Evening star., 1943-04-22
Ship Sinkings Topped
Construction in 1912,
Truman Report Says
Senate Committee Feors
Heavy U-Boot Toll in
Next Four Months

war program that Allied shipping
losses in 1912 exceeded United
Nations ship construction by ap-
proximately 100000 tons, and
that the next four months OF
submarine warfare will be
terrible" 80
In a 75-page, shipbuilding and
shipping report that minced no
words, the committee stated that
the Navy has done "a magnificent
job" in building f1rst-class fight
ing feet. but that nevertheless
"the Navy should be less conven-
tional and conservative in its think
Ing" spend less time propoundine
explanations of unfortunate stu
ations and encourage new ideas.
Ship losses last year we're, termed
"heavy but not disastrous, with the
committee adding that "the SUBJ
marine menace can and will be ef-
fectively met" by increased cargo
ship construction and use of de-
stroyer escorts, plane carriers, land
based planes and subchasers.
Senator Brewster, Republican, OF
Maine, committee member, pre-
dicted I'VE will catch up by next
fall but the next four months will
be terrible-the enemy submarines
will have more hours of daylight
in which to work"
The committee estimated that the
United States. produced 746 ships of
5000, 800 deadweight tons last year,
but added that sinkings averaged
100000 tons a month. 1t described
the British shipbuilding program as
smaller but sizable'' Senator
Brewster estimated that Great
Britain and other Allied countries
launched 1912 total of about e.
100000 tons. .....
The committee also disclosed that
the Liberty ship is being redesigned
into the Victory ship" with more
powerful engines, SO per cent
higher speed and greater cargo
carrying capacity. The change,
sponsored by the Maritime Commit
tee, is opposed by the Navy and the
War Production Board on the
grounds it would be wiser to hold
to the present simplicity and stand
ardization of design, the report
showed.
The Maritime Commission, mean
while, announced award of con-
tracts for 469 merchant ships. in
cluding 189 new Victory ships and
206 high-speed tankers, for COM
pletion next year.
Contracts for the new Victory
ships went to the California Ship
building Corp, Wilmington, Calf,
which will construct "a, and the
Oregon Shipbuilding Corp, Port
land, which will build 105.
Navy's Job Praised.
In other sections of the 45 0OO-
word document the committee re-
ported:
The Navy had done "a magnificent
job in building frst-class fighting
feet that can stand up and slug it
out with any other navy"
Our merchant shipbuilding record
compares favorably with the British,
but '-r. --.
1T is no military secret that we
do not now have enough shipping to
supply out Allies with the weapons
and food which they require and to
transport and maintain overseas
as many soldiers as we can train or
as much material as we can pro-
duce."
The concrete barge program has
been most disappointing"
Through the ingenious use of steel
supports welded to the decks, tank
ers now are carrying large quanti-
ties OF combat planes and torpedo
boats which formerly took up space
below decks on dry cargo ships.
There is wide disparity in the
efficiency Of private shipyards The
Oregon Shipbuilding Corp delivered
II Liberty ships at an average of
393,858 man-hours each, while an
other West Coast yard, Marinship
Corp, Sausalito, Calf, spent 1920
679 man-hours on one vessel.
The investigating group also sharp
ly criticized what it called an "enor-
nous disparity" between the man.
hours required to build battleships
ION opposite sides of the James
Rlver"-one in the Norfolk Navy
Yard and one in the Newport News
Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. Actual
direct labor hours spent in building
the Indiana at the Newport News
yard totaled 14,O50,047, and the total
man-hours to build the Alabama,
a ship of the same class. in the
Navy Yard, was 20,939 900, the COM
mittee reported
Axis Claims Denied.
The German submarines have
taken heavy toll Of our shipping" !"
the report said. Some sinkings
were unavoidable, but large part
of the loss would have been pre-
vented had we had an early and
large production of subchasers and
destroyer escorts. Such losses will
be prevented when more of such
ships have been delivered and COM
missioned.
Ship losses by submarine action
have been heavy. German propa-
ganda announcements that these
sinkings are winning the war for
Germany are not true. However,
our own hush, hush policy has
given credence to such propaganda.
Certainty is always better than
rumor. Frankness is the best an
swer to propaganda.
The submarine losses In 1912
have been widely circulated and
must be known to the German gov
ernment. They averaged approxi-
mately l,000,000 tons of shipping per
month and in the aggregate exceed
ed the new construction built by
the United States and Great Britain.
However, the losses were lower dur
ing the last months of the year.
Also, most of the ships that were
sunk carried one or. more cargoes
to the fighting fronts before being
destroyed and the enemy is now
feeling the effects of increased sup
ply shipments to the African front"
Calling for more liberal thinking
in the Navy, the committee declared: