THE NORTH CAROLINA SHIPBUILDER
October 1, 1944
' Published hy the" North .Caro
lina .Shipbuilding Company, Wil
mington North Carolina, in the
interest of the employees. .
Editor
PAUL A. WILSON
Asaiitant Editors ' '
AL. G. DICKSON
C. T. LEWIS
MRS. C. K. MARSHALL
r I
Vol 3 October 1, 1944 No. 2
Roll Of Honor
SGT. LLOYD EARL DALE,
of Watha, formerly employed
in the Welding department,
killed in an airplane crash
in the South Pacific while
serving in the U. S. Marine
Air Corps as a gunner-radioman.
PFC. DOUGLAS FAIR
BANKS POTTER, formerly
of the Warehouse and Store
Room, killed in an airplane
accident near Pratt, Kansas,
on Oct. 4, 1943 while a mem
ber of the United States
Army Air Forces.
FRANK L. JOHNSON,
JR., formerly of the Employ
ment department, reported
missing and presumed to be
lost following the sinking of
the U. S. ship on which he
was serving as a member of
the Merchant Marine early
in the spring of 1943.
PFC. WILLIAM H. MAY
ERS, of Acme, formerly of
the Ship Carpenters depart
ment, killed in action in Italy
on June 1 while serving as a
member of. the United States
Army.
SECOND LIEUT. WIL
LIAM FRANK PRITCH
ARD, of Wilmington, former
ly employed in the Fitters
department, killed in action
over Italy on June 13, 1944,
while serving as a pilot in the
United States Army Air
Forces.
SOUNDMAN 2c OWEN
CLANTON FILLYAW, 27,
USNR, of Wilmington, for
merly employed , in the Fit
ters department, killed when
his ship, a minesweeper, was
blown up in the English chan
nel during the invasion of
Normandy. '
PVT. KENNETH TANT,
22, of Middlesex, R. F. D. 2,
formerly employed in the
Shipwrights department, died
on Aug. 8, 1944, as the result
of wounds received in action
in France while serving as a
member of the United States
Army. ,
The Assistant Foreman
"Who took me in when I was new
And the whole mess I began to
rue,
And helped me-well my-job to
do?
The Assistant Foreman.
Who slaves to do most all the
work
With never a single minute, to
shirk,
And gives all the credit to the
bigger jerk?
The Assistant Foreman.
Who listens to problems of his
personnel,
Not .only listens but listens
well, i -
When he feels like saying Go
to - - - - ?
The Assistant Foreman.
vv nn npnrs r.np nnrnpn nr rpsnnn.
sibilitv '
And overlooks its great futility,
Surveying the jumble almost
angelically? : j-.'-j;
The Assistant Foreman.7
Who looks at me with eyebrows
knit' v '
When - the night before he had
WSARoport
Operation of the largest Mer
chant Marine in history as a
vital factor in the United Na
tions' war on the Axis is de
scribed in dramatic detail in the
first formal report of the War
Shipping Administration," sub
mitted to President Roosevelt
on Sept. 23. The report, signed
by Administrator . Emery S.
Land, deals with all activities of
the WSA from its creation by
Executive order February 7,
1942, and particularly during the
last year of preparation for the
victory drive against both Ger
many and Japan.
Noting that "many of the ac
complishments of WSA must re
main covered by the cloak of na
tional security," Admiral Land
in his letter of transmittal says:
"No report can reflect the full
credit due the men and women
who have built and who have
sailed our fighting merchant
ships into the very teeth of our
enemy. Their story is being
written in the successful efforts
of their brothers in the armed
services. Our merchant seamen
have delivered the goods, on
time and enough."
The report shows that the
American Merchant Marine has
grown from 1,340 ships totaling
11,850,000 deadweight tons when
Pearl Harbor was attacked tp a
Victory Fleet of more than 3,400
ocean-going vessels whose total
deadweight tonnage is in excess
of 35,000,000. It was to permit
the U. S. Maritime Commission
to concentrate all its energies on
ship construction that the . War
Shipping - Administration was
created to have authority over
all operations of this vast fleet.
