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April, 1921 company which was before the war the largest shipping company in the world and which was the principal company engaged in this trade will be of the greatest advantage. "American shipping is confronted MARINE REVIEW is no reason to suppose that the trade will not accommodate their addition without withdrawal being necessary. "In brief, the agreement with the Hamburg-American line gives to Ameri- can shipping the right to enter at once HARRIMAN'S THIRD-CLASS LINER IN NEW YORK-HAMBURG RUN As the DrKaup, she did transport service during the war and after the armistice with a lack of experienced personnel competent to handle foreign business at both ends of the line. Only time can give us this necessary experience. The Hamburg-American line has at its command that experience which we greatly need. Acting as agent of American shipping in Germany, it has greater facilities to collect business than any other agency. "The outstanding features of the contract are that the American Ship & Commerce Corp. acts in America as the agent of the Hamburg-American line, and the German company acts as the American corporation's agent in Hamburg. It is the intention of the two companies to operate ships together over trade routes formerly served by the Hamburg-American line wherever the trade justifies the re-es- tablishment of such routes. Each com- pany acts independently and there is no pooling of earnings or pooling of ships in the sense that it deprives eith- er company of its entire independence. "Each company has a right to put ships into this service equal in ton- nage to the ships of the other com- pany, but no ships shall be added ex- cept where the trade justifies the ad- dition. In other words, as ships are built, there is no compulsory withdrawal on the part of either company to make room for these new ships. Provision is made, however, for the entry into the services of ships now building for the Hamburg-American: line, aggregat- ing about 185,000 deadweight tons. No- tice of completion of these ships must be given a year in advance, and there upon what have been the most profitable trade routes aided by the facility and experience of a company which, for a quarter of a century, has been engaged in this commerce." With that concise statement of the facts, Mr. Harriman closed the issue. He then turned to the consideration of more important problems confronting the 181 American merchant marine--the govern- ment owned boats. "One of the great difficulties confront- ing sound American shipping is the fact that such a large proportion of our tonnage is owned by the United States shipping board. The problem is to get government ships into private hands, and I believe that both business men and the government are anxious to ac- complish this result. "I should like to see the shipping board take the drastic step of giving ships to operators only on the condition that they guarantee the shipping board in some form or other against loss. It might be a good plan to fix a reason- able charge, and turn the operation of the ships over to the charterer only when a proper guarantee is received. "The development of the American merchant marine is dependent upon its proper support by congress. There is a necessity for a definite, well considered plan of government legislation. The Jones act was a splendid step in the right direction. There is a need too, that the public should become thoroughly acquainted with the problems of Ameri- can shipping and the possibilities of es- tablishing a worthy and adequate Ameri- can merchant marine. "The United States cannot develop its international commerce to its proper extent without holding up and main- taining a merchant marine, otherwise this country must be dependent upon ships flying a foreign flag." Rebuilt Harriman Liner Convert Big Transport Into Model Third-Class Passenger Carrier 6 BY JAMES A. KELLEY Naval Architect, Morse Dry Dock & Repair Co. NE of the largest reconversion con- tracts to be finished in the United | States up to the present time is the Ger- man built steamer DreKars. This ves- sel was formerly the Prinz Errer FRriep- RICH and was built at the Vulcan works, at Stettin, Germany, in 1904. Following are the dimensions of the vessel: Feet Inches Length _ overall. .<.. «-..- 506 6 Length between perps...489 2 Breadth, molded 34 10 1/16 Depth molded 34 10 7/16 She is built on the transverse system, with deep channel frames with webs and stringers. The double bottom has a depth of 48 inches and extends the full length of the vessel. When built, the ves- sel was classed to the highest rating then given by the Germanischer of Lloyds. - When the vessel arrived at the yard of eee eeeeeee the Morse Dry Dock & Repair Co. she had been completely gutted by fire which occurred in the Hudson river at Spuyten Duyvil. The owners of the ship decided to convert her into a first class steerage vessel to carry the largest number of persons possible and at the same time to give the passengers carried. larger and more attractive public rooms than are customary on this type of ship. The navigation officers' wheel house and chart room are situated on the navigation bridge deck, the only deck which the steerage passengers will not be allowed to use. On this deck also are three special staterooms for use of various ship officers. These rooms are fitted up in elaborate style. On the top deck is a large passenger promenade. The deck house contains large rooms for doctor, purser, steward