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. X wo crew of 34 men manned these vessels. The lakers were towed to Montreal where, by cooperation of the Canadian Government, customs formalities were very much eased to permit quick passage through Canadian waters. The three towing lakers and the big Ford tugs would drop off their tows there and head back to pick up more scrappers on the East Coast and Gulf ports. Canadian tugs were employed to run the vessels through the lock system at the end of which Ford tugs would run the tows the length of Lakes Ontario and Erie, sometimes in strings of three or four depending on weather conditions. The towing operation was critical for supplying a steady flow of lakers to the Rouge. A_ small anchorage was established in the Detroit River about four miles below the Rouge as a supply depot of scrappers to be delivered on schedule. Throughout the entire towing operation, not a single man or ship was lost. The 50 submarine types, being too long to traverse the locks, were scrapped at the East Coast shipyards of Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. at Kearny, New Jersey; Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. at Chester, Pennsylvania and Southern Shipyard Co. at Newport News, Virginia. The hulls were cut into pieces small enough to fit into the holds of the lakers. Also engines and boilers were - Carefully removed and loaded into the lake vessels. These loaded lakers then would be towed to the Rouge. The East Coast scrapping started in November, 1925. SCRAPPING BEGINS The main thrust of scrapping was to begin the Spring of 1926, as soon as the ice cleared. However, to help with processing the scrapping operation, which had to be done very efficiently to remain on schedule, the first laker was brought to the Ford Plant late in 1925 to experiment with new scrapping techniques devised by Ford technicians. Not only was ship dismantling new to Ford but scrapping on such a scale as this had not been attempted before in the United States. Consequently, Ford personnel were eager to determine the best ways to accomplish their objective. This first vessel was the LAKE FONDULAC, in tow of the BALLCAMP. They departed Kearny, N.J. Sunday morning, November 15, and had an event-filled trip of battling storms and ice to reach the Rouge before Winter closed the navigation season. They finally tied up at the Rouge on December 17, a trip that lasted 32 days and 10 hours. The LAKE FONDULAC was used for experimental scrapping techniques, some of which worked well while others were tried and abandoned. Scrapping took place on the West wall of the Ford slip and did not interfere with unloading operations on the East wall. The West dock, which at 2,200 feet, was long enough for ten lakers, was heavily reinforced to accept a rail system on which very large lifting cranes could traverse as required to remove heavy machinery and large scrap pieces. Beginning the Spring of 1926, scrapping started in earnest with the arrival of the next two ships which were the LAKE ELIZABETH and LAKE FRENCHTON. The scrapping procedure was to bring the lakers to the North end of the East slip where consumable stores, foodstuffs, dishes, hardware, furniture and similar items were removed. Wood was an important commodity to Ford and, lumber such as fir and oak ceiling and paneling, were salvaged and used in various construction jobs. Thirty-five to forty wood doors saved from each ship were used on rail cars of the Detroit, Toledo and Ironton railroad and for refrigeration plants as paneling. Some of the wood was cut into stock sizes and stored for future use in construction and shipping containers. Odd pieces were sent to the cupolas in the iron foundry each day. Even the sawdust was utilized for various 43-4-3