Here is another issue of the "Calship Log"... I have posted a couple of others on this blog so you can run a search on them if you wish to give them a gander. For those of you that don't really know what these are all about....below is a thumbnail description....that I provide whenever I post one of the issues.
If you know all about them and rather not read...but just go right to the "Log"....just click on the below:
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I'm going to provide just an extremely short "intro" to this articles 'subject.'...so if you will kindly bare with me on this.....it will give the reader a thread of back ground info of the 'Who, Want and When.'
Most of you know that several shipyards were built around the U.S. just prior to WW II....and most of these 'shipyards' was to gear up and built ships for the U.S. Navy as well as for the Liberty ship program....and later on the Victory ship came into the picture.
One such shipyard was the Californai Shipbuilding Corporation which was managed by Henry Kaiser and his associates. "CALSHIP" as it was referred to, was the third emergency shipyard on the West Coast. Built on land owned by the local port authority, it was located on the Cerritos Channel of Terminal Island which connects the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.
The orginal 1941 plan called for eight building ways, but this quickly expanded to fourteen. With expansion came remodeling and rapid Liberty ship construction. Initially a production quota of twelve ships per month was set and by June 1942 this had been surpassed and was continually exceeded throughout 1943.
The 'Calship' shipyard mainly built Liberty freighters and tankers and later on began producing Victory ships. Now this particular 'yard' was ranked the third in the nation in savings during the wartime emergency ship construction effort. Their ships were built at an average cost of $1,858,000.....all together this yard produced 306 Liberty freighters and 30 Liberty tankers.
Ok....now you have a tad of a back ground on the 'Calship' shipyard. Well to construct all these vessels at a cost savings as I just stated....management was always attempting to devise ways to cut cost but to still keep the quality in these "oh so important" cargo haulers of the War up to snuff. So how did they do this?? Well they were always asking there Shipyard employees to suggest, suggest, and suggest...cost cutting ways to improve the product for less.
Well that is all fine and dandy....but to keep the shipyard worker 'in the mood' to help in this area they had to keep up the moral of the worker....and one of the ways management accomplished this was to provide the "CALSHIP LOG" [kind of a weekly newspaper of what was going on around the shipyard] twice a month....[issued on the 1st and 15th of each month].
It just so happens I have several of these "Calship Logs"....about 18 to 20 of them...I have them on a 'disk.'..I do not have the orginal.
I'm going to provide to you 'one' of these logs....it is dated March 1, 1945....Vol 1 No. 4....and what is so darn interesting about this particular log is......this 'Calship Log' tells of the launching...[with pictures and data] of the SS John C. Fremont the first of 55 Liberty ships they built.
Now this is not the only thing that is described in this 'Calship Log'....if you read the entire 'Gossip Sheet' you'll soon see how management used this publication to keep the employees informed and to show just how important of a job they were involved in....and the appreciation for the quality and importance of the job all was doing.
So...if you've never seen one of these....you can 'open' the above March I, 1945 issue by clicking on this:
and believe me your in for a treat.
This particular issue has two interesting articles...one of these are on Japanese shipyards....the other article provides some insight on the Turbo Generators...of which each ship had four installed. Both articles are interesting.
As I stated above....I have several additional issues....which was actually provided to be by a Mr. William Layton....whom is a computer friend of mine that has in the past provide me with many, many Liberty ship pictures and data...
So....hope this is all interesting to y'all.....and I'll be offering other issues from time to time....
Enjoy
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