246 HOG ISLAND, THE GREATEST SHIPYARD IN THE WORLD. 



Shipping Board, is $460,000 per day, or nearly $14,000,000 per month, to say noth- 

 ing of their value as a factor in determining the duration of the war. 



By a fortunate coincidence, a company affiliated with the American Interna- 

 tional Corporation had for months been considering the development of a large 

 port terminal, and in their investigations they had studied every available water 

 front property of any considerable size between Boston, Mass., and Baltimore, Md. ; 

 knew the location of each of these, the prices for which they could be bought and 

 many of the physical facts surrounding them. All of this valuable data was immedi- 

 ately available when the contract was signed. The locations between Boston and 

 New York were promptly eliminated because it was obvious that any yard built in 

 that territory would be dependent on one single railroad, which was then already 

 overburdened. Locations directly around New York could not well be considered 

 because other shipyards already established in that neighborhood needed all the men 

 they could get. The most desirable location which presented itself, after eliminating 

 the others one by one, was the tract of land near Philadelphia, on the Delaware 

 River, called Hog Island. The arguments in favor of accepting this location were 

 as follows: — 



First, the tract of land contained 846 acres, nearly level, entirely vacant, and 

 could be acquired by purchase from one individual and at a reasonable price. 



Second, it was on deep water, for the Delaware River has a 35-foot channel 

 directly in front of Hog Island, which runs to the sea. 



Third, it was inland, away from enemy attack, being practically 100 miles up the 

 river from the Delaware breakwater. 



Fourth, it was on fresh water, for, while there is a tide of some 5 or 6 feet, the 

 water is not even brackish. 



Fifth, it was near a large industrial city, from which labor could be drawn and 

 in which some housing facilities could be obtained. 



Sixth, it was so located that direct connections could be made with three of the 

 large railroad systems — the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Philadelphia and Reading 

 Railroad, and the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad. 



Seventh, it was the nearest available point on tidewater to the steel mills and 

 fabricating shops of Pennsylvania and of the Middle West. 



Eighth, it was possible to secure from an already established power plant the 

 electric energy needed to run the shipyard. 



In attempting to write a history of the development of Hog Island, it is an 

 almost impossible task to describe chronologically the steps which took place, espe- 

 cially as conditions changed almost daily and as engineering and construction pro- 

 ceeded hand in hand. 



The first sketch of the yard is like the ultimate development in only one par- 

 ticular — they both contemplated building fifty shipways. A good sized shipyard 

 in pre-war days contained five or six ways, and this seemed to be a workable unit. 

 It was desired to turn out in this new yard a million and a half deadweight tons 

 per' year, and it was thought that, when the yard was under full swing, four ships 



