AMERICA’S WOODEN SHIPS

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2345, 22 October 1921, Page 1

AMERICA’S WOODEN SHIPS

The construction of a fleet of wooden ships in America was regarded at the time as one of the triumphs of the war. The whole fleet of 205 vessels has been sold for £107,622, which is about £60,000 less than the average cost of build--ing one ship. The ships were originally built to carry 3,500 tons each, but were altered from the original plans by the addition of 700 tons of extra bracing, thus cutting the carrying load down to 2,800 tons each, ft takes 40 men to run each ship, but the same number can run a steel ship of 0.700 tons. For many months the United States Shipping Board had invited bids without result, and the officials had reached a point where they were prepared to giyc the vessels away and thus save tlib expense of £12,000 a month in maintaining them. The chairman of the Shipping Board, in fact, declared that two tugboats were required to be in constant attention on the fleet anchored in the James River, off Old Point Comfort, Virginia, to pump water from the vessels and prevent them sinking, and that he had seriously considered dismissing the caretakers on the theory that it would be the easiest way out of the difficulty if the ships were left unprotected in the hope that somebody would steal them, and thus relieve the Government of its white elephant. Then an American company offered to take the whole fleet at £522 each, and the board hailed its tender with jov. The new owners declare that half the purchase will be scrapped, and the remainder put in service in the Caribbean Sea.