Newspapers / The Waynesville Mountaineer (Waynesville, … / Nov. 19, 1946, edition 1 / Page 17
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ELCOME THIRD SECTION WELCOME Homer L. Ferguson To Haywood The Waynesville Mountaineer Published Twice-a-Week In The County Seat Of Haywood County At The Entrance Of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park ,mer L k't I 1 1' YEAR No. 103 Associated Press News WAYNESVILLE, N. C, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1946 $3.00 In Advance In Haywood and Jackson Counties f:i S erguson's Y ard Builds Biggest U, So Liner i. i 'I 10 Haywood Is nca hi r ... entfer rice rime Troop fer Reconverted twport News Yard n0l(.: lie lOiluwme af file S AllieilLa rvaa IhP recent issue oi ine tulli'tin. The ship land W . . . i York n the lllti amia n a this is the largest ship afloat. lo ot tin' America is it her contributions ana lis are unequalled in of the American Mer- nne. delivered to the Uni- I.ines Ju v 21. 194U. lor Atlantic service, there kv of over six years in ill owing to the inter- 1. 1941, our Company request from the Uni Nav that we convert vessel into a Convoy ed Transport within a uo weeks. On June 15, Navy commissioned her est Point and drafted Bie service of her coun ted by protecting ships of beed and maneuverabil- her crew to outwit on the sea, under the the air, and this was lite of the fact that the lost continuously sought be destroyed. During and one-half months she raced to and from the globe without rest pressure, but not once W'e her engines over- once did she fail her America not been a she would have been retired no doubt, but Pillions of returnina Newport News Built America Greeted In N. Y. r $tofcw v.. ; -.--. The USS America and Mr. Homer L. Ferguson received a du al welcome last week in New York city where the great Newport News built luxury liner was welcomed back into passenger service under the flag of the United States Lines. Mr. Ferguson was aboard the ship as it made the Newport News to New York run and upon its ar rival in the big city the ship and its builder, Homer L. Fergusoh, were loudly acclaimed by the press writers and radio men aboard. As Dean of American Shipbuilders", Mr. Ferguson shared in the recep tion tendered the great ship and was congratulated by shipping men, resuming her career. She is taking her place in a strong American Merchant Marine, ready and able to play an Indispensable part in revitalizing American peacetime trade and in building the economic. foundations of a prosperous and progressive new world. The America arrived at our Yard early Thursday morning, February 28, 1946, for her reconditioning. Now, after seven months of labor by her creators, she again has that bright well groomed appearance of a lady juat returned from a beau- trans whose careers were ty parlor and is ready to resume by the war, she too is ner Place as Queen of the Ameri S' l L?f"V !5a-v - '' 111 "V fe ' a! u :y z . . If'!'-. ,1 t,, '-VTSwiijiiii 3 ,4 ;sJ The SS AMERICA abuilding in the Newport government inspectors and marine officials all over the country for the outstanding reconversion job done on the America. In eight months the ship, which in war service, was the troop-carrying West Point, was restored to her pre-war beauty and comfort and last week it returned to the North Atlantic passenger service for which it was originally built in Newport News in 1940. As she sailed up the North Riv er in New York last week she was greeted with the din of whistles and horns, the salute of a naval cruiser convoy and an 18 plane es can Merchant Marine. Exterior Work This restoration of the Queen's exterior beauty was brought about by the application of a few coats of paint. The work on her hull for many months preceding her paint ing, however, is typical of the thor oughness of our job in restoring the America to her former position as the finest and safest transatlan tic liner ever constructed anywhere in the world. It is said that beauty is only skin deep; in the case of the Am erica many coats of grey paint had hidden her beauty. Their re moval required the scaling of News Yard. !3 cort by naval fighter planes. Over 400 passengers, including an offi cial party from Newport News, headed by Mr. Ferguson, with News and radio men from New York and London, made the trip. For speed and comfort t lie ship was acclaim ed as a fitting entry in the race of the Blue Ribbon liners who vie for trans-atlantic passenger trade. Mr. John Franklin, president of the United States Lines, who was also aboard, praised the ship high ly and paid singular tribute to Mr. Ferguson, whose company built it, converted it for war and then re converted it to peace time service. mnay tons of paint from every