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March 1, 1943
PUBLISHED FOR THE EMPLOYEES OF THE NORTH CAROLINA SHIPBUILDING COMPANY
Vol.1, No. 7
SUGGESTION PLAN MAKES EXG
M START
k1
3 "
11 TX O
0
0
1
COMPANY TIES
FOR SECOND IN
SHIPS PER WAY
Builds Nine During
January Averag
ing 43.5 Days
"How do you stand in com
parison with the other yards in
the production of Liberty
ships?"
As an employee of the North
Carolina Shipbuilding company
you probably have been asked
that question many times.
Here are the answers, based
on the reports of ship construc
tion in January throughout the
nation, compiled and released by
the United States Maritime
commission:
First, during the past month
we were tied for second with
two west coast yards Richmond
Shipyard No. 1, Permanente
Metals corporation, Richmond,
California, and the California
Shipbuilding corporation, Wil
mingtonin the number of ships
delivered per way. Next,' we
ranked third in the average
minimum days of construction
per ship among the nation's nine
consistent producers of Liberty
freighters.
Then, our yard topped the
East coast in the number of ves
sels per way and number turned
over to the Maritime commis
sion. And last, we were fourth
in the total number of Liberty
freighters sent into the Victory
fleet during the first month of
1943. : -'-r-:--:'.r,:.
We achieved this fine stand
ing by delivering nine of the
10,800-ton ships during the
month. The averaere time of
construction from keel laying to
launching was 32.3 clays ana
from launching to delivery, 11.2
days,' for a total average of 43.5
daysthe shortest construction
time in the history of the yard
for each ship.
We have reduced the average
time of production of vessels
from 249 da vs for the first nine
delivered to the 43.5 days in
slightly less than a year, ine
7.ph Vance, launched on Decem
ber 6, 1941, and the first to be
completed by the yard, required
280 days, The time required to
Holivpr the shins has been re
duced each month. In November,
when we ; built seven, tne aver
jitrp was 52.5 davs and in Decern
ber, when nine were completed,
' A.1 Ha vs. .
The construction record of the
company in January was 9.1
days below the national average
for Liberty shipyards ol bz.b
In January, the Oregon Ship
building corporation, qi fort
Un A. led the country bv deliver
ing 12 vessels with an average
time of construction ol dz.o days
each.
T malrmcf these comparisons
we have, in fairness, excluded
the more recently completed
Liberty shipyards, such as
Mnrinshin. Panama Citv and
Brunswick, Ga., because they
have not reached their expected
striae.
LLmmm.- wmMI ii J V L - ii i i i I ' -K,
THE WINNERS Here are
period. On the extreme left Fred Keane, foreman of Fitters Dept., is presenting a $25 War Sav
ings bond to F. E. White, of the Fitters. Next R. R. Lewis, of the Ship Carpenters Dept., is receiv
ing his $25 bond from W. J. Kobertson, foreman of that department.
Yard Loses Ship
Of 10.3 Per Cent Unexcused Absenteeism
Health For Victory
Club Is Organized
For Wives, Mothers
Organized for the wives and
mothers of our employees, the
Health for Victory club is now
functioning and making definite
progress in presenting the Na
tional Nutrition program to the
thousands of busy homemakers.
As a part of the Health for
Victory program, the company
is providing a free monthly cook
book, called the Meal-Planning
Guide, to the members of the
club. The first copies have been
distributed.
This interesting book pro
vides many menu suggestions
for every meal in the month, in
cluding lunch boxes. They are
low cost meals but they are
most tasty and check perfectly
with the government's daily
eating suggestions. If the home
maker follows them" she will
know that the members of her
family are getting the food they
(Continued on page 4)
The Moultrie And The Battle Of Spitsbergen
Here is an interesting
, story of the 12th ship built
. here.
Told by a merchant sea
man who sailed on her, it ,
shows we are constructing
good ships.
I, Frank Maslany, Seaman, to
gether with my comrades, Jo
seph Kosnsky, Folson and Vesta
Smith, sailed on the S. , S. Wil
liam Moultrie, which was built
by the North Carolina Shipbuild
ing Company in 1942. We picked
up our cargo in June of 1942 and
left America for the high seas.
