It will facilitate the understanding of the naval instructions relative to the accomplishment of repairs and alterations to ships if we examine into the causes contributory to their being and the objects sought to be attained through their operation. Perhaps it will be argued by the busy officer that these features are extraneous—that all he wants are results; such arguments are neither here nor there. Results that are to be dependable—that are to closely approximate our designs, plans and estimates—are not the offspring of chance or hazard.
Admittedly it would be an ideal condition and the very embodiment of simplicity if the repairs and alterations required from time to time by the vessels of the navy could be accomplished by a single copy request carrying with it the assurances of subsequent approval, authorization and accomplishment.
Naturally this ideal condition cannot be attained. However, it is confidently believed that the requirements and provisions of the system outlined in the 1913 naval instructions, under the title Repairs and Alterations to Ships, possess more attributes of the ideal than any previous attempt in this line; and the study of this particular chapter is recommended as a matter of the utmost importance to those officers charged with the responsibility for the material readiness of our ships.
The chapter in question is a composite of many ideas, harmoniously blended to meet the exacting requirements of existing laws, departmental and bureau practices, navy yard industrial organization, and the best interests of the service as a whole.
It was found in the course of compilation that obligations and recommendations were in some instances more or less antagonistic—in many cases wholly in opposition, but now that the work has been completed and the system stands forth as an actual working, accomplished fact, there is every reason for asserting that the new instructions possess the essential elements of directness and simplicity; that they fulfill the requirements of the law; and that with even casual study they will be acceptable and satisfactory to the personnel interested in their operation.
The following governing conditions were recognized as being essential to and are incorporated in the new instructions:
(a) Compliance with the laws and regulations relating to expenditures, limitations, accountability and cognizance.
(b) Simplicity of methods; the elimination of unnecessary paper work; the proper routing of papers; and the promptness of final action thereon, with the resultant promptness in the completion of authorized work.
(c) The integrity and completeness of necessary files and records.
(d) The adoption of a standard of procedure, having the fewest possible number of exceptions incident to the execution of its various details.
Congress provides annually for the naval service in what is known as the Naval Appropriation Act. Through the medium of this act certain sums are provided each fiscal year. These sums are grouped under various subheads, referred to as "appropriations," and bear a certain relation to estimates previously submitted by the department in anticipation of its probable needs. Enumerated under each subhead are the various purposes for which the money therein provided may be used.
The responsibility for the proper expenditure and accountability of these several funds is vested in the Secretary of the Navy and the chiefs of bureaus of the Navy Department.
In providing the funds above referred to, Congress has seen fit to enact certain restrictive legislation relative to their expenditure; these restrictive clauses are generally known in the Navy Department as the Statutory Limits, and are as follows:
Provided: That no part of this sum shall be applied to the repair of any wooden ship, when the estimated cost of such repairs, to be appraised by a competent board of naval officers, shall exceed ten per centum of the estimated cost, appraised in like manner, of a new ship of the same size and like material.
Provided further: That no part of this sum shall be applied to the repair of any other ship when the estimated cost of such repairs, to be appraised by a competent board of naval officers, shall exceed twenty Per centum of the estimated cost, appraised in like manner, of a new ship of the same size and like material.
Provided: That nothing herein contained shall deprive the Secretary of the Navy of the authority to order repairs of ships damaged in foreign waters or on the high seas, so far as may be necessary to bring them home.
And provided further: That the Secretary of the Navy shall hereafter report to Congress at the commencement of each regular session the number of vessels and their names upon which any repairs or changes are proposed which in any case shall amount to more than two hundred thousand dollars, the extent of such proposed repairs or changes; and the amounts estimated to be needed for the same in each vessel; and expenditures for such repairs or changes so limited shall be made only after appropriations in detail are provided for by Congress.
With this insight into the manner in which funds are provided, it is essential that we next examine into the methods of disbursement, and study the broad principles of departmental organization.
To facilitate the transaction of the business of the Navy Department its activities have been grouped in four grand divisions: Operations, Material, Personnel, and Inspections.
It will suffice in this instance if we understand the composition of the material division, and the results sought to be attained through it and the division of inspections.
The Division of Material is composed of the Bureaus of Construction and Repair, Steam Engineering, Ordnance, Supplies and Accounts, Yards and Docks, Equipment, and the Office of the Director of Navy Yards, and is in direct communication with both the Secretary and the Assistant Secretary through its various Bureau Chiefs and the Aid for Material. From its composition and the nature of its activities it follows that the details of all material work, whether ashore or afloat, the procurement of supplies, and the industrial organization of the navy are centralized in this division and are under the cognizance of its several bureaus.
