Building Major Combatant Ships in World War II

Take it all in all, a ship of the line is the most honorable thing that man as a gregarious animal has ever produced. By himself, unaided he can do better things than ships of the line; he can do poems and pictures and other combinations of what is best in him. But as a being living in flocks and ham­mering out with alternate strokes and mutual agreement what is necessary for him in those places, to get or produce the ship of the line is his first work. Into that he has put as much human patience, common sense, forethought, experimental philosophy, self-control, habits of order and obedience, thoroughly wrought handiwork, defiance of brute elements, careless courage, careful patriotism, and calm expectation of the judgment of God as can well be put into a space 300 feet long and 80 feet broad, and I am thankful to have lived in an age when I can see this done. (John Ruskin, circa 1860)

The development of modern materials, propulsion power plants, electric and hydraulic power generation and con­trol systems, and radio and radar com­munication and control systems have made the fighting ship of today a much more com­plicated work than that which moved John Ruskin so strongly 85 years ago. Accord­ingly, those men and women who have served their country by building its modern combatant ships may properly feel, as much more strongly as action goes beyond thoughts and words, that they have done some of man’s noblest work. And the public gener­ally, and Navy personnel particularly, may well be interested in having a clearer picture of the building of the World War II United States Fleet and of the shipyards and of the men and women who did this important work.

The “Final Official Report of the Com­mander-in-Chief United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations” (Appendix B) lists 1323 modern “major combatant” ships added to the United States Fleet from Dec­ember 7, 1941, to October 1, 1945, giving names, serial numbers, and dates of com­missioning of each. A brief story of the build­ing of the 203 submarines included in this list has already been published in the U. S. Naval Institute Proceedings. Appendix B also gives the numbers of auxiliary ships completed during the war.

The present article summarizes the workloads of the different shipyards which built the remaining 1120 major combatant ships and touches on some of the highlights of the building programs and the accomplishments of the builders of these ships which formed the backbone of the U. S. Fleet and played so large a part in the winning of the war.

In order to provide gages for measuring the job done and judging the accomplish­ments, Table I has been prepared to show the major combatant ships of the U. S. Navy available for service in December, 1941, and the shipbuilding yards which by building them had become experienced in this work up to that time.

It will be seen from Table I that in the thirty year period 1911-1941, three Govern­ment and three private shipyards—Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock company, New York Shipbuilding Corporation, and Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy—had built battleships, but only the Navy Yards, New York and Philadelphia, had completed any of this type, and only one each, in the last 18 years of the period.

From 1926 on there had been a continuous development of the 10,000 ton “treaty” heavy cruiser; four Government yards—New York, Philadelphia, Mare Island, and Puget Sound—and three private yards—Newport News, New York Shipbuilding, and Bethlehem-Quincy—had done this shipbuilding. Light cruisers of the 10,000 ton type fol­lowed the heavy cruiser development, with two Government yards—New York and Philadelphia—and two private yards—New­port News and New York Shipbuilding—- doing this work recently; three other private yards—Bethlehem-Quincy, William Cramp, and Todd-Tacoma—had, it should be pointed out, built light cruisers of a smaller size as part of the World War I program. Three private yards—Newport News, New York Shipbuilding, and Bethlehem-Quincy—had built airplane carriers, with most of the re­cent experience being concentrated at New­port News. Seven Government and seven private yards had built destroyers in the period 1935-1941; the William Cramp and Squantum yards, which built destroyers in the last war, had gone out of business.

Fifty of the oldest of these destroyers had been turned over to the British in 1940 in exchange for naval bases.

The European War having started on September 3, 1939, the President declared a “limited emergency” on the 8th. With many people still feeling that we could keep out of the war, Congress had in the spring of 1940 become alarmed at the situation only to the extent of passing in June the so-called 11% Fleet Expansion Bill. This resulted in the placing of the following orders for new “major combatant” ships:

No. Ordered	Types	Serial Nos.	Tonnage (each)	Builders	Total Tonnage
1	BB	63	45,000	New York Navy Yard	45,000
1	BB	64	45,000	Philadelphia Navy Yard	45,000
4	CA	68-71	13,600	Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy	54,400
4	CL	57-60	10,000	New York Shipbuilding Corporation	40,000
2	CL	62-63	10,000	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock
				Company	20,000
4	CL	64-67	10,000	Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy	40,000
3	CV	9-11	27,100	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock
				Company	81,300
4	DD	445-448	2,050	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company	8,200
3	DD	449-451	2,100	Bath Iron Works Corporation	6,300
1	DD	452	2,100	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company	2,100
4	DD	453-456	1,630	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company	6,520
2	DD	457-458	1,630	Bath Iron Works Corporation	3,260
2	DD	459- 460	1,620	Bethlehem Steel Company, San Francisco	3,240
2	DD	461-462	1,630	Boston Navy Yard	3 260
2	DD	463-464	1,630	Charleston Navy Yard	3,260
2	DI)	465-466	2,100	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company	4,200
3	DD	467-469	2,100	Bath Iron Works Corporation	6,300
2	DD	470-471	2,100	Bethlehem Steel Company, Staten Island	4,200
5	DD	472-476	2,100	Boston Navy Yard	10 500
3	DD	477-479	2,100	Charleston Navy Yard	6,300
2	DD	480-481	2,100	Puget Sound Navy Yard	4,200
1	DD	482	2,100	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company	2,100
61 Ships				Tons	399,640

This was 19% of the Number and 29% of Tonnage of the Similar Ships Available in December, 1941

Concurrently with the placing of these orders, steps were taken to increase the ca­pacities of the yards by providing additional building ways, shops, handling, storage, and other facilities.

By the summer of 1940 Germany had over­run all western Europe and stood on the English Channel in good position to attack Great Britain. The United States thereupon

became alarmed to the point that Congress passed the “Two-Ocean Navy” bill in July; obviously it was necessary to be prepared for the worst with respect to both Germany and Japan, and a two ocean Navy became the minimum requirement. Appropriations soon followed, allowing the placing of the large orders of the fall of 1940 shown in the table below:

No. Ordered	Types	Serial Nos.	Tonnage (each)	Builders	Total Tonnage
3	BB	65, 67, 68	45,000	Philadelphia Navy Yard	135,000
2	BB	69, 70	45,000	New York Navy Yard	90,000
2	BB	66,71	45,000	Norfolk Navy Yard	90,000
4	CA	72-75	13,600	Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy	54,400
6	CB	1-6	27,500	New York Shipbuilding Corporation	165,000
4	CV	12-15	27,100	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company	108,400

(Table continued from previous page)

No. Ordered	Types	Serial Nos.	Tonnage (each)	Builders	Total Tonnage
4	CV	16-19	27,100	Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy	108,400
4	CL 76-79 (This order was		10,000 New York Shipbuilding Corporation changed to CVL)		40,000
2	CL	80-81	10,000	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company	20,000
2	CL	82-83	10,000	Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy	20,000
5	CL	84-88	10,000	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company	50,000
6	CL	89-94	10,000	Cramp Shipbuilding Company	60,000
4	CL	95-98	6,000	Bethlehem Steel Company, San Francisco	24,000
8	DD	483-490	1,630	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Kearny	13,040
2	DD	491-492	1,620	Bethlehem Steel Company, Staten Island	3,240
5.	DD	493-497	1,630	Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, Seattle	8,150
9	DD	498-506	2,100	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Kearny	18,900
11	DD	507-517	2,100	Bath Iron Works Corporation	23,100
8	DD	518-525	2,100	Bethlehem Steel Company, Staten Island	16,800
18	DD	526-543	2,100	Bethlehem Steel Company, San Francisco	37,800
6	DD	544-549	2,100	Bethlehem Steel Company, San Pedro	12,600
4	DD	550-553	2,100	Gulf Shipbuilding Company	8,400
15	DD	554-568	2,100	Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, Seattle	31,500
12	DD	569-580	2,100	Consolidated Steel Company, Orange, Texas	25,2C0
6	DD	581-586	2,100	Boston Navy Yard	12,600
5	DD	587-591	2,100	Charleston Navy Yard	10,500
6	DD	592-597	2,100	Puget Sound Navy Yard	12,600
4	DD	598-601	1,620	Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy	6,480
3	DD	602-604	1,620	Bethlehem Steel Company, Staten Island	4,860
7	DD	605-611	1,620	Bethlehem Steel Company, San Francisco	11,340
6	DD	612-617	1,620	Bethlehem Steel Company, San Pedro	9,720
6	DD	618-623	1,630	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Kearny	9,780
5	DD	624-628	1,630	Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, Seattle	8,150
3	DD	629-631	2,100	Bath Iron Works Corporation	6,300
4	DD	632-635	1,6.30	Boston Navy Yard	6,520
2	DD	636-637	1,630	Philadelphia Navy Yard	3,260
2	DD	638-639	1,630	Norfolk Navy Yard	3,260
2	DD	640-641	1,630	Charleston Navy Yard	3,260
3	DD	642-644	2,100	Bath Iron Works Corporation	6,300
210 Ships				Tons 1,278,860

