Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-10-31 | Page 8 | Troop Vessels Orders Nulled

TROOP VESSELS ORsERS NULLED Construction Contracts at Alameda Canceled by Shipping Board. WASHINGTON, Oct. 30. Cancellation of contracts for $60,000,000 worth of troopships which were to have been built at a new government shipyard at Alameda, Ala-meda, Cal., and slopping of building on the plant were announced today by Chairman Hurley of the shipping board. Decision not to build the troop ships was reached three weeks ago, Mr. Hurley Hur-ley said, because it was realized they could not be delivered before 1920 and would be of little use in the military' program. pro-gram. It also was agreed that operation of the new shipvard might temporarily, at least, reduce the output of several large yards already operating in that district. The new vard at Alameda was to be treated wholly out of government funds, to be owned by the emergency fleet corporation cor-poration and be turned over for operation opera-tion to the Bethlehem Shipping company. com-pany. Mr. Hurlev also said that when the war department asked for large troopships troop-ships the shipping board authorized enlargements en-largements of the. New York Shipbuilding company's plant at Camden, N. J., and the Bethlehem company's Sparrow s Point vard for the building of some of the ships. Extension of the latter plant has been completed, but that of the Camden Cam-den vard has been ordered curtailed, in line with the policy not to turn out ships of this type that cannot be made use of . before 1S20. Plans for bringing the troops home alter al-ter the war contemplate the conversion o: large steel freighters into temporary transport, so that the original number of troopships will not be needed even for that purpose.