REVIVAL OF WOODEN SHIPBUILDING AS A WAR INDUSTRY. 



35 



curate and as presented before this Society by its president, Stevenson Taylor, in 

 his address in 1916. 



You will notice from these figures that the estimated capacity of the world's 

 shipyards was 3,685,000 tons. We are told that the United States alone is suddenly 

 expected to produce 6,000,000 tons. Germany required forty years during which 

 to construct its powerful military machine. It has taken the United States one year 

 to build up a shipbuilding machine that is going to whip that military machine to 

 pieces. 



Do you realize, gentlemen, what this means ? It means that in one year's time 

 the United States is expected to produce approximately 5^^ million tons more than 

 its maximum capacity prior to 19 15, or, in other words, 2,000,000 more tons are ex- 

 pected of the United States alone than could be produced by all the shipyards of the 

 world combined in 191 5. 



There is under construction, at the present time, approximately a tonnage ag- 

 gregating 6,700,000, of which 5,000,000 is steel and 1,700,000 is wood, this being 

 exclusive of naval construction which in itself numbers approximately 794 vessels. 

 Their tonnage of 420,217, however, is in terms of displacement and not of cargo ca- 

 pacity as applied to merchant vessels. 



The following tabulation of the world's wooden ships may prove of interest to 

 many : — 



World's Wooden Ships. 



