Evening star., 1951-10-08
Navy Is Constructing
1870 More Vessels;
Subs Near War Peak
By Elton c. FoY


The United States Navy, already
the worlds biggest, is building
about 180 more ships for the feet,
ranging from a huge carrier to
radically new design destroyers
and submarines.
A survey of available records to-
day showed, among other things,
that 13 submarines are being built
now, not counting the experiment
tai atomic powered undersea boat
recently authorized by Congress.
This is the largest submarine
building program since the mass
production days of World War II.
There are about $50 combat
ships in the operating fleet now,
not including several hundred
amphibious, supply and auxiliary
craft.
Much of the buildup of the
operating fleet has come from
pulling laid-up ships from the
mothball fleet, although some of
the expansion includes new car
rierS, destroyerS and other major
combat craft.
1900 Craft in Reserve.
The mothball feet of vessels
built for World War II numbered
at one time about 2,260. 1t still is
a sizeable force in reserve, about
1000 craft. despite Withdrawals
for return to the active fleet,
transfer to navies of other
friendly powers and dispositions
by sale or other means.
Included in the reserve feet are
II battleships and two battle
cruisers, a type built specifically
for matching a similar design of
the Germany navy, the Scharn-
horst class ship. The American
battlecruisers, however. were
completed too late for use in the
war and were put into reserve
almost Immediately.
The Navy now has all four OF
its 45,000-ton Iowa class battle
ships back in commission or being
readied for operation. The IL
battlewagons in the reserve fleet
include the thoroughly modern
but smaller 35.000-ton class ships
as well as several Older battlesllips
built during World War I and
subsequently modernized.
Forrestal Is Biggest.
Biggest OF the ships under con-
struction is the Forrestal, a S.
000-ton carrier to cost an esti-
mated $218 million.
Building also are two expert
mental type ships, one an ocean
escort" vessel of destroyer lines
apparently designed for high
speed, anti 1-submarine work under
any sea conditions and the other
a secret, highly specialized de-
stroyer type.
The current program also in
cludeS a task fleet command ship.
The Navy now has seven ACC"
(amphibiouS command Ships) in
operation. They are used as they
were during World War las
the flag ships for big-scale land
ing operations on an enemy beach
where a complex fleet of carriers,
battleShipS, cruisers, destroyerS
and landing ships and tanks work
as a single team under direction
of the command ship.
lis Minesweepers Being Built.
About half of the 13 submarines
being built are intended as stand
ard long range. feet type opera
tions. but they include improved
or entirely new design engines and
target detection systems.
Building also are more than lis
mineSweepers to cope with the
constant release of mines by the
enemy from river mouths as we'll
as to sweep in operations such as
the Inchon landing last year.
For the first time since the war,
the Navy has gone back into con-
struction of the PIT boat. Three
such craft are building, being es-
sentially experimental designs.
They are substantially larger and
faster than the old PIT boats which
operated SO successfully against
the japanese in the Pacific island
campaignS,