Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-10-12

BY WILLIAM a. MkLLEN
TTY-ELGHT American deStroyezs.
valued ct some tsS 900 Q doser
wears ago. win soon be melted down
TO become radio towers, lamp posts
and q thousand and one articles Of
modern commerce In the next few months the
Navy win witness some Of these cherished de-
struyexs that were designed to chase enemy
submarines little more than q decade since be-
ing nut on the hammer for scrap metal An
army Of workmen win fall upon these erStWnile
sleek, slim craft. They viii be cut up into con-
yenient slabs, comparatively easy to handle, and
then the skeletons" Of these ships win be On
their way on nat cars to the steel mills.
Yesterday when they were daubed with
camouf7age paint Ia the nervous days Of war
time these destroyers slid out Of American ports
to guard conveys OF troops and supplies TO ~over
there" with little news Of their going as
possible. Tomorrow the Navy win seek to shout
from the housetops the tidings that So de-
stroyers are going to be sold-and sold cheap.
Details for this great bargain day OF the Navy
are now being whipped into shape In the Bureau
Of Supplies and Accounts. which has charge OF
such transactions
Since last Summer the Navy has been engaged
In putting laid-up destroyers back into active
commission to take the place of those worn out
in the service Of Uncle Sam IN the less strenuous
postwar days. The IS destroyers recently de-
commissioned at the Mare Island. Calf, and
E01l00cApuAAP
duty IN various parts of the world. carrying the
names Of famous men into little known ports OF
the globe. Now 1t has been determined ON
cially that they are no longer ut for war, and
they are cashiered out OF the service, physically
incapacitated-
The Navy sells the ships usually on the basis
Of scrapping IN the navy yards or by permitting
the junk dealers to buy the ships . whole,
selling them "as IS" Acetelyne torches eat into
the side Of the ships, and great, heavy pieces Of
metal are taken from the hulls as the vessels
are dissected by IRE. Then the pieces are
shifted TO fiat cars and transported TO the
steel mills and the boundaries.
T,HE sorting Of this metal Is science In
itself. Metal containing iron and metal
which lacks 1t are placed In separate classihca-
tons. steel, brass and bronze are salyaged from
these erstwhile proud craft of the sea.
Metal taken from some heroic ship Of days
gone by may possibly enter into the construction
q Americas newest vessels, because the metal
- used melted down and used again.
naval officials say that, stripped Of all equip
uent and reduced 10 floating scrap piles, each
Of the scrapped destroyerx VIII be worth IN the
vicinity Of $500. Thirty-seven q the 50
Asstsoyers have been 1t the Mare Island Navy
Yard and n have been 1t Philadelphia In
augmAting the selling program, six destroyeEs
are 10 be sold soon at the California base.
Names Of renowned naval men are enshrmed In
this half doeen-Doyen, MacDonough, Paul
Hamilton, Reno, 6hirk and Zeilin. They are
Of some SEQ tons each
1Gen who have hold the post Of Secretary Of
the Navy enlisted men who have distinguished
themselves IN the service, men who have become
outstanding on the neld Of battle and oEAceTs
Of exceptional merit are remembered I'm the
names that these So destroyers have borne. But
now they are passing IN the giant scrapping pro-
- - No.
which bears the names Of the naval vessels.
MANY of the ships have been familiar sights
nj san Diego and at Philadelphia In the naval
slump that followed the World War, for the
forests Of nasts spoke mutely Of spirited naval
craft pushed into reduced commission. Skeleton
crews in many instances looked out for the up
keep of the vessels, putting ''red lead" on the
rust spots and seeking to keep the craft IN shape
for service on limited appropriations
Then Admiral Charles +. Hughes, chief Of
naval operations, decided, upon the recon-
unendation Of q board, 70 place many Of these
vessels that had been resting" in reserve into
fun commission 70 take the place Of those that
were found with defective boilers and tubes.
This has been going On in recent months, since
washington ordered the replacement program
70 70 into fun effect.
soon workmen in overalls VIII be scTambfng
over the decks and onto the bridge" OF each
Of these So destroyers, where but snort time
ago trim "gobs" in natty navy blue, with round
white hats and business-like officers with gold
braid held sway. Bows that plowed the seas
afar viii yield to the action Of the pneumatic
hammer the power torch and the electric crane
AGasts that lowered above the waves IN sum and
storm will fall to the efforts Of peace-eime
workers, and decks that resounded to the
watches IN the dead Of night ON lonely stretches
Of watery wastes with all quiet below. win be
torn up by noisy machinery and mechanics IN
the full light Of MONDAY.