The responsibility for the design, construction, repair and material maintenance of vessels of the navy is essentially a function of the Bureaus of Construction and Repair, Steam Engineering, Ordnance, Supplies and Accounts and Equipment (the duties of this last named bureau being at present distributed among the Bureaus of Construction and Repair, Steam Engineering, Supplies and Accounts, and Navigation); and while the lines of demarcation, the beginning and ending of individual bureau cognizance, may in certain cases seem vague and indeterminate, yet as a rule they are susceptible of ready understanding, are clearly defined and are a matter of record. Each bureau chief is the technical adviser of the secretary in all matters under his particular cognizance.
The administrative offices of the material division are located in the Navy Department, Washington, D. C.; its industrial activities permeate the entire navy, ashore and afloat.
At the head of each of the yard departments is an officer of the line or staff corps of the navy, depending upon the work to be done by that particular department, who acts as the agent of the commandant in carrying out the work assigned and authorized by the several bureaus. The regulations provide that whenever any work is to be performed at a navy yard the commandant is to direct its performance by either the machinery or hull division of the manufacturing department, or by the public works department, according to the nature of the shops and resources which may be required therefor, and it is done under the supervision and control of the head of division or department to which it has been assigned.
Having thus shown the various units of our organization it remains but to study its operation as a whole, or, speaking figuratively, we may now start the machinery and follow the grain through the mill.
Yard activities are dependent upon the amount of money that is allotted to the yard either monthly, or from time to time, by the bureaus; and these allotments are in turn dependent upon the unobligated bureau balances and the estimate of amounts required as submitted by the commandants.
The work that comes to the yard in so far as pertains to vessels of the navy may be subdivided into two grand classes:
(1) New construction, ranging in magnitude from the building of a complete battleship to the manufacture of any of the many articles required for the naval service.
(2) Repairs and alterations to vessels already completed, which may vary in amount from a small urgent repair job to a thorough overhauling.
Taking into account the facilities possessed by the several navy yards and naval stations, and having due regard for the demands of the fleet and the desirability of maintaining a uniform labor roll, the Navy Department, by general order, has assigned all vessels of the navy to certain designated home yards, and has assembled at such yards the accessories, spare parts, patterns and working plans of the vessels based thereon.
In so far as has been possible, the department has also adopted a schedule of docking and repair periods; battleships being docked semi-annually and overhauled every fifteen months; destroyers docked semi-annually and overhauled by groups twice each year; submarines follow the same routine, generally speaking, as do the destroyers; auxiliaries and vessels on detached service are repaired, docked and overhauled as conditions demand and circumstances permit.
It follows then that the work on ships at navy yards, under the designation of repairs and alterations, permits of the following simple classification:
(1) Emergency work; urgent repairs.
(2) Docking and routine docking work.
(3) Overhaul.
In order to clearly differentiate .between repairs and alterations the department, in accordance with the recommendations of the technical bureaus, has adopted the following definitions limiting the meaning and scope of the words in question:
Repairs shall be construed to mean such work as may be necessary to restore the ship or article under consideration to serviceable condition, without any alteration in design, without the addition of any article or parts, and without the removal of any article or parts that are not to be replaced.
This class of work is further subdivided into:
(a) Urgent repairs, which shall include all immediate repairs necessary for cruising or military efficiency, for the prevention of deterioration, or for sanitary reasons.
(b) Desirable repairs, which shall include all repairs which it is desirable to have made when the services of the ship can be spared for a length of time sufficient to accomplish the work.
The word alterations shall be construed to mean all work not included in the definition of "repairs" as quoted above; and shall include all changes in design that may be deemed advisable in making repairs; it shall also include all additions of any articles or parts and the removal of any articles or parts that are not replaced by similar ones. It shall include all changes in the character of the material of which any article or part is made.
It is essential that these definitions be clearly understood and closely followed, for upon them the frame work of the instructions are builded.
It is the intent of the new instructions that the ship's officers shall be capable of differentiating between urgent repairs, desirable repairs and alterations; further, that they shall be able to segregate the various items in accordance with bureau cognizance. It is of particular importance that the items of requested work be clearly and definitely stated.
All requests, irrespective of the nature of the work required, are made out in triplicate, in accordance with a standard form, equally applicable to either urgent repairs, desirable repairs, or alterations (see Articles 4331 and 4333).
These three classes of requests do not, however, follow an identical routing, nor would the same request follow the same channels in every instance. The exceptions are clearly set forth under the paragraph dealing with the subject, "Forwarding of requests."
Generally speaking, urgent repair requests are so routed as to insure their prompt consideration and approval, it being recognized that this class of work must be done with the least possible delay. Alterations, on the other hand, require much more consideration, the development of new designs and the analysis of their effects not only on the ship in question, but upon all vessels of the same class.
