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AAMT nA ) a me | AG * D, Ge Vs WAI ATAAAT TT EF gull VOL. 48 CLEVELAND FEBRUARY, 1918 NEW YORK No. L =u So UNITED STATES SHIPPING BOARD WASHINGTON Pater 4s bE ek tid as December. 29, 1917... Mr. John A. Penton Publisher, THE MARINE REVIEW, Cleveland, 0. My dear Mr. Penton: Seg TR It is a pleasure to accept your invitation'to pay tribute to the | patriotism of the shipbuilding interests of the United States. Thanks to the manner in which they have responded to the call, we now have the Situation well in hand. Lack of manpower and inadequate housing have fur--_ nished serious obstacles, but I believe the public appeal we are now making will do much to bring a solution of these problems. ; te renee tL Sy AL Not only have we had to build the ships, but we have also had to build the yards. Contracts have been let to 113 shipyards, of which 74 are entirely new, 16 are small yards expanded and 23 are old eed established yards. In addition we have commandeered all steel construc-- tion over and above 2500 tons being built for either foreign or domestic account. ; ia The total tonnage, the construction of which will be carried on into the year 1919, will approximate 11,000,000 tons of wood and steel vessels. Of this approximately 1,500,000 tons will be wooden vessels constructed chiefly for the emergency and which will be afloat carrying supplies to our armies in France during the coming year. The first contract ship was finished within the remarkably short period of sixty-four days after construction was begun. The work thus far has been in many cases preparatory but this period of preparation is get-- ting rapidly behind us and the period of actual ship construction in full accordance with our plans is immediately before us. We are making every effort to speed up all along the line. The ships will be built! £4 Very truly yours, Chairman. 2 SN UUUUUVO tii scCcseANK css AnANaGnaS 37 ey fu mM i" &