Evening star., 1937-09-12
TWObATTLESH|PS
WILL SOON START
Navy Reveals Progress Is
Being Made on 78 New
Vessels.

The keels of two new batt,esflips,
North Carolina and Washington, are
expected to be laid early in the new
year, the Navy Department revealed
yesterday in showing the progress be-
ing made on the rs new warships now
under construction in various parts
of the Nation.
The North Carolina, which will be
set on the ways in little more than
three months, will be assembled at the
New York Navy Yard and will take 48
months to build. The Washington, to
be constructed at the Philadelphia
Navy Yard, will take 81 months to
erect.
Meanwhile, the department said
. progress is being registered on other
vessels now under construction in pri-
vate and Government shipyards
Yorktown Nears Completion.
The aircraft carrier Yorktown is ex-
pected to be completed on September
"a The aircraft carrier Enterprise,
also being built by the Newport News
Shipbuildipg g. Dry Dock Co. at New
port News, Va, is expected to be COM
pleted next May. The third aircraft
carrier now being built, the Wasp, at
the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp.
plant at Fore River, Mass, will not
be ready for year, and some delay
may be experienced, the Navy Depart
ment has been advised
The heavy cruiser Wichita, being
built at the Philadelphia Navy Yard,
is expected to be ready about this time
next year.
Nine light cruisers are under con-
struction, and the first of this group to
be completed will be the Philadelphia,
being built at the Philadelphia Navy
Yard, and expected to be finished the
middle Of next month. The Brooklyn,
at the New York Navy Yard, will follow
about the first of December. Other
cruisers, expected to be ready next year
and in 1899, are the Savannah, Nash
vile, Phoenix, Boise, Honolulu, st.
Louis and Helena.
The II submarines under construc-
ton are the Pompano, Salmon, Seal,
Skipjack, Snapper, Stingray, Sturgeon,
Sarge, Saury, Spearfish, Sculpin,
Squalus, Swordfish, Seadragon, Sea-
lion, Searaven and Seawolf. The
Pompano will be finished about Oc-
tober 30.
The five destroyers. each of 1850
tons displacement, now being built,
are the U. S. S. Somers, Warrington,
Sampson, Davis and Jouett.
40 Destroyers on Way.
There are 40 destroyers, each of
1900 tons displacement, now on the
ways. The first of these to be COM
pleted next month are the Tanning.
Blue, Mugford and Henley. Follow
ing in November will be the Ralph
Talbot and the Patterson. In De-
cember the Helm and Jervis are ex-
pected to be finished. The destroyer
Craven, which was constructed at
the Fore River, Mass, plant of the
Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp, was
delivered and commissioned on Sep
tember O.
Orders have not yet been placed
for two of the new destroyers, which
now bear only the official designation
DD427 and DD428. Six of the new
destroyers, under construction at
Bath, Me, the Boston Navy Yard and
Fore River, have not as yet been
named, but Secretary Swanson is ex-
pected to choose names for them
soon. This is usually done on recon-
mendation Of the Bureau of Naviga-
ton, Navy Department, which is
headed by Rear Admr. Adolphus An
drews.
To Be Completed in 1910.
Others of the 40 destroyers now
under construction are the Benham.
Ellet, Lang, Mccall. Maury, Mayrant,
Trippe, Rhind, Rowan, Stack, Sterett.
Wilson, Sims, Hughes, Anderson,
Hammann. Muslin, Russell, O'Brien,
Wake, Morris, Roe, Wainwright and
Buck. Destroyers are named for he
roes OF the Navy and Marine Corps,
both officers and enlisted men, but
sometimes they bear the names of
former Secretaries of the Navy. 1t
takes from % to 80 months to con-
struct destroyer, the Bureau of Con-
struction and Repair said.
Some OF these ships in the 78~new-
Uarship program will not be COM
pleted until 1910 and l941. This is
true of the battleships, for the con-
tract date for completion of the North
Carolina is August /, 194l, while
the Washington is scheduled to be
finished on November /. 194l. Expe-
rience has taught the Navy, however,
the time when the ships are actually
ready is often far later than the con-
tract date, due to strikes, delay in
shipping materials for construction
and other causes.