This was 65% of the Number and 94% of the Tonnage of the Similar Ships Available in December, 1941.

In the destroyer part of this 1940 program there will be found the names of two com­mercial shipyards not previously experienced in this work; namely, Gulf Shipbuilding Corporation at Chickasaw, Alabama, and Consolidated Steel Corporation Ltd., at Orange, Texas. The Cramp Shipbuilding Company, reconstructed upon the name and property of the old Philadelphia firm which had gone out of business in the middle twenties, also is seen here with an order for six light cruisers.

President Roosevelt signed the “Lend Lease” Act on March 11, 1941. Under its provisions the United States gave assistance to the British in numerous ways, including the furnishing of U. S. ships of different types and the repairing of British ships in U. S. shipyards. The state of “unlimited national emergency” declared by the Presi­dent on May 27, 1941, is now recognized as another step toward the coming war.

As the British naval and commercial ship­ping losses mounted, there was an increasing demand for protection of the products of U. S. labor being shipped across the Atlantic in great quantities. One of the results was the beginning on November 1, 1941, of a 50 destroyer escort (DE) vessel building pro­gram under Lend Lease for the British at four Government navy yards, as shown be­low:

No. Ordered	Type	Serial Nos.	Tonnage each	Builders	Total Tonnage
12	DE	1-12	1,150	Boston Navy Yard	13,800
24	DE	13-36	1,150	Mare Island Navy Yard	27,600
8	DE	37-44	1,150	Puget Sound Navy Yard	9,200
6	DE	45-50	1,150	Philadelphia Navy Yard	6,900
50 Ships					Tons 57,500

In the month following Pearl Harbor the orders for new “major combatant” ships were first of the series of openly recognized war placed as follows:

No. Ordered	Types	Serial Nos.	Tonnage (each)	Builders	Total Tonnage
1	CV	20	27,100	New York Navy Yard	27,100
1	cv	21	27,100	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company	27,100
4	CVE	7,14,15,19	7.500 (est) 7.500 (est)	Western Pipe and Steel Company	30,000
4	CVE (BAVG	6,8,10,17 6 )		Ingalls Shipbuilding Company	30,000
13	CVE [CVE	9,11-13,16 18,20-25 J	7,500 (est)	Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation	97,500
2	CL	101-102	10,000	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company	20,000
1	DD	649	2,100	Charleston Navy Yard	2,100
4	DD	650-653	2,100	Bath Iron Works Corporation	8,400
3	DD	654-656	2,100	Gulf Shipbuilding Company	6,300
2	DD	657-658	2,100	Bethlehem Steel Company, Staten Island	4,200
3	DD	659-661	2,100	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Com- ‘ pany, Kearny	6,300
3	DD	662-664	2,100	Boston Navy Yard	6,300
1	DD	665	2,100	Charleston Navy Yard	2,100
48	DE	51-98	1,400	Bethlehem Steel Company, Hingham	67,200
30	DE	99-128	1,275	Dravo Corporation, Wilmington	38,250
24	DE	129-152	1,275	Consolidated Steel Corporation, Ltd., Orange	30,600
9	DE	153-161	1,400	Norfolk Navy Yard	12,600
36	DE	162-197	1,240	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Com­pany, Port Newark	44,640
40	DE	198-237	1,400	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company	56,000

U. S. Naval Institute Proceedings (Table continued from previous page)

No. Ordered	Types	Serial Nos.	Tonnage (each)	Builders	Total Tonnage
18	DE	238-255	1,275	Brown Shipbuilding Company, Houston	22,950
25	DE	256-280	1,150	Boston Navy Yard	28,750
20	DE	281-300	1,450	Charleston Navy Yard	29,000
298 Ships				Tons	597,490

^{This was 92}% of the Number and 44% of the Tonnage of the Similar Ships of December 1941.