Urgent repair requests are submitted to and immediately acted upon by the commandant and work is started on such items as he considers necessary, provided the same can be done within the statutory limit of cost, without exceeding the allotment of his funds, and by the date set by the department for the completion of work on the vessel. So far as the authorization of urgent repairs is concerned, the commandant shall be the judge of the urgency of each item of repairs requested and the fact that the commanding officer of a ship has included any particular item in the urgent list does not of itself authorize the commandant to proceed with the work unless in his judgment the urgency actually exists. (See Articles 4335 (5a) and (11)).
Should the commandant be of opinion that the work requested is not an urgent repair item, the ship's request together with an estimate of time, cost and his recommendation endorsed thereon is forwarded to the appropriate bureau for final action. (Art. 4335 (b)).
The procedure outlined in the two preceding paragraphs authorizes the commandants to undertake, without reference to the bureaus or the department, the work required in the vast majority of urgent repair requests, subject only to the provisos that the ship and funds are available for the accomplishment of the work.
Desirable repairs refer to a class of work that is not urgent in nature; work which can be deferred; possibly disapproved; and very probably be merged into an alteration, without material disadvantage to the ship submitting the request for same.
These conditions warranted a slight change in the routing of desirable repair requests from that followed by an urgent repair request, and in consequence requests for desirable repairs and for alterations require bureau consideration before authorization.
Such procedure is especially imperative in the case of alterations involving as they do considerable expenditures and the possible incorporation of ideas that have been tried out and abandoned for some technical or professional reason.
When work has been authorized, its accomplishment and follow-up rest entirely with the yard and the ship's inspecting officers. In this connection attention is invited to the instructions relative to the direction and responsibility of work (Article 4341).
As soon as an item of work has been authorized, either by the commandant, bureau or department, the same is incorporated by the commandant in the weekly report of work, a complete copy of which is sent each week to the commanding officer of the vessel undergoing repairs; partial copies being forwarded to each bureau concerned.
These reports contain in a compact form the following information:
(a) The yard division in which the work is being done.
(b) The appropriation to which the work is charged.
(c) The number of the job order, date and source of authorization, together with the wording of the job order or a brief thereof.
(d) The estimated cost of the work under the division of labor, material and indirect charges, and the estimated total of working days required to do the work.
(e) The number of working days required to complete the work, supplemented by any pertinent remarks explanatory of delays or unusual conditions.
A familiarity with these reports will be found to be of the greatest assistance to the ship's officers.
In addition to the weekly report of work, referred to in the preceding paragraphs, commandants prepare and submit to the department and the bureaus a "summary of the weekly reports of work," containing in brief the following information:
(a) The names of all vessels at the yard, whether belonging to the navy or other departments of the government, upon which work is in progress; the total number of days work authorized under the cognizance of each bureau; the probable date of completion of all work and the date of readiness of each individual vessel for sea.
(b) A similar list for vessels based on the yard, or scheduled to repair thereat, but absent therefrom at the time the report was written.
These summaries are of especial value to the department inasmuch as they are in part indicative of the actual and prospective work at the various yards, and the date of a vessel's readiness for sea.
DOCKING.
Docking and routine docking work becomes a separate and distinct class of work if undertaken during a scheduled semi-annual docking period.
At such times the work must be carried through with the least possible delay so as to permit of docking the remaining vessels of the division or group, during the period. The ship's bottom is cleaned and painted; the underwater surfaces of the hull, together with valves, fittings, zincs, and propellers are examined and overhauled as required.
If the docking be undertaken during an overhaul period, or with a view to repairing any damage to the underwater body of the vessel, the stay in dock is for a much longer period, and major items of work, including the cleaning and painting of the double bottom compartments and the rewooding of shaft bearings, are proceeded with.
It frequently happens that emergencies arise requiring the immediate docking of naval vessels, vessels belonging to other departments of the government, or vessels of the merchant marine. In order that the department may make prompt decision in such cases, the Bureau of Construction and Repair has been specifically charged with the duty of keeping an accurate record of the activities of all dry docks, and in particular with reference to their occupancy or availability. For obvious reasons authorization to dock a vessel must be obtained from that bureau. (See Art. 4342.)
OVERHAUL.
The preceding remarks under both sections, I and II, of this article may be considered as explanatory of that class of work requiring no extended time or considerable expenditure of funds for its accomplishment.
The procedure, in the case of a general overhaul of a vessel, or the undertaking of extensive repairs amounting in some' instances to the practical rebuilding of the ship, while different from that followed in the cases just described, is equally simple and direct once the scheme is understood.
