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| "To
workers in the Vancouver Shipyard: I have hesitated to interfere with existing priorities in |
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the
shipbuilding industry in the Portland Area because of the tight labor
situation and of the effect that the highest priority assigned to
the Vancouver Aircraft Carrier might have on other critical construction.
However, I do wish to inform you . . . . that the completion of the
Vancouver Aircraft Carriers in appreciable numbers ahead of your present
schedule is of vital importance to the early conclusion of this war,
and further request that within existing conditions labor and management
do their utmost to this accomplishment . . ." Sincerely, Admiral Ernest J. King. |
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| YOU BUILT 'EM for just this moment. Here are allied forces loading on a Vancouver - built LST for the drive on Lae, New Guinea, which now serves as a base for bombing nearby Jap holdings. This ship was launched on November 18th. | |||||||||||||||
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| Left, Admiral Ernest J. King, Commander in chief of the United States Fleet and Chief of Naval Operations. Official U. S. Navy Photo. | |||||||||||||||
| WOUNDED IN ACTION. His face grim with pain, this unidentified seaman is placed aboard a naval vessel for emergency treatment. Official U. S. Navy Photo. | WILDCATS LINE CARRIER DECK. While a flight deck crew swings a plane into position for take-off, Grumman Wildcats line the deck of an escort carrier, ready to take a crack at the enemy. U. S. Navy Photo. | ||||||||||||||
| A
MESSAGE FROM EDGAR F. KAISER TO THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE VANCOUVER YARD: "The request for increased production, coming from the Commander in Chief of the United States Fleet, means that the Aircraft Carriers which you are building will contribute more to the early winning of the war than any other single naval vessel now under construction. There are many who predict that Germany will crack by Christmas, while others say it will be two or three years. The consensus of opinion among those who are in a position to be informed, men like General Brehon B. Somervell, head of the Army Service Forces, is that the European battle will be over some time in April or May of next year. If and when that happens, our biggest job lies in the Pacific . . . a job in which the Carriers we are now building will play a tremendous part. You have all seen the papers recently showing the part played by the Tank Landers you built last year. You are again building fighting ships - and the fight with the Japs, as you all know, will be long and tough. "Our problem now is how can we meet Admiral King's urgent request for more carriers? We are all aware of the critical manpower shortage in the Portland Area and the need for additional shipbuilders at Vancouver. In spite of this handicap, your use of existing manpower speaks for itself, when we compare the 4,600,000 man hours required to build our first carrier with the 2,700,000 man hours spent on Hull 7. How can we bring the man hours down to a still lower figure? "Based on the reduction in man hours that is being made with each new ship, 16 Carriers have been scheduled to be delivered to the Navy by January 1, 1944. That |
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| "18 OR MORE BY 44" | |||||||||||||||
| DID YOU HELP BUILD HER? This is Navy Tank Lander, Hull No. 452, launched in Vancouver on October 10, 1942, christened by Mrs. Rex Hamby. This vessel is now in action in New Guinea. | |||||||||||||||
| schedule
would have represented an achievement worthy of any shipyard - especially
in the face of existing shortage of workers. But now we are asked
by the Commander in Chief of the U. S. Fleet to supply the Navy with
extra carriers ahead of our present schedule. In the past the men
and women of Vancouver have met every schedule set by our government.
Let's answer Admiral King by giving him two extra carriers - eleven
fighting ships - between now and January 1, making our total 18 ships,
instead of 16. "This is a goal which will require the teamwork of every department, every supervisor, foreman, leadman and shipworker. It will mean that supervision will have the responsibility of laying out work for a full shift of production for every member in his crew. It will mean that every man and woman in the yard will have to accept his part of the responsibility and turn out a full day's work, every shift. Absentees, gold-brickers and whistle-jumper, won't give our Navy the carriers she needs so urgently. "In recent weeks, there has been a growing feeling throughout the nation that the war is about over. Here in our own yards we often hear, "This shipbuilding program is about ready to fold, the war's about over - I'm gonna pull out and find me a permanent job." What would |
happen
if our shipyards, or the nation as a whole, adopted this attitude
of false optimism and all left their war jobs to look for something
to do after the war? The record of war production in the past two
years is an inspiration to everyone except the Axis - but we haven't
finished the job. This war isn't over. "Our big task is ahead of us, and I appeal to every shipbuilder to feel in his heart that we can and must produce more efficiently, at a greater speed - to get this war over as quickly as possible. "Not one of us has anything to gain by prolonging this war a single minute - but we have everything to lose - the lives of our loved ones, the peace and security of our own futures. "I feel, as you must feel, that Admiral King has challenged us to do a little better than what we may have thought was out best, not for the sake of beating production goals, but for the sake of the lives of our men, for the sake of getting this war over quickly. "Can we work together to beat our promise to the Navy? Can we deliver not 16, but 18 carriers at Vancouver by January first? I think we can, and I believe you think so, too." |
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| MACHINE GUN BULLETS raise spurts of water as a carrier based navy plane strafes a Nazi sub. Flying from the decks of escort carriers, planes accounted for two "sure kills," four "very probables" and four "probables in a successful attack on a Nazi Wolf Pack." Official U. S. Navy Photograph. | |||||||||||||||
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