The Daily Alaska empire., 1941-04-24

sign of the hull and engine construction of naval vessels requires more time and skill Additional facilities and special machinery often have to be provided to carry on new construction methods These conditions change with each period of con- struction Shpbuiding organizations require devel- opment and the technical skill of trained and quali- fled personnel.
 There has been gradual and sometimes unusual years The more definite fuctuation can be ex- pained by changes in design and economic conditions affecting the shipbuildng industry For batteships the increase gradual up to 1916 The construc- tion of the three battleships started before the World War and not completed until after the Dis armament Treaty in 1923 over seven years, held up and the contracts changed from cost-plus fixed fee to a fixed price contract with many costly changes in design and equipment. which increased the cost of these vessels There lapse of IS years until the six ships of the Alabama" class authorized Those ships, together with the two 45 000 ton ships to be built. of entirely new design The hull and machinery will require much special material. equipment and technical skill to build them. The machinery cost in these ships has risen from one-ffth one-third and to nearly one-half the estimated cost of the vessels. The heavy cruisers built between 1890 and 1904 were of entirely different design from the ships built 
 Armaments Owing to the provisions of the treaty these ships became part of the major fighting force of the new Navy. Some of them were contracted for when the private shipyards were out of work and needed assistance to keep their organizations and plants in business Destroyer costs vary considerably up and down. although the general tendency is up ward The increase in cost of destroyers built since 1880 has been principally in machinery installation. The machinery cost has doubled and is nearly twice
 
 AS the building of a naval vessel requires from two to four years estimates and bids must provide for possible increases in labor and material cost before the end of the contract. In order to obtain bids and prevent unreasonable prices being asked, the Navy has provided for an adjustment clause in the contracts to take of any loss that might be sustained by contractor due to general increases in labor and material prices, etc. This clause has saved some contractors from losses Congress has also endeavored to put a check profits that might be made by the contractor and sub-con- tracts over ten thousand dollars in excess of ten percent of the contract price. When competition is not adequate available due to the limited sources of supply for other this act tends to in- prices to the Navy.
 The principal items of interest with reference to the cost of vessels as follows The cost of naval vessels increase with the progress of marine engineering and naval construction. There has been marked increase in the horsepower of present day ships compared to older ships of the tonnage There has been an improvement in the character of the material used and in the construction of naval vessels. For example the steel is of higher quality and requires special treatment It is used greater extent in both hull and deck protection Costs relative only for vessels of the same de- sign built during the approximate periods. Costs affected in the way that the cost of living is affected from economic and social point of view Reasonable cost of naval vessels can only be determined by complete knowledge of cost of current labor and material prices and production methods on the detailed items making up the group costs along the technical lines of work and material
 But one thing is When MT. John Public of Alaska and the Pacific Northwest takes look across the oceans-he decides his naval vessels cheap at any price,