New York Times Current History: The European War, Vol. 8, Pt. 2, No. 1, July 1918Various
History
New York Times Current History: The European War, Vol. 8, Pt. 2, No. 1, July 1918
Various
World War, 1914-1918
On June 1 we had increased the American-built tonnage to over
3,500,000 deadweight tons of shipping. This gives us a total
of more than 1,400 ships, with an approximate total deadweight
tonnage of 7,000,000 now under the control of the United States
Shipping Board.
In round numbers, and from all sources, we have added to the
American flag since our war against Germany began nearly 4,500,000
tons of shipping.
Our program calls for the building of 1,856 passenger, cargo, and
refrigerator ships and tankers, ranging from 5,000 to 12,000 tons
each, with an aggregate deadweight of 13,000,000. Exclusive of
these, we have 245 commandeered vessels, taken over from foreign
and domestic owners, which are being completed by the Emergency
Fleet Corporation. These will aggregate a total deadweight tonnage
of 1,715,000.
This makes a total of 2,101 vessels, exclusive of tugs and barges,
which are being built and will be put on the seas by the Emergency
Fleet Corporation in the course of carrying out the present
program, with an aggregate deadweight tonnage of 14,715,000.
Five billion dollars will be required to finish our program for
1918, 1919, and 1920, but the expenditure of this enormous sum
will give to the American people the greatest merchant fleet ever
assembled in the history of the world, aggregating 25,000,000 tons.
American workmen have made the expansion of recent months
possible, and they will make possible the successful conclusion
of the whole program. From all present expectations it is likely
that by 1920 we shall have close to 1,000,000 men working on
American merchant ships and their equipment.
We have a total of 819 shipways in the United States. Of these, a
total of 751, all of which except ninety are completed, are being
utilized by the Emergency Fleet Corporation for the building of
American merchant ships.
In 1919 the average tonnage of steel, wood, and concrete ships
continuously building on each way should be about 6,000. If we are
using 751 ways on cargo ships and can average three ships a year
per way, we should turn out in one year 13,518,000 tons.
The total gross revenue of our fleet is very impressive. From
the ships under the control of the Shipping Board a total gross
revenue is derived of about $360,000,000.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account