just as good and as accurate
as those of the German builders. Gibbs
knows the Leviathan from stem to stern.
Upkeep Technical Task.
The proposition is this" Mr.. Gibbs
said yesterday to o reporter for THE
New York HERALD "On January 20.
1920. the international Mercantile Ma
rine offered to take the Leviathan off
the Shipping Boards hands. paying
s3.5O0,0O0 for her and assuming the great
cost of reconditioning. Then came the
Hearst injunction suits. which blocked
this and other sales. Understanding
that the care and upkeep OF a ship as
big as the Pennsylvania Hotel and con-
tanning the vastcst and most compli-
Gated engines the sea knows was a
job requiring technical knowledge. The
Government gave the International
Mercantile Marine the task of caring
for the Leviathan at her Hoboken pier.
We. have kept force of eighty men
aboard constantly. Every day squads
of these men. assigned TO special duties
inspect the ship. They watch out for
signs OF dlsintegration In plates or
woodwork. They go over the engines
scrupulously. Everything Is done TO
fend off decay. So far the Leviathan.
as Admiral Benson states is i'm first
class shape. She could be put back
into service quickly enough on the basis
Of the plans we have worked out.
speaking as an American citizen
and not as an Official of the Interna-
tional Mercantile Marine 7 say that ii is
a shame the Leviathan is not now at the
British merchant marine"
Charter Probable.
"T say the LeviatfGn ought 10 he at
work. How TO get her there is some
thing else again. year ago the In
ternational Mercantile Marine was will
ing not only to pay s3.500.0 600 for her but
TO assume the immense cost of recon
dtioning. But times were flush hen
Travel was more extensive. things
have frightened up. 1t Is doubtful in
my judgment II any steamship concern
would care now to assume. the immense
financial burden and risk of paying for
the reconditioning of the Lev,athan. 1t
would cost probably sS.O00.000 now.
THE only way I see out of IL is for
the Shipping Board TO enter into some
charterinR arrangement with a steam
shin company whose fleet Is big enough
and whose interests are broad enough 10
enable Il to use the Leviathan at a profit
7 believe the great vessel could be
operated profitably II the company OPP
Grating her were not compelled TO as
sumo too great n financial burden at
the start. imagine that tho Shipping
Board will see this In time and that
such a chartering arrangement will be
made"
The Leviathan is a young ship, vast as
she Is. on April 3. 1913. she was launched
at Hamburg for the Hamburg American
company. She is $4,000 tons. $50 feet
long and nearly 100 feet beam. Before
she became an American transport and
was stripped TO the hull she was one
OF the most luxuriously appointed pas
scnger ships afloat. Her cabins were