During 1942 and the early part
of 1943, the report discloses, the
WSA-controlled merchant fleet
devoted 41 per cent of its capa
city to carrying Army cargo, 13
per cent to Navy cargo, 30 per
cent to lend-lease shipments and
16 per cent to essential raw
materials and civilian necessi
ties for the United States. From
month to month this ratio
changed and at the end of last
year 49 per cent of the fleet was
carrying Army cargo, 10 per
cent Navy cargo, 29 per cent
lend-lease and 12 per cent raw
materials and civilian supplies.
Concerning the future the re
port says:
"Rumors and armchair predic
tions of the impending collapse
of our European enemy have
caused many to question the
continuation of . our ship con
struction and operations pro
gram. People forget " that the
Merchant Marine's job will not
stop with the declaration of
peace in Europe.
"Six million of America's
fighting sons are oversea and
they are likely to remain to com
plete the task of creating a last
ing peace after the day of vic
tory. They must be supplied and
they must' return honie. The
Merchant Marine will continue
to deliver the goods. Even with
the internal downfall of the Ger
man nation i and the occupation
of the European Axis countries,
there will remain the task of
winning the unconditional sur
render of Japan.
"Few recognize the fact that
a considerable portion of our
merchant fleet will be needed to
rehabilitate the continent of
Europe. Nor do they stop to
realize that the distance from
United States ports to the coast
of China, to the Philippines, and
to Japan is between two and
three times that from our At
lantic coast to the European war
been lit,
And shouts at me "Go on and
git"?
The Assistant Foreman,
Who's weary of hearing what
all they miss
And would love to sit back in a
i bit of. bliss--. . '
In fact who asked us to publish
this?- . ' i--' - -The
Assistant Foreman.-1
:h ; Author strictly -unknown.
I 111 Mm- : ' ::v ' "yci::iallli:
THE WAR ISNT OVER As proof that we still have a long way to go, we offer this carica
ture. Sometime ago, several friends and acquaintances of George (Swede) Levander, of the Ship
Carpenters, felt very strongly that Germany would be knocked out by September 15. Levander
didn't agree with them and offered to let his money do his talking. Here's the result as the more
optimistic ones pay him for their "lesson."
Letters To The Editor
SEES N. C. S. CO. SHIPS v
To The Editor:
I just received the first copy
of The Shipbuilder and want to
thank the party responsible. I
have read it several times and
especially- enjoyed the pictures
made in the yard.
I want to give my regards to
Mr. Morris and all the boys in
the Machine Shop. Keep the
good work up and maybe it won't
be too long before ships will be
built to carry supplies other
than war material
Will be looking forward to the
next copy of The Shipbuilder.
P. S. : Have seen quite a few
of A the N. C. S. Co. jobs and
tney are sun going strong.
Very truly yours,
F. W. Cook, CMOMM
CBMU 525
Care Fleet Postoff ice,
New York, N. Y.
Sept. 17, 1944.
PROUD OF YARD
To The Editor:
Have been receiving your pa
per for quite a few months and
now I'd like to give my thanks.
There's no way of telling you
how much the news of the yard
cheers me up.
When I read of the splendid
work the boys are doing back
home. I'm really proud I once
worked, there and, I may add,
hope to again.
As I sit here writing this by
my hammock in this God-forsaken
place, I realize what we
are fighting for Freedom.
Thanks again. - -
Sincerely,
John H. Malone, CM 1c,
25th U. S. Navy Construc
tion Bn.
F. P. O. San Francisco, Cal.
Aug. 19, 1944.
NEED BOOKS
America's 160,000 merchant
seamen : need books. ;' The men
of thef Merchant Marine while
sailing the 56,000 miles of war
time sea lanes are not permitted
to have radios and turn to read
ing for relaxation and to relieve
the strain of convoy duty. '
theater. It- will take two " to
three ; times the merchant ; ton
nage to bring, a weight of arms
equal to those now blasting the
Germans to bear on the Japa
nese scattered on hundreds of is
lands and the mainland of Asia.
