The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1943-10-02
BY JAMES THRAsHER
NEA STAFF Correspondent

ing history began TWO years dBO
when the first Liberty ship, appro-
priately christened the Patrick Hem
ry, slid down the ways Of Balti-
more shipyard. Since September ~,
l941, the u. 8. Maritime Commits
sion has received from American
yards more than 2,100 merchant
vessels, totaling over 20 million
dead weight tons. That's better than
twice the tonnage of our entire Mer-
chant Marine on the day the Pat
rick Henry was launched.
This feat of mass ship construc-
ton beats anything that the world
has ever seen or dreaded Of. And 1t
was performed In the face Of difh-
culties that at times seemed bigger
than the job itself, and which re-
ceived a lot more attention.
American shipbuilders had to bat
tie enemy submarines which, until
late last year, were sinking ships
faster than they could be built.
They also had to battle such things
as tremendous manpower shortage,
high labor turnover, labor boarding
and inefficient use Of manpower,
bad housing, bad health; inadequate
transportation and o lot Of other
troubles that added up to the big
trouble known as absenteeisIn.
At the moment the U-boats are
the lesser menace. Government, in
dustry and labor are still fighting
the other battles. And they're MAX
ing progress. The Maritime Com
mission is confident that the War
Manpower Commission tighter
control of West Coast labor will
work a marked improvement. It is
equally confident that shipbuilding
will meet its l943 quota Of 10 million
tons, and exceed 1t in 1914.
If these goals are met, the COM
mission will have received by the
end of next year so million dead
weight tons Of ships since this coun-
try entered the war. That is q
greater tonnage than the combined
merchant fleets of the United States
Great Britain, Germany, Japan and
Norway on December Z, 1941.
PRODUCTION MIRACLE
It took 244 days to complete the
Patrick Henry. Efficiency and zeal
have hacked away at that figure
until today a Liberty ship can, and
has been, launched seven days after
the keel was laid. Under ideal con-
ditions this improvement would be,
to put 1t mildly, remarkable. In
view Of the difficulties mentioned
above, 1t is just short Of incredible.
And yet the basic, reason Is simple:
all these bottlenecks and stumbling
bolcks couldn't slow down assembly,
line efficiency.
This efficiency has changed ship
yards from factories Of laborious
piece-by- piece production to Anal
assembly stations. The simple,
standardized Liberty ship design,
centralized procurement and pro-
duction, and prefabrication by sub
contractors did the trick. The coun-
try's 70 shipyards have become, In
effect, the necks of tunnels into
which material from factories all
over the country is poured.
Out Of this Still-growing efficiency
have come the merchant ships that
are doing the worlds biggest supply
job. The Liberty ships which make
up the bulk Of these 2,l00 wartime
vessels aren't the best or fastest
freighters ever built. They are ad-
mittedly an emergency creation. But
they have played big part in
changing the complexion Of world
affairs since the day thta the Pat
rick Henry was launched.
DELIVER THE GOODS
A lot Of those 2,100 American
merchant ships have been lost since
September q, 1941, and more than
1000 seaman's lives have been lost
with them. But the rest of the Lib
erty ships, plodding along in con-
voy, have landed the supplies that
are heldping to drive the Axis closer
and closer to home base.
BY this time next year, American
cargo vessels may be sailing the At.
lantic unescorted. Scheduled for
1914 construction are 339 Victory
ships, better add somewhat bigger
than the Liberty, and half again as
fast. It Is believed that, under fav-
orable conditions, the Victories are
speedy enough to go their way
alone, and that they might cut the
present convoy travel time in half.
The Victory ship Is already sched-
uled for an important part in post
war shipping. The Maritime Com
mission, with. American steamship
companies, is planning ag realty ex-
banded merchant marine. With high
wages and high costs, our shipping
will have to offer fast service in
world competition.
Victory ships may be the answer
mass produced with the know
how and energy that made the big
parade of Liberties possible.