At this point the aircraft escort (CVE) group of ships comes into the new construc­tion picture. Production of these ships, in­itiated under the class designation AVG be­fore Pearl Harbor, involved the conversion of Maritime Commission cargo and tanker hulls with merchant type propulsion power plants into airplane carriers for use in convoys and other relatively slow speed operations. It brought another group of shipbuilders into Navy work for the first time. The construction and conversion of all but the earliest units were carried through concurrently. The U. S. S. Long Island (CVE1), completed as a C3 cargo carrier by Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company and after some serv­ice converted by Newport News Shipbuild­ing & Dry Dock Company, was commis­sioned by the U. S. Navy in June, 1941. The development and tests of this first ship hav­ing demonstrated the value of the type, during the latter half of the year the acquisi­tion and orders for conversion of other similar vessels were completed.

After Pearl Harbor, additional orders were placed for ships of this type. Thirty-eight, including Archer (BAVG1) commissioned just before Pearl Harbor, were transferred to the British under “Lend Lease”, the Biter (BAVG3) being further transferred to the French in January, 1945.

Ship		Built by		Converted by
Long Island	CVE1	Sun Shipbuilding and Company	Dry Dock	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Archer	BAVG1	Sun Shipbuilding and Company	Dry Dock	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Avenger	BAVG2	Sun Shipbuilding and Company	Dry Dock	Bethlehem Steel Company, Staten Island
Biter	BAVG3	Sun Shipbuilding and Company	Dry Dock	Atlantic Basin, Iron Works
Dasher	BAVG5	Sun Shipbuilding and Company	Dry Dock	Tietgen & Long Dry Dock Com­pany
Charger	CVE30	Sun Shipbuilding and Company	Dry Dock	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Sangamon	CVE26	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company		Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Swanee .	CVE27	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company		Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
Chenango	CVE28	Sun Shipbuilding and Company	Dry Dock	Bethlehem Steel Company, Staten Island
Santee	CVE29	Sun Shipbuilding and Company	Dry Dock	Norfolk Navy Yard

The Ingalls Shipbuilding Company, Pas­cagoula, Mississippi, Western Pipe and Steel Company, Los Angeles, and Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington, carried through the construction and con­version of their ships concurrently. It may be noted that Kaiser delivered 50 CVE’s in one year, those being commissioned between July 8, 1943 and July 8, 1944.

Of 48 CVE’s launched by the Seattle- Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation (now Todd-Pacific Shipyards, Incorporated, Ta­coma, Washington) 15 were, after launching, taken to and completed by other yards as follows:

Puget Sound Navy Yard, CVE 12, 16, 18, 31, 33 Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Oregon, CVE 22, 37, 42, 47, 110

Willamette Iron and Steel, Portland, Oregon, CVE 24, 32, 40, 45, 108

On October 1, 1945, when the official war record ends, there remained to be completed eight of these 48 ships, distributed thus:

Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Oregon, CVE 116, 121

Willamette Iron and Steel, Portland, Oregon, CVE 114, 118

Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, Ta­coma, Washington, CVE 119, 120, 122, 123

There were 114 CVE’s completed during the war period, with a tonnage totalling 984,200—70% of that of the U. S. Fleet of 1941. Six CVE’s operating with Pacific Task Forces were sunk in the operations around the Philippine Islands and Iwo Jima from November, 1943, to February, 1945. The speed with which this building program was carried through, especially the commission­ing of 50 CVE’s at Vancouver, Washington, July 8, 1943 to July 8, 1944, is particularly notable.

Possibly the most important development of the war in the field of major combatant ships, this CVE program is surprising even to Navy personnel and it has, therefore, been given a lengthy digression. However, in order to present a well-balanced picture of airplane carrier construction, attention should now also be called to the 9 CVL’s completed by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, the 8CV’s and 1 CVB completed by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, the 4 CV’s completed by Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy, and the 5 CV’s completed by the Navy Yards, New York, Norfolk, and Philadelphia. A very interesting story of the building and operations with the Fleet in the Pacific of the 9 CVL’s, “The CVL’s Success Story,” has already been told in the Proceedings.

