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This Installment Covers the ) @ | Layout and Equipment of Modern Wooden Shipbuilding Plants—Thoughtful Planning is Necessary N THE two previous chapters in this series, the | general possibilities and limitations of wooden ships were discussed and the structural characteristics of ship timber were studied in detail. Before the actual work of building the ship can commence, there is still another problem to be disposed of—the shipyard must be planned- and equipped. If the prospective builder is going into the construction of wooden ships on a per- manent basis, this problem is perhaps the most important cne he will be called upon to solve. Mistakes in the design or méthod of building a given hull can be rectified when the next..ship is laid down; blunders in the layout or equipment’ ofthe shipyard can seldom be corrected, except at prohibitive expense. Like most other old saws, the adage about the poor workman always blaming his tools is only a half truth; good workmanship demands the use of the best tools and is intolerant of slipshod equipment. Therefore, the shipbuilder who starts out with a half-baked, poorly laid out, pinched and skimped plant, is saddling himself with a handicap that :nay later spell ruin. The impression is all too prevalent that a well planned, thoroughly equipped plant, carefully arranged and organized, is relatively unnecessary for building wood- en ships. Quite the reverse is true, and a study of the plants: that have built ships continuously for ‘a generation or more, through good times and bad, re- veals the fact that they are all as com- pletely equipped for their task as any steel shipyard. In fact, one of the un- fortunate results of the present boom is the multiplication of hay-wire yards on both eastern and western coasts. If and contour of the ground is important. should be built on dry land that has just sufficient natural By H. Cole Estep wooden shipbuilding is to establish itself permanently, the idea that anybody’s back lot will do for a building site and a chest of carpenter’s tools for equipment, must be definitely abandoned. The Location of the Yard The location of the yard is the. frst phase of the problem to be considered. Four factors govern the selection of the site: The supply of labor, the cost of the land, the contour of the ground and the depth of the water. Labor supply and real estate prices are com- plementary; where labor is abundant, property is ex- pensive, and where land is cheap the supply of labor is dubious. The builder must compromise these conflicting elements to the best of his judgment and ability, remem- bering that a busy yard may carry a high overhead, but no plant can be run without men. It is significant that the most successful of the modern wooden shipbuilding plants on the Pacific coast are located in or near large cities. This would indicate that labor supply is the controlling factor. In selecting a site for wooden shipbuilding, the slope Preferably, the ships slope to permit the laying of the keel blocks conveniently. There also must be level property for the construc- tion of buildings and the storage of lumber. These conditions are not always easily ful- filled, although they are found in many of the oldest and most successful yards. In some cases, where long tide flats are encountered, filling has been resorted to, and although it is an expensive proc- ess, an ideal site can be created in this man- ner. An example FIG. 16—ELECTRICALLY-DRIVEN, TRAVELING DERRICK SETTING FRAMES IN A WOODEN SHIPYARD 283