On the way to Russia, we were
the top place winners in the Suggestion contest for the Feb. 1-4
During January
Thousands Of Days
Of Vital Time
Lost Here
Our yard lost a ship in Jan
uary.' . V'.T-
No, it wasn't torpedoed by a
German submarine or blasted by
a mine, neither was it sunk by
a Japanese bomber off the Solo
mon islands. But it was de
stroyed by something just as
deadly absenteeism.
During the month, there were
enough man-hours lost through
unexcused absences to have built
a tenth ship here. We had the
materials and the men and wo
men on the payroll but too many
decided they "would take an ex
tra day off." The result was
that there were 56,870 man-days
unexcused absences for 10.3 per
cent of total working time dur
ing the period. The vessel so
badly needed to rush supplies to
our fighting armies we lost is
the one we could have built with
that 10.3 per cent time.
(Continued on page 4)
bombed on ten different occa
sions. A ship carrying ex
plosives was blown up right in
our face. The concussion was so
great it knocked everybody flat
on their backs. ' The Moultrie
was literally blown clear of the
water. It hit so hard coming
down that it bounced back again.
After the second bounce, the
bow took a deep dive, leaving the
stern high in the air, but she
settled and righted herself , and
later investigation proved that
not a quart of water leaked
through her seams during this
severe strain. No direct hits
were made on the Moultrie but
Because
Point Rationing
Of Canned Fruits,
Vegetables Begun
Point rationing of all canned,
bottled and frozen fruits and
vegetables, plus dried fruits,
fruit juices and canned soups,
is here.
At first glance, it looks a bit
complicated but a study of the
system shows it's relatively sim
ple. .
. By registering during the last
week in r ebruary, housewives
received War Ration books No
2 for their families.
The blue coupons in the book
are for canned goods ; the red
ones will be used later for meat.
A, B and C Bluetoupons may
be "spent" in March. The fig
ures 1, 2, 5 ,or 8 are the point
values. These 12 stamps add up
to 48 points and each member of
every family is entitled 'to a
book.
Thus, a family of three has
144 points ior use during March
(Continued on page 3)
near misses sprayed her with
shrapnel.
This was the Battle of Snitzen
bergen and we were attacked for
ten aays in succession by hun
dreds of tornedo nlanea AnorAtari
by Heines. When we finally got
into Russia we got the biggest
attack of all while in the har
bor. Each attack was followed
by observation planes which in.
variably dropped two incendiary
Domos oeiore leaving our con
voy. Dunne these encasements
our convo v shot down sixtv.twn
enemy planes, the Moultrie ac-
luuuuuK iur mure man ner pan
- (Continued on page 4)
LEWIS, WHITE
AWARDED WAR
SAVINGS BONDS
Ninety Suggestions
Are Ottered In
Three Days
With almost a hundred
suggestions received during
the first three days after
establishment of the boxes
throughout the yard, the
Suggestion System made an
excellent start here last
month with every indication
that it will play an import
ant part m improving the
operations of the company
in the future.
All the DroDOsals submit
ted showed considerable
thought and covered a
broad range of production
and other fields. Eight de
partments were represented
among the 14 prize winners and
the Committee is well pleased
with the, fine early response, con- -sidered
a real welcome of the
Plan to the yard.
The 19 Sucreestion boxes wrp
placed at convenient points in
the yard on Feb. 1 and the first
collection of suggestions was on
Feb. 4. A total of 90 were of
fered and the Committee soon
began the task of investigating,
studying and judging them.
Winners Notified
The winners have been : noti
fied and those whose nronnsals
did not merit War Savings bond
ana stamp prizes have been in
formed of their rejection. How
ever, this does not mean that all
work on this first group of ideas
nas been completed as further
investigation. . such as comnufa-
tion of costs, is being carried
out on some. Therefore, they
are being held in abeyance.
While every idea was worth
consideration, there was none
that could be termed "revolution
ary or startling" in improve
ment oi operations m the yard
at this earlv a stair in th
Committee program. All showed,
however, that the employees are
giving ai uiuugni ,io oetter . .
continued on rage 4)
Hurst's Suggestion
Improves Production
If the Suggestion system
placed into operation here
last month was retroactive,
then A. D. Hurst, of the Fit
ters Dept., would have been
a winner of one of the larger
prizes.
His suggestion a book
let entitled "Ship Marking
for Welding" was written
and adopted several months
ago in the yard. It has
proved most valuable and
while it cannot be consid
ered for a prize because it
was produced before the
Suggestion system was
established, the company
and employees are appre
ciative of his efforts b im
provement of production.