Returning now to the main story: It will be seen that the Pearl Harbor attack re­sulted also in orders for 250 more DE’s, bringing five commercial shipyards into this type of work to supplement the four Navy Yards already engaged in it:

Dravo Corporation, Wilmington, Delaware Consolidated Steel Corporation, Ltd., Orange, Tex.

Brown Shipbuilding Company, Inc., Houston, Tex.

Bethlehem Steel Company, Hingham, Mass. Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Port Newark, New Jersey

The three last-named yards, wholly Gov­ernment owned, were built under the direc­tion of and operated by the companies named. The first DE contracts of these yards were placed even before ground was broken, landing craft LCI(L) orders follow­ing in June. Construction of vessels began while buildings and other facilities were being assembled and erected. To show how rapidly production got underway the record of Hingham, which is typical, may be cited:

First LCI(L)—Keel laid June 29, 1942; launched September 24, 1942; delivered October 21,1942. First DE—Keel laid July 21, 1942; launched January 9, 1943; delivered April 30, 1943.

The success achieved in these new shipyards is only partially indicated by the number of “major combatant” vessels completed. The recruiting and training of technicians, me­chanics, and helpers, in competition with other already established shipyards and other industries also recruiting personnel, made the problem exceptionally difficult and its solution particularly creditable.

Six months of actual fighting experience, battle losses, the developing war plans, and the increasing capacities of shipyards brought the following orders in May, June, and July, 1942, which proved to be by far the largest of the war:

No. Ordered	Type	Serial Nos.	Tonnage (each)	Builders	Total Tonnage
5	CV	31-35	27,100	New York Navy Yard	135,500
2	cv	36-37	27,100	Philadelphia Navy Yard	54,200
3	CV	38-40	27,100	Norfolk Navy Yard	81,300
1	CVB	41	45,000	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company	45,000
24	CVE	31-54	9,300 (est.)	Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, Tacoma	223,000
SO	CVE	55-104	7,500 (est.)	Kaiser Shipbuilding Company	375,000
8	CA	122-129	13,700	Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy	109,600
5	CA	130-134	13,600	New York Shipbuilding Corporation	68,000
4	CA	135-138	13,600	Philadelphia Navy Yard	54,400
13	CL	103-115	10,000	New York Shipbuilding Corporation	130,000
IS	DD	666-680	2,100	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Kearny	31,500
2	DD	681-682	2,100	Bethlehem Steel Company, San Pedro	4,200
2	DD	683-684	2,100	Bethlehem Steel Company, San Francisco	4,200
3	DD	685-687	2,100	Bethlehem Steel Company, Staten Island	6,300
S	DD	688-691	2,100	Bath Iron Works Corporation	10,500
18	DD	692-709	2,200	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Kearny	39,600
12	DD	710-721	2,200	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Port Newark	26,400
22	DD	722-743	2,200	Bath Iron Works Corporation	48,400
13	DD	744-756	2,200	Bethlehem Steel Company, Staten Island	28,600
13	DD	757-769	2,200	Bethlehem Steel Company, San Francisco	28,600
7	DD	770-776	2,200	Bethlehem Steel Company, San Pedro	15,400
15	DD	777-791	2,200	Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, Seattle	33,000
4	DD	792-795	2,100	Bethlehem Steel Company, San Pedro	8,400
3	DD	796-798	2,100	Bethlehem Steel Company, Staten Island	6,300
6	DD	799-804	2,100	Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, Seattle	12,600
4	DD	805-808	2,100	Bath Iron Works Corporation	8,400
15	DE	301-315	1,150	Mare Island Navy Yard	17,250
66	DE	316-381	1,275	Consolidated Steel Corporation, Orange	84,150
56	DE	382-437	1,275	Brown Shipbuilding Company	71,400
70	DE	438-507	1,275	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Port Newark	89,250
8	DE	508-515	1,275	Puget Sound Navy Yard	10,200
15	DE	516-530	1,150	Boston Navy Yard	17,250
32	DE	531-562	1,275	Boston Navy Yard	40,800
70	DE	563-632	1,400	Bethlehem Steel Company, Hingham	98,000
12	DE	633-644	1,400	Bethlehem Steel Company, San Francisco	16,800
20	DE	645-664	1,400	Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy	28,000
23	DE	665-687	1,400	Charleston Navy Yard	32,200
11	DE	688-698	1,400	Norfolk Navy Yard	15,400
12 DE 669 Ships '		699-710	1,400	Philadelphia Navy Yard Tons	16,800 2,125,900

This was 205% of the Number and 156% of the Tonnage of Similar Ships of the December, 1941, Fleet.

