The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

April, 1919 from 110 to 115 pounds, as compared with a weight of 135 pounds per cubic foot used in the construction of the FaitH. Ordinary concrete weighs some- thing over 150 pounds per cubic foot. The ten 7500-ton concrete tankers now being built at the government yards are each 420 feet long with a 54-foot beam and 36-foot depth, displacing 13,000 tons and drawing 26 feet of water. The yards at Mobile and Oakland, which are the furtherest along on the tanker construc- tion, will each build a concrete cargo carrier upon the completion of their tankers. The 10 tankers and the two cargo carriers represent the total con- crete building program of the Emergency Fleet corporation as it stands today, Mr. Wig says.” It was originally intended that each of the five yards should build eight boats each, but this was reduced. The head of ‘the concrete division of the Fleet corporation does not care to make any predictions as to the future of government concrete shipbuilding. “The whole matter is in the hands of congress,” he said. “The Emergency Fleet corporation. has canceled every order that it could. Appropriations have already been provided for these con- creters. Whether any more will be built rests entirely with congress.” Mr. Wig isin full accord with the statement of W. Leslie Comyn, presi- dent of the San, Francisco Shipbuilding Co., which built the Fairu, regarding the gloomy outlook for the American mer- chant marine unless some form of sub- sidy to the ship operators is provided’ by congress. “The concrete boat is all right,” Mr. Wig said, “but there is not going to be any merchant marine unless adequate monetary support is given the ship operator to enable him to compete with lower cost nations on the seas.” vile CU tien. ot fre for the construc- tion of five out of eight con- crete ships of 7500 tons each at the government shipbuilding plant cn San Francisco bay at Oakland, Cal., have been canceled. Two of the remaining vessels were being poured the latter part of February, and upon the completion of the third, the yard will probably close down permanently. The Redwood City yard of the San Francisco Ship- building Co., also on San Francisco bay, has been dismantled completely and not even a watchman is em- ployed there. There is no future for the ocean-going concrete steamer built in the United States, according to W. Leslie Comyn, promoter and onereter THE MARINE REVIEW 191 Table II Comparative Costs of Constructing and Propel- ling Concrete and Steel Tankers: Present Prices RELATIVE PRESENT VALUES OF THE COST OF CONSTRUCTING AND PROPELLING CONCRETE AND STEEL SHIPS (7500 Ton Deadweight) Speed uf 1014 knots Speed of 1114 knots Concrete Steel Concrete Steel Item No.—Item: tanker tanker tanker tanker fees Pea 5 (iar | | Daa Ce att ahr 215 ete Fae cust 1,980 1,772 2,640 2,416 2. lalte of ship) in yearss caw weeden. 20 20 20 20 3. Number of steaming hours during life of ship using 60% efficiency.... 105,120: 105,120 105,120 105,120 ; I. H. P. hours during life of ship... 208,137,600 186,272,640 277,516,800 253,969,920 Pounds of fuel oil at 1.25 lbs. per I. H. P. hour, used during life of SD ee ee See gu grits eo ea Nine ont 260,172,000 232,840,800 346,896,000 317,462,400 6 Barrels of fuel oil at 314.16 lbs. per ¢ bbl. used during life of ship..... 828,127 741,132 1,104,170 1,010,483 7. Total cost of fuel oil at $2.75 per bbl. $2,277,349 $2,038,113 $3,036,468 $2,778,828 8. Cost per ton deadweight for construct- ANG SID sate tis ova Wives sete osetia $180 $240 $180 $240 9. Total cost of constructing ship (7500 ton deadweight) .............. $1,350,000 $1,800,000 $1,350,000 $1,800,000 10. Present value of cost of fuel oil con-, sidering 5% compound interest... $1,489,494 $1,333,032 $1,985,997 $1,817,487 11. Present value of cost of constructing ; and propelling ship for 20 years.. $2,839,494 ~ $3,133,032 $3,335,997 $3,617,487 Post-War Prices RELATIVE PRESENT VALUES OF THE COST OF CONSTRUCTING AND PROPELLING CONCRETE AND STEEL SHIPS (7500 Ton Deadweight) Speed of 10% knots Speed of 1114 knots Concrete Steel Concrete Steel Item No.—Item: tanker tanker tanker tanker 2% G epitae Ba & Fett LAE ert men ieee at ok anes 1,980 157724 2,640 2,416. 25. Tate OOb SUID AN CVCAtSs 5 osis ctence cies 20 20 20 20° 3. Number of steaming hours during life ? é of ship using 60% efficiency..... 105,120 105,120 105,120 105,120 4. I, H. P. hours during life of ship... 208,137,600 186,272,640 277,516,800 253,969,920 5. Pounds of fuel oil at 1.25 Ibs. per I. H. P., used during life of ship. 260,172,000 232,840,800 346,896,000 317,462,400 6. Barrels of fuel oil at 314.16 lbs. per bbl., used during life of ship.... 828,127 741,132 1,104,170 1,010,483 7. Total cost of fuel oil at $1.75 bbl.. $1,449,222 $1,296,981 $1,932,298 $1,768,345 8. Cost per ton deadweight for construct- TNS SSHIN®. eee wt e ote ese cee ats $75 $100 $75 $100 9. Total cost of constructing ship (7500 ton deadweight).............5. $562,500 $750,000 $562,500 $750,000 10. Present value of cost of fuel oil con- z sidering 5% compound interest... $947,862 $848,290 $1,263,821 $1,156,588 11. Present value of cost of constructing - and propelling ship for 20 years. ©$1,510,8362 $1,598,290 $1,826,321 $1,906,583 © Compilation prepared by Emergency Fleet corporation. Note:—The number of steaming hours in 20 years is an average taken from the transaction of British Society of Naval Architects for 1918. ¢ ait! By Cruse Carriel president of the company which built the stone boat FairH. This condition exists, Mr. Comyn says, despite the fact that the Pacific coast is better equipped to construct concrete ships than it is to build steel cargo carriers because of the avail- ability of lumber in that section. Con- crete steamers of the ocean-going type can be constructed at less than half the cost of steel vessels, he says, but even with this great differential in construc- tion costs of the two types of carriers, British yards are able to build steel ships at a lower cost per ton that it is possible to erect concreters in_ this country. Under these circumstances and based on 20 years of ship operating experi- Closes Yard ence, Mr. Comyn takes a very pessi- mistic view of the whole project of establishing an American merchant marine. Operating costs are not com- parable with those of other nations, he points out, and the costs of the con- struction of vessels of all types in this country are disproportionate to similar costs in foreign lands which are. ex- tensively engaged in building ships. Subsidy, in Mr. Comyn’s opinion, is the only solution of the problem, but he believes that any proposal to allow direct governmental monetary assistance to the ship operators would not be likely to meet with popular approval or support Consequently, he makes the suggestion that the government retain control of its war-built merchant marine and time