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Show MARCH By II. S. Sims, Jr. i i i " 'TsBriLDlNG INDUSTRY AHEAD OK SCHEDULE TO FINISH TWO SHU'S FF.B AY Credit should be given to the Maritime commission and U. S. chiobuildcrs for being over a 1,1th ahead of schedule in build-in,: build-in,: ships-ships to carry muni-inns muni-inns to countries fighting aggres- on and to carry food to people starving as a result of aggression. According to J. E. Schmelt-Ifr Schmelt-Ifr director of construction 0f 'the U. S. Maritime commission, com-mission, shipbuilding is more than one month ahead of schedule, sche-dule, and the present schedule includes finishing two ships a day during 1013 and 1913. This appears to be an almost impossible achievement when we recall that during the fifteen-year period ending in 1937, U. S. ship yards completed only two oceangoing ocean-going cargo carriers. In other words, in 1942 and 1943, U. S. shipbuilders ship-builders will build as many ships each day as were built in the fifteen-year period ending in 1937. Realizing the need for a U. S. Merchant Marine, Franklin Roosevelt created in 1937 the U. S. Maritime commission. Immediately the commission began a ten-year program of launching a vessel every week. Under this plan about 50 contracts con-tracts were awarded to ship yards every year. The outbreak of the war in Europe Eu-rope in September, 1939, awoke the commsision to the fact that constructing 500 ships in ten years was not adequate to meet the new needs. Thus the construction of ships was accelerated and at the present time 398 ships have been contracted for, and this is more than twice as many as would have been ordered or-dered under the ten-year plan. Those responsible for the expansion ex-pansion of the shipbuilding industry indus-try have not only set a remarkable remark-able example for other TJ. S. defense de-fense workers but they have also kept the cause of freedom alive through their accomplishments. Regardless of how much food and munitions we produce pro-duce in the V. S., we can not help the cause of freedom unless un-less we can get these supplies to the front line. When there is not enough ships to get food to England, she will capitulate. capitu-late. The Chinese and the Russians also need supplies and we have promised them those supplies. In order to fulfill these promises we must have available ships. No matter how many tanks we turn out, no matter how many guns we accumulate, no matter how much food we produce, we cannot help the cause of freedom if we do not have the means of getting our helt to those countries resist- as far as Iceland, has cut shipping losses to less than one-half. Anglo-American forces will continue to win the battle of the Atlantic as long as the Russians resist Naziism. Thus, the Russian war is preventing the sinking of many TJ. S. ships, but to insure continued resistance we are going to have to use ships to get supplies sup-plies to the fighting Russians. Another factor that is going to put a strain on the TJ. S. Merchant Mer-chant Marine is the fact that winter win-ter is coming. The short TJ. S. convoy con-voy route by way of Greenland and Iceland is going to be impassable im-passable in two or three months. Merchant ships will have to follow fol-low a longer route with less protection. pro-tection. Nevertheless, the outlook for the future is good, ship losses will continue to be negligible until the end of the Russo-German Russo-German campaign and by that time TJ. S. shipbuilders will have the situation well In hand. The military mission that the TJ. S. government is sending to China means that the Chinese can expect increasing ship loads of help. In fact, TJ. S. ships will mainly main-ly be used in the future to send1 war supplies and food to China, Russia, and England in the proportions pro-portions that can be most effectively effec-tively used to stop aggression in the interest of our national defense. ing aggression. Less than three months ago the most serious problem facing fac-ing the United States and England Eng-land was the success of the Germans in sinking ships, ships making up England's life-line. In fact, the Germans were sinking ships over twice as fast as England and the United States together could build them. ' ' Then came the Russian war and this clash is absorbing most of Germany's airplanes and submarines submar-ines that had been used in the Atlantic At-lantic battle. The Russian war, coupled with streamline TJ. S. convoys carrying British supplies |
