The Wyandotte herald., 1942-03-27
Bridge Of Ships
Rising Rapidly
Despite Simultaneous Pro
duction of 2-Ocean Navy,
Records Tumble.


WASHINGTON, D. C.-America's
bridge of ships" is building fast
In steady procession from the hun
dredS of shipwayS along our Allan
nc, Gulf and Pacific coasts, new
merchant vessels of many differ
Cnt types are descending to the sea
2 token Of America S pledge TO move
about aid to the powers fighting
axis aggression.
Each entering splash recalls the
ntical days of the last war when
rur shIpDUlders were engaged in
simIlar effort to Offset the Tavages
ct German submarines. Vivid is the
memory of Hog Island, Phlladel-
pnIa, where l22 vessels Of nearly
million dCadWelght tons were pro-
duCed BY the most gigantic ship
,ulldlnC plant ever built, despite
early Encouragement, shortages Of
men and materials and much pub
&c impatience. Completed too late
30 be of much service before the
frst World war had ended, the big
nCrChant flotilla 10 which rs other
American shipyards added another
5000, 900 deadweight tons before
the end of 1921, served to demon
strate Americas genius for volume
production
Shift to High Gear.
Today American shipbuilders
nave shifted once more into high
gear production. This time they will
rot be late, as they were in 1918.
This time they are primed to estab-
Ish production record that will far
"utdistanCe the emergency effort of
The first World war. Already they
ere delivering at the rate of three
new merchant ships week and ex-
pect by the last part of 1912 to be
completing two a day. And they
sre doing so at time when Amer
Ica is also engaged in building a
tWo-ocean navy of a magnitude
never dreamed of in the last war.
Ninety merchant vessels of 1,000,-
t60 deadweight tons are scheduled
for delivery during the first three
months of 1912; l46 vessels of
! 10000 deadweight tons in the sec
end quarter of that year, 154 vessels
of about l,646, 900 deadWeight tons
II the third quarter, and 184 vessels
Of nearly 100000 deadweight tons
n the last quarter of 1912. The first
quarter of 1913, final year of the
present emergency project, will see
another 220 ships aggregating 2,270,-
900 deadweight tons placed in OPP
Grafton
Ahead of World War No. l.
A recent report prepared by the
United States maritime commission
compares the present program with
that of the first World war In terms
Of deadweight tonnage, which best
Indicates cargo carrying capacity,
tbs comparison reveals that in the
present program the production of
steel seagolng vessels of 900 gross
tons or more will, by the end of l943.
be about equal to that produced
IN the entire World war conStruc-
tion period (1912-2D; and that in
respect to speed of output, the cur
rent program which began in 1887
will, at the end of l943, be three
years and more than 100000
deadweight tons ahead of the cor
responding year 1918 when the
armistiCe was signed.
An essential factor in the magni-
tude and speed of the current pro-
gram was the action of the mari
time commission in starting an or
derly long-range construction pro-
gram of so ships year in 1887.
The report shows that the produc-
ton of steel ships in 1928 will
more than treble that of l9l7-l918,
while the production for 1912 alone
Will exceed by 20 per cent and for
1943 by 40 per cent the output of the
peak year, 1919, when about 5,l25,-
900 deadweight tons were produced.