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PUBLISHED FOR THE EMPLOYEES OF THE NORTH CAROLINA SHIPBUILDING COMPANY
May 1, 1942
Vol. I, No. 1
MOVING INTO SECOND YEAR OF PRODUCTION
Shipyard Registers
For Military Service
President Roosevelt Calls
For Intensified Campaign
Against Possible Accidents
Since December 7, our country has been at war. Our
minds and hearts are with the fighting forces but we
dare not let enthusiasms and anxieties divert our ener
gies from the job which is ours that of supporting our
brave fighting men and the allies with a continuous
and increasing flood of the materials of war. In this job
the prevention of accidents is essential; it must not be
neglected.
As the menace to human freedom from across the
seas grew more and more threatening, it became in
creasingly evident that greater effort for the preven
tion of accidents would be de-
manded by our armament pro
gram. This urgent need was
brought home to the nation last
summer in President Roosevelt's
proclamation :
"Now, therefore, I, Franklin
D. Roosevelt, President of the
United States of America, do
hereby call upon the officers
and directors of the National
Safety council to mobilize its
nation-wide resources in leading
a concerted and intensified cam
paign against accidents, and do
call upon every citizen, in public
or private capacity, to enlist in
this camfign, and do his part
in preventing wastage of human
and material resources of the
nation through accidents."
The vitalness of time was ex
pressed in his usual forceful way
by Secretary of the Navy Frank
Knox when he spoke recently to
assembled delegates at the thir
tieth National Safety congress
in Chicago. He said:
"The billion and a half man
hours lost last year through work
accidents were sufficient to build
45 battleships, or 375 destroy
ers; 450 submarines or 195 light
tanks; 12,500 trainer planes or
75,000 fighter planes; 30,000
medium bombers or. 15,000 heavy
bombers.
"Those hours weren t just un
sed; they were lost. They are
part of eternity. Perhaps, in
called 'normal' times, with
ness 'proceeding as usual',
could have been replaced
man-hours drawn from the
rvoir of the future with no
'enarable damage to the se
curity of our nation as a whole.
But not now. Things are dif
ferent now. The bomber that's
Alelayed now may never be fin
fished; the keel that's not laid
now may never be laid; and the
1 16-inch rifle, that in the turret
( of a battleship might speak its
I message to the foes of democ-
racy ill me um; language hivj
will ever understand, may never
be bored because the time that
we need to build these things is
no longer inexhaustible or re-
Uaceabie irom tne iuture, dui,
stead, is ticking away now,
I talk, this minute and every
inute of today and tomorrow
d this week and next week.
no longer have the future
jraw upon."
V
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iince January 1, U. S. ship
ds have launched six tons of
ping for every ton of U. S.
ping sunk off the Atlantic
st by unaer-sea raiaers.
eie have been less sinkings
ntly than was the case dur
the first three months of the
and by now we should be
further ahead of the subs.
More than 1,200 employees
registered under the Selective
Service act at the shipyard dur
ing the two days which were
granted to list those workers
who are eligible for military
service.
On Sunday, February 15, vol
unteers from the administration
department and the employment
office listed the large number
wishing, to avoid the rush the
following day. Volunteers from
the City of Wilmington's regis
trars were enlisted to serve Mon
day.
Registration on the first day
took place in the new steel stor
age building, from ten o'clock a.
m. to 5 o'clock p. m., and from
seven a. m. to nine o'clock p. m.
on Monday.
The North Carolina Shipbuild
ing Company expressed appre
$25.00
DEFENSE BOND
FOR A
NAME
The name of this paper is
not altogether original. If any
employee can think of a bet
ter and more appropriate
name for this publication, the
editors are ready and willing
to receive suggestions.
While the paper is not
backed up with substantial
funds the editors are offering
a reward of a $25 Defense
Bond to the best name-picker.
The editors reserve the right
to act as judges for this contest.
Considerable Progress Made
During Initial Operations
ciation to Mr. Dudley Humphrey
and members of Local Board No.
2 for making it possible to have
the registration at the shipyard,
thus cutting the number of work
ing hours that might have been
lost by men having to register.
All men are asked to get in
touch with the deferment office
immediately upon the receipt of
Questionnaires. This office is lo
cated in the northern end of the
administration building.