portion of her hull, from her masts and stacks down to her keel. In all, approximately 165,000 square feet, the area of almost three city blocks. The bottom of the America was coated with the Navy's plastic paint. Its removal was accomplish ed by a method of wet sand blast ing in which a newly designed ma chine for this purpose was used for the first time in our plant. More than 800,000 pounds of sand were required for this operation. Hundreds of other jobs were re quired on her exterior such as the removal of all N;ivy installations consisting of gun foundations, life rafts, armor, shields, wind breaks, and many other items. Patch plates welded over many port holes were removed. All of her decks, includ ing the promenade, had been en closed; these were all cleared. Over Former Employee Terms Ferguson As "Tops" LACHLAN HYATT i Employed for 10 years by Mr. Ferguson i It is a hard matter to express on paper the feeling in the hearts of the employees of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in regard to Homer L. Ferguson. It is a feeling of respect for one's "boss"; yes. but it is a much deeper feeling of respect, it is respect for the man, not the boss, that is the deeper. There is a very deep feeling of appreciation, ap preciation for the many things Mr. Ferguson has done for Newport News, and vicinity. It will be hard for one who has not been in Newport News to understand but Mr. Ferguson's greatest achievement has been in the building of men, and good citi zens, and for that the employees are most grateful, and it is reflect ed in their work, and feeling for the shipyard as a whole. I shall never forget an incident that happened shortly after I en tered the Apprentice School. I was talking to one of the "old timers" and he said, "Son, if you ever want justice, and complete justice, in the shipyard concerning any matter, go see Mr. Ferguson, but be sure you're right, because you may not get what you want but you'll get justice." That feeling of fair play, and mutual respect between the management as a whole and em ployees as a whole, prevails in the shipyard, and that feeling is the largest single contributing factor for the production records during two wars. Mr. Ferguson is respectfully called "Homer L." or "The Boss" by a majority of the employees FOR PLEASURE AND SER VICE ABOARD AMERICA 3 Smoking Rooms 3 Public Lounges 3 Dining Salons 3 Children's Play Rooms 3 Libraries 4 Beauty Parlors 5 Barber Shops Ballroom Cocktail Lounge Shopping Center Novelty Shop 3 Complete Galleys Gymnasium Swimming Pool Print Shop Tailor Shop 3 Motion Picture Projection Rooms Bake Shop Butcher Shop Ice-making Plant Bird Room Fish Room Post Office Carpenter Shop Upholstery Shop Pastry Shop Lobster and Oyster Bar Ice Cream Plant 4 Public Bars 6 Service Bars Dog Kennels Cigar Store Hospital and Operating Room 10,000 square feet of wooden decks were renewed, and all of her exterior equipment such as life boats and winches were recondi tioned, tested, and proven as good as new. The watchers on the Bat tery in New York will observe no difference in the appearance of the America, as she passes, from that of 1940, except the absence of the huge American flags on her hull. Interior Work Extensive as was the vork on her exterior it was dwarfed by the job required on her interior. De signed for ready conversion as a Navy auxiliary, the America was taken over by the Navy and re named the West Point in June 1941. As a commercial liner she had accommodations for 1,202 pas sengers, bhe was converted by us into a convoy unit loaded trans port with facilities for 5,400 troops in two weeks' time. On two other occasions her capacity was further increased until she was able to transport 8,000 passengers. These changes involved the al most complete removal of all of the America's staterooms. Bulk heads were removed to furnish huge unbroken spaces in which to erect berths for troops, four tiers in height. Her ballroom and many other beautiful paneled spaces were used for troop berthing, messkit washrooms, shower rooms, or for any purpose necessary to enable her to carry more troops with only one purpose in mind, to help win LACHLAN HYATT Photo by Ingram, Skyland Studio. when he is referred to down in the yard. It is generally conceded in the shipyard that Mr. Ferguson knows more about more different parts of a ship than any man in the yard. This covers a large territory when one thinks of the Boiler Rooms, Engine Rooms, Auxiliaries, and all the work above the Machinery Rooms, such as furnishings for galleys, staterooms, lounging rooms, and on up into the Wheel House. He not only knows what the various names are but can ex plain the , mechanism. This is no small achievement. If I were asked to describe the general feeling toward Mr. Fergu son throughout the shipyard in one word, I could only say "TOPS". ?spewp - .