The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-10-22
KEITH DISCUSSES
'SHIPYARD'S WORK

i company cOntrlDuteO 10 Tic u1CA
chant fleet about seven per cen1
of the grand total Of Liberty ships
completed by 16 emergency ship
yards in the United States, it was
disclosed Friday by Louis Keith
| foreman in charge of the Erectors
department of the yard, in an ad
dress to the Wilmington Exchange
club.
During 1912, he said, 81 Liberty
vessels were completed and IS in
1913, an average of IA, ships pei
way produced in q months from
the date the keel was laid for the
first ship up to the delivery date
for the last ship.
The text Of Keith's address fol-
lows:
'In 1871, the government author
lied the Maritime commission to
construct sixteen shipyards; seven
on the Atlantic coast, five on the
Pacific coast, and four on the Gulf
coast; for the building of Liberty
cargo ships a n d tankers. These
shipyard facilities cost about 1929,
966, 1862, and the cost of producing
emergency Liberty type cargo ship
will total about $5,250,000, 900. This
huge investment is directly charge
able to the war effort. The North
Carolina Shipbui1ding company is
one of the emergency shipyards
built. To make me conscious of the
fair city of Wilmington, word was
circulated in cur Newport News
yard in January of 1871 that we
were to build a shipyard there.
Plans called for six shipways and
twenty five ships to be construct
ed within a period of two years.
The key men were to be sent from
the Newport News yard.
By chance I was one of the men
sent. Ground was broken for the
yard February 3, 1941, and t h e
first keel laid on May %, 1941.
About this time the shipways were
increased from six to nine and the
ships from twenty five to thirty
seven.
The first ship, ''Zebulon B.
Vance, was launched December 6
1941, and accepted by the Mari
time commission as completed on
February II, 1912. A total of 272
days was required to construct this
vessel.
The last of the 126 Liberty ships
was completed on August 81, 1882,
with an average Of 64.8 days per
ship. They had a total deal weight
carrying capacity of about l 1923, 900
tons. Employment at the yard
reached a peak at one time of d.
900. One of the thirty days ships
constructed here at the yard was
built with only 277,054 men hours
of direct labor. The average for all
vessels were about $4,000 man
hours of direct labor. At the con-
clusion of our Liberty contract, we
were awarded eighty seven CO
cargo vessels. This is postwar
cargo ship of 460 feet in length,
sixty two ffet in breadth with a
speed of fifteen one half knots. Its
propulsion is Of a geared turbine.
after building thirty six CO
vessesl the Navy Department call
ed on the Maritime commission for
AKA type ships. This is Navy
Combat vessel which We are pro-
ducing at the present time. 1t is
the most vital ship needed by the
Navy today. To give you some idea
of the amount of work required to
complete one of these ships-there
are 22,676 items Of steel that hive
to be laid off, fabricated, fitted,
and welded for each ship. The steel
varies in size from a one pound
chock to three ton shell plate.
This does not include the casting
such as stern frame which weighs
twenty-seven tons, hawse pipes,
and stem castings. There is re-
ceived each month in the yard,
about eight hundred railway cars
of material.
From these facts you can get
some idea of the great work your
shipyard is doing. This material
comes from about every state in
the union, so you can readily see
in shipbuilding, the whole country
has a great part to play.
'.All of us are conscious of the
war in the Pacific. Let's see what
Ianan hac haar, dnino Sinca thu