Whenever employees receive
notices regarding classification
or other communications from
their local board, it is requested
that they contact their foremen
immediately.
Registration of men between
45 and 65 took place on Monday,
April 27th at the Foreman's
Building. There was a consider
ably larger number of employees
in this age category than had
been thought.
Stockholders Re-elect
Directors At Meeting
The annual meeting of the
stockholders of the North Caro
lina Shipbuilding Company was
held in Wilmington April 16,
1942 at 2:30 p. m. At this meet
ing all ten directors of the com
pany were unanimously " re
elected. The directors are: H. L. Fer
guson, Roger Williams, W. E.
Blewett, Jr., Bruce B. Cameron,
Karl D. Fernstrom, Robert I.
Fletcher, Edmund F. Heard,
Hugh MacRae, E. J. Robeson, Jr.
and J. B. Woodward, Jr.
V
Apprentice Dormitory
A Sick Bay has recently been
installed in the Dormitory in
order that the danger of spread
ing contagious infections may be
eliminated. There have been but
a few occupants of this room as
yet.
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V k
l 1 Ail A
TheHirfit launching the "Zebulon B. Vance goes overboard on December 6, one day before
V Pearl Harbor, witnessed by a crowd of more than 12,000 people.
From a swampy waste to a mechanized shipyard pre
paring to turn out "a ship a week" all in a little more
than a year's time is practically a miracle. Especially
when that shipyard has taken the men from the farms,
the stores and other professions, and trained them to
do the difficult tasks that go to make up shipbuilding.
With six ships, the "Zebulon B. Vance", the "Na
thanael Greene", the "Virginia Dare", the "William
Hooper", the "Daniel Morgan" and the "Francis Marion"
delivered for service, nine ships launched, and a total
of eighteen keels laid, the shipyard is straining for the
highest possible peak of produc
tion in order to complete delivery
of virtually all 90 ships by the
close of 1943.
A year ago February 4, a
merged group of contractors,
Loftis. Orrell and Underwood,
began the huge task of filling in
mud holes, and dredging the
river for the new shipyard. One
building went up to house the
Contractors in one end, and the
Plant Engineering department of
the North Carolina Shipbuilding
Company in the other. That
building is still in use by the
Watch Force, Safety and Per-
sonnel Departments.
Roads were built, railroad
tracks were laid, blueprints were
drawn and redrawn, buildings
and cranes rose as the sandy land
grew quickly and steadily into
the rudiments of a shipyard.
The N. C. Shipbuilding Com
pany rented the large house at
the corner of Third and Grace
streets in the city as headquar
ters, and furnished it comfort
ably in order to provide immedi
ate accommodations for skilled
workers borrowed or transferred
from our parent company the
Newport News Shipbuilding and
Dry Dock Company on a mo
ment's notice to train men for
the new company.
On March 18, 1941, the U. S. .
Maritime Commission in Wash
ington, announced that the first
contract in the President's
"Bridge of Ships" program went
to the North Carolina Shipbuild
ing Company, for 25 ships at an
estimated base cost of $37,500,
000. About three months later, May
22, 1941, the first keel was laid
amid a small group of officials
and employees. Thrilled eyes
watched the giant arm of the
crane deposit the keel in a "per
fect landing". At the time, it
seemed a long leap to a finished
vessel, but less than seven
months later, the "Zebulon B.
Vance" slid down the ways into
the Cape Fear river.
A lot had happened in those
seven months. Buildings dotted
the entire yard, fabricating shops
were in full swing, storage space
had emptied and filled again, and
numerous cranes depicted the
activity as they clanged along
the tracks.
In the meanwhile the company
received a contract for 12 addi
tional vessels, making 37 in all.
This meant that the original yard
of 6 ways and two piers had to
be expanded to one of 9 ways
and three piers. When the Mari
time Commission awarded the
company 53 more ships last Jan
uary, all of which are to be com
pleted by the end of 1943, it be
came necessary to buy more land
for the additional personnel and
(Continued on Page 3)
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The South Wing of the Dor
mitory has been converted into
a Class Room for instruction in
drafting and other shipbuilding
courses.
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