-"Star- - The "OLD" AMERICA comes to Newport News to he reconditioned. Mr. Ferguson's success in get ting the refitting job kept thousands of men at work during the slump in shipbuilding after World War I. the war. She was more completely convened for troop transport ser vice than was any other commer cial liner in the world. Two other large ships three times the size of the America carried only 14,000 troops as compared to her 8,000. It is understandable that with this usage by hundreds of thous ands of troops that an enormous amount to restore the America's interior to its former brilliance. Immcditaely after we were advis ed that our knowledge and experi ence in constructing and convert ing the America into a troop trans port would probably qualify us to effect her reconditioning, wo start ed the survey of materials and work necessary. In the early fall of 1945 and continuing between her last six trips personnel of our Yard and a representative of the interior decorators visited the ship to com plete the survey. Before her arriv al we were prepared to begin the ordering of necessary materials. Interior Decorations The specifications in general call ed for the reconversion of the America exactly as she was origin ally. This has been done except in some instances where duplication of original material or equipment was not possible. Some of her wood paneled spaces which were expend able during her war service have been decorated with modern Amer ican color schemes. Rather than the loss of decorative quality this change has resulted in brighten ing these spaces and making them even more typically American in H Mt r- wMi m 'il & i If fnlfe 'i1 m . E1-1 if Ml v mw - l -' -' 1 r ' ill- v All is ready for the launching of the S. S. AMERICA. This frontal view was taken from the keel level showing the size of the famous luxury liner. She was built in Newport News. a. ! DATA ON Tfli: AMERICA Length overall 723 feet Maximum Beam !)3 ft. 3 in. Sports Deck 92 ft. 47 k in. Full load, tons 35.140 Boilers 6 Propellers 2 Decks 10 Crew 677 Passengers 1,019 Speed over 25 knots Launched August 31, 1939 Spoivsor Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt Delivered July 27. 1910 Commissioned as West Point June 15, 1911 Decommissioned after war February 28, 1946 Delivered after conversion October, 1946 Shaft Horsepower 37,100 Public spaces 23 Rooms and Spaces over 950 Wire, cable used (miles) . 158 Lighting fixtures 7,278 Electric lamps over 14,500 Electric fans 751 Bulkhead spaces (miles) . 10 Capacity meals per day .... 6,000 style. Many of the decorative murals throughout the public spaces of the America were saved. Any slight damage they .suffered has been re paired by (heir original artists and all are as beautiful and striking as when they were first installed. Oth er murals that were missing or damaged have been duplicated by the same artists with the excep tion of the painting in the ball room. This has been replaced by j a colorful circus scene by ChaWes Baskerville, who also executed the lacquer decorations around the the main entrance in the First Class Lounge. Represented are such famous American artists as Howard B. French, Allyn Cox, Freemont F. Ellis, Constance L. Smith, Pierre Bourdelle. Charles B. Gilbert, Glen M. Shaw. Barry Faulkner, C. J Marsman. Allen T. Tcrrcl, Griffith Baily Cole, T. C. Skinner, Constantine Aljjaloy and T. Austin Purves. Jr. Smyth. Urquhart and Marek- wald, Inc., a firm of women decor ators, who were responsible for the original interior decorations for the America, were again engaged for this work. Throughout the pub lic rooms and cabins they have achieved an atmosphere of light ness and cheerfulness, and have avoided stuffiness or overdecora tion. Most of our dinicuities in connec tion with the reconversion were in the procurement of materials and equipment. All of the furniture, rugs, draperies, and other fur nishings on the America had been disposed of. Our first operation was to determine from our records where the original equipment had been purchased and to contact these firms to ascertain if duplicate articles could bo furnished to meet our scheduled completion date. In some instances we experienced dif lculty in finding manufacturers who would even accept our orders, much less guarantee delivery by any certain date. The strikes prev (Continued on Page Twoi I 1 r "-! ' i.. ' 'li i i. , , i ! i i in V 1 1 KM . j 1 1 t :,.! - ? l.t t :':t-
The Waynesville Mountaineer (Waynesville, N.C.)
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Nov. 19, 1946, edition 1
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