When it is noticed that 85 of the 115 large ships and 43% of the total tonnage ordered after the first six months of war experience are airplane carriers, the emphasis placed on air warfare at sea is more apparent.

Battle damaged ships returning to repair yards immediately got priority considera­tion; properly so, for the time necessary to return them to service was much less than that necessary to build new ships. The new construction work of certain yards, particu­larly on the West Coast, was thereby much interfered with and very considerably re­duced in volume.

Various considerations, such as the prior­ity of urgent repair work, the need for addi­tional ships of certain types to meet the changing war conditions, and the relatively better results achieved at certain yards, gave rise to minor modifications in the original construction programs in the form of cancel­lations at some yards with equivalent trans­fers to others at odd times between the plac­ing of the large orders.

In January, 1943, another large carrier (CVB) was ordered at New York Navy Yard, and 15 more escort carriers—CVE 105-119—were ordered at Tacoma. In June, 1943, three large cruisers (CB) were can­celed at New York Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company. June, 1943, also marked the plac­ing of the following relatively large orders:

No. Ordered	Type	Serial Nos.	Tonnage (each)	Builders	Total Tonnage
1	CV	45	27,100	Philadelphia Navy Yard	27,100
1	CV	46	27,100	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock
				Company	27,100
1	CV	47	27,100	Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy	27,100
1	CVB	43	45,000	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock
				Company	45,000
4	CA	139-142	17,000	Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy	68,000
4	CL	144-147	11,000	New York Shipbuilding	44,000
20	DD	809-828	2,200	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
				Port Newark	44,000
11	DD	829-849	2,200	Bath Iron Works	24,200
7	DD	850-856	2,200	Bethlehem Steel Company, San Francisco	15,400
5	DD	857-861	2,200	Bethlehem Steel Company, San Pedro	11,000
11	DD	862-872	2,200	Bethlehem Steel Company, Staten Island	24,200
18	DD	873-890	2,200	Consolidated Steel Company, Ltd., Orange	39,600
32	DE	801-832	1,275	Boston Navy Yard	40,800
8	DE	833-840	1,275	Mare Island Navy Yard	10,200
32	DE	841-872	1,275	Brown Shipbuilding Company	40,800
14	DE	873-886	1,275	Dravo Corporation, Wilmington	17,850
12	DE	887-898	1,275	Western Pipe and Steel Company	15,300
6	DE	899-904	1,275	Federal Steel Company, Ltd., Port Newark	7,650
55	DE	905-959	1,400	Bethlehem Steel Company, Hingham	77,000
36	DE	960-995	1,400	Charleston Navy Yard	50,400
10	DE	996-1005	1,400	Defoe Shipbuilding Company	14,000
289 Ships				Tons	670,700

This was 89% of Number and 50% of the Tonnage of the Similar Ships of December, 1941.

The Pearl Harbor attack had reduced the power of the U. S. Fleet very considerably for the period necessary to make repairs to the damaged ships, and there was therefore strong reason for a feeling-out period in the Pacific. However, with the power available,

the Japanese advance to the southeast was finally stopped by the Battle of the Coral Sea in May, 1942; and by the middle of 1943 the sea battles for Guadalcanal and Tulagi had set the United States offensive in the Pacific on a firm basis.

The box score in July, 1943, stood about as shown in the small table below:

	BB	CV
Japanese losses	3	6
U. S. losses	2	4
U. S. additions	6	4

CVL CVE CA CL DD SS

-            —           4         3          43       33

—                        4         2          30       16

7           33          2         12        160     66

Discounting such information as intelli­gence sources could furnish, it was obvious that Japanese industry could not match the U. S. output.

This estimate of the situation was re­flected by the action taken in July, 1943, when six 58,000 ton battleships were canceled, two each at the Navy Yards, New York, Phila­delphia, and Norfolk.