Taken in its integral parts and viewed sequentially, we find the predominant features of the system to be:
(1) Conditions which predicate the necessity or desirability of an overhaul (Art. 4305).
(2) An inspection for the purpose of ascertaining the material condition of the vessel; the amount of work required; and to consider the advisability of proceeding with an overhaul.
(3) The preparation of plans and estimates of costs.
(4) The consideration by the bureaus of the various items of work and the final action of the department, based upon the bureaus' recommendations.
(5) The authorization and accomplishment of the work.
The program followed in connection with the scheduled overhaul of the battleships of the Atlantic fleet is an excellent example of the methods employed in the accomplishment of the class of work now under consideration.
At a time from three to six months in advance of the date determined upon for the beginning of the overhaul, and if practicable while the vessel is at her home yard, the Department directs that an inspection be made in all departments of the designated vessel, with a view to ascertaining her material condition and for the purpose of obtaining comment and recommendation relative to such work as may be considered necessary to place the vessel in a satisfactory condition, either for the continuation of her present duties or to fit her for some designated service. (Art. 4308 (a)).
This inspection, known as the material inspection, is made by the Board of Inspection and Survey for Ships, augmented by representatives from the hull and machinery divisions of the yard manufacturing department. The object in placing these additional members on the board is to facilitate the subsequent preparation of estimates of the cost of contemplated work.
The Board of Inspection and Survey for Ships is one of the component parts of the Division of Inspections of the Navy Department. This board is more or less permanent in its membership and is composed of officers skilled in engineering, construction, ordnance, and conversant through actual experience with the sea-going requirements of .the navy. Being separate and distinct from the material division, and in no way affiliated with the Bureaus of that division, its criticisms, recommendations and findings are accepted as being impartial and without prejudice by all concerned.
In addition to a thorough physical inspection of the vessel, the board considers the various repair and alteration requests that may have been submitted subsequent to the last general overhaul and upon which no work has been done, data for this purpose being obtained from the commanding officer of the vessel, the commandant and the bureaus. (See Article 4311.)
Copies of the board's report are sent to the commanding officer of the vessel, the commandant of the navy yard, and the bureaus, the original of the report going to the Navy Department (Division of Material). The commandant, immediately after the receipt of the yard copy, proceeds without further orders with the preparation of estimates, omitting the estimates for such items of work as may not have been recommended by the board, unless the same be specially called for by the bureaus. In this connection it may be of interest to note that the Revised Statutes, Sections 1538 and 1539, define the composition and membership of the Board of Estimates for work chargeable to the appropriation "construction and repair" and "equipment of vessels (C&R)," should the amounts be in excess of $3000 and $1000, respectively.
The reports of estimates are forwarded to the bureaus concerned and by the bureau endorsed with appropriate comment and recommendation to the department (Division of Material).
The yard in the meantime, through the heads of its manufacturing department, has proceeded with a careful revision of its schedules of material in order that appropriate requisitions may be started on their course immediately after the order to proceed with the overhaul is received.
The procurement of material is a source of considerable delay. What with the detailed preparation of technical specifications and requisitions; advertisement for the purpose of procuring competition; the opening of bids and the award of contract; and the inspections during process of fabrication, several months may easily elapse between the date of original request and that of final accepted delivery.
When the several reports of estimates with the accompanying bureau recommendations are received in the department it becomes necessary to consider:
(1) Whether the military value of the vessel in question is such as to warrant an expenditure incident to an overhaul.
(2) Whether the overhaul for purpose .of continuation of present services, or for assignment to some other class of service, is in accordance with departmental policy.
Should these questions be decided in the affirmative and the total of the estimated costs under all bureaus be within the statutory limit, then the department indicates by endorsement what work shall or shall not be undertaken, summarizes the authorized expenditures under all appropriations, announces the statutory limit, and fixes a date for the completion of the overhaul.
The general authorization having been obtained, the detailed instructions, relative to the various items of approved work, are issued to the commandant by the bureau having cognizance.
In this, the same as in the case of individual items of repairs or alterations, the responsibility for the accuracy of plans and the issue of detailed instructions are functions of the bureaus.
Provision is made in the instructions for an appeal for reconsideration of a request for alterations previously .disapproved.
Work on ships in full commission is given precedence over all other work, and whenever practicable, material is assembled and work is authorized prior to the arrival of a vessel at a yard.
In conclusion, I can but renew my previous assurances that the system is neither a thing of mystery nor of many complications; its understanding follows from a careful reading; its details are susceptible of easy mastery.
The efficacy of the system, and the accuracy of its details are best attested by the fact that it has required no changes or corrections since placed in operation.