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Latest Data on New Marine Work Information on New Ships Ordered—Building and Repair Con- tracts Let—Shipping Board Loans Made, Authorized or Pending CCORDING to figures com- A piled by the National Council of American Shipbuilders on Jan. 1 of this year there were 26,000 men employed in construction and ship repair work in 20 coastal ship- yards as compared with 22,000 on Jan. 1, 1930. The value of unfinish- 6a work on hand Jan. 1, 1931, amounted to $65,000,000 for private- ly owned vessels and $25,000,000 for government vessels. On Jan. 1, 1930 the value of all unfinished work on hand at these yards was approximate- ly $90,000,000 for privately owned vessels and $30,000,000 for govern- ment vessels. Particular emphasis is laid by the national council upon the fact that not a single vessel of a strictly cargo type is under construc-, tion, the present work being devoted to 18 merchant liners of combination passenger and cargo type, eight tankers and two large yachts ag- gregating 308,800 gross tons. Also under construction are six govern- ment vessels with a total displace- ment of 47,800 tons consisting of three scout cruisers, one airplane car- rier and two coast guard cutters.. It is pointed out that although the ship- building industry, largely as a result of the Jones-White act is doing ex- ceptionally well as compared with the years prior to 1930, still, as a whole, it is operating at about 50 per cent of normal capacity. The total number of building ways now avail- able in this country for the con- struction of sea going vessels, is 82, 62 of which are in Atlantic coast yards and 20 on the Pacific coast. If all the building ways were occupied the estimated employment in ship- yards would be 41,000 workers. Value of Work Increases According to a preliminary tabu- lation of data collected in the census of manufactures taken in 1930 by the bureau of the census, Washington, D. C., establishments in the United States engaged primarily in ship and boat building and repairing work done during 1929 did work in value of $214,312,944, an increase of 11 per cent compared with $193,028,517 reported for 1927 the last preceding census year. This figure does not include the total value of completed vessels (except those on which con- struction was begun and finished within the census year), but only the value of the work done during the year. These figures apply only to private yards since no data were col- 40 lected from ship and boat building plants operated by the government. Included in the total for the value of work done in 1929 on vessels launch- ed within that year are the follow- ing: Ships of five gross tons and over, steel,. $45,205,106; wooden $15,123,225; boats of less than five gross tons $13,150,908. The value of work done in 1929 on vessels -under construction but not launched : was: Steel vessels $21,497,493; on wooden vessels $3,212,060. The total amount received for repair work $116,124,152 is 51.2 per cent of the total value of all work. Of the vessels launched, 451 with a gross tonnage of 268,558 were steel of five gross tons and over; 1053 with a gross tonnage of 226,248 were wooden of five gross tons and over; and 28,967 were boats of less than five gross tons. Naval Bill Goes to Senate On Jan. 19 the senate committee | on naval affairs ordered a favorable report on the naval construction bill which carries authorizations of more than $80,000,000 for new construc- tion. The bill was introduced by Sen- ator Frederick Hale of Maine. The bill provides for one aircraft carrier to cost not over $27,650,000; one flyer cruiser to cost not over $20,- 780,000 including armor, armament, ammunition, and airplanes; one six- inch gun cruiser to cost, including armor, armament, ammunition and airplanes, not to exceed $16,605,000; four submarines to cost in all $17,- 600,000; and 130 additional useful airplanes to cost not over $5,000,000. The proposed 1932 program of re- construction, prepared by naval ex- perts and now in the hands of the senate naval committee, totals $139,- 935,000. The 1932 program includes the vessels and airplanes authorized in the bill reported Jan. 19 and also ten destroyers and one destroyer leader. These vessels have been au- thorized but have never been appro- priated for. The total cost of them would be $52,300,000. Award Coast Guard Contract The Bath Iron Works Corp., Bath, Me,, on Jan. 9 was awarded the con- tract for the construction of seven 165-foot patrol boats at a cost of $195,000 per boat or a total of $1,- 365,000 for the seven. The bids for the construction of these boats was opened Jan. 5, 1931. The Bath Iron MARINE REVIEw—February, 1931 Works Corp. bid was the lowest of 33 These vessels are to be 165 feet long overall, 25 feet 3 inches molded beam, displacement about 300 tong to be powered with Winton diese] en- gines with a total shaft horsepower of 1300 driving twin, screw propel- lers. Other companies and their bids for each of the seven boats per boat were as follows: Defoe Boat & Motor Works, Bay City, Mich., $201,800; United States navy yard, Philadel- phia, $208,000; Marietta Mfg. Co., Point Pleasant, W. Va., $213,000; The Maryland Dry Dock Co., Balti- more, $214,275; The United States Navy Yard, Portsmouth, N. H,, $214,823 to $232,000 depending on the engines installed; General Engi- neering & Dry Dock Co., Oakland, Calif., $245,425; the Pusey & Jones Corp., Wilmington, Del., $246,500; the United Dry Docks, Ine., New York, $262,000 to $269,500 depend- ing on engines installed; Bethle- hem Shipbuilding Corp., Ltd., San Francisco, $264,900; The Sun Ship- building & Dry Dock Co., Chester, Pa., $269,000; the Todd Dry Dock Engineering & Repair Corp., $306,- 000; the Consolidated Shipbuilding Corp., New York City $335,341. The first boat shall be completed and delivered not more than 300 days after date of receipt of notice to proceed. Subsequent boats shall be completed and delivered at intervals of not more than 25 days. Plan New Light Vessels Plans are being made by the light- house service of the department of commerce to launch a building pro- gram which is expected to involve more than $2,000,000 in the next 12 months. This building program in- cludes the construction of new ves- sels, lighthouses and enlarging 4 number of lighthouse depots. <A great deal of the work is already under way and a number of contracts are still pending. The keel of one new lighthouse tender was laid down 4 few weeks ago and bids for the con- struction of three other vessels of this same class have been invited. Plans are also being made for tw0 more tenders and a coal barge. Tw0 lighthouse tenders and two light- ships are to be reconditioned bring- ing the total cost of marine engi neering work to about $1,125,000. It is the purpose of the lighthouse sée!- vice to begin work on these different projects at once in order to help re- lieve unemployment.