In September, 1943, the end of the anti­submarine war in the Atlantic was foretold by the cancellation of the 205 DE’s which had been ordered just over two months be­fore. In October there were further DE can­cellations. In March and June, 1944, there were more cut-backs in the DE program, the final result being that of 1005 originally ordered, only 565 were finally completed.

Thus it turned out that the orders of June, 1943, were the last of any importance, prac­tically all of the subsequent orders having been canceled; for example, CVE120-127 placed at Tacoma in January, 1944; CA143 at Quincy, and CA149 at Newport News in April, 1944, and CVE132-139 at Kaiser, Vancouver, in February, 1945.

Japan’s surrender immediately brought the war-end cancellations of August, 1945, which, with some minor adjustments that followed, left 100 ships to be completed as of October 1, 1945, this number being 8% of the war program of 1220 major combatant ships.

Seven government and eight commercial shipyards, experienced in Navy work before World War II, completed 53% of the number and 68% of the tonnage of major com­batant ships delivered by October 1, 1945.

Fourteen shipyards, without previous ex­perience in Navy work, completed 47% of the number and 32% of the tonnage, these figures showing that this latter work was primarily the ships of lighter displacements.

In making comparisons of war accom­plishments it should be borne in mind that some of the shipyards carried out large building programs of landing craft, patrol craft, and other auxiliaries, and some had large repair programs which always took precedence over new construction.

Manufacturers from all over the country contributed the steel plates and shapes, the pipe, the electric cable, the pumps, the motors, the power plants, the boilers, the furniture and furnishings, the communica­tion equipment, and the numerous other items which go into completed ships. That these things were delivered when needed made possible the records set up. Men and women who worked on these items can prop­erly feel that they contributed vitally to the building of the Fleet in the same sense as those who worked in shipyards.

In order to expedite the building of ships, practically all yards added considerable quantities of handling, welding, and other facilities which made possible extensive fabrication of sub-assemblies, with final as­sembly thereof on the building ways. These procedures, together with multiple shift and overtime work, reduced the building periods materially.

Although certain factors such as shift work, overtime, inexperienced workers, and increased hourly rates of wages tended to raise costs, yet quantity production of ships together with high morale, developed by war patriotism and the desire of the people at home to back the men at the front to the ut­most, largely offset the higher costs by reduc­ing the man-hours per job.

A very natural question arises as to the cost of these major combatant ships. A rough approximation, using $2,250 per ton, brings the cost of 4§ million tons to $10,200,­000,000. This sum does not seem so great when compared with the cost of the war and the present National debt. It is somewhat comforting in this connection to remember that the nation still has its 5-ocean Navy, which when laid up in the most modern way can be ready for business more quickly than men can be assembled and trained. What might have been the course of world history if this Fleet had been bought by Uncle Sam during 1936-1940, instead of 1941— 1945?    

As stated in Admiral King’s Official Report: “It is one thing to say that we must have and maintain a Navy adequate to up­hold national policies and interests and to protect us against potential enemies, but it is another thing to decide what is and what is not the naval strength adequate for that purpose.”

History has shown that in 1931 and again in 1941 the United States did not have a Navy large enough to deter the Japanese. It is clear that, even under the compulsion of an unprovoked attack and with a fully united country, it took between two and three years to build the fighting ships ade­quate to taking an effective offensive for avenging Pearl Harbor.

In the next war, time may not be allowed to build the fleet adequate for the job to be done. How then can we meet this situation? A non-partisan group of the-country’s ablest men, continuously studying developments throughout the world in political, scientific, and international fields, may possibly be able to marshal facts enough to persuade Congress to establish a Naval policy which will assure readiness, materially and strate­gically, if another D-day is foreseen as a possibility. The cost of assembling and main­taining such a body of eminent citizens may well be compared with the cost of a 5-ocean Navy or a World War III.

A graduate of the Naval Academy in 1908, Captain Davis built submarines at the Ports­mouth Navy Yard from June, 1940, to June, 1944. Thereafter he served as Supervisor of Ship­building and Inspector of Ordnance at Quincy, Massachusetts, in general charge of the Beth­lehem Steel Company’s shipyards there and at Hingham, and of numerous other ship and boat yards in southeastern New England.