"The task of the Merchant
Marine, the War Shipping Ad
ministration and j: the Maritime
Commission is not complete and
we cannot rest on our oars un
til the job Js done . . t Ship con
struction and V ship operation "? is
unfinished business with ,number
one priority.' : . : ' '
BALLAST
IN LINE
The famous Mason-Dixon
combination moved southward
recently, when, in consecutive
weeks the U. S. S. Waukesha
and the U. S. S. Suffolk were
sponsored by Mrs. H. V. Mason,
wife of the Principal Hull In
spector, U. S. M. C, and Mrs,
W. . T. Dixon, wife of the Resi
dent Auditor, U. S. M. ;C, re
spectively. One might say that
this is r another case of the
"Mountain moving to Moham
med." i
THIS IS THE RECORD
Since July 1940, American in
dustry .and -, workmen have, pro
duced more than 100 billion dol
lars worth of planes, tanks,
ships; and other war materials
and supplies. Labor has con
structed and equipped with ' the
finest machine tools, : 20 billion
dollars worth of modern; plant
facilities. Construction workers
have erected, housing? and train
ing facilities for more than 10
million fighting, men and ? air
fields and bases in all N parts I of
the . world. : -j: v;-
Great progress has been made
in reducing the -man-hours re
quired to build war materials.
The labor required to produce
some types -of planes has been
cut in half; to build destroyers
it has been cut from 1,700,000 to
1,000,000 man-hours.' Twelve
merchant ships: delivered the
month before Pearl Harbor have
increased to four or five ships a
day, amounting to , more than
nine million deadweight tons in
the first six months of this year.
Transport and naval fleets have I
been tripled -
v WE TAKE A BOW
' Louis V. Swann, 215 Brook-
wood Ave., recently saw a copy
of The Shipbuilder and was so
interested that he asked W. J.
Robertson, Foreman of Ship Car
penters department, for future
copies. Mr. Swann, who is con
nected with ; the Atlantic Coast
Line railroad, will be put on our
regular mailing list. It's nice to
know that interest in our paper
is not confined t to employees
only. ;
PROBLEM
We don't- know, where this
started but we got it from Don
Hyatt. -
' Three men of equal intelli
gence applied for the same posi
tion. : All three qualified for the
position but it, of course, could
only be given to one man. The
employment manager ( used the
following test to decide to whom
the job would go. . " t. u - '
The three men were blindfold
ed rand the manager explained
that he held two bottles of ink.
One red, the other black. He
was going to put a spot of ink on
each of their foreheads, he said.
Actually he used only black ink.
However, the men had no way of
knowing this. They were-then
told that when the blindfolds
were removed each man, Upon
seeing black on either of ; the
other two, was to tap on the
table, until he could establish his
own color. Since-black ink was
used each man saw black on the
other two " but had no way of
knowing what color was on his
own forehead. After a reason
able time one stated that he had
black ink on his forehead and
then proved to the manager why
he ' knew 1 he had to have black.
How? (Answer in next issue). '
BELLS FOR FELL
The Assistant to Souder
We now can' tell
Is np longer free '
Since Johnnie Fell.
REAL FISHING .
We've heard fish stories and
more fish stories ' but this ; one r
we have on the word of some .of
vux uivav ' UVvCU Ul T vjl vi3 vi .
truth. It seems a group of fish
ing enthusiasts - set out from
Southport recently with Capt.
Tom Watts, who," incidentally,
can usually find fish if they can
be found. Included in the party
were Dr. Russell Burney, Papa -William
' Fauntlery, Roland
and Dr. R. H. King, local osteo
path. According to our informa
tion they started out to the "Old
Wreck" to trout fish arid trolled
for blues on the way. By 11 a.
m. they had caught 300 pounds
ux uiue nsn, ouv pounas oi trout
and several hundred pounds f.
miscellaneous fish and since the
boat was full they . told; fish ;
stories until time to come in.
Believe it or not rwef saw a bill
af sale or a sales receipt prov-
'6 . vuav VlCJf ClbltCX - OU1U Wt Ul fc
bought f ronif a local dealer 175
pounds of trout. ." y ,
Community Chest
Drive Conducted
(Continued from page 1)
cursing association, Travelers'
Aid society and the Y. M. C. : A, ,
.The National War b una pro-.
vides essential war-time serv
ices to our Armed forces, Mer
chant. Marine and prisoners of
war and to supply essential war
time relief to our Allies and to
refugees ) from occupied coun
tries. ; The Fund is government
endorsed. but is not government-
cuiniuiieu. hu .upeiai.es ' in iuu .
accord with the President's War ,
Relief Control boards