The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-05-22

- O4A O44 \ G04 0S@A ~ ~ WSSS
at. cannot be denied" the re-
port said, "that the haste imposed
upon the contractor by the Bureau
Of Ships was an important factor
in the loss of the Lafayette.
what is more important Is the
undisputed fact that this haste was
dictated in washington by men who
evidently had no conception Of the
work entailed in carrying out their
orders and in total disregard OF
contrary advice from responsible
and competent men on the scene"
The report is being studied by
committee members and has not
been acted upon. It was prepared
by committee counsel, James F. Dull
ligan, who investigated the fire
with the cooperation Of the Navy
and the Federal Bureau OF 1nyesti-
cation.
Over Year To Salvage
The Navy announced that the
$50, 0O0, 900 vessel, which capsized af-
ter thousands Of tons Of water had
been poured into her hold to ex-
tinguish the fire would be salvaged
in operations taht will take more
than a year and cost several million
dollars.
The counsels reports to the Senate
Committee differs from the report
Of the naval court Of inquiry made
public April 20. The court blamed
the fire on "gross carelessness and
utter violation Of rules and common
sense by workmen employed by the
Robbins Dry Dock and Repair Com
pany, Inc. Secretary Of the Navy
Frank Knox, In supplementary
statement, named two lieutenant
commanders assigned to protection
Of the ship and said they were
guilty Of carelessness.
Dulligan in his report quoted
Captain H. Lehuede, French COM
mander Of the Normandie prior to
its seizure by the United States.
as asserting that the construction
of the vessel made its use for war
purposes "inadvisable."
"Other competent witnesses be-
fore your counsel volunteered the
information that the Normandie,
because of her lack Of proper COM
partmentati the location Of her
motive power, and her lack Of sta
bility, was extremely Vulnerable to
attack by submarine" Dulligan's re-
port said.
Not Built For War
unlike the British large luxury
liners, the French liner Normanriie
was never designed with thoughts
Of war use.
"TA was observed that the weight
Of 5000 soldiers unevenly dis
tributed at any time for causes
unknown might result In q disaster
at sea-"
His report absolved Admiral
Adolphus Andrews; now in COM
mand Of the eastern sea frontier,
then commander Of the Third Naval
District, from responsibility for the
fire. But it found division Of COM
mard and lack Of clear cut respons-
fbnity in the work Of converting the
vessel.
The Senate, however, delayed con-
firmation Of Andrews promotion
from rear admiral to vice admiral,
until members could study the, re-
port. Three more promotions were
held up: Rear Admiral John w.
Greenslade, in charge of the west
ern sea frontier, to be a vice ad-
miral: Robert H. English, to be a
rear admiral, and Donald D. Beary,
IN he a rear admiral.
"The work was unduly accelerated
through decisions made by the
United States Navy Bureau OF Ships
in washington by persons In au-
thority who were not on the scene,
who had no personal knowledge OF
the work entailed, yet placed un-
reasonable time limitations on those
charged with the actual burden OF
doing the work - and in the face
of advice to the contrary by sub
ordinate navy officers who were on
the scene and fully acquainted with
the difficulties involved" the re-
port said.
Captain clayton M. SINNERS,
district material officer, was IN
formed on February 2 that the yes
sci must be ready to leave New York
for Boston on February IA, the re-
port said. Despite SINNERS protests
that the work could not be per-
formed that soon, this order had
never been changed up to the day
of the fire." 1t said.
AS Q result, the Robbins Dry Dock
and Repair Company was COM
PEELED to recruit additional work.
men hastily, including fire watch
ers who had little or no experience
and no time in which to be trained,
1t said.