Evening star., 1923-05-06
BY GEORGE H. DACY.

HE funeral marking one OF our
greatest national shipbuilding
tragedies is now being held in
the peaceful and historic city
OF Alexandria. the tolling OF the oeiis
being represented by the clank ana
c'atter of steel on steel. as the demoh-
tion of our wooden armada OF 23o
ships. which cost $S00,0O0,O0O, and
which were sold as junk for one-quar-
ter of l per cent of that price. pro-
crosses.
The emergency fleet which was liter
ally hewed from our mammoth forests,
was constructed in a masterful man.
ner under the most trying conditions.
The great wooden hulls builded to win
the war were completed in many in
stances. only after the conflict was de-
cided. They were raised to serve a
purpose that had been accomplished
before the boats were all launched.
One of the most complicated prob
lens that ever confronted a body of
shipping authorities and nautical eX-
perts was the perpleXing puzzle that
then loomed before the United States
Shipping Board and Emergency Fleet
Corporation-what to do with the
emergency wooden fleet.
Ships, ships everywhere. and not a
practical use to put them to. A three
tenths-of-a- -billion-dollar fleet all ready
for sea and no place to go. Our pow
erful armada. eager to run the trans
oceanic blockade for the most part.
never came nearer to winning valor-
Gus plaudits than by testing out en-
GineS and the seaworthy qualities of
her many craft.
Cnquestionably. however. the wood
en- fleet was not entirely ineffective.
There can be no doubt that il eNerted
. powerful psychological influence in
Nsilerine in the reappearance of the
While doves of peace. Our enemies
rrobably knew OF the mammoth fleet
o. Wodden, vessels that was being built
I" carry supplies overseas. No one
will ever know exactly whether the
psychological effect of this armada
accomplished S300.O00.0O0 worth of
damage in undermining the morale of
our foes and in reducing them to sub
mission. But if a similar war had to
be fought and if like contingencies
arose, the chances are that another
group of rush-order wooden ships
wpulG be built as eXpeditiously as
possible to meet the emergency.
= = y
T>NER since the cessation of hostil-
IL ties the wooden vessels have
been anchored at CIaremont. Va. far
enough up the James river so that
they would not be exposed to vista
tions by marine burers-modern Capt.
EiddS of the maritime world that
feast on the cellulose in wood. These
industrious borers wreck ships. under
mine piers. cause the failure of wood
en bridges and wharves. and in every
way possible keep the shipping world
terrorizel. These ravagers cannot
live in fresh water. so the safety of
the wooden fleet was consummated by
mooring it outside the ranging area of
salt-sea freebooters.
There is no commodity of land or
sea that depreciates more rapidly or
deteriorates more thoroughly than
an idle wooden ship, and after the
wooden vessels had been loafing at
their moorings for many months the
Shipping Board authorities decided
that the most practical method of
permanent disposal was to sell the
ships to salvage experts.
In the interim Uncle Sam did
everything in his power to dispose of
his wooden armada. 1t was an era
when wooden vessels were almost
worse than worthless. The markets
were flooded with bargains in con-
crete and steel ships. The few offers
for the fleet from the forest primeval
that were received were much lower
even than the bids of the ship
wreckers. There were other policies
of merchant marine development
concerned. The government leaders
believed that if the boats were sold
for song for maritime purposes
they might, potentially, offer dis
advantageous competition in one way
or another to American commerce.
Boston over century and a half
ago staged her historic tea party,
not because the tea hounds" Of those
early days had signed the pledge and
but because it was a matter of expe-
diency to dump the tea overheard, to
demonstrate to England that the first
American uprising was about due to
bubble over.
Similarly, it was a matter of ex-
pcdiency for the United States Ship
ping Board to get rid of the useless
wooden fleet. Even if the government
specialists in charge of the vessels
had ordered them towed out to sea
and scuttled, their actions would
have been vindicated.
Your Uncle Samuel was one of the
happiest men this side of Singapore
W hen he finally disposed of his multi
tude of fir and pine boats.
There is considerable inside history
relating to the wooden armada which
never will be written. but this much
deserves to go down in the chronicles:
One of the outstanding achievements
of the national Shipping Board was